4Play

Dec. 1, 2004

Britney Spears - Greatest Hits - My Prerogative - Jive Records
Channelling Barbarella on the photo-portrait cover of her latest offering, Britney Spears uses this best-of collection to promote her newest single, a tepid cover of Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative,” a song that wasn’t all that kickin’ in the first place. Luckily for the pop music aficionado, the collection as a whole is a solid set of the top pop diva-ette’s best hits. Plenty of guilty radio pleasures are found here, from her first pigtailed hit, “...Baby One More Time” to the wistful “Lucky,” the uber-catchy “Oops!... I Did It Again,” the rebellious “Stronger,” and her two latest smashes, “Toxic” and her Madonna collaboration, “Me Against The Music.” The Brit has perhaps been making a lot of questionable moves in her personal life lately, but one can’t deny that she’s a master interpreter of today’s bubble gum pop.

Camper Van Beethoven - New Roman Times - Vanguard Records
They’re ba-a-a-ck... after forays into a couple of other bands (namely The Monks of Doom and Cracker) and about 15 years away from the fold, the boys of Camper are back in the... er... camper, and have filled a new 20-track record with their familiar sound, quirky lyrics, and original band lineup. Kicking off with the aptly named “Prelude,” the band churns along nicely through such tunes as “That Gum You Like Is Back In Style,” “Sons of the New Golden West,” “Long Plastic Hallway,” “I Hate This Part of Texas,” “Hippy Chix,” and “Hey Brother.” Some of the songs and arrangements come across a little flighty, but it’s to be expected after 15 years away from working as a band unit. And there are definitely some interesting influences present, from the Yes-flavored “White Fluffy Clouds” to melding of Russia and ska on “R n’ R Uzbekistan.” It’s nice to see multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Segel back, too.

Seal - Best 1991-2004 - Warner Brothers
Perhaps one of the most astonishing and somewhat underrated male singers of the ‘90s, Seal has won Grammy Awards, snagged plenty of platinum records for his CD sales, and put out a Batman movie song (“Kiss From A Rose”) that was almost cooler than the movie itself. Now he collects over 10 years of his work into one disc that’s as good of an introduction to his talents as it is a great collection for existing Seal fans. His radio hits are here - among them, the aforementioned “Kiss From A Rose,” “Crazy,” “Prayer For The Dying,” “Love’s Divine,” “Fly Like An Eagle,” and “Don’t Cry,” as are several lesser-known but equally worthy tracks. There’s also a newly-recorded Seal song “Walk On By,” and, for those willing to drop a little extra for the double-CD package, you’ll be rewarded with a second disc consisting of newly recorded unplugged versions of many of the songs on the “regular” disc. It’s a great collection, either way you buy.

Matthew Sweet - Living Things - Racm Records
Power popster Matthew Sweet, long acclaimed in indie circles as one of the best pop songwriters of recent years, is probably best known for his two strongest radio hits, “Sick of Myself” and “Girlfriend.” Even though those hits hit radio back in the ‘90s, that doesn’t mean that that’s all that Sweet has to offer. This album might be a little uneven at times (some of the songs are a little long, taking away from Sweet’s usual effective get-in-hit-’em-with-a-hook-and-get-out philosophy), but there are enough songs here to make it a worthy listen, and Sweet’s joy in songwriting easily comes through. The melodic “Push The Feelings,” the ascending-descending “In My Time,” the catchy “Season Is Over,” and the lightly mournful “You’re Not Sorry,” all share space effectively and are tied together by Sweet’s distinctive vocals. Sweet might be singing that “life is no fun” on “Dandelion,” but it sure sounds like he had a lot of fun making this one.