record reviews

May 29, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Brad Paisley

Album: “This Is Country Music” (Arista Nashville)

Grade: B

Among the clich s in country music are songs about the clich s in country music, such as the tune Brad Paisley co-wrote to open his latest album. The self-congratulatory title cut panders to the converted while referencing the flag, Jesus, trucks, mama and beer.

Also common in the genre are the sort of suffocating, more-is-better song arrangements that undermine “This Is Country Music.” Paisley’s guitar-playing remains a marvel, and he composed some clever material for this 15-song set, including tunes that name-drop guests Alabama and Clint Eastwood in the title.

But Paisley also piled on layers of guitars, fiddle, banjo, pedal steel, keyboards and vocals, barely leaving himself room to breathe, much less riff. The title should be “This Is Arena Music,” because the songs are built for America’s most cavernous performing rooms rather than a pair of headphones.

Even so, the album is worth hearing, in large part because of those jaw-dropping guitar solos (there are 11, count ’em). Two tunes mention cancer, but Paisley’s mostly in a mood for fun. “Don’t Drink The Water” is rollicking Tex-Mex party music with Blake Shelton, and the comical “Working On A Tan” combines Dick Dale guitar with a Jimmy Buffett vibe. When the boys from Alabama stop by on “Old Alabama,” the result is a hoot, while “Toothbrush” is just plain cute. Most of the rest will be better live.

— Steven Wine, Associated Press

DANGER MOUSE & DANIELE LUPPI

Album: “Rome” (Capitol)

Grade: B

“Rome” is a soundtrack album without a movie, a spaghetti Western ode to Sergio Leone in which promiscuous producer Brian Burton, also known as Danger Mouse (Gorillaz, Broken Bells, U2), teams with Italian composer Daniele Luppi as well as a pair of distinctive vocalists named Jack White and Norah Jones. Recorded in the City of Seven Hills at Forum Studios, once Orthophonic Studios, where Leone recorded the mind-bending, evocative scores for “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” and “Once Upon a Time in the West,” the new “Rome” might risk being too respectful of its source material were it not for White and Jones. The vocalists bring a personal touch to their role-playing, with White well suited to the role of crooning caballero riding into town at sunset (and sounding more at ease than in any of his other recent side projects) and Jones bringing enough sultry eroticism to tunes such as “Season’s Trees” and “Problem Queen” to assure that there’s more to Rome than just captivating atmospherics.

— Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer

KATE BUSH

Album: “Director’s Cut” (Fish People)

Grade: C

Kate Bush originally wanted the title track of 1989’s “The Sensual World” to include passages from Molly Bloom’s soliloquy at the end of James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” but Joyce’s estate denied permission. Recently that changed, and the reclusive singer rerecorded the song as originally envisioned, retitling it “Flower of the Mountain.” That prompted her to revisit 10 other songs from that album and its successor, 1993’s “The Red Shoes,” to record new vocals (and some new drums) and remix the original tracks.

These aren’t radical reimaginings, aside from electronic manipulations to “Deeper Understanding” and a few others, and Bush’s vocals usually follow the originals’ contours. Fans will definitely want to hear “Flower” and the minimalist “This Woman’s Work.” But ultimately, Director’s Cut is a fascinating placeholder — there’s an album of new material in the works, rumor has it — and a gift to the already converted.

— Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer

ARETHA FRANKLIN

Album: “Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love” (Aretha’s Records)

Grade: C

Let’s be happy we still have Aretha Franklin.

The queen of soul, 69, was felled by a mystery illness (rumors of pancreatic cancer were denied) late in 2010 and since then has slimmed to a healthier weight. Brava. Who else could have turned the patriotic warhorse “My Country, ’Tis of Thee” into a unique and rapturous call for hope during President Barack Obama’s inauguration?

That tune is a highlight of “Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love.” Available exclusively at Walmart and Walmart.com throughout May and various digital outlets afterward, her new album isn’t filled with the youthful brio of “Take a Look,” her recent Columbia-label boxed set covering the early ’60s. This isn’t the legendary Atlantic label Aretha of the mid-to-late ’60s and ’70s, or even the glossy Arista-era Aretha of the ’80s.” The Woman Falling Out of Love” R&B elder is richly capable of subtly sung, elegantly nuanced soul songs such as the self-penned-and-produced “How Long I’ve Been Waiting.” She also oversings and tackles tired standards such as “The Way We Were.” But she gets points for covering the schmaltzy “Theme From a Summer Place” and for staying alive to keep the legend going until next time.

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer