‘BRAVE’

‘BRAVE’

Jennifer Lopez (Epic)

Grade: D

Given Jennifer Lopez’s thin voice, it’s hard to expect greatness when she puts out an album. But “Brave” disappoints even for J.Lo-adjusted standards. Chock full of tepid dance grooves, Lopez’s voice has never sounded so weak and marginal as on this record.

After recording a Spanish-language album earlier this year, “Brave” is a return to Lopez’s R&B-club roots — the kind of grooves that helped make her a multi-platform superstar.

In the past, Lopez scored big hits with sparkling jams that hid her vocal flaws while enticing listeners with irresistible beats. Those kind of tracks are hard to find on “Brave,” which contains plenty of fourth-rate songs that sound like they were made for Brooke Hogan instead of an A-lister like Lopez.

“Do It Well” sounds dated and recycled thanks to the song’s reliance on a sample of “Keep on Truckin’,” already heavily used in hip-hop, as does “Gotta Be There,” which uses a sample of Michael Jackson’s overused “Gotta Be Where You Are.” This is a woman known for her designer duds and oversized bling — can’t she afford better production?

Even songs with original material are often weak, like “Mile in These Shoes,” on which Lopez’ voice sounds particularly nasal.

There are a few songs where Lopez manages to charm, mainly thanks to the strength of the song. The bouncy “Stay Together” is fun, mainly because the lyrics — “Stay together, that’s the new trend” — are particularly captivating, given Lopez’s much-publicized breakups.

And “I Need Love” is a nice enough uptempo groove. Still, it’s not something you’ll be rushing to hear a second time — a sentiment that summarizes most of “Brave.”

— Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Associated Press

‘ROCK N ROLL JESUS’

Kid Rock (Top Dog/Atlantic Records)

Grade: B

Since “Devil Without a Cause” propelled him out of Detroit clubs and into the national consciousness, Kid Rock has churned out a series of what you might call dust discs: albums colorful and lively enough to stir fans’ interest, but not remarkable enough to earn longtime listening. They got bought, they got played ... then wound up gathering dust on a shelf.

The Michigan star may escape that fate with “Rock N Roll Jesus,” his first studio effort since 2003 and his stickiest collection of songs in nearly a decade. That doesn’t mean the album is some transcendent creative masterpiece, despite what Rock himself appears to believe, given the album’s occasionally earnest tone. But within the Kid Rock universe, amid the expectations and standards that operate there, “Rock N Roll Jesus” is a standout record.

The album, a celebration of classic rock and of Rock’s own distinct redneck-fab world, is the most soundly designed, thought-out record since “Devil” in 1998. If nothing else, the album’s early stretch — led by the funk-touched title track and the message song “Amen” — reveals work as tuneful as anything he’s ever put to tape.

This is Kid Rock on a classic-rock bender. Robust drums and brown-toned guitar leads chug along. The shredded vocal that Rock has steadily mastered since he morphed from suburban rapper into hard-rock singer is more finely tuned, the full-throttle shouts giving way to more mobile melodies.

More than anything, it all sounds familiar — brimming with the sorts of catchy hooks and concert-ready choruses that have long appealed to classic-rock listeners. And while that accessibility is the album’s biggest strength, it’s also the greatest vulnerability. In summoning a vintage vibe, Rock risks accusations that he’s committed an easy cut-and-paste act.

Nowhere is that more glaring than the beach-bummy “All Summer Long,” a writing collaboration with old friend Uncle Kracker, which sits atop the well-worn piano riff of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” and laces itself up with a Lynyrd Skynyrd guitar lick. Sympathetic listeners might say Rock is simply applying hip-hop’s sampling culture to a rock-’n’-roll format; the less forgiving will charge him with taking shortcuts.

— Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press

‘SONGS OF MASS DESTRUCTION’

Annie Lennox (Arista)

Grade: B

Glen Ballard must have been ecstatic to get his paws on one of the finest instruments in music — Annie Lennox’s voice — when the veteran producer agreed to work on her new, not-so-humbly-titled “Songs of Mass Destruction.” Yet he faced an unusual challenge: He had to avoid making every track sound like an event song, which is hard to do with such a soulful belter.

Whether or not by design, “Songs of Mass Destruction” has a couple of throwaways, “Womankind” and “Big Sky,” that relieve the pressure built up by the emotional magnitude of the other cuts on the release.

To their credit, Ballard and Lennox also cooked up a sonic variety that finds her occasionally sinking into understated, keyboard-based arrangements, including a striking “Lost” that mourns the callous direction humanity has taken, and the gorgeous closer, “Fingernail Moon,” that finds her employing subtle persuasion. Meanwhile, the grim “Dark Road” serves as a quietly dark opener until Lennox determinedly storms her way across a pivotal bridge.

Also, in something of a throwback to her 1980s days with Eurythmics, Lennox is sometimes married to electronica, be it in the percolating rhythm of the grandstanding “Through the Glass Darkly” or in the full-throttle dance synthetics of the riveting “Coloured Bedspread.”

Inevitably, “Songs of Mass Destruction” bears exceptional weight, and Ballard and Lennox ultimately accept that “burden” by having her commandeer a pair of gospel-blues-laced powerhouse numbers — a spirited “Love Is Blind,” where she wails, “Oh sugar, when you gonna to come? ... I still want you all the time” and a rowdy “Ghosts in My Machine,” where she howls, “Whoa, come and take this pain away!/Whoa, come and set my spirit free!/I’ve seen too much/I know too much/I hurt too much/I feel too much!”

There’s also no way around the high-drama punch of “Sing,” an awareness-raiser for Nelson Mandela’s 46664 and Treatment Action Campaign, which support those affected by HIV and AIDS. Lennox is joined on the song by some of music’s most famous women, including Madonna, Celine Dion, Shakira, Faith Hill, Sarah McLachlan and Pink. Through it all, Lennox’s voice rises above the others and is always the most distinctive.

Ballard had to love that.

— Chuck Campbell, Knoxville News Sentinel

‘MANTARAY’

Siouxsie (Decca)

Grade: B

After three decades of influencing the music industry, Siouxsie Sioux makes an unexpectedly bold move on her solo debut: She opens her heart.

“Mantaray” doesn’t offer the stylistic innovation that Siouxsie fans have come to expect by way of her frontwoman position in Siouxsie & The Banshees and The Creatures, but the singer has never sounded more human, which is a risky venture for an icon who has built her mystique on being enigmatic.

In an August interview with The Sunday Times, the singer divulged her divorce from her producer/drummer Budgie -- a disclosure that preempts assumptions of a separation hinted at by “Mantaray’s” unifying theme of disillusionment.

So with the split out in the open, fans can digest the full impact of Siouxsie’s pain and resolve, starting with her announcement, “Don’t be surprised, this change in my design” on the wired, psychedelic opener, “Into a Swan.”

“Change” in this instance is more lyrical than musical. Siouxsie collaborated with Steve Evans and Charlie Jones to produce a “Mantaray” sound not unlike the adventurous pop of the late-1980s/early-1990s Siouxsie & The Banshees combined with The Creatures’ primal-rhythm focus that followed. And her expressive, singular voice is the same.

Her undulating vocals drive the infectiousness and peculiar, transcendental importance of cuts such as “About to Happen” and “They Follow You,” the latter of which concludes that you can never leave your troubles entirely in your past, but somehow that’s OK.

Perhaps a more telling assertion is, “There’s a price to pay for a life of insincerity ... Have the courage to mean what you say” on a horn-laced “Here Comes That Day” that could be something from a Bond soundtrack, as could the string-accented “If It Doesn’t Kill You,” where she observes, “If it doesn’t break you, it will make you.”

Siouxsie’s other thoughts drift from the feelings of discomfort she has in her own skin on “Loveless” to the existential ideas of “Sea of Tranquility,” and she and her collaborators concoct a milange of sophisticated pop drawing on everything from glam-rock to cabaret.

The music may be familiar, but Siouxsie’s lyrics have rarely been more interesting.

— Chuck Campbell, Knoxville News Sentinel

‘FAMILY’

LeAnn Rimes (Curb)

Grade: A

With “Family,” LeAnn Rimes matures from a performer into an artist. Not only does this album triumphantly celebrate the difference between a great voice and a great vocalist; the 25-year-old former child star also shows she’s grown into a good songwriter, one brave enough to tell the truth and clever enough to make it entertaining.

Co-writing everything but the two bonus cuts — previously released duets with Reba McEntire and Bon Jovi — her songs focus on relationships. Some are about a woman and her lover, but others probe the complexities of the bond between an adult and her parents, The most striking cuts are the autobiographical title cut and the sensitive ballad, “What I Can Not Change,” featuring the most emotionally raw yet nuanced vocals of Rimes’ career.

Both songs address family issues with unusual candor. Rimes doesn’t fall into the Nashville trait of painting her parents as hard-working and self-sacrificing; her warts-and-all portrayal of those she loves makes her prideful declaration, “I make no apologies, this is my family,” ring true.

Rimes occasionally sidesteps her theme, as on “Nothing Wrong,” a funky, playfully seductive duet with Louisiana soul man Marc Broussard. But even her departures add up to the same conclusion: Rimes has arrived a full-grown, creatively vibrant artist.

— Michael McCall, Associated Press

‘THE CHAIN’

Deana Carter (Vanguard)

Grade: B+

Deana Carter has always followed her own idiosyncratic path. Even her most famous song, “Strawberry Wine,” and her best-selling album, “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” were outside of country music conventions.

So naturally, when she chooses to do an album of cover songs and duets — a common choice for veteran singers these days — she finds an uncommon way to go about it.

For Carter, that means making the album a tribute to her father, well-regarded studio musician Fred Carter Jr., who played on classic rock tracks and country standards. This allows her to perform songs by Bob Dylan (“Lay Lady Lay”), The Band (“The Weight”) and Neil Young (“Old Man”) as well as those by country stars. All of the original versions featured her father on guitar.

For her covers, she often joins with the artist who made the song famous. Paul Simon and his son Harper are on board for her version of “The Boxer,” while she’s also joined by family friends George Jones (“He Thinks I Still Care”), Dolly Parton (a beautiful “Love Is Like a Butterfly”) and Willie Nelson (a cleverly rearranged “On the Road Again”)

Not everything works — Carter should have chosen a different Dylan cover, for example. But when it does, as on a beautifully slowed down take on Roy Orbison’s “Crying,” Carter proves that she remains as unpredictable as she is distinctive.

— Michael McCall, Associated Press