The soundtrack to Eddie Murphy’s latest
movie Daddy Day Care is out now on Columbia, and features classic ‘70s
and ‘80s tracks from Katrina and the Waves ("Walking on Sunshine"),
Bachman-Turner Overdrive ("Takin’ Care of Business"), Harry
Nilsson ("Coconut"), Ramones ("I Wanna Be Sedated")
Jackson 5 ("ABC"), Bow Wow Wow ("I Want Candy")
and more.
Byrds
fans can now pick up a 33-song, two-disc compilation of the classic ‘60s band
which served as the springboard for David Crosby and Gram Parsons, spawned splinter
group The Flying Burrito Brothers, and influenced hundreds of bands, from R.E.M.
to Uncle Tupelo. The Essential Byrds on Columbia/Legacy, more or less
replaces another Columbia Byrds collection from a decade ago (20 Essential
Tracks from the Box Set 1965-1990) and includes their breakthrough Bob Dylan
covers "Mr. Tambourine Man," "All I Really Want To Do,"
and "You Ain’t Going Nowhere," as well as their own original hits
like "I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better," "Eight Miles High"
and "So You Want To Be A Rock and Roll Star." It also includes their
last collaboration with David Crosby, "Lady Friend," which never appeared
on a Byrds studio album.
Those inflamed with patriotic fervor can stoke the fire with Sony’s America
The Beautiful compilation, which includes The Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s
"Star Spangled Banner," Lee Greenwood’s "God Bless The
U.S.A.," Johnny Cash’s Ragged Old Flag" and Pete Seeger’s
"This Land Is Your Land," among other similar fare.
The Sony Legacy label also offers a collection of vintage jump swing "flapper"
hits from the ‘20s, for those who couldn’t get enough of the mood set by the
movie musical Chicago. The compilation Now That’s Chicago includes
almost two dozen songs from the era by artists that most people won’t recognize
80 years later (consequently, the artists don’t even get their names on the
back cover!) But acts like The Hot Air-Men, Frankie Half Pint Jaxon &
His Hot Shots, California Ramblers and one band that swing jazz fans definitely
will remember – Joe Turner & His Memphis Men (which included Duke
Ellington) — are collected here with songs like "Red Hot Chicago,"
"Raisin’ the Roof," "She Knows Her Onions," "He’s Still
My Baby," "No Man’s Mama" "I Got It But It Don’t Do Me No
Good" and "Two-Time Man."It’s like listening to the soundtrack
to an old episode of "The Little Rascals" or the original black and
white "Mickey Mouse" cartoons.
Chantal Kreviazuk
What If It All Means Something
(Columbia)
It’s been six years since Chantal was first touted
by Columbia as the label’s answer to Tori Amos. That debut album, Under These
Rocks and Stones, showed a singer-songwriter with promise, but without a
singular style. In the hands of producer Peter Asher (James Taylor, Amanda Marshall,
10,000 Maniacs, Linda Ronstadt), Kreviazuk came off as a lightweight Tori Amos
wannabe, with lyrical nods at Paula Cole and Alanis Morrisette. In short, she
sounded pleasant, but unoriginal.
Fast forward six years and that’s all changed. What If It All Means Something?
is Kreviazuk’s third album, and the years of touring and stints in the studio
have matured her abilities. While occasionally still sounding Amos-derivative
("Miss April" sounds like any number of jaunty piano-based Amos character
stories), Kreviazuk offers a dozen emotive, celebratory anthems of soul-baring
power on her latest release.
In the first piano chords and guitar strums of "In This Life," Kreviazuk
offers to "Let me show you what I’m made of" and through the rest
of the song – and album – she does just that. "In This Life" is a
powerhouse declaration of self-confidence and the power of love. In the midst
of a litany of promises, she cautions a lover, "you can run from me/and
you can hide from me/but I am right beside you/in this life."
Kreviazuk slips easily between guitar crunch and adult contemporary soundscapes
here (even offering a touch of Eastern melodicism in the lilting "Ready
For Your Love"), and the dichotomy of strength and vulnerability in her
vocals pulls it all together.
There are a number of high points, including the querulous "What If It
All Means Something?" which repeats a life question that everyone has asked
at some point (and also holds the faintest hint of "Magical Mystery Tour"
keyboards). And with the throbbing percussion of "Morning Light,"
she channels the taut edginess of a young Sinead O’Connor as she sings of early
morning desires ("I love a little loving with the morning light/a little
reminder that it’s all right" goes the chorus).
What If It All Means Something? brims with alluring pop that’s begging
for airplay. It closes with a stirring hymn that perfectly describes the album
itself: "Feels Like Home (To Me)."