record reviews

R. KELLY

Album: “Love Letter”

Grade: A-

If R. Kelly’s last album, “Untitled,” was all about sex, this year’s entry, “Love Letter” (Jive), is all about love.

He outlines his plan in “Lost in Your Love,” declaring, “I wanna bring the love songs back to the radio” over a gorgeously simple soul backdrop and a “Stop in the Name of Love” beat.

It’s part of a decades-long tour of soul ballads that Kelly uses on “Love Letter,” starting with the ’50s-styled “When a Woman Loves,” which sounds like it could have been done by The Platters, even including a dramatic, ready-for-”American Idol” blowout ending. On “Love Is,” Kelly and newcomer K. Michelle vamp like Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in the ’60s, playing innocent and passionate simultaneously right down to the harmonies and the “darlin’s.”

“Not Feelin’ the Love” feels like a Michael Jackson ballad from the ’70s, especially in the “Off the Wall”-era ad-libs at the end. (Kelly also pays tribute to Jackson with a version of “You Are Not Alone,” which appears as a secret track.)

He does spend some time in the present, with the Ne-Yo-esque title track, which also is unusually sleek, both musically and lyrically for the usually more ornate Kelly. It’s a treat to hear Kelly put all his personal eccentricities and quirks aside to offer up a pure, mainstream album like “Love Letter.”

Of course, that may be because we all know this well-behaved, well-adjusted act probably won’t last long.

—Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday

RYAN ADAMS & THE CARDINALS

Album: “III/IV”

Grade: B+

Ryan Adams is so prolific that entire albums — or, in this case, double albums — can get left behind. But just because Adams forgot about the 21 songs on “III/IV” (Pax Am) for a while doesn’t mean they’re forgettable.

“III” is the more contemplative half, with Adams & the Cardinals getting in touch with his jangler, Whiskeytown alt-country roots in “Stop Playing With My Heart” and “The Crystal Skull.” “IV” is the peppier set, as Adams channels latter-day Paul Westerberg in “No” and gets all hepped-up in the alternately thrilling and touching “Numbers.” “III/IV” is so potent it makes you wonder what else Adams has hiding in his vaults.

—Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday