Music

B+

Home Before Dark

(Columbia)

DIAMOND'S DAY: Johnny Cash sealed the revamp of Neil Diamond's reputation with his 2000 album American III: Solitary Man, imbuing the title track – one of Mr. Diamond's best-known compositions – with the cool imprimatur only the Man in Black could provide. Producer Rick Rubin reintroduced Mr. Cash to the world with the American series, so it made nothing but sense when he turned his full attention to Mr. Diamond on the 2005 album 12 Songs. The results highlighted Mr. Diamond's singer-songwriter core and eschewed his showbiz glitter.

ART, CRAFT, HEART: Although Home Before Dark continues this simple, basic approach, there is no lack of tasteful polish, and not only because Mr. Rubin calls upon his favorite session men (including guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench). Remember, Mr. Diamond is a consummate craftsman with more than four decades of experience. And he is a hopeless romantic whose ardor burns intensely whether or not love is with him. Prolonging a farewell on "If I Don't See You Again"; singing with the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines about an affair that dissipated, on "Another Day (That Time Forgot)"; or stomping and strumming his earnest desire on "No Words," his heart is as vulnerable as his grainy, oaken voice is not.

BOTTOM LINE: The exhilarating sound of a mature man truly reconnecting with his younger, hungrier self.

Jon M. Gilbertson

B

Gavin DeGraw

J Records

SECOND STUDIO ALBUM, FINALLY: It took New Yorker Gavin DeGraw five years to follow his major-label debut, 2003's Chariot, which was then rerecorded acoustically and retitled Chariot Stripped in 2004. He enjoyed success thanks to the Top 10 single, "I Don't Want to Be." The new, self-titled effort has a slightly more rocked-up sound, but fear not, the singer-songwriter still delivers the passionate vocals and sing-along choruses.

COOL SINGLE SETS THE TONE: The lead track, "I'm In Love With a Girl," represents the disc well. It's a catchy, wall-of-sound morsel that gets better with each listen. Ditto for "Next to Me," "Cop Stop" and the closing number, "We Belong Together." Mr. DeGraw is part of that new breed of male artists that can sing, play and write. Think John Mayer and Jason Mraz. They offer hope for the survival of modern-day pop music that hasn't been tainted by rap and hip-hop's dominance.

BOTTOM LINE: Pop it into the car CD player, bring down the windows, amp it full-blast and just drive.

Mario Tarradell

C+

Phil Stacey

Lyric Street

ANOTHER IDOL GOES COUNTRY: Sixth-season American Idol finalist Phil Stacey follows Carrie Underwood, Bucky Covington and Kellie Pickler, among others, to Nashville for a stab at country music stardom. His self-titled debut disc is produced by Wayne Kirkpatrick (Little Big Town) and boasts a batch of radio-ready tunes penned by many Music City pros. It screams commercial accessibility.

HE'S GOT POTENTIAL, BUT ...: The Kentucky-born singer has a nice, warm voice that rings true no matter what he croons. He's at his best on the country-rocking " 'Round Here," written by the members of Little Big Town. "You Are Mine," co-penned by former Mr. Mister leader Richard Page, is a winning down-home ballad. But most of the disc is cluttered with slick, ordinary fodder such as the forgettable single, "If You Didn't Love Me," the cloying "Identity" and the sappy "Be Good to Each Other."

BOTTOM LINE: Better songs would have done the trick here. Mr. Stacey deserves them.

Mario Tarradell

D-

Can't Love, Can't Hurt

(Epic)

SOFT SELL: Epic saw the future when it signed Illinois-by-way-of-LA band Augustana in 2004. The band's earnest debut, All the Stars and Boulevards, floundered for a year and a half before the Scrubs-supported ballad "Boston" vaulted it to viability. Augustana's potential was great, and anticipation was palpable for its follow-up. First sign of trouble: founding guitarist Josiah Rosen abandoned the band to start another just as All the Stars was taking off. Second sign: a wholly unremarkable performance at SXSW in March.

A BUNCH OF SOFTIES: And now this. Can't Love, Can't Hurt is recorded with little reverence for quality – good soft rock needs space to breathe and shift, and compression has sucked away all airiness here. Even worse, Augustana's promising emo-rootsy songwriting has been shelved in favor of cheap-and-easy payoffs: familiar-sounding piano riffs, soaring but banal choruses, Dan Layus' kindly yet timbre-starved voice. The only redeeming moments arrive late as it kicks up a bit of dirt on "Either Way, I'll Break Your Heart Someday" (nice chorus riff) and "Where Love Went Wrong."

BOTTOM LINE: Shameless, winsome, lowest-common- denominator light rock for girls who've left their high-school boyfriends behind to go to college.

Mike Daniel

B+

E-Life

Image Entertainment

LAST BAND STANDING: As of 2008, Mint Condition, formed nearly 20 years ago, remains the sole self-contained R&B band of its generation. Although the St. Paul, Minn., quintet is best known for sensual ballads and a classically contemporary approach to soul music, its staying power comes from a willingness to experiment. Their sixth studio blends a computer-driven edge as the band explores love and relationships via the Internet.

CREATIVE COMBINATIONS: A departure from 2005's Livin' the Luxury Brown, this CD features more guest appearances and less live instrumentation. Anthony Hamilton brings gritty conviction to the funky pro-child anthem "Baby Boy, Baby Girl," and a girlfriend's duplicitous behavior in "Somethin'," featuring Phonte of Little Brother, evokes a sinewy edge in band leader Stokley Williams' otherwise supple tenor. "Why Do We Try" is one of their most intriguing songs to date, anchoring desolate lyrics to a track scratched and synthesized to eerie perfection by A Tribe Called Quest's Ali Shaheed Muhammad.

BOTTOM LINE: It updates the group's traditional approach while preserving their inimitable appeal.

Lorrie Irby Jackson