Bob Dylan steals more success with ‘Love and Theft’

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Editor’s Note: In Sound Advice, the first Saturday 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.

“Love and Theft” (Columbia) – Bob Dylan

The rock icon finds himself in fine voice (as a songwriter, not as a singer) on his latest album, his first in four years.

On this release, Jakob Dylan’s dad takes quite a different direction from 1997’s platinum “Time Out of Mind,” opting instead to create variations on the 12-bar theme and blues-based melodies. It’s the ideal genre for his increasingly raspy voice.

Dylan combines with his touring band (he comes to Portland’s Cumberland County Civic Center Nov. 23) on 12 originals that would be equally at home in a smoky bar (note: not a coffeehouse) as they will be on the concert stage. All the greats eventually make an album of music like that which inspired them, and this is his contribution to that canon. After 43 albums, he’s certainly entitled to. This is an artist secure with his place in the universe, writing music that he enjoys first and foremost.

He tops off the well-crafted melodies with his often-insightful lyrics, introducing listeners to a series of poignant characters and colorful tableaus.

Some will make fun of Dylan the mumbler. Even if he’s no longer the spokesman for a generation, “Love and Theft” shows he still has plenty to offer as a musician and songwriter.

“Legally Blonde” soundtrack (A&M Records) – Various artists

When a co-worker asked me to review the “Legally Blonde” soundtrack, I was like, hello, just because I’m blond …

But seriously, I didn’t know what to think. My taste leans more toward Radiohead than bubblehead. Despite the obvious absence of Britney and Beyonce, “Legally Blonde” is a girlfest, from the opening chords of Hoku’s “Perfect Day” to the last line of Mya’s “Sex Machine.”

This is the kind of music you listen to when you’re having a bad hair day, when you and your gal pals are cruising to the beach with your windows down and the sunroof wide open, or when your boyfriend just dumped you for the girl in his math class with the big … brain. I want to say I hated it, but I can’t. I loved it. Every singing-into-my-hairbrush moment of it.

In their translation of The Police’s “Magic,” The Black Eyed Peas groove behind Terry Dexter’s soulful vocals. Lisa Loeb (whose music is not normally allowed within 500 feet of my stereo) almost has me convinced in “We Could Still Belong Together.” And by the end of Samantha Mumba’s “Don’t Need You To (Tell Me I’m Pretty)” I was strutting around my apartment like a supermodel.

Some of the best tracks on the CD come from little-known singers with big talent. Superchic[k] rocks in the Luscious Jacksonesque “One Girl Revolution,” while Krystal lends her big, throaty voice to the uptempo “Love Is a Wonderful Thing.” And Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” is a sweet, modern love song that’s the closest thing to a ballad on the soundtrack.

This isn’t fluffy pop. OK, maybe a little, but it’s so fun. Trust me on this one. You’ll love it. Even if you’re not legally – or naturally – blond.

– By Kristen Andresen

“Onka’s Big Moka” (Epic) – Toploader

Well, if you insist, I’ll give you directions. Yeah, you see Stevie Wonder there? All right, start there and head in the direction of Paul Weller. Hang on. I’ve got to warn you … don’t get stuck at Jamiroquai. Oh no! Too late.

Yes, it’s a rocky, treacherous road, the path of retro-groove-mashing; fraught with traps that listeners to Toploader’s debut album, “Onka’s Big Moka,” should have little difficulty spotting our errant heroes blundering into repeatedly.

See, there’s nothing wrong with dredging music’s back catalog for inspiration, but influences should be agonized over, selected with the same care one might pick out a wedding ring. And when those beacons are spotted, it is vital that new life must be gently blown into what is borrowed. Or else, we may as well buy the originals, lads.

And that’s kind of where I find myself with Toploader. “Onka’s Big Moka” is a far from charmless album. In fact, much of it is kind of fun in a derivative kind of way. “Only for a While,” is almost sweet in its epic sweep, “Dancing in the Moonlight” suckers you in with its breezy languor, and I expect they’re money well-spent live. But that’s not always enough – especially if you occasionally end up sounding like Natural Life.

Eventually, while they may get your legs twitching, Toploader’s schizophrenic search for the lost bass line, and overanxious reaching for funky town eventually leave you feeling disoriented, looking for the true heart of a band that, basically, seems almost willfully lost at times.

And I did try to warn them about the Jamiroquai thing.

– By Adam Corrigan

“Never Love You Enough” (MCA) – Chely Wright

On this new release, Wright faced the dilemma of how to follow up and exceed her 1999 breakthrough album, “Single White Female.” She chose to take a little extra time and do things right.

Wright already has more than 15 years of performing under her belt, and she used everything she’s learned on the 17 months of preparing and recording “Never Love You Enough,” the most varied release of her career.

On the album, she’s teamed up with a strong group of producers, led by MCA Nashville president Tony Brown. She wrote or co-wrote five of the songs, then added a mix of tunes from top Nashville songwriters. Trisha Yearwood, Phil Vasser and Brad Paisley, her co-writer on three songs, add guest vocals.

Most of the songs musically stick in a listener’s head, especially “Jezebel,” “While I Was Waiting” and “Wouldn’t It Be Cool.” Next time out, however, Wright needs to expand her list of topics a little, as most tunes on this album would fall in the “relationship” category, resulting in a certain sameness.

After more than a decade in Nashville, Wright has shown that she belongs there, and is a star in the making. “Never Love You Enough” will only speed her ascent.