Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 82

32D The Detroit News Saturday, June 7, 1997 MAID TO ORDER 1 0HII CLEARANCE Now you can enjoy totally maintenance free all-sports lake living when you purchase one of the remaining 1 2 bedroom townhomes and ranch condominiums at Harbour Cove. Offer extended due to unprecedented response! CLEAN UP WITH FREE WEEKLY MAID SERVICE FOR ONE FULL YEAR WHEN YOU PURCHASE BEFORE JUNE 15, 1997. Recordings years working on Blue Moon Swamp, his first new album in over a decade. Yet there's nothing labored about these performances; when Fogerty and company find their groove, the sound is so effortless you'd almost think they were just jamming. The album's best songs particularly "Rambunctious Boy" and "Bring It Down to Jelly Roll" are as rootsy and direct as those he wrote for Creedence Clearwater Revival.

But there's also a deeper sense of musical tradition to these songs. The chorus to "A Hundred and Ten in the Shade" doesn't just allude to gospel harmony, but finds Fogerty getting a bit of the real things from the Fairfield Four. "Blue Moon Nights" could pass for the sort of thing Johnny Cash did in his Sun Records days. With material this classic, why rush? J.D. Considine Baltimore Sun Steve Winwood Junction Seven (Virgin) The function at Steve Winwood's Junction is relentlessly jubilant and romantic, but the songs on his seventh solo album aren't much to celebrate.

Aided by longtime collaborator Jim Capaldi, plus such guests as Lenny Kravitz and Chic co-founder Nile Rodgers, the British veteran delivers some powerful guitar and organ licks on 11 sprawling tracks. They include an appropriately Chic-esque rendition of Sly the Call (313) 482-7666 clutching rhymes following their own melodic dictates and insular messages running the gamut from ancient maxims of the art of war to spiritual knowledge, wisdom and understanding from the Islamic Five Percent Nation. Clocking in at two hours, this two-disc, 27-track collection starts in earnest with the brilliant "Reunited," in which producer RZA introduces menacing fiddles to his graveyard hoedown. No matter which of the Clan's members takes the microphone, the listener is rapt for as long as the scepter is in the rapper's grasp. While even the staunchst hard-core rap fan might consider this package an exercise in gross excess, it's actually seduction through function the overwhelming passion of the music and the relentless nature of the rhyming makes the concept Wu-Tang Forever feel more like a reality than a folly.

Cheo Hodari Cokcr Los Angeles Times Soundtracks ErkSerra The Fifth Element soundtrack (Virgin) This is pretty impressive mood music for the futuristic film starring Bruce Willis. Composer Eric Serra, whose credits include La Femme Nikita and Golden Fye, blends a sampling of techno pop, jazz. New Age, Guide to ratings No stars: Turn it off Slipped disc k'z: Hard-core fans only A fair hearing Worth a spin Music to our ears Superior Great stuff Rock And Pop James Taylor Hourglass (Columbia) Times have been tough for James Taylor in recent years, with the death of family members and his producer and friend Don Grolnick, plus the collapse of his marriage. But this disc is not melancholic. The musical framework remains familiar folkrock territory, Taylor's intricate guitar finger-picking coming to the fore on many of the 12 tracks on this first collection of new material in six years.

His songs reflect personal themes, and they have appearances from an eclectic array of guest artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Mark O'Connor, Sting, Branford Marsalis and Shawn Colvin. With empathetic accompaniment from his band and excellent backing singers, Taylor embraces spirited uptempo songs, and such exquisite ballads as "Enough To Be On Your Way" with its captivating melody and haunting chorus, and the lush "Gaia." Richard Paton Toledo Blade Richard Marx Flesh and Bone (Capitol) Marx is a longtime poprock hit-maker, but this time around he feels the Models Open Daily 9 a.m. 6 p.m. Weekends 1 p.m. 5 p.m.

Located on the south side of Ford Lake off S. Huron River Drive, ipsilanu lownsrup. iw a gruss mummy uayuteni wa. ON THE LAKE "Based on the purchase of a BaysJe condo at Sfif .900 wrh 2 points to Ijnder 5 year balloon: down payment of S3. 395.

pnnctpai and interest at 7 375 for $446; PMI of S42; montnly real estate taxes sf qi vc. a'0 Utfwrninpurr: eeb industrial rock, and classical, as well as a reggae number and a rap piece. Soprano Inva Mulla Tchako's crisp and darting on "The Diva vocal gymnastics Dance" are nothing short of brilliant, while proving once again that the human voice still has not tapped all of its power as a musical instrument. Her solo on Lucia Di Lammermoor is backed by the prestigious London Symphony Orchestra Lush sounds heard throughout the disc take listeners on an outer space voyage in their minds. The journey makes a few pleasant stops along the way, with some passages that digress ever so briefly if only for a note or two into styles akin to Sting, Pink Floyd and Miles Davis.

(Listening code: 0952) Tom Henry Toledo Blade Family Stone's "Family Affair," dedicated to Rodgers' late partner Bernard Edwards. The playing is spirited throughout this collection of percussive funk-pop, smooth ballads and Cuban-flavored dance numbers. The smolder of "Plenty Lovin'," an anticipatory duet with Des'ree, is snuffed out by all the synthesized fairy dust. Such upbeat party tracks as "Just Wanna Have Some Fun" fare better, but the groove wears thin. Natalie Nichols Los Angeles Tunes Rap Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Forever (Loud) The Clan's beats push the limit between cutting-edge hip-hop and industrial feedback, with jugular- AWNINGS OF ALL KINDS Retractables Stationary Aluminum SPECIALIZING IN COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL fire of and offers a disc that has a pop gloss but resonates with more soul than we have heard from him.

"Fool's Game" swings on a tasty groove, and "You Never Take Me Dancing" takes a deliciously funky ride over popping bass and syncopated beat as Marx lets rip with his slightly raspy voice and Maurice White helps out on background vocals. The generally upbeat tone is given a mellow edge by the inclusion of "Until I Find You Again," a lush, smooth ballad with a sweet melody, and the gently grooving "Breathless." Despite the soul references, this isn't a retro tribute, but rather a fusing of pop and influences that takes Marx into Paul Young and Daryl Hall territory. (listening code: 0951) Richard Paton Toledo Blade John Fogerty Blue Moon Swamp (Warner Bros.) Fogerty is the kind of guy who would release no album before its time, and as such spent almost three 'rn It's easy to call the tune Now you can listen to excerpts of these recordings, with The News Now telephone listening line, a free service of The Detroit News and Ameritech Pages Plus. First, call the Custom Connect local number from your neighborhood: Detroit 252-2200: Ann Arbor, 994-4469; downriver. 246-8400; east area 795-2200; north Oakland, 333-8333; north Woodward, 433-4800: and west Northwest, 458-1444.

Then punch in the four-digit code for the record you want to hear. fmCHMBIfE (313) 422-7110 OR ESEIIATES 1-800-44-AWNING Visit Our Beautiful Showroom 8-612111, SAT SIT. 10-3 127C3 bo. 14 raf s. gf i-cs (NEXT TO RR TRACKS).