Rocker Billy Joel goes classical with 'Fantasies & Delusions'

The musician usually gets the attention when a new recording is released. But on "Fantasies & Delusions," pianist Richard Joo plays second fiddle to composer Billy Joel.

"Fantasies & Delusions" marks the classical debut of Joel, best known for a rock 'n' roll career that's produced such hits as "Piano Man" and "New York State of Mind." Joel's early training was as a classical pianist, a background he left as a young man, but one he says he hasn't forgotten -- and drew from for this collection.

The 10 opuses are lovely, if a bit conventional, with the inspiration primarily coming from the 19th-century Romantic era.

"Soliloquy" is especially beautiful, but the entire album is easy on the ears, thanks to the sensitive touch of Joo, a winner of the Stravinsky International Piano Competition.

"Fantasies & Delusions," Joel's first new album in eight years, is an accomplishment to be proud. It's also one that should draw new fans to both to Joel and classical music.-- Lisa Singhania

The Associated Press

"beautifulgarbage" -- Garbage

The new CD "beautifulgarbage" brings the smooth and sometimes jarring Garbage sound back to the fore. Song styles include the thundering power chords of "Silence Is Golden." The CD also includes the crushed-heart ballads, "Drive You Home" and "So Like a Rose."

The album's highlight is the updated '60s girl-group lament, "Can't Cry These Tears." Other standouts include the electro-rap "Til the Day I Die" and "Parade," which echoes "Heroes"-era David Bowie. The near-teen pop sound of "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go)" is topped by "Untouchable," which is eerily similar to Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears in verse and chorus respectively.-- J.W. Lim

The Associated Press

"Songs in Red and Gray" -- Suzanne Vega

For her midlife crisis, Suzanne Vega has done something altogether sane and levelheaded. She's returned to the heartfelt folk-pop of her first two CDs. "Songs in Red and Gray" makes her relevant again.

Vega triumphed with her smart debut and 1987 follow-up, which made her a star with an unlikely hit about child abuse, "Luka."

After a strong third album, she ventured into adventurous territory with husband and producer Mitchell Froom. She experimented with edgy, industrial sounds, and promptly faded away. After 1990, she recorded only two studio albums.

Then, at 40, she got a divorce. From that pain comes this beautiful new work.

All but a few songs are delights, with the woodsy backing of only acoustic guitar or mandolin. Her voice is crisp and earnest, exactly as it was 15 years ago.

Her lyrics are dark poetry, especially poignant when she sings of her breakup on "If I Were a Weapon": "If you were a weapon/a hammer's what you'd be/blunt and heavy at the end/and coming down on me."-- Landon Hall

The Associated Press

"Gold" (Lost Highway) -- Ryan Adams

Ryan Adams, once the lead singer of alt-country's much-mourned Whiskeytown, has often surprised his fans with a mature lyricism that belies his 26 years. But on his second solo effort, "Gold," he fails to mine any emotion from the harmonica- and banjo-speckled rock that's been his trademark and strength.

"Gold" finds Adams weighed down by repetitious, slow-motion power chords and conflicting musical identities. On "Somehow, Someday," Adams tries a Chris Isaak croon in the verses, then decides he's John Mellencamp during the chorus. These jarring shifts make the album sound derivative and confusing.

Adams' singing talents are evident; not every young rocker can play with the sounds of singers as diverse as Lyle Lovett, Pete Townshend and Rod Stewart. But Adams fails to offer his own emotional core, leaving the listener drifting.

The third track, "Answering Bell," is a sweet exception. The jaunty love song, reminiscent of Van Morrison, has Adams promising to heal a lover's past traumas. But later songs, like "Wild Flowers," "Nobody Girl" and "Sylvia Plath," exhibit a flip and careless condescension toward women. The ex-inmate, the forgotten girl and the suicidal poet-type come off as little more than stereotypes that Adams will save from themselves -- or at least remember fondly.

Judging from past efforts, Adams is too talented to traffic in such easy cliches. Let's hope he finds his own voice again soon.-- Carolyn Feibel

The Associated Press