Word: thorntons
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...This coming month will see the release of three movie star pop efforts: an album by Billy Bob Thornton, the country-rock "Private Radio," (Lost Highway); the self-titled debut of Tenacious D (Epic), a rock duo featuring Jack Black, the fire-hydrant-shaped funny man of "High Fidelity," "Saving Silverman" and the upcoming "Shallow Hal," in which he co-stars with Gwyneth Paltrow; and the first American release from Russell Crowe's classic-rock band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, "Bastard Life or Clarity" (Artemis). Of these three CDs, one might hold out the highest hopes for Thornton...
...nothing else, Thornton at least has considerable experience going for him as a songwriter. But he squanders it all in a profound humorlessness. "Angelina," a solemn ballad presumably inspired by life with Lara Croft, is laughably square in its approach to romance. Chorus: "Angelina/ Can you feel it?/ Watch the angels as they're dancing up above/ Angelina/ What's come between us?/ Could it be the magic and the mystery of love?" "Dark and Mad," and "Your Blue Shadow," dour ruminations set to plodding country, do little to improve the situation. The sense Thornton gives the listener is that...
...Change," to his fiery streak, laid down for all to hear in "Somebody Else's Princess." If the tunes were riveting, it could be as much of a privilege to dive into Crowe's brain as Bob Dylan's or Kurt Cobain's, but Crowe's music, like Thornton's, is competent, inoffensive and short on surprises. While Thornton's record is country-inflected and Crowe's is in the vein of Bruce Springsteen, they are both deadly serious and seriously ponderous. As musicians, both men appear to emote first and consider putting on a good show as an afterthought...
...they arrived at Atlantic, L&S had already written songs that would be revived as monster hits in the rock era. Wilbert Harrison had a #1 hit with "Kansas City" in 1959, seven years after Little Willie Littlefield recorded it as "K.C. Lovin?." "Hound Dog," written for Big Mama Thornton, and "Love Me," for Willy and Ruth, were covered by Elvis Presley (whose Sun contract Ertegun had tried to buy, in 1955, for $25,000; RCA, which outbid him by $20,000, got a quick and lasting return on its investment). And somewhere beyond the sea, Edith Piaf would translate...
Lewis plans to continue guiding Lost Highway down back roads. In September, his label will release Private Radio, a CD from actor-director Billy Bob Thornton ("I was a musician before I got into movies," he says). His CD features "dark story-songs," Thornton says, and two numbers are dedicated to his wife, Tomb Raider star Angelina Jolie. "They are songs that anyone can relate to," he says, "but there are a couple of lines that only she and I will get." He says a few tracks are "too country for country radio." Sounds as if he'll be right...