Everlast

Somewhere along the line, 24-hour cable news got under Whitey Ford's skin, and he comes out swinging, begging to "kill the emperor," bemoaning everything from Katrina to Girls Gone Wild and amplifying the dissent with distorted production. When he chills a bit, as on the strummer "Friends" (maybe the best single), it offers much-needed reprieve. It's a mixed and sometimes painful collection -- with the sleazy empathy of "Dirty" buoyed by the LP's intense single, "Letters Home From the Garden of Stone," a story of a soldier's plight.