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Tuesday, October 16, 2001
Outside the box

BILLY BOB THORNTON
   "Private Radio" (Lost Highway)

   1 and one-half stars
   He's already got an Oscar and a trophy wife, but don't expect Billy Bob Thornton to add a Grammy to that list anytime soon. Though it'd be easy to see "Private Radio" as movie-star self-indulgence in the same vein as Puff Daddy as an actor, Thornton has a bit of musician credibility to fall back on. He was a drummer and singer for Tres Hombres, a ZZ Top tribute band, as well as the singer for a touring soul group.
   Like most albums on the Lost Highway label, Thornton's album is a sparse, low-fi, country-tinged album that's big on introspection as well as celebrating good times. Country traditionalist Marty Stuart produced the record, making sure to keep Thornton's voice in the forefront and the minimalist music as only an accompaniment.
   Thornton plays drums on a few songs, but contributes mostly with his pen and scratchy voice. "Dark and Mad" is appropriately melancholic, and "Smoking in Bed" works as a party song, but there are also a couple of gruelingly long spoken-word tracks that function more as lullabies than drama.

   LEONA NAESS
   "I Tried to Rock You but You Only Roll" (MCA)

   3 stars
   Listening to Leona Naess' sophomore album is like hearing intimate confessions from a beautiful British stranger. The singer/songwriter has a charmingly flat voice that lends itself to pleading, indignation and rapture, all emotions she conveys throughout the excellent album. Musically, Naess borrows from '80s synth-pop as much as she does the standard girl-with-a-guitar vein of singer/songwriters.
   Her plea "Come with me to Mexico" on the album's opening track is as inviting and sincere a line as we've heard in a long time. The new-wave beats on "All the Stars" go well with the songs '80s themes, and the title track is a catchy pop sound worth putting on repeat. Machine Head

   MACHINE HEAD
   "Supercharger" (Roadrunner)

   2 stars
   Lots of drumming, lots of screaming, countless muddled power chords and plenty of attitude make their way in Machine Head's "Supercharger," the heavy-metal monsters' fourth full-length album. Vaguely psychedelic background sounds and occasional hip-hop beats make their way into the music, but it's heavy funk riffs that most add to the album's crossover appeal.
   Machine Head knows how to crank out a song that's plenty heavy but still melodic, bouncy and head-bob inducing. Song subject matter is rather grim, focusing mainly on drugs, feelings of alienation and macho behavior.



Staff writer , Brendan Walsh

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