B+ Janet Jackson
Unbreakable
Rhythm Nation/BMG
Jackson family sister Janet has worked too hard to get where she is -- establishing her own right as a superstar, brooking controversies surrounding a talented but troubled family, earning platinum smashes like Control -- to let a few bumps in the road stop her. She has had some bum records, to be sure. And these days, her brouhaha with CBS censors over her Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime "wardrobe malfunction" looks stupid in the face of what Miley Cyrus wears regularly.
Now, she presents Unbreakable, with co-pilots/producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. There are heavenly, breathily overprocessed tremblers such as "Night," "The Great Forever," and "No Sleeep." The last one, a percussive cut with rapper J. Cole, is exquisitely sensual rather than gaudily sexual.
The sound is somewhat dated, especially on "2 B Loved" or such moments as when gruff guest rapper Missy Elliott comes to play on the speedy "Burnitup!" Yet that oxygenated sound is a gorgeous frame for lush slow tunes like the title track, where Janet employs brother Michael's quivering vocal delivery as she sings, "I lived through my mistakes, it's just a part of growing" through arching, dynamic harmonies.
Hot tracks: "Night," "Unbreakable," "No Sleeep"
NOTE: Jackson is scheduled to perform at 8 p.m. May 31 at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock. Tickets, $29.95-$110, plus service charges, are on sale. Visit ticketmaster.com or call (800) 745-3000.
-- A.D. AMOROSI
The Philadelphia Inquirer
B George Strait
Cold Beer Conversation
MCA Nashville
Part of the enduring appeal of George Strait is that the country superstar seems like a guy you'd like to have a cold-beer conversation with -- a man's man who isn't afraid to show his feelings, but also a rock-steady presence you can lean on as well as have a good time with.
After three and a half decades, the steadfast Texan shows no inclination to change his musical approach, and why should he? This is another on-the-money mix of sober and stirring ballads, midtempo numbers such as "It Was Love" and "Everything I See," and party-ready honky-tonkers, including "Goin' Goin' Gone" and "Cheaper Than a Shrink" ("... you just pour and drink").
With "It Takes All Kinds," Strait also delivers his requisite track of Western swing while delivering a message of tolerance and a subtle reminder that he's quite happy in his own niche.
Hot tracks: "It Takes All Kinds," "It Was Love"
-- NICK CRISTIANO
The Philadelphia Inquirer
B Tamar Braxton
Calling All Lovers
Epic/Streamline
The three-time Grammy nominee's third studio album is seriously good. While her outsize personality might bring laughs to television (Braxton Family Values, Vince & Tamar, The Real), the multitalented Braxton is a true music artist.
What's most impressive about Calling All Lovers is that the collection of songs does a really good job of not only capturing all stages of love but of capturing Braxton's persona. Braxton is a co-writer of every track save one and it's a verifiable feat, especially considering the abundance of nice-sounding, but totally generic, could-have-been-sung-by-anyone R&B offerings floating around the genre.
"Baby I know the real you," Braxton coos on the upbeat, Polow da Don-produced "Catfish," a song aptly titled for the MTV show that regularly exposes fakes in the world of online romance. It's the kind of side-eyeing that Braxton is known for, and the humor doesn't stop there, showing up in more subtle ways, too, such as in the ad-libs on the doo-wop-inspired "Simple Things."
Braxton is self-assured on "Must Be Good to You," vulnerable on "Broken Record" and in love on the blissful and sultry "Raise the Bar."
Hot tracks: "Catfish," "Simple Things," "Raise the Bar"
-- MELANIE J. SIMS
The Associated Press
B- Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
Stax
Nathaniel Rateliff has released three albums of soulful folk rock, but this self-titled album with the Night Sweats feels like an introduction. The Missouri-bred, Denver-based artist has gone all-in with the sounds of '60s soul and R&B. Produced by Richard Swift, who has worked with The Shins and Foxygen, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats revels in the horns, hand-claps, and harmony vocals of a half-century ago.
The album occasionally risks pastiche: There's a bit too much of Sam Cooke in "Howling at Nothing" and way too much of Thurston Harris' "Little Bitty Pretty One" in "S.O.B." Still, with its Motown rhythms, its devil-may-care lyrics, and, especially, Rateliff's husky, full-throated vocals, this is an excellent party record. It sounds like the soundtrack to a summertime barbecue, and it's fitting that it's out on the newly revitalized Stax Records.
Hot tracks: "S.O.B.," "Howling at Nothing"
-- STEVE KLINGE
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Style on 10/20/2015