'A TIME TO LOVE'

'A TIME TO LOVE'
Stevie Wonder
Motown Records
sss (out of four)
Stevie Wonder's "A Time to Love" isn't perfect. But in the context of Wonder's latter-day career, it's as ideal as we can reasonably expect.
For his first album in 10 years, there are moments when he ramps up the urgency. "If Your Love Cannot Be Moved," a duet with Kim Burrell, is one of several epic productions, a six-minute blend of African drums, hip-hop beats and dark strings. The limber "Please Don't Hurt My Baby" nods to "Superstition"-styled funk, while "So What the Fuss" comes with a buzz-bass bounce.
Still, as he has for two decades, Wonder clings to languid balladry. The best of the slow stuff works because of a nuanced, jazzy sophistication ("Moon Blue," "The Sweetest Somebody I Know"), but Wonder occasionally loiters in the lukewarm zone of adult contemporary pop, minus the melodies that could redeem it all.
Overall, though, it's clear the creative juices are flowing again. On the nine-minute title track with guest vocalist India.Arie, Wonder gathers all the elements for the kind of pyschoactive sonic stew that marked his early '70s work, driving home the simple love message found on each of the album's 15 tracks.
--Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press
'ROYAL ALBERT HALL/LONDONMAY 2-3-5-6 2005'
Cream
Reprise
sss (out of five)
The members of rock's greatest power trio, Cream's Eric Clapton (guitar), Jack Bruce (bass) and Ginger Baker (drums) did manage to put their differences and egos aside when they reunited to play a few well-received songs at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction back in 1993. But until this past spring, the band hadn't played any full-length concerts together since it broke up in 1968. So did Cream cut the mustard after all these years when it performed in May at London's Royal Albert Hall, the same site as its then-final shows in the late '60s? Sure, in a pleasing, but slightly low-key way.
All three musicians are now in their 60s, so one doesn't get the sort of frantic, high-energy interplay and improvisation of their early days. Disappointing too is that only "Sunshine of Your Love" and "We're Going Wrong" from "Disraeli Gears," arguably Cream's best album, are included here.
But really, why quibble with the reunion that few thought would ever or even could ever happen, with Bruce having survived a liver transplant, plus Clapton's and Baker's long battles with drugs and alcohol. With the group's playing far more genteel and restrained these days, many joys remain, such as Bruce's still-magnificent vocal and bass chops, Baker's octopus-like tom-tom runs, and Clapton's deft fretwork.
Everything about the project is a bit nostalgic and safe. But who cares, when it involves an essential, blues-rock band that changed the face of popular music.
--Martin Bandyke, Detroit Free Press
'TIMELESS'
Martina McBride
RCA
ss (out of four)
Nashville's queen of soccer-mom pop makes a bid for country credibility with this collection of classic tunes originally recorded by the likes of Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn and Merle Haggard, but she comes up short as often as not. McBride manages to wring real pain from Wynette's "Til I Can Make It on My Own" and has a heartfelt moment on Buddy Holly's "True Love Ways," but elsewhere she stumbles in the believability department. Her too-smooth "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "You Win Again" fall flat, and a cover of Lynn Anderson's "[I Never Promised You a] Rose Garden " is merely karaoke-pretty.
--Greg Crawford, Detroit Free Press
'ALL THE RIGHT REASONS'
Nickelback
Roadrunner
s (out of four)
The Grammys should introduce a category for bands like Nickelback: Unintentional Comedy Album.
The Canadian quartet would win in a landslide, as it doesn't get more laughable than the fusion of generic ''80s metal, post-grunge heft, and Penthouse Forum-inspired scenarios on their fifth disc.
"Animals" sounds like the Coors Light Twins commercials. And on "Next Contestant," singer Chad Kroeger borrows the plotline from any number of late-night Cinemax flicks: Boyfriend gets jealous watching stripper girlfriend getting propositioned, aims to do something about it.
Ironically, the attempted high-life parody "Rockstar," a cross between Toby Keith and Kid Rock, is inadvertently humorless.
--Patrick Berkery, Philadelphia Inquirer
'CANVAS'
Robert Glasper
Blue Note
sss (out of four)
For a hot young pianist, Robert Glasper, 26, is easy to take. While earlier keyboard titans have been dangerous or iconoclastic, the Houston-born Glasper is like medicine on a lollipop: It tastes good and is more complex than you might think.
Much of this set with bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Damion Reid sounds like Herbie Hancock at his most accessible. Glasper creates compositions with glow and verve, and there's this light groove thing generally working in the background that leavens the intellectual air of this set.
"Canvas," which has tenor saxophonist Mark Turner sitting in on the winsome title track, isn't big on climaxes. It doesn't stun so much as subtly impress.
--Karl Stark, Philadelphia Inquirer
'THE CAMPFIRE HEADPHASE'
Boards of Canada
Warp
ssss (out of four)
The warm, melodic, melancholy electronic music produced by reclusive Scottish duo Boards of Canada sparks a passionate response from fans, so it's no surprise that the pair's new album, "The Campfire Headphase," is highly anticipated. "Headphase" finds Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin (who revealed they're brothers in an recent interview) embracing the use of guitars more than ever before within the structures of the group's majestic, treacly electronic layers.
Such tracks as the woozily elegant "Peacock Tail," methodical "Satellite Anthem Icarus," head-swooning "Hey Saturday Sun" or the multi-layered "Dayvan Cowboy" are just a few highlights. BOC's knack for creating spellbinding loops amidst a sea of vocal samples, chirps and environmental sounds is stronger than ever.
--Tim Pratt, Detroit Free Press