B Original Broadway Cast
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Atlantic
Neil Patrick Harris returned to Broadway in dramatic fashion as the star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a revival of a 1998 Off-Broadway rock musical. Harris' performance in the role won him a Tony Award.
As one can probably tell from the title, this is not a sweet, happy, funny show. Those who are easily offended or who prefer their Broadway shows sweet and melodic should steer clear. There is humor -- usually of the darker, irreverent sort, like in the short but hilarious "When Love Explodes: Love Theme from The Hurt Locker."
But there's also a lot of bitterness, anger and darkness, expressed well in the hard-rock score and biting lyrics. Of course, it's fitting. The title character is an East German transgendered singer who had a botched sex change operation and some serious romantic misfortunes. Identity, the division of Germany and love gone bad are major themes.
Most of the songs fall into the "hard rock with a good hook" category, although there are occasional swings into softer, more reflective territory. Harris is game and he manages to keep a good, strong sound without the coarse, hard-on-the-ears edge one might expect from this type of music.
Hot tracks: "Tear Me Down," "Wig in a Box."
-- JENNIFER NIXON
B Trey Songz
Trigga
Songbook/Atlantic
Trey Songz, a soul-music journeyman known for imaginative sex jams, has established himself in the R&B world. Yet he has never quite broken through to a mainstream audience, something he is poised to do here. But Songz hasn't cleaned up his act to cross over. Trigga, his sixth studio album, is raunchy, with bedroom talk that ranges from efficiently straightforward to impressively elaborate. He details his predilection for women from other countries ("Foreign") and in "Touchin, Lovin'," he outlines a seduction.
Even at his crudest, Songz remains likable, due to his pleading tenor and savvy presentation. In "Change Your Mind" he takes up his reputation as the love-'em-and-leave-'em type. He invites Justin Bieber to join him for a remix of "Foreign," which in a surely intended consequence makes Songz sound like the picture of cosmopolitan suavity.
Trigga matches Songz's sense of sophistication with immersive production, as in "SmartPhones," a shimmering electro-soul track overlaid with gorgeous multi-tracked harmonies.
Hot tracks: "SmartPhones," "Change Your Mind."
-- MIKAEL WOOD
Los Angeles Times
A- Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison
Our Year
Thirty Tigers
Austin-residing, veteran music couple Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison are a talented pair. However, their last album, Cheater's Game, came across as calculated -- a country/Americana/folk exercise that made no real emotional connection.
Our Year feels a lot more spontaneous, spare, alive and interesting. Steel guitars, banjos, harmonicas, mandolins and pedal steel are deployed in a skillful and arresting manner throughout.
Willis absolutely owns late songwriter Walter Hyatt's "Motor City Man" and Robison makes "Anywhere But Here," penned by Robison and Monte Warden, an honest, engaging longing-to-escape tune.
There are probably 100 or so other Tom T. Hall songs that Willis and Robison could have picked instead of "Harper Valley PTA," but that's a minor slight for Our Year, which lives up to the reputation of its makers.
Hot tracks: "Motor City Man," "Anywhere But Here," "This Will Be Our Year."
-- WERNER TRIESCHMANN
B Jason Mraz
Yes
Atlantic
On his fifth studio album, singer-songwriter Jason Mraz returns to familiar lyrical territory, exploring the highs and lows of love in his bright, folk-pop style. This time, the sound is both richer and more stripped down -- an acoustic ride enriched by the vocals, strings and percussion of his partners on the album, the all-female quartet Raining Jane. The layered harmonies of this indie group from Los Angeles lend an ethereal vibe throughout, and an almost gospel quality to the album's best song, the closing ode to love, "Shine."
Mraz co-wrote every song with Raining Jane, except for the cover of Boyz II Men's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday."
Like Mraz's previous albums, Yes is cheerfully optimistic, as evidenced by the single, "Love Someone." But the standouts are the more introspective tracks, like the cello-driven "You Can Rely on Me" and the downbeat "A World With You."
Hot tracks: "Shine," "You Can Rely on Me," "A World With You."
-- SANDY COHEN
The Associated Press
A- Martha Wash
"I'm Not Coming Down"
Purple Rose
The great Martha Wash can now celebrate dance hits in each of the past five decades, thanks to her new single, "I'm Not Coming Down." The singer, best known for "It's Raining Men" and "Everybody, Everybody," may see another crossover with this catchy, uplifting anthem that makes the most of her soaring, gospel-inspired vocals.
"I didn't know I could soar above the ground," Wash booms in the chorus. "And now that I do, I'm not coming down." Given her career, there's no reason to.
-- GLENN GAMBOA
Newsday
Style on 07/22/2014