Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

This is the fourth in Rick Rubin’s series of “American Recordings,” featuring the Man in Black. It may go down in history as the strangest collection of covers ever recorded, from Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and The Beatles’ “In My Life” to Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” and Nine Inch Nail’s “Hurt.” Despite guest appearances by Don Henley, Fiona Apple and Nick Cave, it is Cash’s iconic voice, as rich and deep as bedrock, that still commands attention—even at the ripe old age of 70.  

The nineties was a watershed for U2, as the Irish rockers succeeded in remaking themselves from Serious Young Men into Decadent Rock-and-Rollers. Who can forget Bono’s laughable Fly, or his demonic MacPhisto, from the Zoo TV Tour? While U2’s experimentation with techno bombed badly, the period did produce the memorable “Beautiful Day,” “Even Better Than the Real Thing” and “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of.” Bonus: two new songs, including the falsetto-drenched “Electrical Storm.”

Sony Music has grown rich from the English-language success of Céline Dion, who might’ve remained a francophone phenomenon if not for the Réné Angélil-imposed makeover and David Foster’s production gloss. Warner Music obviously has similar crossover dreams with this Italian diva’s English debut. Pausini, who’s worked with Foster, shares Dion’s taste for overblown romantic ballads but doesn’t have Queen Céline’s pipes. And when she ups the tempo, Pausini’s just another Europop princess.

Don’t let Badly Drawn Boy’s slacker image fool you: the Boy (born Damon Gough) is actually a hard-working, toque-wearing tunesmith, crafting enough lo-fi pop classics to fill a modest-size Brill Building. His 18-track debut album, The Hour of Bewilderbeast, was declared a “shambling masterpiece” by one critic. Since then, Gough has recorded the soundtrack to About a Boy. His latest, featuring eclectic gems like “40 Days 40 Fights” and “You Were Right,” is full of intelligence and delightfully twisted humor.

Although she flies well under pop’s radar, this beguiling Irish singer easily outsells compatriots U2 and Sinead O’Connor—and then some. Last year, Enya was the biggest selling artist in the entire world. How does she do it? By setting her spellbinding voice to flowing, hypnotic sounds that deftly combine elements of Celtic folk, classical and new age music. Featuring songs from such popular albums as Watermark and Shepherd Moons, this four-CD box set proves the power of word-of-mouth over mass marketing.

Ever since she lost her original guitarist to drugs, Chrissie Hynde has been typecast as a survivor—and every Pretenders album has been viewed as a comeback. Truth is, Hynde’s material has often been woefully uneven. Here, there’s a preponderance of mediocre reggae and dodgy songs about dishonesty. Still, Hynde does possess one of rock’s great voices, an instrument that mixes aching boredom with rugged insouciance. And the album contains at least one memorable song: the strutting “Walks Like a Panther.”

Teaming up with Shaggy’s producers may prove to be a mixed blessing for Snow. While Tony and Dave Kelly have helped the Toronto singer return to his reggae roots, it may give the impression that he’s is following Shaggy’s ragga-pop footsteps (in fact Snow’s breakthrough, 1992’s dancehall hit “Informer,” came a full year before Shaggy’s “Oh Carolina”). At any rate, Snow’s latest boasts more ragga than r&b. And the album’s surefire hit, “Missing You,” is melodically sweeter than anything Shaggy’s ever written.

As in love lost and gained, the yin-yang of popular song. Green, Jill Scott’s former backup vocalist, doesn’t come up with any new twists on the old formula. But the young Philly soul singer does offer a fresh delivery on her debut album. “Fanatic,” which compares love to “some bad habit,” conveys a desperate yearning, while “Emotional Rollercoaster” hits unexpected highs and lows vocally. But “Superwoman,” with its staccato delivery and assertive message, provides the album’s most dramatic moments.

Delta blues fans will rejoice at the re-release of this classic 1967 recording of the seminal bottleneck guitarist and his harmonica sidekick Johnny Woods. McDowell, who died in 1972, was a major influence on Bonnie Raitt and remains best known for “You Got to Move,” which the Rolling Stones covered on Sticky Fingers. And while he recorded his best work solo, it’s a thrill to hear the raw spontaneity of his interaction with Woods on songs like the explosive title track and the locomotive “Shake ’Em On Down.”

What is it about the short, balding former Genesis drummer that makes him so utterly hateful? Is it his insipid songs, his nasally voice, or is it his workman-like (and very uncool) approach to rock ’n’ roll, which has made him one of the most successful “adult contemporary” singers of all time, with global sales of more than 100 million albums? This dreary, predictable album, his first in six years, adds nothing to Phil’s Phormula, despite the fact that it was supposedly inspired by his new wife and child. Sad, really.