RICK ROSS
“Teflon Don”
***
YOU can’t help but get a little suspicious of a hip-hop artist who makes an album on which nearly every track features another artist who’s a bigger, badder star. Miami rapper Rick Ross’ fourth album, “Teflon Don,” is a hard-core showcase of gangsta rhymes where the one-time Florida corrections officer boasts and toasts with the likes of Jay-Z, Kanye West, Drake, T.I., Ne-Yo, Sean “Diddy” Combs and even Erykah Badu. But on this lavish production, where heavy-beat rhythms are underscored with orchestral strings, Ross manages to hold his own on the top track, “Free Mason,” and Ross and Jay-Z show chemistry rather than competition.
For the most part, Ross raps about excess — too much cash and sex is just right for him. But on the final track, “All the Money in the World,” he shows an out-of-character maturity when he raps that there might be more to the good life than material possessions. On this one he sounds like an affable gangsta hardly affected by fame and all the bling it brings.
SHERYL CROW
“100 Miles From Memphis”
*½
ON “100 Miles From Memphis,” where Sheryl Crow tries to pay homage to soul music with covers and originals, it seems as if she’s hardly traveled from the lite rock that’s the core of her previous six studio collections. She’s got the proper trimmings for a soul CD — like B-3 swirls, brass blasts and some very propulsive drumming — but Crow just can’t bring it like a real live Memphis soul shouter. Justin Timberlake lends her his tenor on “Sign Your Name,” but his contribution will probably go unnoticed unless you read the liner notes.
The best, most Crow-like song is the jumpy “Say What You Want To” an original that could easily fit among her most popular tunes. But when Crow, who once sang backup for Michael Jackson, does a note-for-note copy of “I Want You Back,” it makes you wonder why she’d think her fans would rather hear her imitate than interpret this Jackson 5 classic.
THE JIM JONES REVUE
“The Jim Jones Revue”
***
LONDON-BASED quintet the Jim Jones Revue picks up the rockabilly, boogie-woogie beat where the Stray Cats left it years ago. On its self-titled American debut, the band honors the spirit of once-young hellcats like Jerry Lee Lewis. The album’s quick 10 songs are retro originals, with the piano-centric “Rock n Roll Psychosis” and “Fish 2 Fry” as standouts. And while the songs are filled with raw energy, the vintage-disc sound can be jarring. It’s tinny, has bad echo and there’s almost zero stereo separation, giving the record a muffled, cracked-speaker sound. That’s why it just might be better to hear this band live on Thursday night when they play the Mercury Lounge.