The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 88

VI EECbRblNfeS' St BOOKS fos1366rcl L'u-xr." XkXdbet 1995 I Estill" Another Jac ks ong ive her best uij w'x QUICK Barbara j- SPINS Jaeger Janet Jackson takes her own best-of path; Bruce Springsteen, left, lends support to Joe Grushecky. Janet Jackson, "Design of a Decade 1986-1996" Records; running time: approximately 72 minutes; 16 tracks) Like brother, like sister. Not to be outdone by big brother Michael, who released a greatest hits collection earlier this year, Janet Jackson's best-of collection arrives in stores Tuesday. To Janet's credit, she didn't take the self-indulgent path her brother did with his overblown, self-congratulatory two-CD set. Sure, there are plenty of Janet photos by internationally known photographers like Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber, David LaChappelle, and Patrick Demarchelier in the CD booklet.

Two pages are devoted to Janet's achievements, which include two Grammys and eight American Music Awards. But, for the most part, she lets her music do the talking. And that's when she gets in trouble. There's no fault to be found with the sonic quality of the songs, all of which have been digitally remastered. The sound is pure and clean, making it easy to appreciate the importance of rhythm in Janet's music and to hear the fine points of a song such as "Runaway," one of two new songs in the package.

On this mid-tempo dance track, church bells peal and there even is a hint of a sitar in the background, bringing a momentary Middle Eastern flavor to the dance tune. No, the fault lies with the songs and their sequencing. The collection is devoted primarily to dance tracks. While these constitute the major building blocks of Janet's career, they show just how narrow her career path has been. Clumped together as they are, it's hard to distinguish one from the other.

And Janet, whose voice is as thin as tissue, does nothing to distinguish one rhythm-laden track from the next. What songs such as "Nasty," "What Have You Done for Me Lately," and "Control" also underscore is the importance of the visual nature of Janet's work. Without her choreography, these songs leave virtually no lasting impression. If this weren't bad enough, the collection's total undoing comes at the end with the grouping of several ballads including the new "Twenty Foreplay." Instead 1 of ending the "Decade" with a big bang, Janet ends it with a whimper. BARBARA JAEGER Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers "American Babylon" (Razor Tie; running time: 12 tracks) 12 When Joe Grushecky's new album is released Tuesday, two potent forces will be vying to make it a bit.

One is Bruce Springsteen, who produced it. A fortuitous break, for sure, it also doesn't hurt that Springsteen co-wrote two songs, plays guitar on eight, and adds backing vocals on several tracks. Then there's Grushecky's original songs. The Pittsburgh native writes finely detailed epics about the everyday -concerns of working-class people and this may be his best batch yet. Ultimately, the depth of Grushecky's writing is what will make "American Babylon" more than just another Springsteen sighting.

Still, there's no denying the Springsteen influence. The opening "Dark and Bloody Ground" concludes with the first of several blistering guitar solos "by the Boss. Co-written by Grushecky and Springsteen, the song is a historical piece about a violent land dispute in turn-of-the-century Kentucky. The other Grushecky-Springsteen collaboration, "Homestead," follows a farmer into a mill through a bloody labor strike. Also set in during the Vietnam War.

The song lacks melodic drive, while its forced politics (complete with references to Dan Quayle and the National Guard) falls flat. "American Babylon" is the album Grushecky has been destined to make since bursting into semi-prominence with the Iron City Houserockers in the late Seventies. Those drawn to it simply by Springsteen's presence will ultimately be convinced of Grushecky's talent. JIM McGUINNESS Ralph Peterson Fo'tet, "The Reclamation Project" (Evidence; running 10 tracks) Ralph Peterson is a drummer not content with merely forming a group and attaching his name to it. He plays his specialty all-out, throughout his first recording in three years.

"Most of us are recovering or not recovering from one thing or another," says Peterson, 32, who indicates his problem was with previous recording contracts. He feels rejuvenated by the freedom allowed by his new label, and provides examples through 10 interesting compositions, several done in odd measures. Peterson -does more than fill spaces and maintain rhythms. He commands attention immediately with the opening number, "Further Fo." This CD has to rank among the best of 1995. Steve Wilson, formerly with OTB, is the next edition of Wayne Shorter on soprano sax superb pitch and range, and a feel for Peterson's music.

Bryan Carrott's four-mallet vibraphone play also is exceptional. His is the voice calling from the other side of the tall grass or stepping out to personally point the way. Carrott's work on vibes and marimba is haunting and uplifting, and, like his cohorts, he never allows the listener to drift off in space. Bassist Belden Bulloch flows nicely, particularly I. in "Long Journey Home" and the 98 measure of "Bottom." The Fo'tet is a unit of the same mind and mood, a fact underscored in "Insanity," an unrehearsed studio jam in which the group remains a perfect fit, despite the individuality.

In "Bottom," Peterson aims to transport a listener to the lowest moment of life. The picture conveyed is of one dazed and wandering soul who is coaxed somehow to keep battling for the right answers. Peterson's music is not intended to stand still at anytime. RON FOX drivln n' cryln', "Wrapped In Sky" (DGC; running time: 43:11, 11 tracks) A few years back, drivin' n' cryin' took a detour from the folk- and country-reck road it had successfully traveled on earlier albums. The hard rock territory the band covered on "Smoke," however, didn't really suit the trio led by Kevn Kinney.

Now the band, which also includes Tim Nielsen (bass and backing vocals) and Jeff Sullivan (drums), is back to doing what it does best, and the result is the finest album, to date, from drivin' n' cryin'. It's almost as if when the "Smoke" cleared, the band came out with a clearer musical picture. While it's a vision that clearly favors the trio's folk- and country-rock roots, it also allows Kinney and company ample room to make music that lives up to first word of their name. Songs such as "Light" and "Silence of Me are drivin' tunes that immediately grab hold and refuse to let go even after the last notes have been sounded. Equally compelling, though, are the collection's gentler tunes, such as "Telling Stories," notable for its mandolin play (courtesy of R.E.M's Peter Buck) and harmonies) and the slightly bluesy title track." B.J.

Kentucky, the track is enhanced by spirited mandolin picking by Springsteen. Like Springsteen, Grushecky is able to express well-worn themes such as loneliness in simple terms. On the mid-tempo breakup song, "Chain Grushecky puts up a brave front by boasting, "Since you went away, I can stay out however late I want." Grushecky comes clean on the next song, "Never Be Enough Time," by admitting "there will never be enough time to forget about you." One of the album's best songs, the song builds slowly along a particularly memorable Springsteen guitar hook, climaxing with the two men trading their perfectly matched voices on the song's chorus. Springsteen also lends his considerable guitar talents on "No Strings Attached," an incessant rocker in which Grushecky begs a lover for one last night, and "Only Lovers Left Alive," a poignant tale of a broken home from a teenager's perspective. The ballad "Labor of Love" recalls the middle-of-the-road tendencies of latter-day Springsteen.

On the turbo-charged title track, Grushecky examines an America where the line between right and wrong is blurred by the longing for "drugs, money, sex, and greed." Less effective is "What Did You Do In The War," a song in which a child takes a father to task for his dubious exploits.