CD reviews 11/27: Nickelback and Kate Bush

POP/ROCK: Nickelback, "Here and Now" (Roadrunner)

Nickelback is susceptible to relentless criticism because the band is blatantly formulaic and simplistic, and the Canadian group makes the target that much bigger with "Here and Now."

However, there are three sides to this Nickelback coin -- one of which is aggressive and loud (think: 2008's "I Burn It to the Ground"). As frontman Chad Kroeger moves into his late 30s, he and his band aren't mellowing out -- a point he makes on the menacing opener "This Means War," where he sometimes rails as he delivers lines like "Say anything you want, but talk will get you nowhere."

Nickelback unloads equal firepower on more hedonistic cuts such as "Bottoms Up" and "Midnight Queen," which both overlap with the band's hard-partying/male-centric side. Those tracks work, though the similarly themed songs "Gotta Get Me Some" and "Everything I Wanna Do" feel like lame filler leftover from heavy metal's glory years.

Meanwhile, Nickelback isn't limited to venting and getting wild: Kroeger & Co. also woo the ladies (naturally), which is where the band is at its weakest. Apparently the vocalist doesn't find it necessary to offer lines any more creative than "Trying not to love you only makes me love you more" ("Trying Not to Love You") and "I'm lost without you, and there's nothing I can do" ("Holding on to Heaven").

Even if "Here and Now" swoons with clichés, Kroeger's gravelly voice is right for the role, and the higher the voltage of the guitar-based instrumentation, the more convincing the sound.

POP/ROCK: Kate Bush, "50 Words for Snow" (Anti-)

Bush has never shied from lofty aspirations. In 1977, she debuted as a teen singing from the perspective of Cathy in "Wuthering Heights," and "50 Words" is an ambitious, enveloping work. These seven long songs -- mostly piano ballads stretching from nearly seven minutes to more than 13 -- are adrift in snow: They are fairy tales, meditations and, in the title track, a literal list of snow descriptors. Bush's voice is truly beautiful; it's less strident than when she was young, and she brings an airy gravity to these art songs. The spell is disrupted, however, when she lets men step to the mike on three tracks. Elton John, Stephen Fry and Andy Fairweather Low sound self-important and affected on an otherwise spellbinding album.