* ANASTACIA “Freak of Nature” [] Epic
Looks are deceiving.
Take sexy blond siren Anastacia’s portrait on the cover of her disc “Freak of Nature.”
You’d expect her to have a Mouseketeer squeak and Swedish pop chops, but when the disc whirls, you hear her big, funkified, R&B/soul attack.
The mismatch between her teen-pop appearance and her sound will knock you off balance.
Anastacia has clearly been influenced by Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer and Tina Turner – especially when she sings epic ballads like “You’ll Never Be Alone” and “Secrets.”
But to hear Anastacia be herself, check out the fast dance tunes like the title track and “Why’d You Lie To Me,” as well as the weirdly appealing folk-funk of “Overdue Goodbye.”
As exotic as her name is, she’s a New York chick who’s already made a big splash in Europe and the U.K. This album will cement her career here.
* PETER GABRIEL “Long Walk Home” [] Realworld Music
The better your stereo and speakers, the more you’ll enjoy Peter Gabriel’s atmospheric score to the Australian film “Rabbit-Proof Fence.”
Gabriel combines natural sounds of the Aussie outback – like songbirds and the indigenous instrumentation of the Aborigines – to paint his sonic picture.
This isn’t a pop or rock album, but rather an experiment in mood music. Given his 1988 Grammy for his score to Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Temptation of Christ,” it should be no surprise that Gabriel has a knack for cinematic composition.
* PAPA ROACH “lovehatetragedy” [] DreamWorks
When the lights of sobriety flicked on, the alt-metal kingpins of Papa Roach didn’t scatter.
Instead, the California outfit stood its ground – making an album almost shocking for its attention to melody and lyrical thoughtfulness.
The hint that this is an attempt at figuring out what’s real and lasting may lie in the lead singer’s calling himself by his birth name, Jacoby Shaddix, rather than his longtime stage moniker, Coby Dick.
“Life Is a Bullet,” the disc’s second track, is the first to grab your ear.
“My mind has been shut down, my friends have been let down,” Shaddix croons, and by the end he reveals, “I love too many things and I hate everything.”
The confusion of rock ‘n’ roll excess – which the band indulged in after the incredible success of its 2000 debut “Infest” – rears its head in “Time and Time Again,” a tune about selfishness.
Roach detractors will be genuinely surprised by “lovehatetragedy.” This musical departure shows that at its core, Papa Roach is a very old-fashioned rock band.
* SEVEN AND THE SUN “Back to the Innocence” [ 1/2]
Combining jangly guitar-driven pop melodies with working-stiff lyrics, Seven and the Sun’s debut is finely crafted music – unpretentious, yet muscular.
While this band breaks no new musical ground, its album is a pleasant listen and a number of catchy songs invite you back.
The opener, “Jump,” has a great rat-a-tat rhythm that hitched to the proper video could make this band the pop heroes of this summer.
* ROLAND GIFT “Roland Gift” [] MCA Records
Ex-Fine Young Cannibals vocalist Roland Gift has a beautiful voice, but on his self-titled new disc, he has no decent material.
He comes close on the flute-accented “Fairy Tale,” but close doesn’t sell millions. There’s just not enough “She Drives Me Crazy” or “Good Thing”-like melodies to carry this collection.
This album is a beat-up Buick – with a Jaguar engine under the hood.