COUNTRY: Eric Church, "Chief" (EMI)
Every good artist reaches a watershed moment and Church has arrived at his with "Chief." The country singer/songwriter's strong 2009 release, "Carolina," proved he understood balancing the indulgence of creative impulses with country radio's needs. On "Chief," he surrenders to his creative nature to stunning effect.
The album takes off with the aptly named "Creepin'," which seeps into existence from a tinny distance, blooming into a honky-tonk roar. The funky, girl-stealing rocker "Keep On," the sensuous "Like Jesus Does" and the majestic Southern rocker "Homeboy" are as different as they are good. Church and his co-writers also shine as clever lyricists. When the sad sack on "I'm Gettin' Stoned" learns his old flame is getting hitched, he offers a toast "to all us haters of old lovers' new last names." Impressively, the energy and originality are sustained as "Stoned" and "Over When It's Over" close things out with a hypnotically rhythmic clatter and heart-rending tear, respectively. Church will play the Minesota State Fair Aug. 31, opening for Toby Keith.
- SARAH RODMAN, Boston Globe
R&B/HIP-HOP: Kelly Rowland, "Here I Am" (Universal Republic)
Rowland, the former Destiny's Child runner-up, has approached the problem of her solo career from any number of directions. She's tried various types of music, collaborated far and wide. Most recently she's become a dance diva, working with French producer David Guetta on the international hit "When Love Takes Over." No one would blame her for going whole-hog in that direction on her third solo album, but "Here I Am" is something much more confident and more surprising. It's a chewy and moody R&B album on which Rowland sounds assured and vital.
These songs are dense and sinewy and largely move at a furious pace. The exception is the single "Motivation," on which Rowland's voice is appealingly slippery. Mostly, though, she's pushed into shouty singing on "I'm Dat Chick" and "Feelin Me Right Now," which feel like boxing-ring-tough assertions of dominance. The album closes with a pair of dance songs, including another Guetta collaboration, "Commander." But where this is the direction many singers are heading in, for Rowland it's a look back. Unexpectedly, she's found a way through.
- JON CARAMANICA, NEW YORK TIMES
POP/ROCK: Various artists, "Take It or Leave It: A Tribute to the Queens of Noise: The Runaways" (Main Man)
Aficionados of the seminal, all-girl teenage band might be surprised that enough admiring acts and enduring songs could be found to fill a two-disc tribute. But "Take It or Leave It" makes clear that the Runaways weren't just an almost-one-hit ("Cherry Bomb") wonder. With a troupe of songwriters including Joan Jett, Cherie Currie and Lita Ford, the Runaways played anthemic garage rockers about teenage lust, late nights, absentee parents and misunderstood misfits. In other words, classic rock.
The songs prove amazingly versatile and adaptable. Nailing "Blackmail," David Johansen demonstrates the continuum from the New York Dolls to the Runaways. Laura Warshauer finds a plaintive ballad in "Little Lost Girls." Peaches and Kathleen Hanna turn the camp epic "Dead End Justice" into an anarcho-techno knockout.
- EVELYN MCDONNELL, LOS ANGELES TIMES
