Saturday April 28, 01:03 PM

Billboard album reviews: Feist, Tori Amos

NEW YORK (Billboard) - After two years of constant touring, Canadian singer/songwriter Leslie Feist, whose sultry voice is more than magnetic, finally returns with new material. Her chilled-out 2004 debut, "Let It Die," eased through bossa, French pop, folk and electronica, suggesting someone blissfully trapped in her own world. But "The Reminder," recorded in an old mansion outside Paris, has an organic, full-band feel, with more guitars and louder drums. Cuts like the country-flavored "Past and Present" or the straight-ahead "I Feel It" unearth the artist's indie-rock roots (Feist is a key member of Toronto collective Broken Social Scene), while the piano-led "My Moon My Man" builds a hypnotic dance groove. Seeking low-fi loneliness, Feist always returns to intimate girl-with-guitar ballads ("Intuition," "The Water"), making "The Reminder" a fantastically colorful and original effort.

ARTIST: TORI AMOS

ALBUM: AMERICAN DOLL POSSE

Tori Amos invested such effort in the visual and lyrical concepts of "American Doll Posse," we wish we'd fallen for these ladies like we did for the titular character of Amos' "Scarlet's Walk" in 2002. The album's hefty 23 songs tell the stories of five female archetypes, and it's so ripe for feminist debate that Epic could market it to literary circles with dignity. Amos embodies each persona, shamelessly declaring herself a MILF ("Big Wheel"), a pubescent hussy ("Teenage Hustling") or whatever mantle fits the situation. Despite its being more rock oriented than 2005's "The Beekeeper," this album isn't much of a sonic progression, and it takes a while for "Posse" to find its voice. But we bet a coffee klatch with these world-weary women would make "Desperate Housewives" look like little girls playing house.

ARTIST: RUSH

ALBUM: SNAKES & ARROWS

Initial impression of these proggers' first album since 2002 is that the venerable trio from the Great White North is doing its best to keep up with the complicated concepts of metal bands like Mastodon, which the group has no doubt inspired. Closer inspection, though, reveals that most of the proceedings are fairly clean-cut and midtempo, with guitars only intermittently attaining heavy density (amidst the Cream-like blues-rock of the wartime statement "The Way the Wind Blows," for instance). Still, despite the lyrics' typically diverting barrage of paradoxical metaphors and philosophical bumper stickers, and one commendable, down-to-earth homage to "factory town" life built on a Link Wray-reminiscent twang riff ("Workin' Them Angels"), three of the album's most notable tracks are instrumental: "The Main Monkey Business" (mythic with exotic world percussion), "Hope" (folksy, New Age loveliness) and "Malignant Narcissism" (booty-shaking, jazz-funk fusion). Here and elsewhere, as usual, time changes will keep the customers satisfied.

ARTIST: VARIOUS ARTISTS

ALBUM: SPIDER-MAN 3: MUSIC FROM AND INSPIRED BY

Spidey may soon be coming to Broadway, but for now, soaring alt-rock powers his web-slinging life. The soundtrack to the third "Spider-Man" film begins with Snow Patrol's starry-eyed power ballad, "Signal Fire" and soon shifts gears with the Killers' "Move Away," a pumped, early U2-style workout, while Wolfmother delivers perfect fight-scene riffs ("Pleased to Meet You"). More satisfying, moody slow-burners like "Scared of Myself" (Simon Dawes) reach deeper into our superhero's soul, better matching the movie's story line (Peter Parker's suit suddenly turns black), as do acoustic ballads by indie bands Black Mountain ("Stay Free") and Rogue Wave ("Sidelines"). Best of the bunch is the Flaming Lips' Supertramp-ish piano ballad "The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to Be in Love," whose title sums up the set's refreshing lesson: With great power comes great sensitivity.

ARTIST: SANDI PATTY

ALBUM: FALLING FORWARD

An 11-time winner of the Gospel Music Assn.'s female vocalist of the year award, Sandi Patty has the voice of an angel. There's no attempt to sound hip or trendy on "Falling Forward," an album that boasts a lush, classic pop sound, perfectly spotlighting the artist's pristine soprano. She's never sounded more confident or more in command as she effortlessly soars through uptempo fare such as the gospel-tinged "Step Into the Joy" and "Sweeter Medleys," an engaging composite of familiar church favorites. The title track is a poignant ballad about accepting God's grace and moving forward, even in the face of failure and regrets. This powerful set shows that Patty's ability to breathe life into a great lyric is as impressive as ever.

ARTIST: NORMAN BROWN

ALBUM: STAY WITH ME

Smooth jazz has come to epitomize different things, the least of which being jazz. But guitarist/songwriter Norman Brown warmly embraces the influence of such classic jazz guitar icons as Wes Montgomery and George Benson on his first Peak Records outing. "Let's Take a Ride" sets the tone with its breezy, top-down, let's-cruise momentum. Following in those rhythmic tracks is the equally pulsating bossa nova of "Pop's Cool Groove" and the soothing "A Quiet Place." Aiming for the contemporary R&B and adult contemporary crowd, Brown shifts into vocal mode (first revealed on 2004 CD "West Coast Coolin"') for several cuts, including the Brian McKnight-penned "Stay With Me" and "So in Love." Brown's strong suit remains his guitar-playing inventiveness and songwriting skills (he wrote or co-wrote nine of the 10 tracks), which harks back to the creative tradition laid down by Benson, Montgomery and others.

ARTIST: MICHAEL BUBLE

ALBUM: CALL ME IRRESPONSIBLE

With lead single "Everything" a top-10 adult contemporary smash just a month after its release, it hardly takes a crystal ball to determine the fate of handsome crooner Buble's new set. Previous hits "Home" and "Save the Last Dance for Me" established Buble as an adult staple, and here, traditional jazz arrangements of pop classics including "Wonderful Tonight," "Me & Mrs. Jones" and "The Best Is Yet to Come" nicely demonstrate his stately interpretative savvy -- passionate without crossing into melodrama. Along with "Everything," the best cut is his own lovelorn ballad "Lost." Previous album "It's Time" has sold 5.5 million copies. "Irresponsible" is primed to catapult Buble further upon that momentum.

Reuters/Billboard