THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 25, 1994 TAG: 9406240112
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Long
DATELINE: 940625 LENGTH:
Part of the problem is John and Rice are not Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, who brought Broadway to Burbank with their first Disney collaboration, ``The Little Mermaid.'' John and Rice simply don't have that scope. The bigger sin is their five songs do little to advance the story.
{REST} John's music is especially redundant, relying almost solely on a chorus of chants to suggest the film's African setting. The exception is the percussion-happy ``Be Prepared,'' which has the added kick of Jeremy Irons' lead vocals. As the evil Scar, he's Cruella De Ville and Mr. Oogie Boogie rolled into one.
The Hans Zimmer score fares better; still, stringing the four tracks together after those by John-Rice makes you wonder what the producers were thinking when they put this soundtrack together. Maybe they weren't.
One review of the movie, which opened Friday, said the story and animation are so good the music is secondary. Here's the proof.
- Craig Shapiro
\ Helmet redefines itself
Helmet, ``Betty'' (Interscope) - On its two previous albums, ``Strap It On'' and the hugely successful ``Meantime,'' Helmet redefined heavy metal. Great slabs of spiky guitars, precisely jagged, piledriving arrangements and force-thru-angst vocals placed the New Yorkers at the vanguard of the vitriolic ``industrial metal'' movement.
With ``Betty,'' Helmet redefines itself - and that's not a bad thing. Those serrated edges have smoothed out a bit, but the band reveals an undeniable melodicism only hinted at in its earlier work.
Disc-opener ``Wilma's Rainbow,'' the album's finest track, pairs a simple yet powerful, repetitive riff with an unshakeably hummable chorus. Close seconds include ``I Know'' and ``Overrated,'' with their majestic jumbo-chords. Finally, eclectic moves like a rototilling take of the jazz standard ``Beautiful Love'' and the tinny, trashy all-guitar blues of ``Sam Hell'' showcase Helmet's varied inspirations.
- Sue Smallwood
\ Home for America
America, ``Hourglass'' (American Grammophone) - With its first album of mostly new material in years, the venerable, much maligned America has found a new, if unlikely, home on American Grammophone, the label run by Mannheim Steamroller Chip Davis.
Little has changed. Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley's heart and soul are still anchored in Southern California - the harmony filled pop/country sound of the early '70s that America rode to the top of the charts.
Their latest is a self-produced, 12-song collection that includes remakes of ``You Can Do Magic'' and ``Everyone I Meet Is From California.'' Given the years between albums, the natural question is, why? That error in judgment aside, ``Hourglass'' is terrific. Beckley and Bunnell are very likable singers and, at their best, interesting songwriters. The new album finds them writing with a bit more backbone than critics credit them for.
``Sleeper Train,'' brims with trademark dual acoustic guitars and harmonica. Beckley's ``Hope,'' is a more modern sounding tune, driven by programmed drums and keyboards. The album's most fascinating stylistic departure, the Brian Wilson-inspired ``Close to the Wind,'' is a gorgeous collaboration between Beckley and Steve Levine.
- Jack Frieden
\ Back to the '70s
``At Midnight: TK Dance Classics Remixed'' (Fader) - Some of the best singles of the '70s had a label with twin palm trees. This compilation brings hits from Miami-based TK Records into the new-jack, deep-house '90s. Foxy's ``Get Off'' gets a jeep-rumbling bass drum. K.C. & The Sunshine Band's ``Get Down Tonight'' clocks in at a majestic nine minutes, lengthened by a floating piano solo. And Timmy Thomas' plaintive slow jam ``Why Can't We Live Together'' is perfect for a last dance.
- Mark Mobley
\ Nothing new
Warren G, ``Regulate . . . G Funk Era'' (Violator/RAL). ``Regulate,'' this rapper's Top 5 smash, is less a mean-spirited gangsta justification than a great narrative hit in the tradition of Johnny Cash and Jimmy Dean. But Warren G, a former Snoop Doggy Dogg collaborator (and, like fellow Long Beacher Domino, an uncanny soundalike), doesn't follow up on it with this debut CD. ``G Funk Era'' covers a lot of the same turf as Snoop's ``Doggystyle,'' although Warren never comes on as brazenly dumb as his pal occasionally does. Buy the single instead.
- Rickey Wright
\ Silly but catchy
Geggy Tah, ``Grand Opening'' (Luaka Bop) - What's the future of white hip-hop? ``Mr. P. Sluff,'' a song about an Idaho square dance caller.
Like their fellow two-man acts Ween and They Might Be Giants, this L.A. duo writes quirky, kid-friendly tunes. What sets them apart is Prince-like production - their producer is one of Prince's engineers. More than one song has silly lyrics but a catchy hook.
The disc is on David Byrne's label, a company best known for world music. Geggy Tah has a Brazilian accent, heard in light vocals and dreamy lyrics (as in the pregnancy fantasia ``Ovary Z''). They share Byrne's preoccupation with children and mixed success with baby talk. ``Crack of Dawn'' is a telling song about a baby nursed by a Coke-addicted mother.
The group will add two players to open for Toad The Wet Sprocket on Sunday. One song sure to work live is the disc's sole guitar-rock track, the thick ``Who's in a Hurry?''
- Mark Mobley
by CNB