Artists get cozy on 'Home' for holidays

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we find ourselves suddenly wrapped up in the Christmas season, which entails, among the many other holiday traditions, a plethora of compilation Christmas albums. "A Home for the Holidays," although not the best CD ever to hit the shelves, is a quite enjoyable, and features a wide variety of artists, all the way from Tony Toni Tone to Joan Osborne to Bon Jovi. And you'll feel good about buying it because all proceeds are donated to Phoenix House, the largest non-profit drug abuse rehabilitation center in the country.

The majority of the album is rather mellow with a jazzy sound to the music, such as OMC's surprisingly well-done version of "My Favorite Things." OMC temporarily parted from the style that produced hit song "How Bizarre" to record the Rogers and Hammerstein classic backed by an orchestra.

If you're a Boyz II Men fan, you'll love their beautiful renditions of "Silent Night" and "Let it Snow." Both were so pleasant and relaxing they made me want to curl up next to a warm fire with a candy cane and hot cider.

There are a few vibrant songs intertwined to contrast the slow tunes including Marshall Crenshaw's upbeat "Sock it to me Santa" and "Christmas Time (It Sure Doesn't Feel Like It)" by ska superstars The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

One of the highlights of the CD is the fun and playful "Baby It's Cold Outside" performed as a duet with Vanessa Williams and Bobby Caldwell. It was obvious the pair had a good time recording the song together.

The variety in "A Home for the Holidays" is really what makes it worthwhile. It covers many of the traditionals including "O Come All Ye Faithful," and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" but also non-traditional songs, many of which I have never heard before. Songs like "Mary Christmas," "How Beautiful" and "Arbolito de Navidad," sung in Spanish by Gloria Estefan, spiced up the album.

If you're looking for something to put in your CD player to get you into the holiday spirit and you want to contribute to charity as well, you should pick up "A Home for the Holidays."

- Amy Barber

Kiss
Carnival of Souls-The Final Sessions
Mercury Records
1 star

In the last few years Kiss's music has evolved with the musical climate and with this the band has created some very solid music that is easily comparable to the old school songs like "Rock and Roll All Night," and "Shout Ii Out Loud."

This evolution of their music comes to a screeching halt with their latest album, "Carnival of Souls."

Over the last three decades, Kiss has released 29 albums world wide, this one is perhaps their worst ever. While their music has always had a hard edge to it, this album differs in that it is sounds more like the works of a low-grade thrash metal band than that of Kiss.

The first song on the album, "Hate," begins with hard-pounding guitar distortion. Gene Simmons' voice is then heard screaming. Most of the songs seem to follow this standard pattern. It's not that the musical arrangements on this album are bad, it's just that the sound of Paul Stanley's trademark voice singing death metal songs on tracks like "Rain," "Master and Slave," and "It Never Goes Away" just doesn't cut it.

There are two songs on this album that seem to be in the true Kiss style - "Childhood End," and "I Will Be There." These two tracks showcase the sound that one identifies with band. But however they in no way make the album.

Anyone who has heard Kiss's last two studio albums "Revenge," and "Hot in the Shade," knows that the band has been able to make solid music in the last few years. It is for that reason that this album is disturbing because it suggests that one of America's greatest rock 'n' roll bands has lost its ability to rock.

- Curtis Zimmermann

Duran Duran
Medazzaland
Capitol Records
4 stars

It's tough being an '80s icon these days. Just ask old hands like Depeche Mode or Tears For Fears, to name a few. But in Duran Duran's case, the '80s label is even more difficult to shed, given their perception as "the MTV band" bar none. Whether they like it or not, Duran Duran is most notable for cruising on yachts and hunting through jungles and deserts in videos for hits such as "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf."

Duran Duran attempts another comeback, this time without the foxy Taylor boys.

Thus, it's only too easy to dismiss new material by a band who peaked some 14 years ago and has minimal music credibility amongst the industry. Additionally, now that the band has lost much of its worldwide popularity, as well as having had its share of lineup changes, any new album could be seen as a weak attempt to recapture past success. Add this to the fact that the band's last effort, 1995's "Thank You," was a misguided, disastrous set of cover tracks, and you can hardly fault a person for burying Duran Duran.

Such a view would be shortsighted, because "Medazzaland," the band's first original album since 1993's self-titled work, hardly sounds like a deceased band. As they did on that 1993 comeback album, Duran Duran's mature pop and electronic sensibilities flow throughout. The title track, which opens the album, is a bit pretentious with singer Simon LeBon speaking the lyrics with a distorted sound applied to his voice. But if you can forgive the group this one self-indulgence, then you can easily fall into the album from this point onward.

At its best, on tracks such as the first single, "Electric Barbarella" (the group's name is taken from the 1968 film Barbarella, where Jane Fonda's character seeks out the evil Dr. Duran Duran) and "Out of My Mind," which featured on the excellent soundtrack for "The Saint," the group show that its electronic innovations are still light years ahead of the competition. "Electric Barbarella" has an incredible dance-hook and programed drum beat that makes it one of Duran Duran's most upbeat, danceable songs since "The Reflex."

Duran Duran goes for a more acoustic setting on tracks such as "Who Do You Think You Are?" and the album closer "Undergoing Treatment." In these settings, which are new for Duran Duran, Cuccurullo shows his tasteful, if unspectacular, playing. Rhodes is more at home in the more electronic songs that are more typical Duran Duran, including "Big Bang Generation" and "Buried In The Sand," which are soaked with synthesizers, programing and keyboards by Rhodes. LeBon plays off the keyboards and his voice acts as another instrument amid the atmospheres.

Still, most of the songs are very ambiguous and many of the lyrics are hard to decipher. The short of it is that Duran Duran is far more enjoyable to listen to as a lighthearted pop band.

Most of the public will probably ignore Duran Duran altogether at this point, but if one can drop any preconceived notions, this album is thoroughly enjoyable and well-performed.

- Jason Hoyer

Pig
Wrecked
Wax Trax! Records
4 stars

Pig is the dark pocket in the pool table that bites your hand off leaving a bloody stump when you try to reach down it and see what's inside. That'll happen when you're an old KMFDM member.

"Wrecked" starts off with its title track hammering away with two tons of industrial goth to which the boys in Marilyn Manson only hope to someday aspire. What follows is the beautiful industrial wasteland that has always been hoped for in those doom-and-gloom circles. Pig goes from over-the-top narrative love songs (kinda), like "No One Gets Out of Her Alive" to over-the-top soliloquies like "Everything."

The general mood of the disc is one of colorful robotic insects crawling all over your body and burrowing under your skin. The whirs on "Contempt" are modern, the strings on "Save Me" are retro, but everything comes together well.

Whether you're designing a lethal plague that will annihilate mankind or just wondering if you should flip off the jerk who cut you off on I-94, you'll enjoy it.

- Ted Watts

12-05-97