Tamar “Tamar” Dreamworks Records
Toni Braxton’s little sister breaks out on her own with her self-titled solo debut. Old enough to understand what she’s singing at 21, Tamar’s effort is a mixture of R&B and hip-hop flavor that showcases her beautiful voice and her range. Tamar also gets a little help from hip-hop talents Missy Elliot and Jermaine Dupri. Dupri contributes the infectious, but forgettable, first single “Get None,” which features himself and Amil. The Elliot penned and produced track, “No Disrespect,” stands out as one of the strongest on the album. Elliot lends her signature repetitious beats, which nicely complement Tamar’s smooth vocals. Tamar describes this song in the Enhanced CD’s explanatory notes as “A woman’s anthem: Don’t treat me like some passing fad. Respect me, or I’m not foolin’ with you, period.” The strongest track by far is “Your Room,” which has a catchy hook and all-too-familiar subject matter. This sultry slow jam is about the growing intimacy of a new couple, and taking the relationship to a higher emotional level. “If You Don’t Wanna Love Me” is a wonderful song about difficult subject matter regarding one partner’s dissatisfaction in a relationship that’s making both miserable, and the need to end it if that’s the case. The slightly fragmented album is peppered with soul, but not necessarily Tamar’s. Although she co-wrote three songs, the album doesn’t fit together or give the audience insight into her world as much as one would have hoped. Regardless, there’s no doubt the girl can sing and Tamar’s album is definitely one you can put into the stereo often; just make sure it’s on shuffle. Dria Fearn Rating: 7
Neil Young “Silver and Gold” Reprise Records
“Silver and Gold” is Neil Young’s latest, purely acoustic endeavor and one of his best. His soft singing, beautiful guitar and emotional harmonica bring back memories of 1972’s “Harvest.” Young began work on “Silver and Gold” in 1997 and slowly accumulated songs to include in the album. Many of the original songs destined for “Silver and Gold” became part of the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young album “Looking Forward”. Some would say that the best songs were taken, while others feel that “Silver and Gold” is more complete without them. The songs have a very innocent and easy feel to them. Fortunately the album offers more than merely the title track and “Razor Love”, which were, surprisingly, written many years ago but remained unreleased. Both, however, are the best songs on the album. In general, the lyrics are upbeat and warm. “Buffalo Springfield Again” is a song that looks back on Young’s days with his old band and hopes to “see those guys again and give it a shot.” “Good To See You” and “Daddy Went Walkin” are both sentimental and celebratory songs of life. The album only offers Young fans ten tracks, which can leave some feeling dissatisfied and others just wanting more. Overall though, the album feels complete and satisfying, as if you could sense the time and effort Young put in creating and honing “Silver and Gold.” Even the liner notes feel authentic. All the lyrics and credits are written in Young’s own handwriting, mistakes and all. “Silver and Gold” is a solid album and contains some great songs which will satisfy Young fans as well as anyone who enjoys good old-fashioned acoustic music. David Jones Rating: 8
Primal Scream “XTRMNTR” Astralwerks
Since its original mid-’80s conception, Primal Scream has seen a near-complete about-face in style. With the group’s recent transition from the Sire label to Astralwerks, the well-respected band has now declared its preference to be called a “dance” band, which, on its latest release “XTRMNTR,” Primal Scream never quite becomes. Founder Bobby Gillespie first had experience drumming for controversial noise rockers Jesus and Mary Chain before starting Primal Scream as a side project geared more toward the pop genre in 1984. By the early ’90s, the band had successfully garnered a large, yet underground following of indie-wannabes, releasing one of England’s first big dance-pop fusion records, “Screamadelica.” With an oft-requested song on the No. 1-selling “Trainspotting” soundtrack, the techno hybridists forever secured their place as one of the most influential crossover bands to come out of Europe. While 1994’s “Give Out But Don’t Give Up” failed to sell nearly as well, 1997’s “Vanishing Point” reaffirmed the group’s position as a principal rock operation, after which the group went into hiatus until this year. While “XTRMNTR” carries the same thread of music Primal Scream left in 1997, it is evident that tastes have changed dramatically in the past three years, leaving the album hanging dry, sorely in need of modernization. Tracks such as the opening “Kill All Hippies” are reminiscent of the same Britpop silliness of yesterday, mixing standard beat loops with distorted guitars under meaningless vocalized dribble. The sleek, repetitive “Pills” probably contains more swearing than any single track put out by NWA, but is otherwise void of any artistic accomplishment. The instrumental “Blood Money” sounds like a James Bond theme song redone by White Zombie, which actually turns out to be a lot better than it sounds. The gorgeously orchestrated “Keep Your Dreams” ensues as a well-crafted pop tidbit which melds xylophones with synth layers with gentle emo guitar riffs. Almost like a lullaby, yet reaffirming in nature, “Keep Your Dreams” is almost reason alone to buy Primal Scream’s latest, if it weren’t for the fact that the remaining five tracks are moderately entertaining at best, and for the most part, something of a letdown. Primal Scream probably won’t see much of a resurgence in popularity, and all but the most ardent of fans will probably find little solace in “XTRMNTR’s” alienating, yet too familiar concoction of dance and distortion. Cyrus McNally Rating: 4
Papa Roach “Infest” Dreamworks Records
“Infest” is cool because it has a big picture of a dead cockroach on the cover, with the song titles listed around it on little labels as though they were the names of various parts of cockroach anatomy. Cute. Otherwise, “Infest” is a dreary, angry collection of pseudo-rap. It’s your generic disillusioned youth band out to “stick it to the man” and “tell it like it is.” Papa Roach certainly isn’t afraid to go out on a limb, insinuating that the ills of society might be due to some failure on the part of the government, the media or the family as an institution. The shock that the listener feels on hearing these controversial opinions is akin to the feeling that upon discovering that a scoop of vanilla ice cream is really mashed potatoes – in other words, mild confusion, followed by prolonged indifference. “Dead Cell” is the fourth song on the album, distinguished from its predecessors by the fact that it contains sobering social commentary on the tragedy of the Columbine massacre. Lead singer Coby Dick (who prefers to be called Mr. Dick, the first track helpfully informs us) expresses the pain of a generation by screaming “Dead Cells” over and over for three minutes. All but the most hard-hearted listener will sadly nod their heads in silent agreement with Mr. Dick’s simple eloquence. Remember, you should not judge because “We are the guilty.” Gosh, could it be that an unfeeling society is to blame for such modern horrors? If only some influential person would listen to Papa Roach, Mr. Dick’s astute observation would surely change the course of public policy today. “Infest” is an entire album of songs that all sound the same, each gleefully rehashing the same tired, trendy anti-establishment line. “Between Angels and Insects” is such an odd, gothic title that one expects to hear it espouse a deeper philosophy than “F – money.” It’s so generic that not even the most dedicated critic would bother to think of witty comments for the individual songs. Michael Rosen-Molina Rating: 2