01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, October 23, 2005

Jeffrey Osborne

From the Soul (Jay Oz/Koch)

It sounds like a really bad idea. Take a collection of soul classics, and even an iconic rock 'n' roll song, and give them a smooth jazz treatment.

But there's actually not too much jazz, smooth or otherwise, in these reinterpretations. Thanks to Providence-born Jeffrey Osborne, however, there's plenty of soul.

With his vocal performance and talent for getting to the heart of a song the disc works, even on pieces closely identified with an original artist like Aretha Franklin's "Until You Come Back To Me" or Roberta Flack's "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." Pretty much the only misstep is that rock classic -- Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth." Osborne emotes, and the arrangement echoes '60s soul, but there's no improving on that original.

He's much more successful when adding his own stamp to Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready," giving it a nicely smooth treatment. And he sings on "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" with such a suave but soulful air that by the track's end he owns the song. He does the same with Brenda Holloway's "Every Little Bit Hurts."

The title of the disc sums up Osborne's performance.

-- RICHARD PATON

Toledo Blade

Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys Unplugged (J)

Keys' latest album comes with several surprises, most of them welcome.

For starters, she doesn't cling to the intimate, stripped-down approach so often employed on Unplugged editions. The New Yorker revisits central songs from her first two albums in smart, aggressive arrangements that blow away suspicions that all the life has been squeezed from such radio and concert favorites as "Fallin'," "Heartburn" and "You Don't Know My Name."

Keys and her large supporting cast bring such personality and fire to the disc's highlights that Unplugged often mirrors the vitality and discovery of some of the great live R&B and soul collections of the '60s and '70s.

The problems in this 72-minute package come chiefly when the exquisite singer-songwriter moves to what you'd think would be the creative heart of the album: material that isn't on her earlier CDs.

A new Keys ballad, "Stolen Moments," is too plain, and the nearly eight-minute "Streets of New York" is heavy on ambition and avant-garde experimentation but light on impact and focus.

Keys is far more appealing on "Unbreakable," a playful new tune co-written by Kanye West, a stylish remake of the old Motown ballad "Every Little Bit Hurts" and a vigorous rendition of Damian Marley's recent hit "Welcome to Jamrock" that features appearances by Marley, Mos Def and Common.

In those moments, Keys shows again that she is someone who understands the soulful heart of R&B and pop and that she is at the creative intersection between the music's past and future.

-- ROBERT HILBURN

Los Angeles Times

Coheed and Cambria

Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV: Volume 1. From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (Columbia)

During the great emo boom of 2003, Coheed and Cambria was a thrilling anomaly: a small, punkish band besotted with the supersize sounds and ambitions of progressive rock. The guitars gestured at everything from new wave to heavy metal, and the lead singer, Claudio Sanchez, had a high voice that sounded utterly fearless; who else would dare sing like that?

On Good Apollo (Columbia), the lyrics are starker than last time (at one point, Sanchez snarls the words "selfish little whore"), but the music is more digressive; this is a grand, sprawling breakup album. The most memorable songs pose a question: Why aren't more bands this brave?

And then, it must be said, the least memorable ones answer it.

All the elements snap into place for "The Suffering," an exhilarating shout-along; no band is better at turning hard rock into something so wild and so sweet. Elsewhere, the nonstop twists and turns are sometimes overwhelming, and big pleasures give way to much smaller ones: a gorgeous four-bar refrain or a thrilling little guitar line, hidden deep within a labyrinthine song.

-- KALEFA SANNEH

The New York Times

Coheed & Cambria, Blood Brothers, Dredg and mewithoutYou play at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, 79 Washington St., Providence. Tickets are $22. Call (401) 331-5876 or (401) 272-5876, or go to www.lupos.com.

Franz Ferdinand

You Could Have It So Much Better (Sony)

All you can ask of a pop album these days is that, like a good toaster, it have some kind of use. This sophomore volley from the stripey-shirt Scottish quartet has been working miracles around our house, its 13 tracks having the same effect as cold air up a dog's nose.

Perky, top-notch pop-rock tracks "This Boy," "Fallen" and "Do You Want To" come with a jolt of melody, caffeine riffs and bracing vocals, strong enough to propel even the most dedicated coach potato into something resembling a frenzy of activity.

-- FRED SHUSTER

Los Angeles Daily News

Ricky Martin

Life (Columbia)

All hail Ricky Martin's latest reinvention as we introduce him as The New Latin Sting!

Save for a couple of radio tracks, Life marks Martin's continued trending toward the Indian-inspired side of soft rock that the former Police frontman has mapped.

The CD starts with the bombastic lust ballad "Til I Get To You" and its over-the-top opening couplet: "I'm gonna swim the mountains/ I'm gonna climb the sea." With sitar and all, Martin pushes things forward in an obvious move to redefine his image and make clear his intentions for the next stage in his career.

"I Won't Desert You" is a strange Bollywood-R&B hybrid, but the record's more expected tracks work smartly at melding Martin's former self with more modern sounds. "Drop It on Me," which was produced by B.E.P. will.i.am and features his bandmate Taboo alongside reggaeton MC Daddy Yankee, is a fun and mindless club banger. "I Don't Care" is an obvious choice for radio, thanks to the help of a tight Marc Anthony-inspired hook and help from Amerie and Fat Joe.

-- RICARDO BACA

The Denver Post