A Time For Love
Stevie Wonder

Each May, hundreds of people pack a trendy New York club for a Stevie Wonder birthday bash. Wonder doesn't attend -- but that doesn't stop the party. That's because the evening's draw is not the man, but a night of his Wonder-ful music: hours of classics, from Isn't She Lovely to Golden Lady to Living for the City, all a testament to his undeniable musical genius. Sadly, if any material from his newest album, A Time for Love, makes the cut next year, it might clear the dance floor. Comprised mainly of so-so ballads and rote uptempo numbers, this album reinforces the familiar knock on Wonder -- that he hasn't made any compelling material since groundbreaking albums like Original Musiquarium and Innervisons decades ago. Which actually isn't true. His 1991 soundtrack to Spike Lee's Jungle Fever was a dazzling disc that should be ranked among his classics, and 1995's Conversation Peace had plenty of strong material that proved his relevance after more than three decades in the business. It's hard to hear that relevance in A Time To Love. Much of it sounds dated, particularly the funk grooves, which sound like they're stuck in some early '90s time warp, weighed down by heavy drum machines and synthesizers. The first track, If Your Love Cannot Be Moved, sounds mechanical and soulless, despite the presence of gospel star Kim Burrell. From the Bottom of My Heart ranks with Wonder's saccharine hit For Your Love. And So What The Fuss, featuring Prince on guitar, sounds too much like a George Clinton song -- disappointing from an artist of paramount originality and creativity. Wonder's best music has always stirred the heart and soul with sparkling musical arrangements and spellbinding lyrics. There are few examples of that here. How Will I Know, a duet with his daughter Aisha Morris, is lovely and touching -- Wonder's voice complements his daughter's sweet soprano perfectly, and his crisp piano melody is truly enchanting. The jazzy arrangement of Moon Blue gives it life, and Shelter In The Rain is an inspiring, uplifting anthem. But those are the exceptions. While the album is certainly not bad, it's not compelling enough to merit multiple listens -- a painful statement to make (especially for this die-hard Stevie fan). It's hard to believe this album took ten years to complete. Anyone needing their Stevie Wonder fix would do better reaching into their archives. Review by Nekisha Moody.

Walk the Line Soundtrack
Various Artists (Wind Up)

As Johnny Cash, Joaquin Phoenix out-mimics Jamie Foxx in this year's four-star biopic Walk the Line. Reese Witherspoon is also top-notch as June Carter, while Tyler Hilton and Jonathan Rice are perfectly fine in their respective roles of Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison. But what astonishes on celluloid sounds second-rate on CD. Good as they may be, these are mainly actors playing roles -- though Waylon Malloy Payne (Jerry Lee Lewis) comes to his part naturally, as the son of country singer Sammi Smith and Willie Nelson's guitarist Jody Payne. Payne, incidentally, is named after his godfather Waylon Jennings, whose son Shooter Jennings's sparing take on his late father's 1966 album track I'm a Long Way From Home is the most artistically credible cut here. Strangely, Jennings, a budding recording star in his own right, is not at all made up to look like Waylon in the movie: that he sounds more like himself than his dad makes his version stand out next to the others' copies. Not to slight such suitable facsimiles as the Phoenix-Witherspoon duets It Ain't Me Babe and Jackson, but the true Cash and Carter fan will opt for the real thing every time. Review by Jim Baseman.

The Body Acoustic
Cyndi Lauper (Epic)

On her new disc The Body Acoustic, 52-year-old Cyndi Lauper recasts a slew of her old hits -- from She Bop to True Colors and Time after Time -- in acoustic form. It's an experiment that could soar or crash. Alanis Morissette released an acoustic version of her breakthrough, best-selling 1995 album Jagged Little Pill to lukewarm reviews just a few months ago. But Lauper -- both slinky and spunky in a bodiced red dress and platinum hair on the album's cover -- has penned or performed some of the most durable tunes to come out of the '80s. And her voice, at once raspy, perky and thrillingly powerful, can still pull emotion out of the deep crevices of those 20-year-old words. The Body Acoustic, while not earth-shattering, shakes up an old formula with new tricks, from Lauper's own dulcimer playing to talented guests. First of all, Lauper co-produced the album with Rick Chertoff, the whizz behind her 1984 Grammy-winning debut She's So Unusual, and William Wittman, who produced 2003's At Last. Quietly unassuming, She Bop -- which was originally a bouncy, naughty hit from Lauper's debut, She's So Unusual -- could fuel a spaghetti western with its dusty dulcimer chords and whistling interlude. Noteworthy songs include Money Changes Everything with Lauper and Taking Back Sunday's Adam Lazzara harmonizing along to a hand-clapped beat. Sarah McLachlan's breathy duet with Lauper on 1984's Time After Time provides good contrast to Ani DiFranco and Vivian Green's inspired yelps on Sister of Avalon. True Colors, from 1986, is frankly beautiful: simplified to acoustic strings and Lauper almost sobbing its theme of love and acceptance. Of course, Lauper wouldn't be who she is without the lasting legacy of 1984's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. The only purely un-acoustic song on the album, it's a cute but fluffy take on the original with Japanese pop duo Puffy Ami Yumi giggling to a ska-influenced groove.

Pixies Sell Out 2004 Reunion Tour
The Pixies

It's a simple fact: the Pixies still matter. Big time. Since they first took the stage in Boston during the Reagan era and achieved immortality of sorts by having Where Is My Mind? featured prominently in the film Fight Club, the quartet has always managed to stand apart from its contemporaries. Their melodies were soaring, amplified and -- to be frank -- a bit bizarre. The group blended rockabilly with piercing vocal cries, subtle wah-wahs that belied sexual undertones and melodies so sharp they could peel back your face.

 The band's canon -- Surfer Rosa, Trompe Le Monde and the premier Doolittle -- stand out as the soundtrack of choice for the 1990s. But a bitter and acrimonious breakup in the mid '90s, and separate projects by the members -- Frank Black, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago and David Lovering -- left the Pixies in the past. In 2004, though, they set aside their differences, kissed and made up for a tour which was captured on the band's latest DVD, Pixies Sell Out 2004 Reunion Tour. And it couldn't have come at a better time. The 142-minute DVD captures a band still in its prime. The signature songs are in abundance: This Monkey's Gone to Heaven, Velouria, Bone Machine and Here Comes Your Man. So, too, is the primal energy that made the Pixies stand out back in their heyday. The main portion of the DVD features 28 tunes captured at the Eurockeennes Festival in Belfort, France, last year. There are 15 bonus tracks, too, from sets at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan; Coachella in California; and the Move Festival in Manchester, England, among others. Regardless of the venue, the sound, showmanship and performances are stellar. And watching the DVD is truly the next best thing to being there. Review by P. Moore.