Posted on Tue, Mar. 21, 2006

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CD reveiws: Ne-Yo, Destroyer, Wicked Wisdom

"In My Own Words," Ne-Yo, Def Jam ***

Somewhere between the salaciousness of R. Kelly and the heartsick romanticism of Stevie Wonder you'll find a most soulful Ne-Yo. At 23, the bump-'n'-grinding but mindful crooner has written hits for Mario, B2K and Musiq, but he has saved the bedroom-smooth best for himself.

Sure, songs such as "Stay" (featuring Peedi Crack), the snarkishly charming and coy "When You're Mad" and heated tracks such as "Mirror" make getting it on a spectator sport. But an O'Jays-sampled "Get Down Like That" and the spare, slick lament that is "So Sick" take monogamy beyond the call of duty. So much so that when love goes awry, Ne-Yo's made ill on "Sick" by every love song on the radio.

Bet he wouldn't be so nauseous if he heard one of his own.

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

ROCK

"Fear Is on Our Side," I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, Secretly Canadian **

Potential just isn't enough

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness has all the tools to be a good band, including fine instrumental prowess, decent vocal chops and an experimental edginess that keeps the listener guessing. But the Austin, Texas-based band's debut, "Fear Is on Our Side," comes off monotonous and seemingly stuck in a world of endless minor chords.

Songs like "The Ghost" and "Today" are akin to jam band versions of Psychedelic Furs tunes, except without the catchy lyrics or memorable hooks. They revive some long-shelved rock stylings — walls of repetitive guitar strums with haunting vocals — but never deliver the payoff refrain.

This album represents the pinnacle of undelivered potential. Even among the polished components, something too sullen drags the song down where a little energy would have played better.

There are ways to make drab-themed music work. I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness has not discovered them.

— Ron Harris, Associated Press

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness performs Friday at the 400 Bar, Minneapolis.

ROCK

"Destroyer's Rubies," Destroyer, Merge ***

Indie geeks steal, but in a good way

Indie-rock geeks with a taste for torrential verbiage and a jones for the glam-rock heyday of David Bowie and T-Rex have a fresh Destroyer disc to pore over as if it were a sacred text.

The fifth solo album by secondary New Pornographers songwriter Dan Bejar is a dense affair, sometimes too much so, that gleefully cribs from Dylan on its nine-minute-plus opener, "Rubies," and picks at the carcass of rock history in "Looter's Follies," which proclaims "a life in art and a life in mimicry/it's the same thing."

Bejar steals with more style than most, however, and unlike some of his one-man band efforts, Rubies revs up to a full band roar that can be appreciated without reading a lyric sheet.

— Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer

Destroyer performs Wednesday at the 400 Bar, Minneapolis.

ROCK

"Wicked Wisdom," Wicked Wisdom, 100% Womon ***

Who knew? Jada knows how to rock

Bet you didn't know Will Smith's wife is a Joan Jett-style rocker. Fronting nu-metal outfit Wicked Wisdom, actress Jada Pinkett Smith is so convincing she could get the Fresh Prince bounced out of Bel-Air.

This self-titled 10-song debut is highlighted by the radio-ready "Something Inside of Me," a hard, funky slab of metal boasting a message of female empowerment, expletives not deleted. Opening cut "Yesterday Don't Mean," meanwhile, captures the energy and musicianship of this L.A. club band, and remaining cuts showcase a fusion of funk, punk and thrash-metal's heavier-than-thou guitar and drums.

If the acting gigs ever dry up, Smith has a nice sideline in demented screaming.

— John Wareham, Los Angeles Daily News

Wicked Wisdom performs Wednesday at the Myth, Maplewood. R&B