With his 1998 debut, Visual Audio Sensory Theater, Vast's Jon Crosby unveiled his dark musical vision and gave an insight to a childhood spent learning classical music, listening to U2 and the Cure, and watching MTV. On Vast's follow-up, Crosby's adds to his debut's components a masterful understanding of how to use his gifts. For the majority of Music for People, he delicately balances morbid melodies with tender orchestration. Trombone and ethereal strings lift the downtrodden "Blue," while joyous, overblown hooks elevate the sinister "The Last One Alive." Crosby's balancing act accentuates his love for pure rock drama. Unfortunately, this passion can also be his undoing; his operatic barking on "Song Without a Name" is too grandiose to be taken seriously. In the main, though, Crosby's smoldering vocals, cryptic words, classical leanings, and twisted blend of rock and electronica posit Vast as U2's heavy-rock cousins. --Dan Gennoe ... Read more

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• Enhanced

Asin: B00004XPTI
Subjects:  1. Alternative Metal    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. Hard Rock    4. Industrial    5. Pop    6. Post-Grunge    7. Rock   

For the intro to "Open Up Your Eyes," Tonic's lead guitarist, Jeff Russo, pulls off a wicked little flirtation with the riff from "Badge," and when his guitar gently weeps on "If You Could Only See," Tonic sound enough like Cream-era Clapton to take you back 20 years. The point is, Tonic know how to rock. Russo and singer-rhythm guitarist Emerson Hart make a profoundly talented songwriting team whose material could be put up against anything from R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People.Highlighted by the massively seductive "Casual Affair" and the thunderous epic ballad "Mountain," the songs on Lemon Parade will make you nostalgic for music that doesn't sound like it came from a can. --Gail Worley ... Read more

Asin: B000002G73
Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative Country-Rock    3. Alternative Pop/Rock    4. American Trad Rock    5. Pop    6. Post-Grunge    7. Rock   

Martin Sexton is one of those musicians who is so spectacular inconcert--without a band, without a net--that his studio recordings are often abit of a letdown. The double-CD set Live Wide Open, which inauguratesSexton's own label, Kitchen Table Records, finally brings to record the essenceof his high-wire shows: from blissed-outRay Charles-style R&B andgospel to soaring pop ballads to his almost campy transformations into a '70sheavy-metal god. To accomplish all this, Sexton needs nothing more than hismegawatt voice, deep-pocket guitar (jazz comping, rock lead, and funk bassrolled into one), and the sly grooves of his longtime drummer Joe Bonadio.Sexton's two major-label efforts,The American andWonder Bar, had theirmoments but tended to muffle his extravagant gifts as a singer and performerwith conventional pop production; 1996'sBlack Sheep fared muchbetter by only lightly supplementing his solo style. But Live Wide Openis the next best thing to the sweaty in-person experience. --Jeffrey PepperRodgers ... Read more

Features

• Live

Asin: B000063KRN
Subjects:  1. Alternative Folk    2. Contemporary Folk    3. Contemporary Singer/Songwriter    4. Pop    5. Rock   

With a slate of more than 200 shows a year, Ben Harper has never been an album-tour-album-tour kind of artist; for him and his fans, the stage is the ultimate proving ground. So after four studio albums, Harper has finally released his first official live set, a 25-song double-disc collection that surveys each of his four albums and adds a couple of well-executed, if not terribly inventive, covers. Disc one is electric and finds Harper and the Innocent Criminals tearing through their patented mix of rock, folk, soul, and blues. Yet, the solo-acoustic disc two is the true prize, putting the spotlight squarely on Harper's incredibly agile, versatile, and enormously moving voice. In this pared-down setting, Harper shows an uncanny ability to connect with his audience, offering one spellbinding performance after another. Culled from two years' worth of shows--no two songs are taken from the same concert--Live from Mars provides a welcome overview of Harper's many facets. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Features

• Live

Asin: B00005AFR0
Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Jam Bands    3. Pop    4. Rock    5. Singer/Songwriter   

Fans of Willy Porter, Ben Harper, and G. Love will all want to check out Jack Johnson's engaging folk- and blues-inflected pop. Born in Oahu, Hawaii, Johnson, a former surfer and film-school graduate, has a knack for acoustic ballads whose calm surfaces hide a subtle but strong lyrical undertow. "It seems to me that 'maybe' pretty much always means 'no,'" sings Johnson on "Flake," which features crony Harper on slide guitar. Production by J.P. Plunier (who also handles Harper's recordings) is simple and uncluttered: acoustic guitar and drum tracks share the foreground with Johnson's easygoing vocals, which evoke everyone from G. Love (who recorded Johnson's "Rodeo Clowns" on his Philadelphonic album) to Nick Drake to Willy Porter. And while Johnson may not have Porter's guitar chops, these songs have a relaxed beauty and understated depth that reward repeated listening.--Bill Forman ... Read more

Asin: B00005V8PZ
Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. Bass    4. Drums    5. Drums (Steel)    6. Guitar (Acoustic)    7. Guitar (Electric)    8. Percussion    9. Piano    10. Pop    11. Rock    12. Singer/Songwriter    13. Slide Guitar    14. Vocals   

Virginia exile Jason Mraz grew up listening to Dave Matthews and Agents of Good Roots, local heroes whose frat-friendly influences are much in evidence on his major-label debut. Producer John Alagia (Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer) augments Mraz's SoCal cohorts with Agents' rhythm section, dramatically expanding and polishing songs like "Curbside Prophet" and "You and I Both," which previously appeared in looser, less developed versions on Mraz's self-released live recordings. But fans from the singer-songwriter's coffeehouse years need not despair. Mraz's witty lyrics and easygoing folk-blues stylings (think Jack Johnson on Prozac) are still very much in evidence. He's also in fine voice and, on two standout tracks--"Who Needs Shelter" and "Absolutely Zero"--rivals Neil Finn in his ability to invoke the spirit of Paul McCartney. Waiting for My Rocket to Come showcases an artist who, while still finding his own direction, is clearly off to a great start.--Bill Forman ... Read more

Asin: B00006LERH
Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Folk-Rock    3. Pop    4. Rock   

Maroon 5 aren't the first band to fuse R&B and rock, but they certainly are one of the most convincing. One can almost hear Stevie Wonder's beaded braids clattering in time to their deep, funky grooves. At best, the band conjures up latter-day Motown, complete with a shuddering organ and hyperbolic vocals; at worst, they sound like a stylized boy band, with all the attendant close harmonies and dramatic pauses. But despite these musical schisms, Maroon 5 are a thoroughly engaging outfit, thanks to throbbing bass lines, hooky songs, and lead singer Adam Levin's swaggering delivery. --Jaan Uhelszki ... Read more

Asin: B00006879E
Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Pop    3. Rock   

In the tumultuous years following his ‘99 sophomore jewel Word of Mouth Parade, Los Angeles singer-songwriter Gus Black became variously label-less, a cult hero (having Parade's "The Road Between" covered on Lisa Marie Presley's high profile debut), a father, and, on the evidence of this mature, introspective album, an infinitelymore complicated human being. His heart-on-the-sleeve emotionalism and '70s-leaning penchant for pop hooks remain as strong as ever, but they're now focused in service of songs as cautious and brooding as his previous chapters were wistfully effusive. Wed to a sophisticated, yet stripped-down production sense (the artist collaborating with Eels/Old 97's producer Wally Gagel), Gus imparts a musical impressionism that matches the lyrical fancies of "Cadillac Tears" and "Violent Rain." Black credits fatherhood for the more expansive tone here, a mood that stretches from the playful ode to his son, "Debut," to the upbeat "Over the Great Wall" and compelling dirges that range from "12345" to an unexpected cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid." The title track captures the album's essence: Inviting musical simplicity, wed to a complex--and conflicted--world view, yet all too familiar in its evocative spell. --Jerry McCulley ... Read more

Features

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Asin: B000095J31
Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Folk-Pop    3. Pop    4. Rock    5. Singer/Songwriter   

Coming down off his trip-hop days in Massive Attack, Jon Harris and his new band Sunna deftly traverse more genres of rock in their debut album than most groups attempt in a career. One Minute Science proves an unlikely alchemy of hard-driving metal; electronic noise; and rootsy, careful vocals. This album seethes with testosterone-driven intensity. While Sunna seem to derive influence from everyone from Soundgarden to Nine Inch Nails to Ben Harper, no single sound prevails. You'll find yourself headbanging with "Power Struggle" one moment ("I will survive 'cause I want more and I will create a bigger war... I will defeat you") and crooning along on "Forlorn" the next ("Do I live in my dream forlorn? If you join me there, together we have home"). While each song on One Minute Science stylistically defies the one that precedes it, they all thematically meld. The result is an album that is taut, dark, and compelling.--Cintra Pollack ... Read more

Asin: B00004UEV0
Subjects:  1. Alternative Metal    2. Industrial Metal    3. Pop    4. Rock   

Gifted with an airy tenor that recalls no less than David Gates, Harry Nilsson, and Paul McCartney on one hand and Matthew Sweet and Squeeze's Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook on the other, David Mead has concocted a sophomore album that's the quintessence of deceptively breezy pop. New York-born and Nashville-wizened Mead again pays homage to economical songwriting and displays a host of artistic influences that span Tin Pan Alley, Lennon & McCartney, '70s folk pop, and post-new-wave sensibilities. Crucially, he shows allegiance to none of them, finding a refreshing liberation in the form, aided in the quest here by the subtle, haunting production of Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger. And if Mead's mostly sunny lyrical concerns could stand a dash of Big Apple tartness, it'll be hard for any pop true believer not to be charmed by the buoyant baker's dozen songs here, from the XTC-isms of "Girl on the Roof" and the title track to the early Elton John echoes of "Figure of Eight," and the spare, bittersweet melodicism of "What I Want to Do" and "Only in the Movies." --Jerry McCulley ... Read more

Asin: B00005BGJZ
Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Contemporary Singer/Songwriter    3. Pop    4. Rock