Listen to this
A look at some new music.
By Sean Daly
Published December 10, 2006
Freddie Mercury
Album: Lover of Life, Singer of Songs: The Very Best of Freddie Mercury Solo (Hollywood)
In stores: Now
Why we care: Queen's late, great rock god (who would have been 60 this year) didn't have a prolific career sans his regular mates, but his solo work was as powerful as it was compact. A Parsi hunk born Farrokh Bulsara, Mercury is celebrated here with a double-disc beauty including cuts culled from his solo albums plus 15 remixes.
Why we like it: Mercury's eighth-wonder voice is all parts operatic and hammy, gut-wrenching and nuclear. The man tackled his music with bear-hug gusto, especially on such muscular dramas as There Must Be More to Life Than This. Unlike Queen's reliance on Brian May's guitar laser beams and related gonzo effects, Freddie's solo work is much simpler, built via piano and synth and that open, vulnerable voice - oh, that voice.
Reminds us of: Queen with less leather, more lace.
Download these: There Must Be More to Life Than This, Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow
Grade: B+
Damien Rice
Album: 9 Warner Bros.
In stores: Now
Why we care: The sad-sack Irish troubadour became a star in 2004 when director Mike Nichols used fragile ballad The Blower's Daughter to epic, echoing effect in the Julia Roberts drama Closer.
Why we like it: If you thought The Blower's Daughter was gloomy, hold onto your hankies: On his sophomore full-length, Rice takes the complexities of heartbreak to aortic new depths, especially on such tortured laments as The Animals Were Gone and Elephant. Rice loves starting songs with spare acoustic pluck - and finishing them with full crashing strings and his skylark falsetto pleading for sanctuary.
Reminds us of: The last two weeks of January, wherever the snow is black and the sun is banished. Enjoy!
Download these: 9 Crimes, The Animals Were Gone, Elephant
Grade: B+
Nanci Griffith
Album: Ruby's Torch (Rounder)
In stores: Now
Why we care: Putting her prolific pen aside, this Lone Star Stater makes her "dream" record: a twangy, 11-track tribute to torch songs.
Why we like it: At 53, Griffith's vaguely Celtic coo still sounds like it stopped aging at 17. That's a compliment, of course: Her barely legal lilt - especially covering well-worn classics - remains one of the most unique instruments in folk rock.
Reminds us of: A dim, dusty honky-tonk with one lonely couple left on the dance floor.
Download these: When I Dream, Bluer Than Blue
Grade: B
Sean Daly can be reached at sdaly@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8467. His blog is at blogs.tampabay. com/popmusic.