Randy Newman

Randy Newman and the members of Jane's Addiction would probably be the first to tell you
that they don't have anything in common, that they don't listen to each other's music, that
they shouldn't be in the same record review. And that's probably true: Newman, forty-four
and unprolific, makes immaculate pop music, with a lushness borrowed from movie
soundtracks; Jane's Addiction, young and restless, makes music that scrapes ag... More >

He who lives by the putdown shall die by the putdown, so Newman's first nonsoundtrack album in almost six years is unlikely to increase his renown or his financial holdings. And indeed, it's half mishmash, replete with compulsive irony, rap parody, and spare, hooked love songs that are equally unbelievable happy or sad. But there's a new pitch of displacement to the pseudo-autobiographical triptych at the outset, and a new pitch of bitterness to the scabrous putdowns that highlight the close. The airplay hit "It's Money That Matters" and the "We Are the World" answer song "I Want You To Hurt Like I Do" are the attention-getters. The cruelly laid-back supply-side boogie-woogie "Roll With the Punches" and the symphonically overstated going-to-school reminiscence "Four Eyes" are the strokes. Inspirational Verse: "Here's your little brown shoes, can you tie them yourself?" (Grade: B+)