Wilson reasserts herself with new ‘All Jacked Up’
Gretchen Wilson
“All Jacked Up” (Sony) ••••
Gretchen Wilson isn’t going pop, isn’t going acoustic, isn’t going soft and isn’t going away.
Wilson, country’s breakout story of 2004, follows her multimillion-selling debut “Here for the Party” with a follow-up that offers more of the same hard-drinking, rural celebrations, honky-tonk songs and country weepers.
There’s a hidden track – a cover of Billie Holiday’s “Good Morning Heartache” – that intimates that she could compete on Norah Jones’ turf if she really wanted to. But throughout the rest of “All Jacked Up” she’s content to reassert rather than redefine herself.
“All Jacked Up” is about getting drunk on Jack Daniels; “California Girls” finds her punching at an easy target (Paris Hilton), but also praising Dolly Parton. She also manages to get a line in there about how she’s unafraid to “eat fried chicken and dirty dance to Merle.”
Wilson’s range and vocal power mark her as an every-year-for-the- foreseeable-future contender for the country female vocalist categories, and she delivers plenty of vocalized soul here. (She even holds up her end of the deal when singing a duet with the great, aforementioned Merle Haggard.)
Peter Cooper, The (Nashville) Tennessean
Franz Ferdinand
“You Could Have It So Much Better” (Sony) ••••
Recorded in singer Alex Kapranos’ home, the Scottish quartet’s sophomore album is more sophisticated and complicated than its celebrated debut, but no less fun or infectious. Inventive yet accessible, the punk-dipped pop on “So Much Better” bears signs of madcap creative energy and none of the sloppy craftsmanship one might expect from a young band this cocky and confident.
Franz avoided that blunder and delivers a superb album that’s witty, muscular, exciting and surprisingly disciplined, from flat-out rocker “Fallen” and frenetic, effects-laden “This Boy” to such departures as the psychedelic romantic ballad “Eleanor Put Your Boots On,” trippy art-rocker “I’m Your Villain” and melancholy “Walk Away.”
This raffish foursome might be a little too clever and self-aware, but in this era of anemic rock ‘n’ roll, you could have it so much worse.
Edna Gundersen, USA Today
Toni Braxton
“Libra” (Blackground) •••
There was a time when you mainly counted on Toni Braxton for sad love songs. But in recent years, she’s broadened her perspective while growing increasingly feisty.
On her sixth album, the love Braxton sings about is often complicated. “Trippin’ (That’s the Way Love Works)” and “What’s Good” acknowledge that fussing and stressing are part of any relationship. So is temptation, and on songs such as “Please” and “Midnight,” it’s all about how you handle it.
The self-recriminating “Stupid” shows she can light a torch when she wants to. Still, the more mature Braxton is no longer waiting around for someone else to unbreak her heart.
Steve Jones, USA Today
Lil’ Kim
“The Naked Truth” (Atlanic) ••• 1/2
Usually when you say “revealing” and “Lil’ Kim” in the same sentence, you are talking about her fashion sense. This time, though, it’s her feelings that are showing, and the Queen Bee’s parting shots (she just started a yearlong prison stay for a perjury conviction) at enemies and former friends are anything but honey-dipped.
She rips onetime duet partner 50 Cent and longtime rival Foxy Brown as well as sundry haters, imitators and media types. But the most venom is directed at her Junior M.A.F.I.A. cohorts, some of whom testified against her in court as she was “taking one for the team.”
Too bad for them that her acid tongue is spitting some of the cleverest rhymes over the strongest beats of her career. And although her signature raunch is still there in full effect, it is no longer the only thing that defines her. Nor does it obscure the fact that she is one of the best MCs around.
Steve Jones, USA Today
Bon Jovi
“Have a Nice Day” (Island) •• 1/2
Sturdy and serviceable, the latest CD from these Jersey guys is a credible listening experience. More important, it’s crammed with songs that will sound terrific on a stadium stage this summer. (Can’t wait to hear the Beach Boys homage in “Last Cigarette” live.)
As usual, Bon Jovi serves up a steady diet of catchy riffs, anthemic choruses and roller-coaster guitar solos along with trite lyrics about underdog grit and flowering where you’re planted. From start to finish, “Have a Nice Day” is pretty and predictable. The only daring element here is the cover: a demented rendering of the Kool-Aid logo.
David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer