'THE GREATEST'

'THE GREATEST'
Cat Power (Matador Records)
Grade: C+
Disclaimer: I love Cat Power. Admission: I don't love her latest release.
Cat Power, whose real name is Chan (pronounced Shawn) Marshall, plays piano and guitar, but she's best known for her immediately identifiable scratchy, otherworldly, love-it-or-hate-it voice.
Her latest release, "The Greatest," is heralded as the songwriter's return to her Southern roots. The Georgia native culled her band from some of Memphis' best R & amp;B players including Al Green's guitarist and songwriting partner Mabon "Teenie" Hodges and his brother, Leroy "Flick" Hodges on bass.
And they sound great -- mournful and lonesome, bluesy and jangly.
But Power's vocals just don't mesh. It's a combination that could've been brilliant if a connection was made, but through most of the CD, I wondered whether Power was in the same studio with the band. On some songs, like "Could We," with its happy-go-lucky guitar and lilting horn section offset by Power trying to sound equally light, the result is downright discordant.
-- Kim Curtis, Associated Press
'SHE WANTS REVENGE'
She Wants Revenge (Flawless/Geffen)
Grade: B-
"Take my hand and smack me in the mouth, my love," Justin Warfield sings with booming solemnity in "Monologue," one of the twisted love songs that fill this single-minded debut album.
The Los Angeles duo of Warfield and Adam Bravin has packed the disc with tales of decadence and dysfunction, which shouldn't surprise anyone who's caught their radio hit "Tear You Apart," a precisely detailed depiction of a couple's surrender to lust that includes the off-the-wall caution "there's always repercussions when you're dating in school." (Women who complain that men keep everything bottled up should be impressed by SWR's inclination toward exhaustive wordiness.)
"Tear You Apart" might not even be the catchiest song on the album, which rolls along at a relentlessly driving pace (with a couple of ballad breaks). The retro '80s sound settles in a narrow range between Joy Division spareness and Killers lushness, but as worked up as Warfield gets and as steamy as the situations might be, there's always something icy about the music.
There's a surprising emotional generosity in some of the songs, but instead of handling these lurid scenarios with a shadowy, noir touch, SWR tends to shine a floodlight on them, making it all hard-edged and vivid instead of mysterious. Some matters are better served by suggestion.
-- Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times
'FILM SCHOOL'
Film School (Beggars Banquet)
Grade: C
The San Francisco band Film School adopted a name that implies a cinematic sound. That's appropriate. The group's name also implies amateurish pretense. That's appropriate, too.
Bridging modern shoe-gazer and slow-core rock to the 1980s, "Film School" floods the air with ponderous sounds reminiscent of The Cure and Echo & amp; The Bunnymen. Such bands are worth imitating -- every generation needs these kinds of acts -- and Film School captures the beauty of limited-chord drones and the quiet despair of vocals washed over by lingering waves of electricity.
Yet the evolution of songs on "Film School" is sluggish, and the cuts eventually arrive at predictable climaxes. Murky refrains hang up in protracted loops, and Film School deprives its listeners of a viable focal point.
Also, singer/guitarist Krayg Burton could learn from The Cure's vocalist Robert Smith, who pushed his plaintive voice to the edge of tediousness without losing his audience's sympathy. Burton merely whines.
This release is just a clever hook or two away from breaking the band from the indie-rock pack, so a wise Film School will get a few lessons in accessibility before returning to the studio.
-- Chuck Campbell, Knight Ridder
'YOUR MAN'
Josh Turner (MCA Nashville)
Grade: A
"Long Black Train," Turner's smash hit debut album in 2003, put this newcomer on the track to country success. His second effort cements his place as a rising star, showing off considerable strengths, which have matured and become even better.
One of those strengths is the sheer power of his twangy voice. It's extra deep, resonant and rich.
Most of the forms of traditional and contemporary country music are covered here. Turner moves smoothly from dreamy ballads to waltzes to hints of bluegrass to uptempo romps to heavy spirituality, all of which he does effectively and with palpable confidence.
John Anderson's vocals help make "White Noise" a spicy barroom honky-tonker. Ralph Stanley adds his distinctive voice to an uplifting quick-stepper, "Me And God."
Several numbers have melody hooks that will have you pushing the repeat button. There are no weaknesses among these 11 knockout songs.
-- Ken Rosenbaum, Toledo Blade
'FROM A COMPOUND EYE'
Robert Pollard (Merge)
Grade: B
In the time it takes to read this, Robert Pollard -- lo-fidelity enthusiast, ex-Guided by Voices leader -- will record another song. That's how the cheaply produced songwriter of catchy quirk rolls: fast, funny, furious.
With 26 tunes of punk, psych, prog and pop (Bob's "four P's," executed, sometimes, simultaneously) crammed into 70-plus minutes of his first official solo effort since GBV's breakup, not every track is genius (see the listless "A Flowering Orphan"). Or recorded beyond the hiss of two tracks.
Yet, along with his rushed, jumbled phraseology, weirdly easy intonation, and contagious melody (particularly "I'm a Widow" and "Dancing Girls and Dancing Men") come Pollard's chiming guitars and an epic dynamism on the new, grand "Boy in Motion," a song styling left over from GBV's "Half Smiles of the Decomposed" finale.
Smashing stuff from pop's most prolific songwriter.
-- A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer
'AMORE'
Andrea Bocelli (Sugar/Decca)
Grade: B+
Just in time for Valentine's Day, the Italian tenor turns his gossamer vocal cords to uber-romantic songs delivered mostly in the Romance languages, with a couple in English tossed in for good measure.
Unlike a lot of classically minded singers who hope to broaden their audience -- and their bank balances -- Bocelli has a good feel for pop material. He won't supplant Elvis with his reading of "Can't Help Falling in Love," but his easy handling of syncopated rhythms and the occasional delayed phrasing a la Sinatra show he's not merely reciting notes on a page.
He's squarely in Josh Groban territory on "Amore," no coincidence given the help he gets from Groban's mentor, superstar producer-arranger David Foster. "Amapola" is as ideal a romantic bonbon as anyone could hope for, Bocelli's delicate tone and dreamy delivery perfectly conveying the sense of longing.
Sometimes the orchestral backing slathers on too much syrupy sweetness; he's most effective in simpler arrangements with acoustic guitar and percussion with a subtle Latin jazz-pop slant.
A couple of big-name guests -- Christina Aguilera and Stevie Wonder (pretty much evident only for his harmonica work) -- bring more marquee value than musical enhancement, but it's really Bocelli's show, and in the woefully thin field of adult pop, he finds himself solidly at home.
-- Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times