Billboard Album reviews: Nina Gordon, Guitar Shorty

ARTIST: NINA GORDON

ALBUM: BLEEDING HEART GRAFFITI

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Former Veruca Salt singer

Nina Gordon dished out one of 2000's most memorable songs with "Tonight and the Rest of My Life." "Bleeding Heart Graffiti" has been a long time coming, with good reason. Apparently, the concept album about being alone, finding oneself and moving forward was a done deal in 2004, but Gordon decided it sounded too maudlin. So it was back to producer Bob Rock, who worked on her solo launch and with Salt, to give it a more uplifting aura. Among the best tracks are the deliciously bitter single "Kiss Me Til It Bleeds" and the devastating ballad "When You Don't Want Me Anymore." Success is going to depend on robust promotion from Warner Bros., but those in the know will be wholly satisfied. Worth the wait.

ARTIST: GUITAR SHORTY

ALBUM: WE THE PEOPLE (ALLIGATOR RECORDS)

Bluesman Guitar Shorty has been cutting sides since 1957, yet it's difficult to imagine that he ever tracked a better album than "We the People." His latest project bristles with the sort of galvanizing guitar work that defines modern, top-of-the-line blues-rock, while his vocals remain as forceful as ever. Drop in on the original tune "Who Needs It?" for a taste of Shorty's incisive lead guitar and the answer to the question, "Who needs a woman that acts like you?" In a downtempo mood, "A Hurt So Old" and "Down That Road Again" are virtually lick-by-lick primers in how to put the fever in slow blues. "Fine Cadillac" unfolds in a righteous shuffle, punctuated by blistering, sinuous guitar solos. A tour de force.

ARTIST: THE KLEZMATICS

ALBUM: WONDER WHEEL -- LYRICS BY WOODY GUTHRIE (JMG Records)

Where does klezmer meet American folk music and social activism? Thanks to the Klezmatics, we discover common ground on Brooklyn's Mermaid Avenue, where Woody Guthrie lived in the late 1940s. Working with Guthrie's daughter, Nora, to uncover some lesser-known gems from the pioneering balladeer, the band confounds expectations by tapping into a bluegrassy vibe ("Gonna Get Through This World") and 1950s-style pop (on "Mermaid's Avenue") as well as into its iconic klezmer energy on such tunes as "Goin' Away to Sea" and "Wheel of Life." Regardless of what flavor a particular track takes on, however, the Klezmatics prove themselves to be sensitive interpreters of any artistic language they choose, shapeshifting their sound around vocalist Lorin Sklamberg's lithe and heartfelt lead. While the trip along Mermaid Avenue is off the beaten Klezmatics path, it's a welcome diversion.

ARTIST: TRACE ADKINS

ALBUM: DANGEROUS MAN (Capitol Records)

Nevermind that his biggest hit was that "badonkadonk" nonsense --

Trace Adkins remains one of country music's most expressive baritones. Still, new songs like the rockish title cut, the predictable "Ladies Love Country Boys," the Big & Rich wannabe "Southern Hallelujah" and the silly baseball/hookup analogy "Swing," however cleverly penned and expertly produced, have a shelf life of about a nanosecond. But Adkins gets to show off his vocal chops on the R&B-tinged "Ain't No Woman Like You," and the set holds some solid ballads in "I Came Here to Live," "The Stubborn One" and the very strong "I Wanna Feel Something." But as soon as we start to take Adkins somewhat seriously, he gives us a new "video remix" (uh, this is audio) of "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk," a triumph of commerce over art.

ARTIST: PSALM ONE

ALBUM: THE DEATH OF FREQUENT FLYER (Rhymesayers)

It's (another) time of lively restlessness in Chicago hip-hop. Well-connected names like Lupe Fiasco and Rhymefest are making publicized noise in the papers, while in the underground, local all-stars like Diverse, Qualo and All Natural work to bring their own simmers to boils. Add to that list the gifted Psalm One, a sharp-tongued chemist-turned-MC who debuts here. As her sound would indicate -- part Lauryn Hill, part De La Soul -- she invests her gritty rhymes with female pride, calling out juiceless starlets in "Rapper Girls," sneering at her reality-TV-obsessed boss in "The Living" and searching for a moment's quiet in "Rest in Peace." Psalm's dedication is compelling, and her smart choice of banging, old-school-leaning beats lends her power as one of Chicago's new forces to watch.

ARTIST: UNEARTH

ALBUM: III: IN THE EYES OF FIRE (Metal Blade Records)

After the release of 2004's excellent "The Oncoming Storm," New England's Unearth became a band to watch in the increasingly generic metalcore genre. Co-produced by Terry Date (Pantera, Deftones), "III" is its best-sounding album yet. Tracks like "Giles," "Unstoppable" and "Sanctity of Brothers" deliver on the promise of the highly anticipated album, crammed with dual guitar harmonies, punishing breakdowns and frontman Trevor Phipps' larynx-shredding vocals. Fans of the band and metalcore in general will eat this up as a powerful, streamlined example of the genre. Ultimately though, "III" is a sideways move. While it's a decent record, there's nothing particularly groundbreaking to advance the band past its already high standing in the realm of newer metal acts.

ARTIST: SUBLIME

ALBUM: SUBLIME -- 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (Gasoline Alley/Skunk/UME)

Purists are going to have a field day with the first disc of this two-disc re-creation of one of rock history's most tragic albums (which became a hit the year after singer Bradley Nowell's fatal heroin overdose). Disc one of this new "Sublime" scrambles the original track listing, inserting Nowell's so-so acoustic version of Bob Marley's "Trenchtown Rock" (flubbed lyrics and all) and "Doin' Time" in the leadoff and on-deck slots, and throwing "Garden Grove" all the way at the end. For Sublime nuts, this album is no less than the band's "Revolver" or "Houses of the Holy," and the switch is infinitely irritating. Disc two is a mixed bag. There are jewels (Nowell's acoustic treatment of Marley's "Zimbabwe" and "I Saw Red") and there is coal (five remixes of "Doin' Time," four instrumentals). Surely there were other tracks worthy of remixes, too.

Reuters/Billboard