James Taylor

The James Taylor who gazes out from the gatefold of Flag is an emaciated, jaundiced
Yankee eccentric glaring at us with cold, eagleeyed skepticism. The picture is almost the
negative of the movie-star-glamorous photo on the cover of JT, the album that marked
Taylor's corporate switch from Warner Bros. to Columbia in 1978. But the aesthetic shift
from last year's debonair to this year's dour isn't just a gimmick. Whereas the ma... More >

What's wrong with most of these songs is that Taylor is singing them. He can sing, sure--the "Day Tripper" cover and "Is That the Way You Look" show off his amused, mildly funky self-involvement at its sharpest and sexiest. But too often the material reveals him at his sharpest and most small-minded; John Lennon might get away with "I Will Not Lie for You," but JT's whine undermines whatever honesty the sentiment may have. (Grade: C+)