Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 41

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4 1997 MUSIC STAR TRIBUNE PAGE E3 CD reviews POPMUSINGroroEl New album has hooks, spunky lyrics and a power-pop ballad "It's iust time to hp a unman nnH ju-V 0 7 i Disc of the week SPICE GIRLS, "Spiceworld" (Virgin) What little vocal sass there was in "Spice," the English group's multimillion-selling debut, is replaced by bland, half-hearted harmonizing but then any attitude the Spice Girls might have conveyed is overpro- cessed into oblivion. These 10 simple-minded dance anthems and lite ballads are so slickly produced that most techno-pop sounds positively organic by comparison. Tracks such as the Caribbean-flavored "Spice Up Your Life" pump out the energy of an aerobics workout, but bear no trace of passion. The Photo provided by Spice Girls Limited Spice Girls' latest: Slick and bland. Spices can't even Photo by Timothy WhiteMercury Records Twain says her new album offers "my perspective on being a woman in the '90s." purposes," said K102 program director Gregg Swedberg.

"The last time I felt like this about a record was for 'Thriller' Michael Jackson's landmark LP, released in 1982 when Swedberg worked at a Top 40 station). This is a collection of singles. There's music to play from this for the next two years or until she makes her next one." Indeed, it's a smart record. It has more hooks than a professional angler's tackle box. It has lyrics with attitude that will lure strong-minded women.

The pop-sawy sound with country seasoning will stand out on the radio. (There's even a big power-pop ballad, "From This Moment On," a duet with country heartthrob Bryan White.) And Twain drops little asides to band members and listeners that make every song seem friendly. Twain, who got her start singing in revues at a Canadian resort, doesn't follow conventional wisdom in the country-music business. She didn't undertake a concert tour to promote "The Woman in Me" (she said she didn't have enough material to perform). Nonetheless, it became the third biggest-selling country album ever (Garth Brooks has the top two) and the third biggest-selling album by a woman in any genre (only Alanis Morissette and Whitney Houston sold more).

She continues to defy country boundaries with "Come On Over," which contains 16 songs an hour's worth of music compared with the 10 or 12 tunes on most country records, which seldom run more than 40 minutes. And to help with her career she has chosen Ion Landau, manager of rock superstar Bruce Springsteen and folk-rock hero Natalie Merchant. "I wanted somebody who had experience on this scale of a career, and in country music, Garth is the only other one with this scale of sales and the prospects of what the concert career could be," Twain said. "I want to grow from here. He (Landau was in tune with what I was doing and appreciated the fact that I was an independent thinker and I like to be the spearhead of what's going on.

I don't want anybody to create my image, my career, enjoy that and relish the whole experience because before long you just become old," said Twain. One of country music's most fashion-forward stars, she is "learning to be more comfortable with my body and not be so shy of it." That might be an understatement, judging by her wardrobe a midriff-free zone. "But it doesn't mean you can touch me. You can look at me," she added. "If You Wanna Touch" advises guys to get to know a woman in the heart before trying to go too far.

Now don't go calling Twain a feminist. "Who knows what that is?" she said. "It goes beyond a definition in the dictionary. IThe album is) my perspective on being a woman in the '90s. A lot of things I say in my songs are things men would say and women would think but not say in music." Ready for radio With her new single "Love Gets Me Every Time" sitting at No.

1 on the country chart, there's great anticipation for the new album. "I'm waiting for the response from the fans. That's a bit nerve-racking," the singer said. She'll meet some of her fans today at the Mall of America, autographing her album for three hours, beginning at 4 p.m., and then participating in the world premiere of her video "Don't Be Stupid," at 7:30. It's her only scheduled appearance to meet fans, Twain said.

Her other promotions will be more conventional, such as a performance Friday night on "The Tonight Show." "We had a great time last time" at the mall, said Twain, who in February 1996 signed autographs there for several hours. At that time, the Twin Cities ranked behind only Dallas as the best-selling market for "The Woman in Me." And now Minnesota has shown up in the lyrics to one of her new songs, "Rock This Country!" (So do Texas, Utah, Nevada and Mississippi.) Twain can rest assured that she will receive plenty of exposure on Minnesota's biggest country radio station, K102. "What a great record for radio deliver lines such as "Come on freak and lose control" with the oomph of a high-school pep squad. They do show more sincerity in the unself-conscious way they recycle hooks, borrowing blithely from the better for-mulas of '60s girl groups the Jackson 5 and Madonna (the ridiculous "Viva And so it goes that the most engaging number, "Move Over," cops Pepsi's "Generation Next" slogan for its rousing refrain. Natalie Nichols Los Angeles Times Reissue VARIOUS ARTISTS, "No Nukes" (Elektra) Taped during five nights at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1979, these benefit performances were the subject of a popular three-LP set and movie featuring a veritable "Who's Who" of rock elite from the era.

The performances still seem fresh and fully charged, but there's little doubt that Bruce stole the show. His duet with concert co-organizer Jackson Browne on "Stay" is playful, while his raucous run through Mitch Ryder's "Devil With the Blue Dress Medley" captures the essence of his incendiary stage shows as well as anything he released before or since. Other notable tracks range from a harmony-filled spin by James Taylor, Graham Nash and Carly Simon through "The Times They Are A-Changin" to co-orga- nizer Bonnie Raitt's "Angel from Montgomery" to Gil Scott-Heron's ominous "We Almost Lost Detroit." Taylor's rendition of "Captain Jim's Drunken Dream" remains one of the most evocative and often-overlooked moments of his career. Kevin O'Harel Newhouse News Service know each other," she said. "Our relationship is different now, in a good way.

This album, it seemed easier and freer and more comfortable." With three albums to her name, Twain is planning to go on tour next spring. She is auditioning musicians. Minneapolis guitarist Willie Wisely tried out this fall, and he said he was surprised that Twain rather than a musical director was running the auditions. "I'm very involved musically," she explained. "I have a good idea of what I want for the musicians.

So nobody else could really do it for me. I'm pretty much the director in my life." Quick spins The Guthrie Theater is auditioning for a blues-jazz band guitar, bass, drums, keyboards Wednesday and Thursday for "Thunder Knocking on the Door," a 1998 production featuring music by Keb Mo. This year's inductees into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in New Ulm are LeRoy Dewanz, Jerry Dostal, Lowell Schreyer, the Goven-aires Drum Bugle Corps and Larry Malmberg. The induction will be held Nov. 14 in the Holiday Inn in New Ulm.

my music, my anything. Then I need everybody else as a support group to help me get there." Conversational tone When it comes to songwriting, Twain doesn't rely on a clever turn of a phrase, a hallmark of Nashville tunesmiths. "It's a very conversational album," she said. "It's more frank as opposed to, 'How clever can we go about saying this without saying Let's just say Because that's the way I would say it." So she sings about PMS on her new album. And she sings about Brad Pitt (didn't ask him for permission) and Elvis (didn't ask his estate for permission, either).

There are musical surprises, too, such as "Honey, I'm Home," which starts with a booming rock beat reminiscent of the band Queen and evolves into an orgy of country fiddles and twangy vocals. "It's our way of doing country," Twain said. "You're as free as you allow yourself to be." The songs are a collaboration between Twain and Robert John (Mutt) Lange, her producer and husband, who'd produced pop megahits for Foreigner, ACDC, the Cars and Bryan Adams, among others. For "The Woman in Me," they began writing over the telephone before they'd met. "The first album was getting to Sound sampler To listen to CDs reviewed on this page, call 673-9050 and, when prompted, press the four-digit number: Spice Girls, "Stop" 5423 Bruce Springsteen, "Devil with the Blue 5424 Star Tribune photos by Allen Smith Craig Anderson says good night to a member of the Vienna Boys Choir after the group's performance Sunday night.

in. We are rewarded with a free education and we see the world. It is a special feeling to visit these special places. "But tomorrow, I can forget all that. Monday, we're going to the Mall of America!" CHOIR rom El Rare stay in homes gives them chance to let loose Then she gazed at her son Blayne, 10, and said, "I think kids can hit it off no matter what country they're from." Said host father Dan Johnson, of Elk River: "There's nothing that breaks down international differences better than a good video game, like Death Star 3." "Is that the same as Star Wars?" asked Philipp, a 12-year-old from Austria.

Philipp, meet Yoda and the other Star Wars characters, courtesy of host David Larson, 11, of Andover. Put the Monopoly board away for a game of Ping-Pong. After dinner, sit by the fire and have some "They're a lot like us kids," David said, "Well, they're like us except they have this talent for singing that nobody else in the world has." They have that talent, but also the demanding, pressurized lifestyle that comes with it. Some of the Vienna boys admitted before Sunday's concert that they were exhausted by a schedule that never seems to end. They arrived in Chicago Oct.

16, having just completed a six-concert tour of Korea. They will finish their American tour Dec. 2 1 in New York and then fly back to Vienna immediately to prepare for a New Year's concert with the Vienna Philharmonic. Cramped schedules Along the way there are eight-hour bus rides from city to city, rehearsals, mandatory two-hour naps before evening concerts, adjusting to acoustics in unfamiliar concert halls, school classes with an accompanying teacher, cramped hotel rooms (four to a room), too many meals at McDonald's and Pizza Hut (which, for these boys, are the restaurants of choice), and early curfews. "At home, when we have free time, we play soccer," said Terry, 12, the choir's soloist.

"But when you're on the road, you don't have football fields next to your hotel room. So you take the time for vocal lessons or you spend the time with your tutor." And there are rules. Tradition does not permit the publication of the boys' last names, for instance. "We simply don't want to draw attention to any one boy," said Wally Adams, the choir's longtime American tour manager. The boys' diet is restricted, as well: No foods colder than room temperature, to protect their vocal chords.

"We went to Dairy Queen last night," admitted Sue Lynde, who played host to Terry and Manfred, 10. "I couldn'thelp myself. They're boys'." And on Saturday night, that's exactly what these highly talented, meticulously regimented young men were allowed to be. All fired up Christoph, 13, who stayed with the Sovias, wolfed down his lasa-gna dinner before playing with the computer, lifting weights and roasting marshmallows. He was in bed by 12:30 a.m.

So much for 9:30 p.m. curfews. "In the hotels, we can't do so many things," said Christoph, who has been a member of the Vienna Boys Choir for four years. "Tonight, if we can swim and eat pizza, I'm happy." The Twin Cities stop was more than a breath of fresh air for the Vienna boys. It was a chance to regroup and rediscover the little boys with this grand tradition.

Terry, a talented pianist who has spent two years composing a mass, was able to relax and argue about the cultural merits of current movies "Men in Black," "Con Air," and "Broken Arrow." "It is an honor to be a Vienna Choir boy," said Terry. "There is the tradition of Strauss and Schubert. There is the palace we stay Dos and donfs The Vienna Boys Choir has been carrying on the rich traditions of Vienna's musical heritage since 1498, when Emperor Maximilian I signed a decree inaugurating the choir as choristers for his imperial chapel. While the choir got its start just six years after Columbus discovered America, the boys did not make their first visit to the United States until 1932. Since then, some new traditions have developed: The boys cannot be photographed while eating or in their dressing rooms.

TV is limited in hotel rooms. Most of the boys interviewed said they were unfamiliar with American TV shows. They are permitted to watch HBO movies in hotels after finishing school work. Listen to the music To hear the Vienna Boys' Choir, call 673-9050. Then select one of fcfrX these four-digit num- 111 bers to hear a 45-second sample: 5031 for "Wohin soil ich mich wenden" from Franz Schubert's German Mass.

5032 for "Dona nobis pa-cem" from the Mozart "Missa Lnetcire 5033 for the "Hallelujah" Chorus from Handel's "Messiah." November 4 "'J Tuesday, 4:00 7:00 p.m. Autograph session Sears Court at Mall Of America. 7:30 p.m. World premiere of Shania's new video at Camp Snoopy. 39-1724-117 i rn.

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