Redman leaves his well-mined comfort zone on his new album Reggie, toning down his rowdier impulses to make a grab for a broader, commercial audience. That's the pitch at least; in execution, Reggie isn't all that different from the typical excitable Redman record, save for a handful of songs with clubbier beats and Auto-Tune hooks. The crossover tracks are limp and unconvincing--they also sound just plain cheap--but it's hard to blame Red for trying. The best moments on his excellent 2009 reunion with Method Man, Blackout! 2, were those that gambled on modern sounds, and the last time he released a straight Redman album, 2007's excellent if overly familiar Red Gone Wild, the public responded indifferently. If Redman really wants to grow his audience, though, it's going to take more than these half-hearted crossover attempts.
Speaking of mishandled rap albums, this week also sees the release of T.I.'s new No Mercy, an album radically overhauled in the face of the rapper's return to prison (he begins an 11-month sentence today). Its title and cover were changed, and its tracklist gutted. For reasons unclear, even its charming Keri Hilson-assisted single "Got Your Back," a modest hit, didn't make the album's final cut. The sense here is that this is a placeholder album, a clearinghouse for second tier material to bide time until T.I.'s release, when he'll be able to properly promote a new album.
Disney's Tron sequel couldn't look more unappealing to me--sitting through two hours of CGI sci-fi is not my idea of fun--yet I've got to give credit where it's due: Having Daft Punk soundtrack the movie was a stroke of genius. The score, on shelves today, captures the French electronic-music duo at their most grandiose, working with an 85-piece orchestra.
Duffy begins, ever so tactfully, to distance herself from the retro soul revival on her sophomore album Endlessly, a much more uptempo, dance-friendly record that emphasizes disco and funk over soul ballads.
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Also out this week:
* The Plain White T's have a new record, Wonders of the Younger. The band will also play the Turner Hall Ballroom on Jan. 27, the venue announced this morning.
* Sufjan Stevens' taxing All Delighted People EP gets a physical release. Casual fans are much better off sticking with Stevens' recent full-length, The Age of Adz, which takes far more interesting risks and actually pulls them off.
* Adam Lambert performs Acoustic Live! on his new EP, because the world needs last-minute stocking stuffers.
* And the new Hinder album will make you hate the world.
