Leon Russell

I suspect that the title of Leon Russell's fine new album refers to the experience of pop
stardom and the lessons, many of them painful, Russell has absorbed in the process of
attempting to sustain his self-created myth. For the role Russell has portrayed over the past
several years, that of a glamorous, reclusive Renaissance man of pop, has lately seemed
larger than the man playing it. His efforts at expanding his repertoire beyond po... More >

Last time he played the arrogant layabout and pissed everyone off, so now that he's trying too hard should we feel sorry for him? He knows it's make-or-break, and he obviously wants to do new things. But he just doesn't have the chops, not even conceptually. (Grade: C-)