LISTEN UP

Bland pop mix dampens Shakira’s smoldering heat

Shakira Shakira. RCA C

Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira shook American audiences with English language hits like “Whenever, Wherever” and “Hips Don’t Lie,” from enticing albums of rich, emotional songs that mixed thoughtful lyrics and scenes of everyday life. And that voice - strong, but vulnerable - delivered those lyrics amid sharp cries of anguish that sounded like they came from freshly inflicted romantic wounds.

But on Shakira., the singer often is just another ingredient on an album that seems determined to polish her distinctive, quirkier side into an album of booming, slick pop sameness. It reduces depth in favor of by-committee calculation. For example, the soso duet with Blake Shelton comes off as a “good idea” designed to capitalize on her presence on The Voice rather than a natural teaming; ditto the opportunistic pairing with Rihanna on the wears out quickly “Can’t Remember to Forget You.” Just listen to “Spotlight” and try not to think Pink. And so on.

However, there are moments when her fire and individuality come through: “Cut Me Deep,” a reggae-splashed teaming with Magic; the tender ballad “23” and, especially, the angst and turmoil that infuses “You Don’t Care About Me.”

Hot tracks: “Cut Me Deep,” “23,” “You Don’t Care About Me.” - ELLIS WIDNER

Jonny Two Bags Salvation Town Isotone/Thirty Tigers B

Social Distortion guitarist Jonny Two Bags steps out with this solo collection that’s more underground Nashville than So-Cal punk. Two Bags is joined by Jackson Browne on the upbeat driver “Then You Stand Alone,” mixes in a bit of Celtic accordion on the street-life cautionary tale “Avenues” and gets catchy on the barband ballad “Forlorn Walls.”

Echoes of the Blasters and Warren Zevon, two major influences, are evident, and if Salvation Town doesn’t quite reach the heights of the best of those two you can’t say therootsy, blue-collar Two Bags isn’t giving it his best shot.

Hot tracks: “Then You Stand Alone,” “Forlorn Walls.” - SEAN CLANCY

Original Broadway Cast Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Masterworks Broadway A

Edward Albee’s searing drama, most familiar as a film starring Elizabeth Taylor (who won an Academy Award) and Richard Burton (who should have), debuted on Broadway in 1962. It established Albee as a leading dramatist; the strong, frank language and sexual references were shocking to many. So much so, the trustees of the Pulitzer Prize overruled its drama committee’s recommendation and denied Albee the award for best drama. Today, if the play were on pay cable TV, it might seem fairly tame in that context. But not so in the early 1960s.

This reissued recording is the original cast from 1962, led by Uta Hagen as Martha and Arthur Hill as George in the lead roles of a university professor and his wife whose marriage is on the rocks. The couple slice and dice each other unmercifully, showing just how brutal a couple can be when disappointment, bitterness, resentment and deceit ignite emotional warfare.

Originally released as a four-album boxed set, this two-CD reissue is the recording’s first appearance on CD. Though controversial, it won Tony Awards for Hagen and Hill and was named best play. While we don’t have the visual, the power of this brilliant play and the performances are not diminished by the audio-only presentation. Hagen’s voice in particular feels perfect for the role; the chemistry and interaction with Hill are palpable; they make the tragedy of this failed marriage shattering.

Hot tracks: All of them.

  • ELLIS WIDNER

Sara Evans Slow Me Down RCA B+

For more than a decade and a half, Sara Evans has been smiling through wounds, one of country’s underappreciated tragic heroes. Few singers speak more directly to the dissatisfaction of middle age than Evans does, and none with her inherent vibrancy. In her best songs, Evans is downtrodden, but never broken.

On the smooth ’80s rock of “Can’t Stop Loving You,” a duet with Isaac Slade of the Fray, she’s quivering: “I try to crush it like the ashes of a cigarette/I try to smother out the embers but I just can’t quit/If there’s a way to put it out I haven’t found it yet.” “You Never Know” is pure ’90s power country, but put in service of broken love. (Her blithest songs, like “Sweet Spot,” are by far her least successful.)

What elevates these beyond mere plaints is Evans’ robust and sweet voice. She sings with power, grace and dignity. That resilience can flatten out her roughest edges at times, which is a shame, because she’s capable of real depth. But, the redemptive air she brings offers a different shade beyond generic loathing of the self and others.

That’s clearest on the elegant “Better Off,” a letter to someone fighting for the strength to leave a bad relationship. The song’s energy is pure Reba McEntire, coolly savage but sympathetic. Though filled with righteous anger, she’s keeping it together, and that’s what makes her stand out.

Hot tracks: “Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Better Off.” - JON CARAMANICA, The New York Times

Style, Pages 34 on 04/08/2014

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