New CD Reviews: Billy Joel Rocks the Garden, the Futureheads and More!

In the New CD Review, the new Billy Joel, Mason Jennings, and Futurehead CDs are briefly reviewed. However, it should be noted that the first few weeks of the summer (not seasonally, but the out-of-school summer) have been noticeably lacking in summer type hits and recent CD releases have tended toward compilations, traditional rock albums, and others that don’t get people moving. Let us hope that the summer festival season will get people on their feet.

Billy Joel, 12 Gardens Live
Billy Joel, despite being largely out of the smash singles business for a decade, is still very much on the music scene as an icon to future rock pianists. “Movin’ Out,” the Broadway adaptation of Billy Joel’s musical catalog, has been extremely successful and Joel’s most famous singles, like “Piano Man,” have become barroom favorites. But Joel in his element is a great artist of the crowd, getting the thousands in a place like Madison Square Garden excited with infectious hits like “Movin’ Out” and “My Life.” “12 Gardens Live,” a double CD compilation of a recent concert at Madison Square Garden, weaves throughout his extensive collection of hits and Joel, despite being in the public spotlight over the last decade largely for his alcoholism, is at his best on this album.
CD Review grade: A-

Mason Jennings, Boneclouds
Mason Jennings’ fifth album (and the first at Epic Records), “Boneclouds,” shows the influence of great artists like Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan in this young singer-songwriter. Jennings voice is strong enough to make rock songs go in tracks like “Be Here Now” and “Jackson Square” but tender enough to make a song like “If You Ain’t Got Love” an interesting counterweight. Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse, a notoriously cantankerous character on the music scene, is partially responsible for Jennings’ emergence on a national level, showing the versatility of Jennings as a musician. “Boneclouds” is a solid record for Jennings and shows his abilities as a writer and a technician on stage, but his potential is nearly limitless.

CD Review grade: B+

Futureheads, News and Tributes
The Futureheads album “News and Tributes,” is critically loved but upon listening to a few tracks, I didn’t hear much that differed from the typical rock claptrap that is out there today. Just judging by the hype given by magazines like “Rolling Stone,” you would think that the Futureheads were divined from the heavens but I thought the band was similar to the Hives/Vines/Strokes/White Stripes craze of the past five years with music that was vibrant but not necessarily substantive.

CD Review grade: C