Record reviews

October 23, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

JANE’S ADDICTION

Album: “The Great Escape Artist”

Grade: B-

When Jane’s Addiction stormed onto the alt-rock scene in 1988 with its wild debut “Nothing’s Shocking,” it was unpredictable and unique on every front.

Singer Perry Farrell offered unexpected vocals and lyrics over Dave Navarro’s ever- changing guitar work and Stephen Perkins’ wide range of drum rhythms. They easily shifted from the adrenaline rush of “Mountain Song” to the laid-back “Jane Says.”

Much of that freshness is missing on “The Great Escape Artist” (Capitol), only the fourth album in the band’s stormy, breakup-filled history. What’s left is kind of a clotted mush of previous successes mixed with radio-friendly evenness that just seems to lack a creative spark.

The first single, “Irresistible Force,” shows the biggest problem. Though Navarro sounds good with his attacking guitar- work, and Perkins offers a mellow vibe, Ferrell is spouting clunky lines — the chorus is “The irresistible force meets the immovable object” — and sounding bored.

“I’ll Hit You Back” comes closest to generating some energy, with some potent drumming and urgent guitars, but it settles back into middling, even as Farrell declares that he will retaliate if provoked.

What makes “The Great Escape Artist” so maddening is how it seems to sand off all its edges on purpose. There are points when it seems set to take flight — in the middle of the U2-ish “Twisted Tales,” for example — only to get stuck in a murky middle ground again. They sound like they actually need some help escaping.

—Glenn Gamboa, Newsday

PATRICK STUMP

Album: “Soul Punk”

Grade: A

OK, who thought Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump was gonna become the next Prince? Yet here comes Stump’s thrilling solo debut, “Soul Punk” (Island Def Jam), with his rich falsetto, funk guitar and dance rhythms making the album sound like the follow-up to The Purple One’s “Controversy,” with some “Off the Wall”-era Michael Jackson thrown in. Even more impressive is how he makes great, unexpected lyrics part of the package, in the dark but catchy “Dance Miserable” or the funky but inspirational “Spotlight.” It all works stunningly well.

—Glenn Gamboa, Newsday

Shirley Murdock

Album: “Live: The Journey” (Tyscot Records)

Grade: A

Shirley Murdock’s “Live: The Journey” isn’t merely an album of 17 gospel tracks, it’s an inspirational Sunday morning at church, complete with short sermons and a rollicking gospel choir led by Murdock’s velvety voice and down-home charm.

Murdock, a singer/songwriter best known to secular audiences for her R&B ballad “As We Lay” and for her vocals on Zapp’s “Computer Love,” has been performing gospel music for more than a decade. She has the kind of strong, soulful voice you can’t get enough of, and even if her Christian messages don’t resonate, she ensures the album can be enjoyed for its pure musicality.

Murdock’s flawless vocals make catchy tracks such as “Upward Way (with Regina Belle),” “Winner in Me” and “God Can Do Anything” some of the best and most accessible. Adding to the church-service quality is the album’s smooth continuity, flowing from Murdock’s brief affirmations before some tracks.

—Karen Hawkins, Associated Press

SHELBY LYNNE

Album: “Revelation Road” (Everso)

Grade: B

Delving into heartache and epiphany with her usual expertise, Shelby Lynne’s 12th studio album is “her most personal yet” — a description routinely employed in reviews since “I Am Shelby Lynne,” the 1999 breakthrough that helped earn the Alabama-raised artist a Grammy in 2001. Her torchy yet honeyed vocals and bold yet introspective songwriting have earned her praise, as has her defiance of Nashville’s “corporate country” machinations. Lynne’s Grammy was for Best New Artist, even though it was her sixth album, which helped illuminate overall music-biz foolishness.

An assertive singer of roots rock, folk pop, gritty soul or jazzy honky-tonk, Lynne wisely shucked any Carrie Underwood-esque makeover attempts or treacly Lady Antebellum-type outfits. Since notably exploring the vintage soul-pop of England’s Dusty Springfield (2008’s “Just a Little Lovin’”), Lynne has recorded (at home) a second originals album on her Everso label. Reaching beyond her guitars, she played all instruments, including mandolin, banjo and percussion. The result is note-perfect enhancement of deeply private tracks, such as “I’ll Hold Your Head” — recalling vocalizing with her murdered mother and comforting her younger sister — and the stunning “Heaven’s Only Days Down the Road,” taking the perspective of her father’s ultimately suicidal state, which led him to shoot Lynne’s mother. She’s never gotten closer to this subject than here. Doing it precisely her way was no doubt essential; the artistic catharsis is palpable.

—David R. Stampone, Philadelphia Inquirer

THE RAPTURE

Album: “In the Grace of Your Love” (DFA)

Grade: A

When LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy co-produced 2003’s “Echoes,” the breakout recording from The Rapture, it was a danz-punk revolution, a heated revival of the angular rhythms and scratchy guitars that made Gang of Four taut and tangy nearly 25 years earlier. Singer/leader/lyricist Luke Jenner misfired with a less inspired next record (”Pieces of the People We Love”) before losing his mother to suicide, converting to Catholicism and becoming a dad. All of which somehow makes The Rapture’s new dedication to wise words and strong songcraft more potent than in its own past.

The Rapture’s new rhythms jut through the scintillating melodies of the gospel-bumping “How Deep Is Your Love?” and the dub-inspired “Come Back to Me” like goose feathers through fine cotton sheets. The production is lustrous (Philippe Zdar of Phoenix and Chromeo fame did the honors). Yet it is Jenner’s strong and yearning vocal eclat and his smartly rhyming takes on kids (“Children”), infinity (“Miss You”), growth (“It Takes Time to Be a Man”) and God’s redemptive powers that are most impressive. There’s a weight to Grace that’s nearly breathtaking on first listen and only gets better the second time. And then the third. Hallelujah.

—A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

M83

Album: “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming” (Mute)

Grade: A

Anthony Gonzalez used the soundtracks to John Hughes’ 1980s films to inspire his last M83 album, 2008’s wonderful “Saturdays Youth,” with its airy, synth-pop confections such as “Kim & Jessie.” For the new “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming,” his sixth album, Gonzalez jumps ahead a few years. This time, his model is the Smashing Pumpkins’ 1995 magnum opus Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.” Not to say Gonzalez has entirely given up his beloved synths and electronics for guitars, but the 73-minute double album is full of big, bold gestures; it’s unabashedly grandiose.

It sprawls, in good ways, from the opening call-to-arms, “Intro,” to the brashly anthemic “Midnight City” to the amusing children’s story “Raconte-Moi Une Histoire,” to the thunderous “Echoes of Mine,” to the placidly cinematic “Splendor.” Sure, it’s indulgent, but more often than not, it’s thrilling.

—Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer

The Kentucky HeadHunters

Album: “Dixie Lullabies” (Red Dirt)

Grade: B

Influences are easy to identify on the latest album from the ZZ Rolling Stax Brothers.

The band’s name is actually the Kentucky HeadHunters, and they borrow from the best on “Dixie Lullabies.” The title cut creates a Stones-ish twin- guitar squall, while “Sugar Daddy” boogies like ZZ Top. “Tumblin’ Roses” taps into Memphis soul, and “Little Miss Blues Breaker” recreates the rawest bits of the British Invasion.

All told, this is ramshackle rock for toe-tapping and keg-tapping. “Just Another Night” sounds like a street party, and elsewhere there are plenty of beery vocals and bourbon-soaked guitar riffs.

Twelve albums into their career, the HeadHunters clearly know what their audience wants.

—Steven Wine, Associated Press