'ROCK 'N' ROLL' 'ACOUSTIC'

'ROCK 'N' ROLL''ACOUSTIC'
John Lennon
(Capitol)
ss ("Rock 'n' Roll")
s ("Acoustic")
It seems sacrilege to speak ill of John Lennon. In death, especially considering that he perished at the hands of a psycho fan, Lennon has been elevated to sainthood and so every utterance of the ex-Beatle must be hallowed.
Balderdash. When Lennon was alive, people had no qualms about knocking his foibles when warranted, and his post-"Imagine" solo career was a mess. Few championed late-period albums like "Walls and Bridges," "Rock 'n' Roll" or "Double Fantasy" until he was killed.
Under the supervision of Lennon's widow Yoko Ono comes a remastered and expanded reissue of 1975's "Rock 'n' Roll," perhaps the most problematic of Lennon's recordings -- solo or group.
The recording sessions, with a drunken Phil Spector behind the board, were notorious at the time. Lennon, paying tribute to the '50s rock 'n' rollers who had inspired him (Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Leiber/Stoller, Fats Domino), dumped Spector, fought to regain the rights to the tapes, and eventually produced himself.
Still, "Rock 'n' Roll" was poorly received then but now it's being hailed as a lost classic. Don't believe it. The remastering has cleaned the muddy mix, but only a bit, and Lennon only sporadically sounds invested in what he's doing ("Peggy Sue" isn't too bad).
Meanwhile, "Acoustic" is a compilation of sparse demos aimed at collectors. Some of these guitar-and-voice tracks, running the gamut of Lennon's solo output from 1969's "Cold Turkey" through 1980's "Watching the Wheels," have appeared elsewhere. Like the Beatles' "Anthology" sets, "Acoustic" is primarily of interest to Lennon's ardent fans. These working tapes, with rudimentary guitar work and guide vocals, don't illuminate or surpass any of the finished songs and the rough sound doesn't make for an easy listen.
'RAPHAEL SAADIQ AS RAY RAY'
Raphael Saadiq
(Pookie Entertainment)
sss 1/2 Though his wonky genius for future-forward funk hasn't helped quirky Raphael Saadiq sell records, the singer-producer behind "new-jack swing" and "neo-soul" continues to prod at soul-hop's boundaries.
"Ray Ray" is dashingly cinematic, its toes dipped in the waters of R & amp;B, gospel-tronica and blaxploitative sounds without feeling retro.
Although Saadiq the producer flawlessly turns gunshots into sinister infectious rhythms ("Rifle Love") and bass lines into erotic shivers ("Detroit Girl"), it's his convivial storytelling that's most effective.
Saadiq casts himself as "a pimp" throughout his loosely conceptual tale. His chatty croon gets weirdly intimate with socio-conscious concerns (a Curtis Mayfield-ish "Grown Folks") and Iron John sentiment ("Not a Game"). With equal doses of silliness and seriousness, Saadiq's take on the loverman is rare.
'ONE LOVE'
New Edition
(Bad Boy)
ss 1/2 There's not much new about New Edition's eighth effort, but it's certainly peppered with smart moments, mainly via the five-piece's flawless vocal work and a star-studded beat maestro team.
However, "One Love" is often an opportunity for the prolific crooners to smear almost every seemingly soulful sentiment with sexual cliches and lyrical blunders. Even without their "bad boy" Bobby Brown, New Edition adheres to executive producer P. Diddy's reliance on late-night Cinemax content. They flip channels constantly, though, between relationship grumbles ("Last Time") and one-night-stand debauchery ("Hot 2 Nite").
The tight, balanced harmonies are still here, but the innocent, chart-topping Motown throwbacks from 1984 are a distant memory.
'IT WILL ALWAYS BE'
Willie Nelson
(Lost Highway)
sss 1/2 To say Willie Nelson has been coasting lately would be an understatement. Who knows what roused him to do better, but that's just what the Red-Headed Stranger has done with this inspired effort.
Nelson wrote or cowrote only three of the 14 songs on "It Always Will Be," but the album has a lot of the feel and heft of classic Willie. It projects a cohesive vision as it veers from the sober (Tom Waits' "Picture in a Frame") to the silly ("Big Booty"), and as it encompasses starkly intimate country, barroom honky-tonk, supper-club jazz (a duet with Norah Jones), and country-soul (duets with daughter Paula Nelson and Lucinda Williams).
The only real misstep comes at the end with a jarringly loud and not particularly good version of the Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider." It would be more fitting that the album end with the penultimate track, "Texas," Nelson's heartfelt and atmospheric homage to his home state.
'SERENE SERENADE'
Rene Marie
(Maxjazz)
sss Singer Rene Marie is a sultry armful. The Atlanta-based vocalist, who ignited her jazz career after raising two sons, can snuggle up close to a song or treat it like a dance partner.
She wrote nine of the 11 cuts here, backed by sympathetic pianist Takana Miyamoto. Her subjects range from honoring her parents and sons to expressing her frustration as a wife and mother to celebrating a new pair of shoes. The tunes show creativity in their structure, evolving through startling changes, though they exhibit some verbal excess and a bit of a self-conscious poetic approach.
You can hear snippets of Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln, and even some folksingers in Marie's performances, especially on the sentimental "Many Years Ago." Still, she's a highly dramatic performer, whether singing personal songs of breakup and regret, or launching a wonderfully bluesy take of the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night."