Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 16, 1993                   TAG: 9310160018
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: ?????????????????   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROCK

Pearl Jam is still a band of limited imagination - more Steppenwolf than Doors, to cite two possible models. But "Vs." (Epic) is a palpably stronger album than the band's debut "Ten." The players are much more attuned to lead singer Eddie Vedder's stormy nature, and the music claims a broader emotional and sonic turf.

The Seattle quintet remains rock's voice of dysfunction, tapping a deep reservoir of pain and rage. It's a pressure cooker heated by personal and societal wrongs - incest, child abuse, cops beating blacks. No wonder they called it "Vs." But the turmoil is balanced by occasional moments of reflection, efforts to make sense of a confusing panorama - most notably, the R.E.M.-like "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town."

Pearl Jam also extends its range in the folk-ish "Daughter," in percussive tribal grooves and liquid, moody trance atmospherics. The playing is focused but loose, pushing Vedder into intense, engaged performances.

By the time he closes "Vs." by offering himself as a sacrificial figure in the quasi-religious "Indifference," he and Pearl Jam have reaffirmed that a rock album can be a grueling, blood-and-guts experience that leaves a listener bruised, muddy - and ultimately elevated. Los Angeles Times

Blues

Robert Cray may not be a Pacific Northwesterner anymore - he says on this new album that he likes living in California - but the pure, 12-bar blues style he developed to perfection in nightclubs in Seattle shines through on "Shame + a Sin" (Mercury), his eighth and certainly one of his best albums.

This is the first disc he has produced entirely on his own, and it's all blues, but with a great deal of variety from the master singer-guitarist and his excellent band.

As usual with Cray, the songwriting - he wrote or co-wrote eight of the 10 songs - is daring, clever and creative. Few pop composers can convey romantic tension like he does - you really feel the hurt, confusion and anger - and he also can be sly, coy and funny. He uses his guitar virtuosity to slam home the message of the lyrics, fashioning imaginative new solos for every tune.

One song, "I Shiver," is so graphic a portrayal of illness that it's hard to listen to at first. But the compelling rhythm, the fine guitar work, the honky-tonk piano and the twist at the end - he's actually sick at heart because he lost his girl - turns it around, making the song a delight.

There are a couple of less-than-stellar cuts - the whining "1040 Blues," in which Cray bemoans having to pay more taxes now that he's a success, and "Leave Well Enough Alone," which is fine but essentially generic Cray - but overall "Shame + a Sin" is a triumph and further proof that Cray is second only to B.B. King as America's finest bluesman. Seattle Times

The Cure's "Show" (Elektra) is an adequate '92 concert memento but hardly an essential addition to the catalogue. A few arrangements are pleasingly roughed up but there are no real musical or thematic insights - mainly it's the same old lope 'n' mope that wore out its irony ages ago. Los Angeles Times

POP

Neil Diamond's "Up on the Roof - Songs From the Brill Building" (Columbia) is a full program of hits from the '50s and '60s. Good stuff, with Diamond's fascinating interpretations often contrasting dramatically with the original versions. Features "Don't Be Cruel," "I (Who Have Nothing)," "Don't Make Me Over" and a memorable duet with Dolly Parton on "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." Los Angeles Times