Two Dull Efforts That Take Personality out of the Equation

**

JUANES

“Un Dia Normal”

Surco/Universal

This may sound selfish, but Latin music would be a lot better off if Juanes had not fallen in love. At least not the banal, moon-and-June (luna-y-fortuna) sort of love gooping up the much-anticipated second album by Colombia’s acclaimed singer-songwriter. This uninspired follow-up will leave fans yearning for the depressive, angst-ridden, nihilistic Juanes whose brilliant and provocative debut, “Fijate Bien,” earned seven much-deserved Latin Grammy nominations last year.

Now we get generic romance from Juanes, homogenized for safe consumption. Gone are the deep soulfulness and razor-sharp social conscience of “Fijate Bien,” the stunning work that brought sudden international fame to this once obscure rocker from Medellin. Gone too, surprisingly, is the mournful accordion of Chelito de Castro, a fellow Colombian who gave such a distinctive, folkloric flavor to the first album.

In an apparent attempt to go commercial, Juanes has groomed his punky hair, and tamed the stark accents and rich, rhythmic textures that so powerfully underscored his edgy, uncompromising vision. There’s still a hint of the old, urgent Juanes in the anthem-like opening single, “A Dios le Pido” (I Ask God). But the album quickly sinks into the laid-back, ‘70s soft rock of “Es Por Ti” (Because of You) and the bouncy but annoying ditty “Luna” (Moon).

There are some interesting string touches and plenty of pleasant, radio-friendly melodies here, as in “Fotografia,” a sweet duet with Nelly Furtado. But we expect more insight and originality than Juanes offers in the title cut (translation: A Normal Day) with this cliched clunker: “You never know what you have until you lose it.” Grandma’s old folk saying applies ironically to the artist himself.

--Agustin Gurza

**

MARC ANTHONY

“Mended”

Columbia

The salsa-pop star’s second English-language collection (in stores Tuesday) is what you’d expect from a romance-oriented heartthrob in the post-teen-pop marketplace, but this overblown and undistinguished material does little to showcase whatever gifts the New Yorker may have.

These smooth ballads and dance tunes have a vaguely Latin flavor (mostly in the rhythms and occasional flamenco-like guitar lines). But generally “Mended” is as slick as any Backstreet Boys album, if somewhat more adult-contemporary around the edges.

As vulnerable and sincere as any swoon-able modern crooner on such sparkly numbers as “She Mends Me” and “I Need You,” Anthony is more engaging on the upbeat “I’ve Got You.” Still, it sounds as if he’s having a lot more fun with the Spanish version (“Te Tengo Aqui”), which is the most appealing track here. But from a non-Spanish-speaking viewpoint, maybe it’s just that Anthony’s personality comes through better when you can’t understand the distractingly predictable and shallow sentiments.

Or perhaps he too often assumes personae that don’t really agree with him. Certainly his attempt to sound tough with the thumping “Don’t Tell Me It’s Love” isn’t even as hard-hitting as ‘N Sync’s “Bye Bye Bye.” And despite his breathless testifying, the declaration of individuality “I Wanna Be Free” comes across merely as desperately bombastic.

--Natalie Nichols

***

THE FLATLANDERS

“New Again”

New West

The Flatlanders came out of west Texas in the early ‘70s with the raw talent and strong musical viewpoint to have possibly been a revolutionary force in country music. But the group’s folk- and blues-accented style was so far from what pop-conscious Nashville music powers wanted that the group’s debut album was only released on eight-track tape, which was already a largely discarded format.

Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock went on to become cult heroes on their own. That first acoustic album was reissued under the title “More a Legend Than a Band” by Rounder Records in 1990, and fans of the three singer-songwriters have longed wistfully for a reunion effort.

“New Again” (in stores Tuesday) is that reunion, and if some generic tunes keep it from being the consistent knockout of our dreams, the highlights will likely top almost anything we’ll hear out of Nashville this year. Ely is a honky-tonk rocker, and he is so much at home on the spirited “I Thought the Wreck Was Over” that you can see why his admirers stretch from Willie Nelson to Keith Richards. Hancock is the introspective balladeer, and he is most effective on “Yesterday Was Judgment Day.”

Gilmore sings in such an ethereal, otherworldly manner at times that he comes across as a sort of cosmic cowboy. In “My Wildest Dreams Grow Wilder Every Day,” he asserts the restless independence and philosophical questioning that link the three artists’ thematic vision: “I wake up in the morning, I go to sleep at night/Somewhere in between the two, I swear I’ll get it right.”

--Robert Hilburn

***

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO

“By the Hand of the Father”

Texas Music Group

Sometimes a play’s musical score works best for those who have seen the source production and can fill in the emotional spaces between the songs. But this collection stands on its own, a moving and absorbing record that faithfully captures the epic sweep of the immigrant story at the heart of the Theresa Chavez play of the same name. (Chavez is the wife of The Times’ daily Calendar editor, Oscar Garza.)

Although the work was originally staged in Los Angeles two years ago, this album (in stores Tuesday) marks the first time its exquisite music is available on CD. The songs are woven together here through short, spoken segments that effectively synthesize the story of a Mexican immigrant who flees revolution to work hard and raise a family in the United States.

What’s surprising is that a tale so familiar and commonplace (and occasionally corny) can still be so touching. Credit largely goes to the evocative, spellbinding instrumental score, a rich, sweet, soulful blend of American country and folk with Mexican flavors.

Some of these songs have appeared on Escovedo’s solo albums, but the narrative context elevates them to a special strength, and tenderness. When the old immigrant laments the end of his marriage in “59 Years” and remembers the promise of young romance in “Inside This Dance,” the immigrant experience strikes a universal human chord, and it’s hard to hold back tears. --A.G.

***

VAN MORRISON

“Down the Road”

Universal

At 56, the legendary Irish singer-songwriter is in a contemplative mood. Reflecting on where he’s been and where he’s going, Morrison is wistfully pragmatic rather than downbeat, and he musters much more emotional conviction than he did on his last collection of new material, 1999’s “Back on Top.”

Morrison offers the usual significant-to-him lyrical references, wails away on harmonica and provides an eccentric reading of “Georgia on My Mind” to underscore his irrepressible whims. Neither slickly modern nor resolutely old-fashioned, the music has a good-natured feel, blending New Orleans R&B-bluesy; ramble, traditional and pop jazz and a dash of country, with Morrison playing much acoustic guitar and a little alto sax.

The cover photograph of albums in a Bath music store’s window display serves as a found gallery of Morrison’s affections. And the title song sets the theme, as he sings of an itinerant artist’s circular journey--endlessly traveling, always seeking the path home and along the way collecting moments that compel him onward. His lines are tinged with a world-weariness that isn’t defeated but still conveys a longing for better days.

“Meet Me in the Indian Summer” is suffused with nostalgia-tinged anticipation, like a yearning for one last beautiful display before decay really sets in. Yet Morrison is in no danger of succumbing to humorless sentimentality, as the wry “Whatever Happened to PJ Proby?” celebrates his determined singularity through a rumination on other oddball pop personalities.

--N.N.

In Brief

*** Dave Alvin & the Guilty Men, “Out in California,” HighTone. “Recorded Live in California,” it says on the back cover, like a proud point-of-origin sticker on an orange crate, and the collection’s one new song is a homesick howl from a Californian stuck in Nashville. This brisk overview of the invaluable L.A. singer-songwriter’s career, recorded at shows in Santa Barbara, Long Beach and Pasadena, frequently ventures beyond the stage of the Golden State, but that theme is a sustaining framework through songs associated with the Blasters, X and Alvin’s solo work. His band is as sturdy and sharp as a rebuilt Chevy, shifting effortlessly from downbeat to ebullient, and sorting smoothly through the rock, country, blues, gospel and folk styles ordered up by this master storyteller.

--Richard Cromelin

*** The Breeders, “Title TK,” Elektra. Kim Deal is a natural: an unlikely rock star with a honey-coated rasp and a flair for blissfully jagged pop patterns. Her powers of D.I.Y. dissipation are undiminished on the Breeders’ first album in eight years (in stores Tuesday). Minimalist tracks “T and T” and “Son of Three” reach back to the band’s little-noticed debut, when the Breeders were just a Pixies side project no one expected to find on MTV. No one should expect it now either, but instead embrace the rough edges and weird vibes for the beautiful noise they make.

--Steve Appleford

**1/2 Bryan Ferry, “Frantic,” Virgin. Following up his 1999 collection of ‘30s-jazz-style romantic standards, the former Roxy Music frontman offers a wider-ranging album that encompasses past and present while committing to neither. Unified by Ferry’s jaded torchlight crooning, “Frantic” (due Tuesday) veers, at times jarringly, from ‘80s rock anthems (co-penned by Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart) to country blues to such sprawling, Roxy-esque numbers as “I Thought,” co-written by and featuring ex-bandmate Brian Eno.

-- N.N.

*** Sunday’s Best, “The Californian,” Polyvinyl. Free of the self-absorption that occasionally bogged down its debut, this Los Angeles foursome follows up with a collection filled with irresistible hooks and engaging anecdotes. Ed Reyes’ radiant vocals, appended to driving guitar lines, propel Sunday’s Best far beyond the merely pleasant. The band performs Thursday at the Troubadour in West Hollywood before settling in for the residency on Monday nights in June at Spaceland in L.A. Kevin Bronson

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.