OZZY OSBOURNE
“Scream”
****
FORGET Ozzy Osbourne the dysfunctional, bumbling dad from reality TV. The real Oz is as sharp as a dagger and at the top of his headbanging skills for “Scream.” His voice is clear, and he belts every song with conviction.
The opening tune, “Let It Die,” sets the bar. This is metal music that begs for arena play, where the sounds of heavy bass, cowbell wallops and guitar power chords can expand. Ozzy’s vocals are as good as they get as he mixes his controlled scream with funky swagger.
That sweat-and-danger attitude carries into “Let Me Hear You Scream,” which combines thrash metal with a tempo that would allow “Scream” dance-hall success.
This is heavy, stairway-to-hell music that demands more volume than your ears should hear.
TOM PETTY AND THE
HEARTBREAKERS
“Mojo”
***
TOM Petty has rediscovered his musical charms after an eight-year recording hiatus from the Heartbreakers.
Rather than an assortment of singles, “Mojo” is an old-fashioned collection of songs that creates a lazy-afternoon mood with midtempo Dylan-esque rockers, electric and acoustic blues, and the Heartbreakers’ trademark ballads. Recorded as a live-in-the-studio CD, there’s also an appealing jam quality that breaks out on the blues tune “Let Yourself Go” plus a rural, workingman’s ode, “U.S. 41.”
WE ARE SCIENTISTS
“Barbara”
*½
HOMETOWN indie rockers We Are Scientists start and finish their new album, “Barbara,” with the strength of bright, electric-guitar pop. But in between, the record drags so heavily you never want to stray too far from the skip button.
The first song, “Rules Don’t Stop,” is set to a fast tempo and a guitar/synth weave that recalls Squeeze. That same formula is also well used in the trust-me love song “I Don’t Bite.” The other track to notice is the closer, “Central A/C,” a rocker in which the band summons the kind of energy usually reserved for live performances.
Renée Fleming
“Dark Hope”
***½
Popera fans take note: Sopranos Renée Fleming and Jessye Norman have each recorded separate non-classical albums that showcase their impressive vocal talents with contemporary songs and standards.
If you believe the song is as important as the voice, then Fleming’s record is the one to snag. Over the 11 tracks on her disc, she toys with well-known music by the Muse, Peter Gabriel and Leonard Cohen, to name a few. She gives those tunes a treatment in the bombastic style of Susan Boyle.
There’s nothing in her approach that would make a listener think Fleming was classically trained — except for the perfection of the mellow, rounded notes.
Jessye Norman
“Roots: My Life, My Song”
**½
On Norman’s double disc, the voice is everything. There isn’t a song — even the cotton-field spirituals — where you forget that a diva is at the mike.
The collection is opera flashy with vocal gymnastics that just don’t easily dovetail with standards such as “Mack the Knife” and “Stormy Weather.” If you are in Norman’s army, this record is essential, no doubt — but we who are less operatically inclined will probably want to stick with Fleming.