Various Artists: Music from the motion picture Runaway Bride (Columbia)
Aieeee! Run away! Richard Gere and Julia Roberts are back together again, in this romantic comedy about a girl who can't say "I do". The soundtrack opens with U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, just to give us the psychological background to our heroine's nuptophobia, then slips down the aisle into a mire of country-rock hokum, schmaltzy r & b, and smooth adult contemporary. There are two offerings from The Dixie Chicks, country music's answer to The Corrs, along with nondescript tunes from Martina McBride, Shawn Colvin, Evan and Jaron, Allure and Coco Lee. Darryl Hall & John Oates and Kenny Loggins pop up like long-forgotten uncles at a wedding reception, and Billy Joel asks, Where Were You (On Our Wedding Day)? Probably revving up the getaway car to escape this dross.
By Kevin Courtney
Richard Thompson: Mock Tudor (Capitol)
If I say that Richard Thompson's new album is more of the same, the unintiated might take this to understand that there is little of note in Mock Tudor. Die-hard veterans of the Thompson cause will know the opposite to be the case. These songs of moral outrage, vengeance, coiled anger and cruel self-examination are the stuff of which great Thompson songs are made; and there are a couple here, steeped in his trademark style of roots rock meets English tradition. The impression given during his recent riveting Dublin shows that, even by his own high standards, the British guitarist was hitting a purple patch is reinforced by tracks like Cooksferry Queen, Hard On Me and Dry My Tears And Move On. This album has a theme - living in London - but the conceptual approach does not blunt Thompson's razor-sharp playing or observations. Spread the news.
By Joe Breen
Mary J. Blige: (MCA)
Written, arranged and produced by Lauryn Hill, All That I Can Say kicks off this album on a deliciously fluid and sensuous high note that rarely falters right through to the final track, the gospel-like Let No Man Put Asunder. It's said Blige sings "like an angel". Well, yes, but with a voice that sounds like it was forged in hell. As such, the inclusion of guests like George Michael on As, though it may make commercial sense, is unnecessary. Likewise, Clapton's "licks" on Give Me You are tired and cliched, at odds with the hunger that fires the song. Mary J. Bilge is at her best when she freefalls her way through tunes such as Your Child and Sexy, failing only when she insists on mimicking Mariah Carey's vocal pyrotechnics. That gripe aside, great album.
By Joe Jackson
Sophie B Hawkins: (Columbia)
The song Damn, I Wish I was Your Lover is one many men have listened Sophie B. Hawkins sing, and wished they were hers. Seems the longing would be misplaced. At least if we are to believe lyric lines like "I want your breasts upon my back" - meaning, yes, with this album Sophie comes out of the musical closet. With a vengeance. Titles like Your Tongue Like The Sun In My Mouth may be clumsy, but they capture the unabashed eroticism at the soul of many of these songs. And it's not just the lyrics; musically, her voice and the lilting, semi-classical melodies and arrangements are just as seductive. Damn, I wish I was a woman.
By Joe Jackson
