4Play

Feb. 9, 2005

Tom Waits - Real Gone - Anti Music
Tom Waits recruited a few old friends for this album - namely Marc Ribot on guitar and Les Claypool and Larry Taylor on bass - but he left another old friend - his piano - by the side of the dusty road. This marks perhaps the first time that Waits has recorded an album without the keys along for the ride; but other than that little innovation, everything else pretty much remains the same. The boozy ballads are here (“Trampled Rose”) as are the morose grumblers (“Baby Gonna Leave Me,” “How’s It Gonna End”) - and at times, as usual, it all sounds like a big, drunken, kind of bluesy, rhythmic mess (“Make It Rain,” “Shake It”). But that’s just the depressed, gravelly road that Waits walks down, and that’s part of what many of his fans can identify with about him. At least he’s dependable - in the words of Ben Folds, Tom Waits does the best imitation of himself.

Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway - RCA Records
It’s a real surprise that Kelly Clarkson’s “film debut” - the beach-party-turned-cinematic-train-wreck “From Justin to Kelly” - didn’t derail her career entirely. In spite of her poor choices in projects, she’s still (luckily for her) got those strong, expressive vocals to give her a second chance at her 15 - er, make that 30 - minutes of fame. On her second album, she ropes in former Evanescence member Ben Moody to help her out with songwriting and production, and this more rockin’ sound (especially on songs like “Since U Been Gone”) actually works a little better for Clarkson. The only problem is that, with the new sound, she also seems to be scrabbling around in the sand a little, picking up scraps of other people’s sounds while she searches around for what suits her best - on the Moody-penned tracks, there are moments where she practically channels Amy Lee, and on others, she’s Pat Benetar mach two. She’s got the voice - now let’s hope she can find - or, dare we say write? - some songs that are truly her own.

Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters - Universal
Although there’s only one female member in the Scissor Sisters (the band moniker likely comes in part from frontman Jake Shears’ name), glam girls (okay, guys too) everywhere are tuning in to the Sisters’ unique brand of psychedelic disco meets ’70srock. With Queen-worthy high notes, ABBA-meets-the-Bee-Gees melody lines, shake-your-booty beats, and - well, we’re not sure who designed those insane spandex outfits, but they’re definitely unique - the Sisters could’ve been limited to the role of campy house band for the latest trendy nightclub - but their catchy songs and strong live performances take them a step above, even if they remain as of press time a little too different for mainstream American audiences. They’ll at least get your feet moving - and did we mention they do a gutsy disco cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb?” Dance, dance revolution, indeed.

Diana DeGarmo - Blue Skies - RCA
The second American Idol diva-ette in this week’s column, Diana DeGarmo doesn’t quite have the power-pipes of Clarkson, but she’s got a pretty voice that, when she finds the right material, has definite potential to soar. She can’t really “compete,” if you will, with the Simpsons and the Aguileras out there, but that’s for an interesting reason - so far, at least, DeGarmo is sticking mostly to what she’s good at, which are basic AM pop melodies that don’t push her out of her teens; she doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to become yet another pseudo-sophisticated sex machine, but is leaning more towards sweet and straightforward on songs like “Cardboard Castles” and “Dreams”, reminiscent of Amy Grant or early LeAnn Rimes. It can be a bit bland at times, but at least she is doing her own thing and playing to the strengths that got her into the finals of the show in the first place. It will be interesting to see how her career grows.