RECORD REVIEWS

Brad Paisley

Album: “Wheelhouse” (Arista Nashville)

Grade: C+

The title of Brad Paisley’s new album, “Wheelhouse,” could imply the country-music star is sticking with what he does best. Indeed, the 17-song album — the first in which he’s listed as sole producer — presents several songs extending his reputation for clever, sometimes comic, twists on love (“Death of a Married Man”), modern life (“Beat This Summer”) and sentimental romanticism (“I Can’t Change the World”).

But Paisley also has a history of taking chances, and that’s never been truer than on his new album. The song “Accidental Racist” opens with a guy being confronted by a Starbucks clerk for wearing a Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt that features a Confederate flag. The lyrics go on to explore the tension between “Southern pride and Southern blame,” complete with a rap break by LL Cool J.

“Southern Comfort Zone” similarly confronts the regionalism that leads some Southerners — and many current country singers — to boast about life in the rural South. Paisley loves where he’s from, he sings, but acknowledges that seeing the world has opened his mind to the perspective of others in a positive way.

—Michael McCall, Associated Press

Eric Church

Album: “Caught in the Act” (EMI Nashville)

Grade: B

On the heels of Eric Church’s first million-selling album, “Chief,” and after achieving his first pair of No. 1 hits in the past two years, the country-music rebel takes the unusual step of releasing a 17-song concert album, “Caught in the Act.” The move points out that Church is selling out arenas not on the number of top hits he has, but on his reputation as a macho guy who likes to party — and put on an exciting live show.

“I like my country rocking,” Church sings in “How ’Bout You?” as Jeff Cease’s inventive hard-rock guitar solo ricochets off the pounding drums of bandmate Craig Wright. Producer Jay Joyce pushes Church’s voice up in the mix, and the singer’s interaction with the crowd is emphasized throughout.

Church constantly encourages his rowdy audience, exhorting them to bellow the chorus of “Drink in My Hand” and “Jack Daniels.” Even when he plays a solo acoustic version of “Sinners Like Me,” he tells everyone, “It’s just going to be us, so sing loud.”

—Michael McCall, Associated Press

Molly Ringwald

Album: “Except Sometimes” (Concord Music Group)

Grade: C

In her signature roles, she was the ingenue. And while it may not be fair to compare Molly Ringwald the actress with Molly Ringwald the singer, it is hard to ignore the genuineness seen in her characters that also flavors this collection of jazz standards called “Except Sometimes.”

Ringwald’s voice is unaffected, clear and, at moments, vulnerable. She challenges her range and coaxes complexity from her honeyed mezzo-soprano. The strongest songs are those with minor inflections that balance her sunny nature, such as “Sooner or Later” and “I Get Along Without You Very Well [Except Sometimes].”

Her debut album is less even elsewhere. On “I Believe in You,” her earnestness belies lines referencing “gin and vermouth.” On “Ballad of the Sad Young Men,” there is scant expression of sorrow.

Ringwald is backed by a skilled quartet that is beautifully arranged and gives full focus to her voice.

A surprise for the 45-year-old’s fans comes at the album’s close: a fresh interpretation of “Don’t You [Forget About Me],” the melancholic theme for her 1985 film “The Breakfast Club.” It is impossible to not hear Ringwald as Claire, perhaps a more mature Claire, but an ingenue still.

—Michelle Morgante, Associated Press