The Los Angeles Times du lieu suivant : Los Angeles, California • 359

popjviusic "ST mm 'i KAMiitittlllHIBHHmaHHWIMMiM I f- ,.1 PATRICK DOWNS LA. Times Tom Petty, left: free-form, funny. Richard Marx, center: radio-ready, generic The Judds: sloppy shoppers. Petty Laughs On his own, the Wilbury delivers sad stories, ridiculous detail ELLEN JASKOL LA. Times Last on 'Full lection is nearly as nifty, from the first single, "I Won't Back Down" (similar to the Heartbreakers' halting, synth-heavy "You Got to the knock-off version of the Byrds' "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better," to the closing "Zombie Zoo" (a tribute to pale-faced trendiness).

You'll find far less experimentation here than on, say, "Southern Accents," but RECORD RACK Petty didn't make this album to break ground. He just wants to kick up a little dirt. -CHRIS WILLMAN RICHARD MARX "Repeat Offender." EMI Marx is a record company executive's dream. He's young, good-looking, talented and has to use one of the music industry's favorite phrases mvUiformat appeal. Marx blends pop-conscious melody and craft with rock-oriented texture and attitude to produce a sound that suits a wide range of radio formats and their listeners.

His 1987 debut album generated four Top 5 hits and this follow-up which rocks a bit harder overall has several obvious candidates. Like Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry in their prime, Marx has a sturdy, elastic voice and a knack for turning out catchy, radio- ELLEN JASKOL LA. Times Moon Fever' ready poprock songs. Among the most spirited: "Wait for the Sunrise" and the first single, "Satisfied," which features an organ solo by Little Feat's Bill Payne. The album also features a few striking ballads, including the moody "Angelina" and the an-themic "Children of the Night." The only problem is that Marx doesn't have much to say.

He really seems worked up about something on the opening song, "Nothin' You Can Do About It," in which he defiantly tells off a former friend who told him he'd never make it. That biting song has the ring of truth, but others seem generic. The Chicago native may be just a bit too good at turning out radio-ready fodder. Marx has the craft part of record -making down cold. But he needs to work a little on as President Bush once put it so memorably "the vision thing." -PAULGREIN THE JUDDS "River of Time." RCA Song selection is crucial for vocal stylists, and the Judds should have done a bit more shopping before making this album.

The mother-daughter team scored one hit after another with their last LP, "Heartland," but "River of Time" might break that winning streak; that the record has problems can be seen in the fact that the most satisfying cut is a version of a chestnut by the Everly Brothers, "Sleepless Nights" (a fitting homage, because the Judds' vocal style is a dead ringer for the classic country-pop technique perfected by Don and Phil). The other standout cut is Dire Straits' "Water of Love," a haunting ballad stamped with Mark Knopfler's languid and lovely touch, while Naomi (the elder) Judd, who co-wrote three of the tunes, contributes an engaging barn burner titled "Cadillac Red." The album is fleshed out with four merely adequate numbers and two sugary tunes, "Young Love," and "Guardian Angel." "River of Time" isn't bad enough to make longtime Judds fans quit the fan club, but if you're not familiar with Naomi and Wy-nonna, any of their other LPs will serve as a better introduction. KRISTINE McKENNA PHOEBE SNOW "Something Real." Elektra V4 That Snow is back after an eight-year hiatus from recording is cause for celebration among those who find her distinctively quirky voice downright addictive. But while this album is classy and polished, there isn't much that approaches classic Snow territory, aside from "We Might Never Feel This Way Again," with its touching, grab-the-moment romanticism, and the softly tender "I'm Your Girl," which Snow wrote for her late mother. Any record by Snow is worth a listen, but you may have to go back to some of her previous albums to really get a sense of what makes her so distinctively real.

-CONNIE JOHNSON ENYA "Watermark" Geffen. Those of you who found some kind of pinnacle of philosophical wisdom in the Kansas song "Dust in the Wind" will love this record. The second album by this young chanteuse is a portentous pastiche that's drawn comparisons to ecclesiastical choir and Gregorian chant, but in fact sounds like nothing more than unusually windy New Age music. "Watermark" was created by overdub-bing vocal tracks (some songs involve hundreds of layers) in an attempt to create what Enya describes as "aural cathedrals." All this technological stitching and pasting makes for bland, bloodless music ideal for elevators; this is a record about sound rather than lyrics, melody, or any of the other things that invest music with emotion and ideas. K.

M. W.A.S.P. "The Headless Children." Capitol Singer Blackie Lawless and gang have ditched their lurid sex-and-violence motif and entered the world of social consciousness with no loss of power. In fact, without the crutch of its sensationalist trappings, W.A.S.P. has created its gutsiest record to date.

Guest drummer Frankie Banali of Quiet Riot shines on this album's heavy territory and Uriah Heep's Ken Hensley adds 70s-style keyboards on several tracks. After being on the fringes of the metal scene for the better part of the '80s, W.A.S.P. is ready to be taken seriously. -JANISS GARZA TOM PETTY "Full Moon Fever." MCA Here it is, folks: "The Traveling Wilburys, Volume Two." (a.k.a. Tom Petty's first so-called solo album, sans the full-time support of his Heartbreakers.) It's not so much the cast though Jeff Lynne carries a quite audible presence as co-producer, and both George Harrison and the late Roy Orbison show up among the support crew as the attitude.

Petty contributed the jokiest material to the Wilburys' already wit-riddled platter, and "Full Moon Fever" is similarly, subtly light of lyric. Not to imply that Petty has turned class clown on us; only to reinforce that here he carries on the Travelers' trenchant penchant for telling a sad story with ridiculously trivial bits of detail. The ironic, bittersweet opening track, "Free Fallin'," is a most telling tale as Petty doth protest too much about how he doesn't miss the sweet young thing he deserted back in Reseda. "All the vampires walkin' through the Valley Move west down Ventura Boulevard," he sings, and as he gets to that last phrase, a lush Lynne chorale of voices comes in to intone the name of that street of dreams, as if reinforcing an essential detail in a mythic country-Western song. The rest of this free-form col LOS ANGELES TIMESCALENDAR SUNDAY.

APRIL 23. 1989 69.