August 29, 2004 in Features

R. Kelly inspires on two-CD offering

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R. Kelly”Happy People”/”U Saved Me” (Jive) ••••

One of the great things about certain pop records is their ability to fill you with a feeling of well-being when there’s not much reason to be feeling good. The world might be going to hell in a handbasket and your personal life might be unraveling, but it doesn’t matter if “Dancing in the Street” or “Help Me Rhonda” is on the radio.

It’s only natural to assume that R. Kelly has worse days than most of us as he awaits trial in his hometown of Chicago on 14 counts of child pornography. Maybe it’s compensation for his tribulation, or maybe just fierce denial, but the R&B veteran has imbued “Happy People” — the first half of his new two-CD album — with an intoxicating, grin-inducing, body-moving, spirit-lifting effervescence.

But every Saturday night has its Sunday morning, and for those who want a taste of a more troubled soul, Kelly provides “U Saved Me,” a second disc that’s rooted in gospel forms and church vernacular about the passage through the wilderness and into salvation.

So how does music this embracing and inspired come from someone in Kelly’s shoes? Depending on the truth we might or might not learn someday, it can serve as a reminder that great art isn’t necessarily the product of a morally admirable artist. And no matter what eventually happens to R. Kelly’s world, it carries a message right out of one of those Sunday sermons: Judge not, lest ye be judged.

– Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times

Travis Tritt

“My Honky Tonk History” (Sony/Columbia) •••

So you’re a country music newbie and you’re ready to learn a little honky-tonk history? Travis Tritt has some incredible lessons to teach you. Sure, the Georgia-born bad boy has Southern rock, blues and gospel in his blood, but when he pours his big, soulful voice into a hard-core country ballad, the results are nothing short of spine-tingling.

“My Honky Tonk History” delivers three fine examples: “We’ve Had it All,” a George Jones-worthy tune Tritt wrote with Marty Stuart; “Small Doses,” a heartache-and-whiskey lament that could do wonders for Jim Beam revenues; and the aching “Circus Leaving Town,” an old-time country weeper about the perils of life on the road.

Less pleasing are the politically ambiguous “What Say You” and first single “The Girl’s Gone Wild.” Think of them as minor missteps, and look for “My Honky Tonk History” on best-of lists at the end of 2004.

– Greg Crawford, Detroit Free Press

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