'SWITCH'

'SWITCH'
INXS (Epic) ss
What's worse? A faded rock band privately replacing its lead singer with a sound-alike whose name even rhymes with the departed member the way Journey did when Steve Perry bolted and was replaced by clone Steve Augeri?
Or is what INXS did to replace its charismatic leader Michael Hutchence cheesier?
INXS' methodology may feel that way, given that Hutchence died under mysterious circumstances in 1997, and even when he was alive the band's popularity had waned in the '90s. In case you missed this summer's TV reality show "Rock Star: INXS," the aging Aussies hosted a contest in which they selected a winner to fill the vacant lead singer slot.
Out on top? Toronto heartthrob J.D. Fortune, 32, who can swing a mean Michael Hutchence impersonation on new tracks like "Devil's Party" and "Switch's" insanely infectious first single "Pretty Vegas."
The band pays tribute to Hutchence with the CD's closing ballad, "God's Top Ten," in which they imagine the late frontman rocking the charts in the hereafter. This is so not the return of "Rock 'n' Roll Heaven."
If INXS manages to survive for another album, the men will likely look back on "Switch" as a transitional effort. Rush-recorded to meet a deadline, with the group cutting its parts separately, most of the songs were also pre-written with outside song doctors, so creativity and originality are lacking. After a promising INXS-like start with "Devil's Party" and "Pretty Vegas" most of the rest lapses into anonymous, American Idol-style formula pop.
--Howard Cohen, Miami Herald
'THE RISING TIED'
Fort Minor (Warner Bros./Machine Shop) ss
The rock/rap genre seemed out of gas when Linkin Park refueled it half a decade ago with its breakout debut, "Hybrid Theory." So perhaps the anachronistic sound of Fort Minor's "The Rising Tied" won't be a fatal condition for the debut release from the hip-hop side project of Linkin Park rapper Mike Shinoda.
But it sure sounds dead on arrival.
Still, Shinoda is a smidge closer to Eminem than he is to Vanilla Ice, making up for his nondescript vocals and flow with a fair amount of lyrical depth and variety. And although he's practically a one-man show with the sparse and unimaginative instrumentation on "The Rising Tied," he flushes out the sound with a scattering of guest vocalists and a boost from executive producer Jay-Z, who collaborated with Linkin Park for the 2004 EP "Collision Course."
The Fort Minor debut is hardly inspiring, yet it's partly redeemed by a handful of diverting cuts such as the rumbling "Petrified," which playfully rides a House of Pain/videogame vibe, and "Believe Me," the lone track that approximates a rock/rap style, and does so with a swerving, organic groove.
--Chuck Campbell, Knoxville News-Sentinel
'BULLET IN A BIBLE'
Green Day (Reprise) ssss
There can be no argument: Green Day is the most successful punk band ever.
The measures are commercial viability, longevity and the ability to take its music to the masses without compromising punk's unbridled aggression. It has all the bases covered, and this live release, which comes with a DVD, proves it.
Together for 16 years, Green Day has outlived the Clash, the Sex Pistols and any other band that plays whiplash three-chord rockers. The Ramones never had the commercial success Green Day realized with 2004's "American Idiot," which is still spinning off radio hits.
And "Bullet In A Bible" proves that, for good or ill, the California rockers still play full-on punk. At its best, the music is brutally forceful, especially as the band tears through most of "Idiot." But it is punk with a large dollop of arena rock thrown in, which, in large doses, means when the adrenaline rush of a full-force bashing wears off, the effect becomes tedious.
What saves the day for Green Day is the fact that these guys really do have something important to say about their country, and front man Billie Joe Armstrong writes rock operas like an American Pete Townshend. "Bible In A Bullet" is the sound of a band in its prime and proof that punk can grow old before it dies.
-- Rod Lockwood, Toledo Blade
'A LITTLE MORE PERSONAL'
Lindsay Lohan (Hollywood) sss
Take that, Ashlee and Hilary: Lindsay Lohan ups the teen-pop-star ante by adding a novel ingredient: psychodrama. On her second album, the "Herbie: Fully Loaded" actress comes out screaming at her father, Michael, with whom she has a troubled relationship that's familiar tabloid fodder. "Daughter to father," she shouts out in "Confessions of a Broken Heart." "Tell me the truth/Did you ever love me?" It's not the most tuneful song in the world, but the angst grabs your attention.
The rest of "A Little More" is a little uneven, and often smacks of -- could it be? -- crass calculation. But conviction counts for a lot, and Lohan sings every word of confessionals like "I Live For The Day" and "Who Loves You" as if she really, really means it.
--Dan DeLuca, Miami Herald
'DRINKING SONGS & amp; OTHER LOGIC'
Clint Black (Equity) sss
Just when you thought it would never happen again, Clint Black goes and makes another good album. To be sure, this is no "Killin' Time," the singer's instant-classic 1989 debut, but it's far superior to his disappointing work of the last dozen years. With just one misfire (the silly "Undercover Cowboy"), Black gets back to honky-tonk basics with a set of focused, catchy songs that flow as easily as the booze while addressing issues in the barroom and beyond.
--Nick Cristiano, Miami Herald