'WHO YOU FIGHTING FOR?'

'WHO YOU FIGHTING FOR?'
UB40 (Rhino)
Grade: C
Reggae is such a laidback music genre, it would be unbecoming for one of its acts to just blow the roof off the charts and score scalding sales. So the success of UB40 seems appropriately modest. The U.K.-based act has scattered a few hits over the past couple of decades, including two No. 1s in the United States -- 1988's "Red Red Wine" and 1993's "Can't Help Falling in Love."
UB40 is due for another No. 1, and considering its greatest success has come with cover material, the group's new "Who You Fighting For?" offers prime candidates. Top on the list is the remake of The Manhattans' 1976 No. 1 "Kiss and Say Goodbye," which rides a smooth, horn-punctuated groove and gets a flavorful lift from the gently refined soul of UB40 vocalist Ali Campbell.
There's also a fine-sounding, easygoing cover of Gene Chandler's 1970 hit "Groovy Situation," though UB40 redubs it "Good Situation" and drops the "can you dig it?" refrains. (If the band thought "groovy" and "dig it" were too corny for the 21st century, perhaps it should have passed on the song altogether and avoided the distracting "modernizations.")
"Who You Fighting For?" features three more remakes -- including a lilting rendition of the relatively obscure Lennon/McCartney song, "I'll Be On My Way," recorded by The Beatles in 1963 but not released until 1994 -- yet a few of UB40's own songs eclipse those.
Sometimes the new, original material offers messages with a kick, such as the anti-war/anti-establishment title track ("You do the shootin'/They do the lootin'," goes the chorus), the anti-materialism "Bling Bling" ("Diamonds and pearls, they don't mean a thing") and the languid "War Poem."
-- Chuck Campbell, Knoxville News-Sentinel
'LIGHTS AND SOUNDS'
Yellowcard (Capitol)
Grade: C-
What was Yellowcard's "Ocean Avenue" if not shiny punk with a violin, yearning, contagious songs ruminating about girls or parents -- courtesy of Ryan Key -- that narrowly avoided the frenetic emotion of emo?
Lights answers that question by oozing uncomfortably toward emo-adulthood.
Take Light's blend of creepily sensitive rhetoric and outlandish arrangements (singing to your unborn kid on "How I Go," talking to a soldier in "Two Weeks From Twenty,"), as well as a running character, Holly Wood, meant to portray Key's moods. Both of them.
Ugh.
Thankfully, Yellowcard inevitably leaps backward to the brusque-yelping pop. The rousing buzz of the title track, the neo-glam of "Martin Sheen or JFK" (to say nothing of its happily weird lyrics), the trashy pomp of "Holly Wood Died" -- even when these songs linger in grandiosity, they don't stand there long. They run and play. Like kids should.
--A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer
'THERE YOU ARE AGAIN'
Livingston Taylor (Whistling Dog Music)
Grade: B
He's like an old friend who comes around once a year and settles down on the couch for a cup of hot coffee and friendly conversation. That's Livingston Taylor: a companionable singer/songwriter, polished and safe.
Which is a good thing for loyal fans that expect nothing less than finely wrought adult pop music. For the uninitiated, however, it may seem a little too sappy.
The sheer professionalism of "There You Are Again" is inarguable. Working with folks like Carly Simon, his older brother James, and gospel singers Take Six, in addition to a bunch of session aces, Taylor's 13th release is an exercise in top-notch professionalism.
"Yes," an ode to doing the right thing in a relationship -- say "yes" a lot -- is an example of Taylor's m.o. It's bouncy, with lyrics that are thoroughly grown-up, saying a lot about how you get along with someone else. "Best of Friends," the duet with Simon, is an opening call to arms, and an expression of honest appreciation for a long-lasting friendship.
Songs like these are on the safe side of sentimental. But on a couple of tracks, most notably "My Baby Don't Mind," Taylor gets carried away with the sweetness, casting a woman in such an idealistic light she seems just too perfect.
Taylor proves once and for all that as a songwriter and arranger he long ago escaped the shadow of his more famous brother.
-- Rod Lockwood, (Toledo) Blade
'LONG WALK TO FREEDOM'
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
(Heads Up International)
Grade: B+
Listening to a song by Ladysmith Black Mambazo is practically a religious experience thanks to the inspirational sound of their deep, a capella vocals. Each number is hymnlike, whether they're doing a slow ballad or a rousing number, melding the sounds of South Africa with the spirituality of gospel.
On "Long Walk To Freedom," the eight men mark the 20th anniversary of the beginning of their worldwide popularity, more than 10 years after they began making music, with their work on Paul Simon's 1986 hit album "Graceland." Here, the group has redone 12 of its classic hits, but with a twist.
While the songs still have the impact they did originally, several guest artists lend their voices to these tracks and the result is fresh and exciting. A 13th selection, a bonus track called "Thula Thula," features the solo voice of group founder, Joseph Shabalala.
-- Ken Rosenbaum, (Toledo) Blade
'BLACK CADILLAC'
Rosanne Cash (Capitol)
Grade: B
In a span of barely two years, Rosanne Cash lost her father, Johnny Cash, stepmother, June Carter Cash, and mother, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin.
Given this litany of loss, it's no surprise to hear her grieving on her new studio album. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance are all very much in evidence. What is surprising on this compelling release is its lack of slick sentimentality and its abundance of grace and intelligence. For an album about dealing with the death of loved ones, it's utterly life affirming.
Take the foreboding title song: Sure, it has funereal images ("It was a black Cadillac that drove you away ... it was a black sky of rain/None of it fell/Now one of us gets to go to heaven/One has to stay here in hell"), but the U2-style guitars and "Ring of Fire" horns help make things cathartic, not lethargic. Plus, one can't help but think that Johnny Cash had a lot of high times in some black Cadillacs before he was taken away in one to his final resting place.
Cash's musical memoir rarely slackens in quality or intensity. The bluesy "House on the Lake," a Proustian recollection of Johnny's and June's residence in Nashville, is filled with small, meaningful images. "God is in the Roses," which does utilize the old rose-thorn, yin-yang metaphors, is powerful nonetheless.
Dignified, exquisitely humane and personal, the overriding message of "Black Cadillac" is perhaps best expressed in the song "I Was Watching You": "Long after life/there is love."
-- Martin Bandyke, Detroit Free Press
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