Barry Manilow, “Greatest Songs of the Sixties”
POP|Arista, released Oct. 31
Barry Manilow fans like to keep things simple, and that’s an appealing trait. They know catchy tunes like “Can’t Smile Without You” and “Copacabana” offer cheap thrills, but those pleasures are valid all the same.
Simple desires, though, don’t make them simpletons. They don’t deserve the talking-down to they get from “The Greatest Songs of the Sixties” a collection of hits made so familiar by the era’s icons – Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night,” Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling in Love” – most Americans know every verse.
Manilow, who knows better, doesn’t even try to be interesting here. The material is obvious and the boring arrangements are karaoke-level copycats of the originals. His vocals are so straightforward, it sometimes sounds as if he is singing to a child.
This kind of lazy approach worked better on Manilow’s last smash, “The Greatest Songs of the Fifties,” (you can see where we’re going here) which recapped a simpler time. But the 1960s were complicated, easy rider, and defining the era with a zombie walk through “Blue Velvet” doesn’t begin to tell the story.|Ray Mark Rinaldi
Willie Nelson, “Songbird”
ROCK/COUNTRY|Lost Highway,
released today
“Rainy Day Blues” sets the mood on this country icon’s new offering, a bulky bass underlying acoustic slides, harmonica, snappy drumming and reverb-heavy leads. Prolific indie-country songwriter Ryan Adams and his band the Cardinals play backup here, with Adams at the production helm. The results are reinvigorating, casting Nelson’s sandpapery vocals and easy guitar work in a clean, strong light.
Nelson’s country fans won’t be as thrilled with the results, but the man’s reputation for surprising creative alliances should have warned them (Julio Iglesias, anyone?) What makes “Songbird” such a delight is its ability to deepen with each listen, revealing new layers of meaning and instrumental nuance. Challenging? Far from it, but in the best possible way.|John Wenzel
Hot IQs, “Dangling Modifier”
INDIE ROCK|Yaw Action, released today
Denver’s most visible indie trio wastes no time kicking off its latest EP with “Duck & Cover,” a driving, distortion-addled pop tune that connects the dots from 2004’s addictive “An Argument Between the Brain and Feet.” Like the band’s debut album, the songs are indebted to dance rockers like Franz Ferdinand and indie forbears Archers of Loaf, perhaps the group’s most recognizable influence.
Hot IQs even cover Archers’ classic “Web in Front,” to middling results. It doesn’t help that the last name of Archers’ former lead singer, Denver resident Eric Bachmann, is mispelled twice in the liner notes. Still, flourishes of the grand (choirs at the end of “Elephant in White”) and intimate (bassist Bryan Feuchtinger’s warm production) make this a tantalizing run-up to the IQs forthcoming full-length. Hot IQs play a CD release party at the Hi-Dive on Nov. 17.|John Wenzel
Other releases today:
Keith Urban, “Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing” (Capitol) Urban’s last record, “Be Here,” went quadruple platinum for a reason: The country star knows his way around gigantic pop hooks. Mr. Nicole Kidman, who recently checked into a rehab treatment center, no doubt hopes this record deflects some attention from his personal life.
Josh Groban, “Awake” (Reprise) This is Groban’s third studio record, and it has large shoes to fill. His previous two records sold more than 5 million copies apiece.
