Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder sings and strums earnest, searching songs for the soundtrack to "Into The Wild" (Monkey Wrench/J, B-). Merle Haggard makes an easy left turn into "Bluegrass Sessions" (McCoury Music, B+), boasting warm, acoustic-picking reads of gems like "Jimmie Rodgers Blues" and "Mama's Hungry Eyes." Fans of the original cast album will hear stuff never noticed before.Ĭountry and rock hang out well together in "Cowboy Town" (Arista, B), a down-home theme park run by Brooks and Dunn. While an earlier remake tipped too far into operatic territory, the 50th anniversary re-recording of Leonard Bernstein's musical "West Side Story" (Decca, A) is sheer perfection. The double disc "Going Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino" (Vanguard, B+) finds the likes of Paul McCartney (with Allen Toussaint), Neil Young, Toots & the Maytals and Elton John doing up gems from the New Orleans rhythm and blues giant. The pols are dazzling and distracting with sleight-of-hand in "Magic." And it's the "speculators" and "profiteers" who're to blame that "Gipsy Biker" is coming home for a final (vertical) march up boot hill and the ceremonial burning of his bike. Forces seemingly beyond our control have brought us to the brink of cultural/political Armageddon that is "Radio Nowhere," warns Bruce. One is the romantic stab of uncaring love objects: a woman who's sent a guy on a "Long Walk Home," or the honeys oblivious to an admirer on "Girls in Their Summer Clothes."Īnother dagger is the damage we inflict on ourselves by being too negative ("Your Own Worst Enemy") or too prescient - imagining trouble before it's even there in "Livin' in the Future."įinally, there's the stabs inflicted by the system. This week, let's hear it for the boys, starting with the Boss.īRUCE IN THE HOUSE: Three swords pierce a heart in the label decoration and in the themes of Bruce Springsteen's new "Magic" disc (Columbia, B+).
Last week, our attention was drawn to new CD releases by femmes.
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