SOUND: Alicia’s journey

Is Moby looking for ad agency approval?










MUSIC BOX



No Doubt


The Singles 1992-2003

Fall is greatest-hits season, and this year is no exception. This collection is riding high on the charts right now, thanks to its new song, a cover of Talk Talk's "It's My Life." The rest of the disc is just as good, with every hit the band has had, and a few popular non-hits. Sometimes you don't realize how many good songs a band has recorded until you hear them all in one place.



Sheryl Crow


The Very Best of Sheryl Crow

Another hits collection on the charts thanks to a newly-recorded cover, this of the Cat Stevens-by-way-of-Rod-Stewart hit "The First Cut is the Deepest." Crow takes more liberty with "hits," throwing in album tracks at the expense of some more popular tunes. She does smartly include the Kid Rock duet, "Picture." Mostly, though, I miss her version of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" (an actual hit).



R.E.M.


In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003

I love R.E.M., but this album is the most egregious offender in interpreting "best" as "the songs the band likes most." Too many tunes from unsuccessful recent records, obvious omissions like "Shiny Happy People" and "Pop Song '89" that Michael Stipe & Co. would clearly rather forget. Still, the new songs show promise for a resurgence on the next studio record.



Bon Jovi


This Left Feels Right

Billed as "greatest hits with a twist," this is a reworking of the band's most popular songs into softer, mostly acoustic versions. Rather than strip the songs down to their essence, they add bad fake string sections and have Jon Bon Jovi sing his cheesy, arena-rock lyrics like he's a confessional singer-songwriter. A fascinatingly bad miscalculation.



Red Hot Chili Peppers


Greatest Hits

More hits-as-revisionism, almost completely ignoring their 1995 album with Dave Navarro, One Hot Minute, and relying heavily on their last two (admittedly good) records. Nothing from their early career, either, but enough big radio songs to be worth picking up if you don't own anything else by the Peppers.



Stone Temple Pilots


Thank You

My esteemed colleague Richard Abowitz dismissed this album (and band) a couple of weeks ago, but if you listen closely, you can hear the evolution of a really underrated rock band. The early stuff on here is a bit grunge-by-numbers, but later songs like "Big Bang Baby" and "Days of the Week" show a strong glam-rock influence that might have gone somewhere interesting if the band hadn't broken up.




Josh Bell


Alicia Keys (3 stars)


The Diary of Alicia Keys

While this disc isn't as good as the huge debut release, Songs in A Minor, that rocketed Alicia Keys to major radio and MTV rotation, it is a solid sophomore offering that suggests an excellent third effort down the road. The disc lacks infectious singles like "Fallin'" and "A Woman's Worth," but it proves that Keys has staying power, and that she hasn't lost momentum in the two years since her debut.


As the title suggests, Keys' second recording is very much a journey through her daily thoughts, and occasionally leans toward the overdramatic, but the solid production and Keys' likeable voice make up for this. Several songs from the album stand out, including the hip-hop flavored "Karma," which sounds like it could have come off of an Aaliyah album, and the energetic, almost frantic "Heartburn," which carries a distinctly '70s feel. Unfortunately, much of the second half of Diary melts into almost generic, laid-back R&B, but overall, there's enough here to keep Keys fans happy and provide a couple of decent singles.




Maria Phelan



MOBY(1.5 stars)


18: The B Sides

A review of the latest Moby CD in the form of 12 possible responses to hearing it: 1. Yeah, sounds like Moby, all right. 2. The moody "Landing" would make a good sound track for a designer-perfume ad. 3. That Moby is one canny businessman—empty the back inventory onto a CD, label the contents "B sides" to suggest a certain rarity and experimental quality, and you have some newish product on the shelves in time for the holiday buying season. Smart! 4. You can just hear "Love of Strings" backing one of those wistful car ads that shows a gleaming new sedan swooping through the friendly, moonlit night, family snuggled warmly within as the camera sails upward and the car rolls safely toward its destination. 5. OK, OK—echo-heavy girl singer sampled over tidal strings and tinkling keyboard. Where have I heard that before? Oh, right. On every other Moby CD. 6. Have to go to the bathroom; don't bother hitting pause; sounds like same song when I get back 10 minutes later. 7. It's hard to know what to make of an atmospheric number like "Soul to Love": computer services ad or another car ad? 8. Wonder what the C sides sound like? 9. "Bed": Synth noodling over a disco throb—now playing on all the hip elevators in Europe. 10. "Horse and Carrot's" light percussive beat and generically melodic sound effects are perfect if you need peppy background music for your upscale cocktail party, theme music for your Zima commercial or are a member of the Blue Man Group looking for stage music you can throw paint to. 11. How many of these 13 songs will be featured on upcoming ads? Final prediction: Six. Any six. They're all ready. 12. The aural equivalent of the trademark symbol, and I don't mean that in a good way.




Scott Dickensheets

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