"PATIENCE"

"PATIENCE"
George Michael
(Epic)
ss George Michael's first album in eight years is a maudlin, navel-gazing affair. Some songs are so torchy and show-tune cheesy ("My Mother Had a Brother" and the title track), they sound like Andrew Lloyd Webber. Others, such as the maundering family saga "Round Here," seem designed strictly for the fan club.
"Patience" is exquisitely produced but unbearably lugubrious. What barely redeems it is that Michael, going back to his days with Wham!, has always had a way with a groove. He dusts off his funky side on "Amazing" and "Freeek! '04."
"UNDER MY SKIN"
Avril Lavigne
(RCA)
sss Avril Lavigne is trying to strike gold -- well, multiplantinum -- again.
And she just may pull it off, if her fans buy the older, darker Lavigne on her latest release "Under My Skin."
Lavigne appears to be maturing lyrically and musically with more complicated tracks than her previous effort, "Let Go."
But that may be the problem. Part of Lavigne's huge success had to do with her in-your-face attitude as much as her music. While the unapologetic Lavigne makes several appearances on the album, it is the more measured young woman who dominates it.
The album's first single "Don't Tell Me" -- a song about not giving in to sex with a guy -- is an adult version of "Complicated," which also features a head-nodding beat and a radio-friendly chorus. The infectious "My Happy Ending" and punked-out "He Wasn't" are the more mature versions of "Sk8er Boi."
The remainder of the songs are much more melodic and often melancholy, such as "Slipped Away." It was written about the loss of Lavigne's grandfather, who died while she was on the road promoting her first album.
"Nobody's Home," a song about overcoming rejection, is perhaps the best song on the album to showcase Lavigne's growth as a songwriter. The music was co-written with former Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody and his influence is evident in the song's dark sound.
"PRIVATE BRUBECK REMEMBERS"
Dave Brubeck
(Telarc)
ssss This impressive outing finds 83-year-old jazz legend Dave Brubeck waxing nostalgic as he offers solo piano interpretations of 14 songs from the World War II era. The CD's release coincides with the 60th anniversary of D-Day, but these tunes with their themes of separation from loved ones, uncertainty about the future and joyful thoughts of coming home take on added poignancy today when troops again are at risk far away.
The masterful performances are vintage Brubeck replete with the thick chordal playing, classical influences, soaring melody lines and rhythmic and harmonic inventiveness that long ago established him as a major figure in modern jazz. The tunes are sequenced in almost autobiographical order, starting with the sadness of parting expressed in "For All We Know" and concluding with the brightly optimistic "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," which starts softly and builds in intensity.
In between, Brubeck offers many gems: a bouncy rendition of "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree [With Anyone Else But Me]"; a sentimental "Lili Marlene," a tune he grew to love despite hearing it played by Axis Sally on German radio; and an emotionally stirring version of "Where or When." There are also two original Brubeck tunes: "We Crossed the Rhine," with its rumbling rhythms depicting trucks crossing a pontoon bridge into Germany, and the first ballad he ever wrote, "Weep No More," dedicated to his wife, Iola, when he realized he had survived the war.
This is a release befitting an American legend, a must for longtime Brubeck fans as well as newcomers interested in experiencing his music.
"TIMELESS JOURNEY"
Patti LaBelle
(Def Soul Classics)
sss Time isn't always kind to veteran R & amp;B icons. Not that their voices fail them, but all too often acts like Gladys Knight, the Temptations and the Isley Brothers make the misguided attempt to compete with younger upstarts. It's occasionally commercially lucrative (for the Isleys, anyway) but in the process, these artists bury everything distinctive about them in an effort to be trendy.
Patti LaBelle does collaborate with Floetry and Babyface on "Timeless Journey," her best CD in who knows when, but smooth R & amp;B songs like the anthemic "New Day" and "Hear My Cry" are emotionally deep and befit a woman of LaBelle's age and experience.
Not everything is special -- "When You Smile," a Celia Cruz tribute featuring Carlos Santana and Sheila E., is forgettable Latin-lite. Still, "Timeless Journey" almost lives up to its title and fans of LaBelle's vocals will find she's in fighting form.
"HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR"
Big & amp; Rich
(Warner Bros.)
sss Mainstream country hasn't heard anything quite like Big & amp; Rich, and the shocking thing is that bassist John Rich is an outcast from one of country's slickest (and lamest) acts, Lonestar.
"Country Music Without Prejudice" is the duo's motto on the opening "Rollin' [The Ballad of Big and Rich]," a track that manages to crib from Limp Bizkit, hip-hop, arena rock and country all at once -- and even throw in a line or two in Spanish -- and still work.
Sure, there's a novelty element at play here, on cuts like the single "Save a Horse [Ride a Cowboy]," which manages to land the phrase "bling-bling" on country radio. The testosterone-packing, punny Big & amp; Rich would be easy to disregard as a gimmick meant to lure younger men back to country after enduring a steady stream of polished, melodramatic singers, but musically solid tracks like "Wild West Show" and "Big Time" transcend the snark.
Between Big & amp; Rich and newcomer Gretchen Wilson (they collaborate on her album "Here for the Party" and she returns the favor here), country radio is being shaken and it's quite stirring.