Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 97

SOUND BITES rs i i Kevn Kinney fT MacDougal 1 Blues SI (Island) m0mi YOUR WEEKLY GUIDE TO THE HOTTEST DISCS, TAPES AND RECORDS IN TAMPA BAY hark LEABHK SYHE MacDougal Blues, a solo project from Kevn Kinney of the Georgia band Drivin' and Cryin', is refreshingly unsentimental. Kinney takes a clear-eyed look at the rural South and finds a restlessness that is strangely urban yet very American. Kinney's straightforward lyrics tell the stories of searchers in "T-shirts, boots and jeans" who have "just misplaced a dream or two." Lost and Found details the death of a rocky relationship while Not Afraid to Dieis the terse plea of a man unable to express emotional pain. The narrator of Hey Landlord (Meatloafand Fishsticks) literally doesn't have two coins to rub together and is about to be evicted. Peter Buck of R.E.M.

produced MacDougal Blues. His mostly hands-off approach allows the lovely sounds of dulcimers, cellos, mandolins and banjos to augment rather than diminish Kinney's reedy, folky voice. Considering that Kinney is an accomplished musician in a relatively successful band, the blue-collar angst he lays on a la Springsteen gets a little thick at times. But more often, MacDougal Blues comeys with sincerity the unquiet feelings of one who has walked desolate roads and returned to tell the tale. JEAN CAREY litical corruption and evangelistic greed but tempers those bleak images with tributes to the freedom of speech and other foundations of American pride.

In the end, the song celebrates the resiliency of the American people without resorting to jingoistic cliches. Lone WWalso stretches Williams' musical repertoire beyond pedal steel-guitar-driven laments and hell-raising country-rockers. With help from an all-star lineup that includes Billy Joe Walker Edgar Meyer, John Jarvis, Mark O'Connor, Jo-el Sonnier and Matt Rollings of Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Williams deftly tackles Dixieland on Hot to Trot, Cajun music on Jimmy C. Newman's Big Mamou and even light-hearted swing-jazz on a surprisingly tasteful version of the classic A in 't Nobody Business. His adventuresome attitude is best reflected by this album's two hard- rocking centerpieces: the blistering Man to Man and an irreverent, horn- driven version of David Houston's whiny 1966 hit, Almost Persuaded.

Both tracks are propelled by the squealing lead guitar work of Van Halen's Sammy Hagar, whose mere presence on a country album proves that Williams isn't just getting older he's getting bolder. ei-. Hank Williams, Lone Wolf (Warner Bros.) platinum Greatest Hits III Qua third best-of collection in only seven years) shows that "Rockin' Randall Hank" has a few more important things on his mind these days. In between such traditional honky-tonk fare as Good Friends, Good Whiskey and Good Lovin 'and I Mean I Love You, Williams exorcises some personal demons on the defiant title track a lone wolf I've been chased and I've been bit I'm a lone wolf they like to shoot at me but they and Man to Man, his most convincing declaration of independence from his famous father's shadow to date. But he saves his most powerful statements for USA Today, a stirring ballad that lashes out against drug peddlers, po- By DAVID OKAMOTO Timet Correspondent At age 40, Hank Williams Jr.

is finally growing up. Okay, so this rowdy, second-generation country star will never stop writing about his two favorite subjects: whiskey chasers and chasing women. But Lone Wolf his solid follow-up to last year's Renegade Soundwave Soundclash (Enigma) WOMEN GIVE A NEW DIMENSION TO RAP By JEAN CAREY Times Staff Writer Queen Latifah All Hail the Queen sh? Roxanne Shante Bad Sister (Cold Chillm) (Tommy Boy) Shante hit the singles charts in 1985 with Roxanne's Revenge, a pithy reply to UTFO's bimbo-rama Roxanne, Roxanne. Since then, she's established an impressive catalog of 12-inch dance records. Bad Sisteris her first full-length album.

Shante continues to take jabs at the negative gender stereotypes some rap groups perpetuate. That is, when she's not extolling her many virtues, making snide but lusty observations about the opposite sex or dissing the women in the California rap trio JJ. Fad. Shante's impeccably enunciated, speed-of-sound raps are offset by bare bones music at times the only sounds audible besides her breathless torrent of words are a snare drum, a booming bass and an echoic, reggae-style piano. Shante's non-stop attitude nearly threatens to cross the line between amusing and annoying.

For the most part, her talent justifies her bragging. Let 's Rock Y'all and and Wack Itt are dance-floor workouts, and the title cut is radio-ready enough to be Shante's first venture into the Top 40. Neither Queen Latifah nor Roxanne Shante directly address their roles as female leaders in the male-dominated world or rap music. But by presenting themselves as multidimensional women, not fly girls, they set a healthy example while keeping intact the spirit and urgency of rap. An amalgam of hard-core cacophony and percussion-driven acid house, Sound-clash, the first album from Renegade Soundwave, lives up to its name.

The British trio produces a synthesized racket too enervating to dance to, too agitating to sit and listen to and too commanding to just shut off or ignore. Karl Bonnie's detached vocals are a stark counterpoint against Renegade Soundwave's lyrical subject matter. Most songs are menacing, dark observations of the London underworld that seem to both celebrate violence and condemn it. All this is mixed into a relentless groove of drums and bass, with samples of everything from Bad Company guitar riffs to radio talk show chatter thrown in. Renegade Soundwave orbits into and out of many different musical styles.

Some listeners will like certain songs on Cound-clash and hate others. But Renegadt Soundwave's personal, in-your-face style makes the band unforgettable and proves that uneasiness doesn't necessarily equal unpleasantness. JEAN CAREY Any 21-year-old who calls herself a queen and boasts "This is the best you'll ever hear from a female MC" had better be able to really rock the house. Queen Latifah demonstrates she is quite capable of living up to her claims on All Hail the Queen, her debut album. Queen Latifah actually has little use for the super-ego rhymes employed by other rappers.

Although she occasionally lapses into puffed-up self -congratulation, the extroverted singer focuses much of her rapping on social issues, whether the plight of the homeless or South African apartheid. Latifah avoids the threat of voice overkill by inviting friends to take the mike on several numbers. The members of De La Soul lend their playfulness to Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children and teen-age rapper Monie Love infuses the harmonies of Ladies First with youthful optimism. The most pleasing cuts on All Hail the Queen display strong reggae influences. The languorous, sensual saxophone on Latifah 'sLawis a sample from an old UB40 song, but it sounds natural alongside Lati-fah's throaty, dubbed vocal.

On The Pros, Jamaican-style toasting propels Latifah's teasing duet with Daddy 0. Roxanne Shante shares Queen Latifah's fondness for reggae influences, but unlike the Queen, Shante's No. 1 topic of conversation is herself. THE RATING SYSTEM EictWot Very good FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23,1990 ST. PETERSBURG TIMES 17.