Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

England’s Spice Girl successors have buried the hatchets and reunited in time to catch pop music’s current Caribbean-lite wave. Their third album, an homage to Jamaica’s Studio One label, features such ska and reggae numbers as the horn-heavy “Scar,” “Not Eazy” and the sassy title track. After making babies, solo albums and some rock-star romance (with Liams Gallagher and Howlett, for the Canadian-born Appleton sisters), the Saints now thankfully seem to treat music as something more than just a photo op.

Ryder’s one of Canada’s brightest new talents, a gifted songwriter and powerhouse vocalist. Some might think it strange that she’d make her major label debut singing so many songs by other artists. But Ryder, 23, is no fool: by including her stunning interpretations of Canadian classics like Leonard Cohen’s “Sisters of Mercy” and Sylvia Tyson’s “You Were On My Mind” alongside her own formidable “Weak in the Knees” and “Just Another Day,” it merely proves she belongs in such esteemed company.

As Cat Stevens, he made a fortune with his gentle odes to love and spirituality. Since his conversion to Islam, Yusuf has donated his royalties to charities and Islamic schools he set up in North London. Now, with his first album of pop music in 28 years, the former Cat is back preaching his brand of enlightenment. It’s a mixed blessing: despite singer Youssou N’Dour’s inspired presence on “The Beloved” and the vigorous rock workout “I Think I See the Light,” the album suffers from excessive mellowness and sermonizing.

Osborne will be forever associated with her 1995 hit “One of Us,” recently revived as the theme song for the TV show Joan of Arcadia. She’s recorded only sporadically since, and mostly covers at that, so Osborne’s latest is a significant achievement. Although she interprets songs by The Grateful Dead, Kris Kristofferson and others, it’s her own songs, especially the country-tinged “Who Divided” and the soulful title track, that stand out. And Osborne’s lusty contralto, always one of her strengths, still commands attention.

Like Blue Rodeo crossed with Barenaked Ladies, Winnipeg’s Doc Walker serves up twanging country-rock with a twist of feel-pop pop. Lead singer Chris Thorsteinson even sounds like the Ladies’ Ed Robertson. Still, the group has built a strong following among country-loving hosers and its third album, featuring yearnin’ singles like “Trying to Get Back to You,” will go down well with that crowd. In a nod to its Prairie roots, the band also collaborates with legend Randy Bachman and covers Neil Young’s “Come a Time.”

Clapton is the latest legend to pay tribute to a hero—in his case, reclusive Oklahoma native Cale, whose songs “Cocaine” and “After Midnight” the British guitar god turned into hits. Clapton has long admired Cale’s slinky, laid-back style and emulated it on his Slowhand album. Here, the veteran musicians combine on shuffling blues like “It’s Easy” and “Any Way the Wind Blows” and Clapton’s tender “Three Little Girls,” about his young daughters. Together, they fit as comfortably as a pair of well-worn slippers.  

The Aussie country crooner could’ve called his latest album Marrying Nicole, Checking into Rehab and Coping with Celebrity, but leave that sort of tawdriness to the tabloids. Urban would rather take the poetic high road and let fans revel in new songs about marital bliss (the upbeat rocker “Once in a Lifetime”), stubbornness (the confessional “Stupid Boy”) and begging for forgiveness (the Celtic-flavored “I Told You So”). How much does he worship Kidman? Just check out the choir-laced opus “God Man Woman.”

Its record label calls Shaye a supergroup, but it’s simply the company consolidating its assets in an age of diminishing returns, with East Coast solo artists Damhnait Doyle, Tara Maclean and Kim Stockwood reinvented as a roots-pop vocal trio. The group’s second album offers more sun-kissed harmonies wrapped in pleasant, radio-friendly production. Although Shaye originals like the upbeat title track and such covers as Van Morrison’s “Tupelo Honey” are hardly adventurous, what do you expect from a manufactured outfit?

Unlike Classic Albums, the Under Review DVD series relies on experts rather than the artists themselves to dissect historic recordings. The low-rent approach pays unexpectedly hilarious dividends on this analysis of AC/DC’s riff-crazed classic. From the tribute band guitarist, an Angus Young look-alike complete with schoolboy cap, to the portly Aussie rock critic who, unblinkingly, calls the band’s rampant sexism “affable bloke-ishness,” it’s a metal-head’s dream, like something straight out of Spinal Tap.

He’s sung everything from reggae to Gershwin, but here Nelson sticks to mostly country-blues—with a just a hint of gospel. Working with prolific young rocker Ryan Adams, who produced this fine collection, the pigtailed septuagenarian tackles Adams’ moody “Blue Hotel,” Gram Parsons’ heartbreaking “$1000 Wedding” and Leonard Cohen’s classic “Hallelujah.” But the country legend also revisits a few classics of his own, like “Back to Earth” and “Sad Songs & Waltzes”—something he doesn’t do often enough.