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New Releases For The Week Of May 04, 2008
Edited by Jonathan Cohen
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'Home' Field Advantage
Neil Diamond doesn't mess with success. That's why he "never doubted" he'd work again with producer Rick Rubin, who steered their 2005 collaboration, "12 Songs," to a No. 4 debut on the Billboard 200, Diamond's best since "The Jazz Singer" in 1982. The album has sold 571,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Indeed, Diamond, 67, says he and Rubin began mulling "Home Before Dark," due this week via Columbia, "within weeks after '12 Songs' was finished. All of those questions you have when you work with somebody new were yesterday's news. We knew what we wanted to do."
So after "14 or 15 months" of writing, Diamond hit the studio with Rubin and an improvisationally leaning band featuring guitarists Mike Campbell, Matt Sweeney and Smokey Hormel and keyboardist Benmont Tench. Dixie Chicks vocalist Natalie Maines chipped in on "Another Day (That Time Forgot)," Diamond's first major duet with a female voice since "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with Barbra Streisand in 1978.
As with "12 Songs," the material on "Home Before Dark" is drumless, with Diamond's still-commanding voice front-and-center and his rhythm guitar, which he went three decades without playing in the studio, guiding the way for the other instrumentalists. "Working with these guys, and having Rick's ear, made it a great deal of fun," Diamond says. "Of course, I had to have the enthusiasm of the band, and their consent, in a way. They'd be playing along and looking for their places even before I'd finish the first run-through. It was magic, in a way."
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Clay's 'Way'
During its six previous seasons, TV juggernaut "American Idol" has launched countless music careers -- but the caveat is maintaining staying power. Season-two runner-up Clay Aiken continues to trump the odds. His third RCA album, "On My Way Here," due this week, follows his 2003 double-platinum debut, "Measure of a Man"; 2004's platinum "Merry Christmas With Love"; and 2006 gold covers album "A Thousand Different Ways."
On the new album, his first of original material since "Measure," Aiken worked with Grammy Award-winning producer Kipper (Sting, Chris Botti). "When [executive producer] Jaymes Foster and I came across the song ;On My Way Here,' written by OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, I really connected to it lyrically," Aiken says. "It sums up how the experiences we go through make us who we are. As I'm knocking on the door to 30 -- and it's knocking hard -- this decade has been about figuring out who I am. That set the tone for the album; they're all about things I've learned or universal lessons."
"Once we had that road map and knew what we were looking for, the songs started falling in our laps," he continues. "In the past, I'd sing about dog food and sunshine, as long as it was catchy and had a great melody, so it's the first time I've paid close attention to lyrics. I'm not Alicia Keys or Norah Jones when it comes to artistic lyrics, but I like what these songs are saying -- and they're still pretty."
Aiken admits "knowing that we probably weren't going to get radio made the process even easier, so we just made an album that is me-songs written for me or whose meaning I connected with, and songs that I sing well."
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DeGraw Says It All
After five years of supporting his 2003 debut "Chariot," Gavin DeGraw is finally prepared to release his next studio effort. The self-titled affair, due this week via J Records, was produced by Howard Benson and is led by the single "In Love With a Girl."
"I've had a lot of time to make these songs, but didn't really have any down time from one thing to the next," DeGraw recently says. "When I came off the road, I thought, 'Now I can relax and spend time with people that I love.' But then I thought, 'I can't lose steam here.'"
Tracks like the single, "Young Love" and "Cop Stop" ("Baby I'm a cop / stop, put up your hands and surrender to me") revisit the themes of love and relationships which dominated "Chariot." "I spend the most ridiculous amount of time of writing lyrics," he says. However, with the addition of heavier guitar lines and a faster pace, DeGraw hopes the effort comes off more "primal."
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Additional titles hitting stores this week include:
A live CD/DVD from pop superstar Josh Groban, "Awake" (143/Reprise).
An album of kids music from Barenaked Ladies, "Snacktime" (Desperation Records).
New albums from electronica mavens Four Tet ("Ringer," Domino) and Matmos ("Supreme Balloon," Matador).
The debut album from the Arctic Monkeys side band the Last Shadow Puppets, "The Age of the Understatement" (Domino).
The debut album from Los Angeles noise rock duo No Age, "Nouns" (Sub Pop).
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The Queen of Pop has dethroned the King of Rock'n'Roll. After racing 68-3 earlier this month, Madonna's "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake has given the singer her 37th top 10 hit -- the most of any artist in the rock era. Until now, she and Elvis Presley were tied with 36 apiece.
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Sandwiched in the fertile years that separated grunge from the Spice Girls was Portishead, a band that didn't change, start or inspire much of anything.
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After seven studio albums, the Roots are embracing their awkwardness on "Rising Down," according to drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson.
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Take a stroll down Broadway in New York near the Billboard offices or wander down an alley in Austin, and you're likely to see some fresh graffiti.
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