record reviews

December 25, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

COMMON

Album: “The Dreamer, the Believer”

Grade: A-

Somehow, Common became ensnared in one of the year’s most ridiculous feeding frenzies, as his invitation to the White House for his poetry became controversial for a few lines he wrote in political protest. Yes, Common — the Grammy-winning, deeply religious rapper and author, the advocate for underprivileged children — saw his well-cultivated reputation smeared for days. His response? He created what may be his best album yet, “The Dreamer, the Believer” (Think Common).

It opens with a stunning new poem from Maya Angelou and closes with a spoken word performance from his father, Lonnie “Pops” Lynn, on “Pops Belief.” But in between, Common has a new spark — the fire of his earlier work combined with the experience he has gained over the years — fanned by the compelling creations of producer No I.D.

Common takes on all comers in “Sweet,” a hard-hitting, classic twist on hip-hop battle rhyming, where he declares, “I am to hip-hop what Obama is to politics.” His collaboration with Nas on “Ghetto Dreams” is fueled by an ideal of being “half hood, half class.” With “The Dreamer, the Believer,” Common shows that his faith in hip-hop as an agent of change has only deepened.

— Glenn Gamboa, Newsday

YOUNG JEEZY

Album: “TM-103: Hustlerz Ambition”

Grade: B

Young Jeezy says “TM-103: Hustlerz Ambition” (Island Def Jam) will be the final installment in his “Thug Motivation” series, which is probably for the best. It’s a great concept that’s hard to live up to, though he does manage it here with some help from his friends. “I Do” with Jay-Z and Andre 3000 is a smart twist on modern love, as is “Leave You Alone” with Ne-Yo, while Jill Scott is fierce in “Trapped.” Unfortunately, when Jeezy comes up short, the high points make it more noticeable.

— Glenn Gamboa, Newsday

T-PAIN

Album: “rEVOLVEr” (RCA)

Grade: B

You’re forgiven if you dismissed T-Pain as stupid. Didn’t A Perfect Circle already use the album title “rEVOLVEr”? And his tales of boozed-up sex aren’t helped by two outlets for the creepy Chris Brown. But this is the Auto-Tune king’s third-straight album to elevate more than half the ultra-dumb tracks with his smart, alien melodic sense. One of the Brown tracks is actually a winner (“Look at Her Go”), and Lil Wayne’s “Thong Song”-esque “Bang Bang Pow Pow” beats their odious collab from his own 2011 record. Other dumb pleasures include an ode to mixed-race girls and a team-up with a barely noticeable Lily Allen. But the master of ceremonies should never again attempt a five-minute ballad about drowning.

— Dan Weiss, Philadelphia Inquirer

RAMMSTEIN

Album: “Made in Germany 1995-2011” (Universal)

Grade: A

Rammstein is Germany’s most crucial band, a standard-bearer of the Neue Deutsche Harte (“new German hardness”) movement, and an act whose singular aesthetic made them as iconic as their countrymen Kraftwerk. Its initial brand of epically Wagnerian melody, industrial rhythmic tumult, and arena rawk — topped with the commanding lyrics of Till Lindemann, an ex-Olympic swimmer — eventually gave way, in part, to softer tones, supple grooves and tender storylines. Yet Rammstein never lost its incendiary force, figuratively and literally, as the operatic Lindemann has appeared engulfed in flames onstage — the best place to see the act.

This package acts as an introduction to the aforementioned roar of Rammstein’s German-language past and present. While the towering inferno of “Du Riechst So Gut ’98” and “Feuer Frei!” get hotter with new remixes, much of its catalogue is left happily untouched to stew in its own juices. Rammstein is hardly averse to singing satirically in English about the sway the United States holds over the planet, yet takes even greater delight in poking frantic fun at its own home in the new “Mein Land.”

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

ANTHONY HAMILTON

Album: “Back To Love” (RCA)

Grade: B

Anthony Hamilton is a throwback soul singer with a rich, gruff, manly voice who recalls such rugged ’60s masters as James Carr and Otis Redding. The North Carolina native isn’t the most exciting or dynamic presence in contemporary R&B, but he may well be the steadiest and most solid. Hamilton raises his game with songs that don’t stint on the details of everyday life or pull punches, emotionally speaking. Standout cuts are the fiery Babyface collab “Mad” and the sobering James Poyser (of the Roots) co-write “Life Has a Way.”

— Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer

THE KENTUCKY HEADHUNTERS

Album: “Dixie Lullabies” (Red Dirt)

Grade: B

It’s been 22 years since the Kentucky HeadHunters raised a little ruckus with their highly entertaining debut, “Pickin’ on Nashville,” and since then they haven’t changed all that much. The lineup might have shifted for a while, but the current group consists of four of the five original members.

In other words, the “lullabies” of the title is a bit of a joke. The HeadHunters are still a bunch of long-haired Southern rockers who like it raw and loud. “She’s in love with the swagger of my low-hung Les Paul Standard,” goes one number, summing up the essential vibe. If the formula remains largely the same, the group is still getting plenty of mileage out of it — in fact, this is one of the quartet’s stronger, more sharp-witted sets. Riff-heavy rockers and boogies still dominate, but even when they slow it down a bit and turn earnest, they never get mushy (witness the lovelorn plea to a stripper, “Little Angel”). And with numbers such as “Tumblin’ Roses,” they show they possess more than a little bit of soul.

— Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer