B+ Of Monsters and Men
Beneath the Skin
Record/Republic
If the 2012 album My Head Is an Animal was Icelandic indie folk band Of Monsters and Men's coming out party, its second album is the celebratory after party. Infused with a bigger, bolder sound, no doubt thanks to more studio time, Beneath the Skin takes everything the band did right on the first album and builds on it.
Beneath the Skin stays true to the band's roots. It keeps the intimate, folksy pop sound, but juxtaposes its high energy songs with slow piano and cello-infused ballads. The album may not have an international hit like "Little Talks," which put the band on the map in 2012, but overall, the album feels more like a band that knows what it's doing rather than one that got lucky with a couple of songs. Nanna Hilmarsdottir and Ragnar Porhallsson's songwriting and duet-style singing has now officially created a signature sound that alt-rock and indie fans will not mind getting used to.
Hot tracks: "Empire," "I of the Storm," "Organs," "We Sink."
-- CHRIS HEADY
B+ Broadway Cast Recording
Something Rotten
It's renaissance England and two playwright brothers (Brian d'Arcy James and John Cariani) who are perpetually in the shadow of some guy named Will Shakespeare (Tony winner Christian Borle) decide to write something completely different: a musical.
Along the same lines as Spamalot (though not quite as clever), it's an irreverent yet loving satire of the musical genre as a whole that doesn't take itself or its subject matter remotely seriously. It earned 10 Tony nominations and one win.
Everyone seems to be having fun and while some numbers (like "Welcome to the Renaissance") aren't quite as sharp as they could be, it's at its best in "A Musical," a high energy tribute to/skewering of musicals. The rocklike "God I Hate Shakespeare" and "Will Power" throw some snarky shade at the Bard.
It's funny, but the more you know about musical theater, Shakespearean plays and 1590s England, the more entertaining it is.
It's also heavy on naughty and suggestive language.
Hot tracks: "God I Hate Shakespeare," "A Musical," "Will Power."
-- JENNIFER NIXON
A- James Taylor
Before This World
Concord
In his career of more than four decades, James Taylor has seen fire and rain, showered the people with love and steamrolled his way into millions of hearts.
Taylor's new album arrives 13 years after his last studio album of original songs.
The 67-year-old's simple, elegant acoustic fretwork and supple tenor sound much as they did in his 1970s heyday. The new album sounds familiar without being a retread.
"Montana" evokes "Sweet Baby James" in meter, mood and melody. "SnowTime" raises comparisons to "Mexico." Not everything's a grand slam: "Angels of Fenway," a ballad for Boston Red Sox fans, is no strikeout, but the nostalgia gets a bit thick in spots.
Two songs elevate the album: "Before This World" and "Far Afghanistan." The first is a stately piece that features standout support from cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Sting. The former weaves soulful lines and the latter handles the harmonies beautifully. The second song is a well-told and played tale that doesn't so much criticize war as it questions the assumptions we make about the lands we invade.
How sweet it is to hear such solid, smart and at times sublime songcraft.
Hot tracks: "Before This World," "Far Afghanistan," "Montana."
-- JEFF KAROUB, The Associated Press
D A Thousand Horses
Southernality
Republic Nashville
Southern rock specialists A Thousand Horses pride themselves on being influenced by some of the genre's greats, such as The Black Crowes and The Allman Brothers. You can hear those influences throughout their latest album.
The first track, "First Time," treats the listener to a raucous keyboard-fueled song that is uncomfortably close to Black Crowes' "Jealous" in vocals and instrumentals. It's one thing to be influenced by a great band. It's another to get dangerously close to a knockoff.
The band comes a bit more into its own on "Smoke." Lead singer Michael Hobby equates a woman to a bad cigarette habit and somehow it fits the band fine. "Sunday Morning" is a solid, slow-moving ballad as well.
It's hit-or-miss here, but disappointing when a band this talented elects to perform so close to the style and phrasings of its genre's stalwarts. With more creativity, A Thousand Horses might have been on to something. For now, it's merely on to someone else's something.
Hot track: "Sunday Morning."
-- RON HARRIS, The Associated Press
Style on 06/23/2015