01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, May 7, 2006

Neil Young

Living with War (Reprise)

Leave it to the mercurial Neil Young to follow up last year's gentle, nonpolitical Prairie Wind with this collection of scathing antiwar and anti-Bush songs.

Rush-recorded and rush-released, Living with War is filled with blistering rage and a desperate urgency.

Young is no knee-jerk liberal by any means, but "Let's Impeach the President" leaves little doubt where he's coming from politically. The particularly withering song also includes some contradictory sound bites from Bush, followed by Young chiding, "Flip . . . flop."

The basic tracks were recorded almost entirely live in the studio in just a few days, with longtime collaborators Chad Cromwell (bass) and Rick Rosas (drums) providing intense backup to Young's paint-shredding electric guitar and howling vocals. Adding depth and gravity is a 100-voice choir, used judiciously but to great effect throughout.

These immensely cathartic 10 songs will certainly do little to heal the red-blue state divide, get the president impeached or stop the war, but they are a strong, indelible statement.

-- MARTIN BANDYKE

Detroit Free Press

Godsmack

IV (Republic)

Godsmack, those guitar-crunching boys from Boston, have returned on IV with an album that muddies the lines of what has always distinguished metal music.

Fast-paced rhythms and chest-shaking drums are staples of the genre. But, wait, is that a harmonica grinding away behind the guitar on "Shine Down"? Yes, it is.

The album, by the band's own admission, is an attempt to break from the mold and do something different for modern metal, akin to their earlier acoustic attempts. It is bold, and some of its guitar solos are striking.

But overall, the album is hard-pressed to sound innovative, and perhaps is hamstrung by earlier successes. IV has a song entitled "Voodoo Too," that sounds remarkably similar to "Voodoo" from Godsmack's 1998 self-titled release -- the intro has a chorus identical to the original. And the foray into acoustic music on Godsmack's 2003 Faceless is revisited on "Hollow," a morose melody that struggles to prop up lyrics that want to collapse in their own self-pity.

The album is not devoid of refreshing moments. "No Rest For The Wicked" is a reminder of what metal can be, with synched-up drums and rhythm guitar.

It's too bad IV doesn't offer more of it.

-- RYAN LENZ

Associated Press

Daniel Powter

Daniel Powter (Warner Bros.)

American Idol is helping to make a star of Daniel Powter without forcing him through the indignity of competing. And he isn't even an American.

The Canadian singer's monster No. 1 hit "Bad Day" has become a signature for Idol, where it has been used as a sendoff song for the weekly loser who, indeed, had a bad day on the reality show.

"Bad Day" has had the kind of success those Idol contestants dream about, and they might note that he earned it the old-fashioned way -- by writing it himself and playing his own keyboards. Powter's the empathizing hero of the piano-based song, ultimately offering life-affirming support as he hammers home the killer hook: "You had a bad day/ You're taking one down/ You sing a sad song just to turn it around."

Unless he pulls off some kind of Elton John-ian career, "Bad Day" is likely to be Powter's biggest success. Yet Daniel Powter offers enough ammunition that he could be a multi-hit artist like his sound-alike predecessor, Leo Sayer.

Powter unapologetically toys with the high end of his range, pushing it through feral-cat, falsetto and other androgynous twists, including an unsettling ersatz Macy Gray on a fidgety electro-rock "Suspect" that never comes together.

Those who don't mind (or perhaps even like) his voice can groove on the solid pop principles at play on Daniel Powter, particularly the appealing "Song 6" and "Free Loop," where the catchy choruses are repeated ad nauseam, as well as the eloquent "Lost on the Stoop" and a "Give Me Life" that closes the release with a vibrant backbeat.

And wherever Daniel Powter ends up in pop history -- from a one-hit wonder to an icon -- his voice is nowhere near as unendurable as James Blunt's.

-- CHUCK CAMPBELL

The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel

The Streets

The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living (Atlantic)

At just over a half-hour in length, the latest volley from London's celebrated Mike Skinner reveals how fame has curdled the formerly inspired urban rapper who always seemed like an ordinary bloke.

Pictured on the cover with his Rolls-Royce, Skinner offers few insights about a hip-hop lifestyle soured by white powder, gambling, greed and more powder. There's even a typically mundane track about smashing up hotel rooms.

Skinner, who goes by the name The Streets, was so enjoyable on his first two records that his third is an uneasy letdown.

-- FRED SHUSTER

Los Angeles Daily News

The Streets is at Avalon, 15 Lansdowne St., Boston, at 8 p.m. June 21. Tickets are $18. Call (401) 331-2211 or or go to www.ticketmaster.com.