‘808s & Heartbreak’

November 30, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

‘808s & Heartbreak’

Kanye West (Roc-a-Fella)

Grade: C

Kanye West has finally graduated from his trilogy of college education-themed albums with “808s & Heartbreak.” He has traded intellectual and spiritual enlightenment for relationship hell — and he has also traded frantic dance-floor anthems such as “Jesus Walks,” “Gold Digger” and “Stronger” for somber introspection.

But Kanye fans need not despair — his pain is our gain, starting with the lovely “Say You Will,” on which the rapper displays impressive tenor pipes overtop mellow, ambient production a la French electronic duo Air.

“Welcome to Heartbreak’s” ominous strings frame a life of materialistic regret: ”My friend showed me pictures of his kids/And all I could show him was pictures of my cribs/He said his daughter got a brand new report card/And all I got was a brand new sports car.” Must be lonely at the top.

Other highlights include “Love Lockdown,” one of the most unorthodox hits in recent memory with its stripped-down percussion and isolated piano; the second single “Heartless,” which works well with a beautiful melody and simple but rhythmic rapping overtop a staccato piano riff; “Bad News,” an anti-love letter to a cheating partner: ”Didn’t you know I was waiting on you/Waiting on a dream that’ll never come true;” and the suitably stark “Coldest Winter,” whose tribal drums and funeral organ anchor lyrics such as ”If spring can take the snow away/Can it melt away all our mistakes?”

This is not the album for those who prefer Kanye’s more upbeat style. But West beautifully captures the drama and pain of relationships gone wrong.

—Michael Hamersly, Miami Herald

‘theater of the mind’

Ludacris (Disturbing Tha Peace) Grade: C

Over the past eight years, Ludacris has energized the hip-hop scene with devilishly clever anthems such as “Area Codes,” “Rollout,” “Money Maker” and “Pimpin’ All Over the World.”

But the bulk of “Theater of the Mind,” Luda’s sixth studio album, isn’t especially catchy — and it’s not much fun.

Ludacris — real name Chris Bridges — employs retired boxer Floyd Mayweather on “Undisputed,” which is full of sports references but gets dragged down by monotony; spits tired rhymes about 26-inch rims, smoking blunts and defending the ’hood on “Wish You Would”; and borrows from Jay-Z on “Call Up the Homies” (“It’s about to go down”) and “Southern Gangsta” (“I’m a hustler”). And lines don’t get much more forced — or hurtful — than “Hennessy is my remedy/Takin’ shots like Kennedy” on MVP.

Ludacris is at his best when he shows his serious side. “I Do It for Hip-Hop” features a nice, old-school soul groove and lively raps from Nas and Jay-Z, while “Do the Right Thang” takes Spike Lee’s cinematic call for black enlightenment and adds, of all things, a rooster’s cock-a-doodle-doo.

—Michael Hamersly, Miami Herald

‘X’

Trace Adkins (Capitol Nashville) Grade: C

Trace Adkins’ “Sweet,” a rocker about a hot woman he calls ”diamond bling,” the snarky “Marry for Money” and the ”funk-a-billy” “Better Than I Thought It’d Be” cater to his lighter side on his 10th album. But an improving Adkins applies his commanding baritone to the soldier’s lament, “’Til the Last Shot’s Fired,” a story line that follows a soldier on the Civil War, World War II and Vietnam battlefields. No matter your view on wars or the politics involved, Adkins will touch you with his compassionate take on the elusive nature of peace.

—Howard Cohen, Miami Herald

‘24 Hours’

Tom Jones (S-Curve)

Grade: C-

Tom Jones, 68, uses the occasion of his first American release in 14 years to co-write, for the first time, a number of songs that comment on his colorful past with honesty and surprising candor, as in “The Road,” a melancholy confessional sung to his wife.

“24 Hours,” with production by Future Cut, the U.K. team behind the overrated Lily Allen, also shows new retro acts Amy Winehouse, Duffy and Mark Ronson that the originator of their borrowed sound is back and he’s in powerful voice to upstage the lot of them.

But not all of “24 Hours” is worthy of hype. “Sugar Daddy,” co-written by U2’s Bono and The Edge after a night of drinking, is a cringeworthy hangover as it parodies the very sex bomb image Jones has spent a good deal of the respectable “24 Hours” trying to live down.

—Howard Cohen, Miami Herald

‘Electric Arguments’

The Fireman (ATO/MPL)

Grade: B

The Fireman is Paul McCartney getting his freak on. Do not be alarmed.

This collaboration with Youth allows McCartney to have fun in the studio without feeling the burden of being Sir Paul.

There’s ambient noise, electronica, a dog barking behind tinkling piano and a rocker even more disorienting than “Helter Skelter.” Weird and self-indulgent? You bet, especially the last quarter of “Electric Arguments,” which will sorely test your patience.

But this is Paul McCartney, remember? He dreams three or four good melodies a night, and he’s had a little experience using a music studio as his canvas. In spots, this music recalls the grandeur of Arcade Fire and — if you hadn’t seen Mac’s name on the credits — you might think some hot new alternative rock band had hit the scene.

—David Bauder, Associated Press

‘UNTOLD TRUTHS’

Kevin Costner & Modern West (Universal Republic)

Grade: D

On “Untold Truths,” 53-year-old actor Kevin Costner fashions himself as a kind of new John Mellencamp (who is only 57 himself), and his band Modern West blithely opts to live and die with Costner at the helm, even though he’s the least musically talented in the bunch. As a result, the group shoots for a vintage Eagles sound but ends up more like solo Glenn Frey.

Costner is enveloped in a serviceable country/rock context and launches into a generally unconvincing campaign to identify with the common folk. He isn’t without his relatable moments, as when he projects an empathetic air on “Don’t Lock ’em Away” and when at the end of the release he surprisingly connects as a man who lives in a trailer and is tired of being told what he’s supposed to want out of life.

However, those tracks are the exceptions, and “Untold Truths” is so unbelievably cornball it becomes laugh-out-loud funny. Relying on blurred production to facsimilize an edge and poor enunciation to give the impression of soul, Costner seriously sings about “Living on a farm, working on your pickup truck” (“Leland Iowa”) and carries on about cards in his bicycle-wheel spokes, flowers on the side of the road, Willie Nelson on the radio and cars in his backyard.

—Chuck Campbell, The Knoxville News-Sentinel

‘Happy In Galoshes’

Scott Weiland (Soft Drive/New West)

Grade: C

It’s been 10 years since singer Scott Weiland released a solo album, “12 Bar Blues,” a turbulent period that makes it enough of a miracle that Weiland survived, let alone make music.

Lowered expectations make it easier to appreciate “Happy in Galoshes.” It’s a long, fairly ambitious collection that ranges from boisterous, catchy rock songs in the high points to forgettable pop-flavored ditties in the low.

“Missing Cleveland” is a noisy rocker punctuated by slashes of distorted guitar and amplified by a chorus that’s a densely packed wall of sound.

In the midst of the big arrangement, Weiland’s voice still manages to assert itself. His raspy tenor is ragged but expressive, in kind of an Axl Rose way.

Happy isn’t a pedal-to-the-metal rock album. “Tangle With Your Mind” turns the opener’s propulsive beat on its side for something that’s a cross between country and pop. The presence of dulcimer and lap steel contribute to the twang factor, but the slinky melody and “whoo! whoo!” backing voices add sass.

—Jim Abbott, Orlando Sentinel

‘Off With Their Heads’

Kaiser Chiefs (Universal Motown)

Grade: C

Unrepentant Anglophiles will love the Kaiser Chiefs’ third album, “Off With Their Heads.” It bustles with bouncy new-wave keyboards, catchy sing-along choruses with plenty of whoa-ohs and hey-heys, accents that proudly display the band’s Leeds roots, and good-natured cheeky humor.

It’s a fun album, from the opener, “Spanish Metal,” which sounds like a James Bond theme crossed with a “Magical Mystery Tour” outtake, through the marching, leaping melody “Good Days Bad Days” to “Addicted To Drugs,” a cowbell-driven goof.

There are a few missteps: producer Mark Ronson brings in a gratuitous orchestra on “Like It Too Much,” and ballads like “Tomato In the Rain” are mere placeholders between the extroverted rockers.

—Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer