The Isleys spring ‘Eternal’

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“Eternal” (Dreamworks) – The Isley Brothers

For many of today’s youth, Motown is just another name for Detroit. They don’t know that the word once was synonymous with soul music.

With their aptly named new album, the Isley Brothers seek to show that what was old can be made new again.

If anyone can do that, it’s Ronald and Ernie Isley. Their sound already is somewhat familiar to young listeners, as their catalog has been sampled heavily by hip-hop artists.

On “Eternal,” the Isleys smartly join with such cutting-edge producers as R. Kelly, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Raphael Saadiq and Steve “Stone” Huff and performers Chante Moore, Jill Scott and Avant.

“Eternal” debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard album charts, and the single “Contagious,” produced by Kelly and featuring Moore, also is charting well.

The duo succeeds artistically as well for the most part, despite some overly long songs. They combine the best of old and new into a winning hybrid, both on ballads and dance tunes.

Even after 40 years, the Isley Brothers still can show new generations that silky, smooth soul never goes out of style.

“The Best of Roxy Music” (Virgin) – Roxy Music

In some ways, Roxy Music is a Teflon-coated band. The very fact Roxy Music can release this album now, nearly 20 years after calling time on the band’s career, and not be greeted by smirks proves this.

Of course, some of this is due to knowing when to leave the party. Roxy got it just about right, quietly slipping away after the sweet and successful “Avalon,” a dusk-driven piece of tenderness that left fans a little too bereft to harbor any resentment.

But then, Roxy did it right almost all the way through. If you’re going to start a band, it never hurts to have a musical genius on board. Roxy Music initially had two, in the shape of arch-smoothie Brian Ferry and musical aural scientist Brian Eno, probably best described as “very, very clever.”

Couple this with a combination of alien chic and an audience still reeling from Bolan and Bowie, and the band always was going to be a force – in British music, at least.

“Roxy Music,” the solo album, quickly became a critical and commercial hit, and the soon-to-follow single-only angular slam, “Virginia Plain,” nailed the band so solidly into the consciousness of music lovers that it never again left. I don’t have space here to extol the virtues of the rest of the band’s output, but you can trust me when I say the quality seldom wavers from the very best.

So why should you buy this album? Well, No. 1, because it contains most of the band’s best stuff from throughout its life span, and, No. 2, because you’re most probably American, which means you may not know much of this stuff. And that is inexcusable.

Hey, can I get some space here to mention their album covers, too? – By Adam Corrigan

“Live By Request” (Warner Bros.) – k.d. lang

This album, recorded last December at a New York concert, is a nifty retrospective of the Canadian songstress’s eclectic career.

There’s a healthy dose of lang’s country and western swing side, including “Big Boned Gal,” “Pullin’ Back the Reins,” “Miss Chatelaine” and “Trail of Broken Hearts.”

But also represented is Kathy Dawn the torch singer on numbers such as “Black Coffee,” “Don’t Smoke in Bed” and “Three Cigarettes in the Ashtray.”

Throughout her 17-year career, lang has proven herself both a gifted songwriter and a talented interpreter of others’ music, equally at home at the Grand Ole Opry or on this year’s tour with Tony Bennett. She’s equally adept on her own “Constant Craving” and the Roy Orbison classic “Crying.”

While fairly sedate for a live album, “Live by Request” does an admirable job of capturing lang’s abilities. Now it will be intriguing to see which way she goes next.

“Bleed American” (Dreamworks) – Jimmy Eat World

It’s nice when dedicated musicians can come into their own. The relatively unknown workhorses in Jimmy Eat World have struck pay dirt in their most recent release.

The band’s third album in two years, “Bleed American” is a clever mix of punk, ballads and good-time rock.

The Arizona foursome starts the album with the “hit hard, hit fast” routine. Opening with a smash, the title track jumps from cut-time drums to a furious bass line to make for one brutal rock assault. They use a tambourine, too.

Song to song, guitarists Jim Adkins and Tom Linton make palm-muted guitars empowering. It doesn’t even matter that they always culminate in stereotypical rock-out crescendos. The rhythms and hooks are too contagious to be ignored.

Adkins and Linton pull double duty by sharing vocal responsibilities. Both have velvet-soft voices, and the pair harmonizes flawlessly, but Adkins comes across as the more involved and developed singer. Chalk it up to subject matter – Adkins bounces from post-breakup frustration in “Your House” to the battle against apathy in “The Middle” within a matter of moments.

Obviously influenced by doo-wop, Jimmy Eat World even shows no fear in revisiting the days of early rock with female-supplied “ahhs” on “The Authority Song,” while the album’s most convincing anthem, “Sweetness,” features the “wo – o – o – o” made famous by numerous hair bands of the 1980s.

In terms of raw effect, “Bleed American” comes off as ambitious and inspiring. It’s driving music, it’s workout music, it’s chilling music. This isn’t recycled pop, it’s real rock ‘n’ roll. – By Anthony Saucier

Editor’s Note: In Sound Advice, the first Thursday of every month, veteran NEWS entertainment writer Dale McGarrigle reviews new rock, pop, alternative, country, folk or blues albums. Different NEWS writers contribute reviews from other musical genres.