HIP-HOP

Common, "Universal Mind Control" (Geffen)

Scheduling conflicts kept Kanye West, Common's usual producer, from working on this one. Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes is the executive producer here, and it's a blatant mismatch, Williams' blunt-force id with Common's casual gravity. The Neptunes, which produce seven of the 10 songs, treat Common as an obstacle to be worked around, which, in fairness, he is. He has become less nimble with age (he's now 36), and there's hardly any ease left in his locution, even when borrowing phrasings from Jay-Z, the Notorious B.I.G. or the Sugarhill Gang. Worse, Common is at his least imaginative here. "Your physique brings out my freak," he teases on "Sex 4 Suga." On "Announcement" he brings up his corporate pitchman work: "Freestyle paid off, so Lincoln paid me/Now we can push more whips" -- cars, he means -- "than slavery." It's an unfortunate play on words.

Common long has made politeness his art form, so for some fans the more salacious songs here will verge on sacrilege. But even those who can look past the topical dissonance will be confronted with the musical dissonance. The Neptunes have created beats better suited to a far more enthusiastic and versatile MC: shimmering, reverb-thick electro on the title track; sauntering lite-soul on "Punch Drunk Love"; woozy, blaring horns on "Gladiator."

On that last track Common tries to reassert his legacy: "They say he's a radical/He don't fit the game." But just a moment later he's discussing Michael Vick and Nelson Mandela in almost the same breath; even his social conscience has been muddled. Paging Kanye West: Common needs you.

JON CARAMANICA, NEW YORK TIMES

POP/ROCK

Scott Weiland, "Happy in Galoshes" (New West)

Fresh from Velvet Revolver and a reunion tour with Stone Temple Pilots, this enigmatic frontman returns with his second solo offering. Weiland's post-glam persona relies heavily on David Bowie and Iggy Pop, both of whom he channels in very soft and minimal ways here.

This CD is a healthy departure from his previous work, with softer vocals and an odd sense of childish wonder. "Blister on My Soul" could have been recorded by Dramarama; "Killing Me Sweetly" is a delicious acoustic ditty complete with strings, and he drops a trippy start-and-stop groove on "Hyper-Fuzz-Funny-Car." He hits several notes of humility on "Some Things Must Go This Way" and "Pictures and Computers (I'm Not Superman)" and pleads to God on "Sentimental Halos."

On "Happy in Galoshes," this eternal rock star comes across as far more reflective and forward-looking.

(Weiland performs Jan. 31 at the Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis.)

JOHN KOSIK, ASSOCIATED PRESS