THE PROMISED LAND
Various Artists (Columbia 66969)
As a social document, the Discovery Channel series "The Promised Land" offers a fascinating look at why and how blacks moved from the rural South to the urban North. As an album, "The Promised Land" tells an equally complex, somewhat more diffuse tale. In addition to an impressive array of historical recordings documenting the shifting tides of American popular music -- everything from Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago" to Sly and the Family Stone's "Stand" to Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" -- this double album also includes new recordings that demonstrate how that heritage continues to make its impact felt. It's one thing to hear Aretha Franklin channel gospel abandon into a pop song as vital as "Respect," something else again to listen as Terence Trent D'Arby reaches back for those roots in his rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come." Add in Chuck D's duet with dancehall DJ Dapper Dan on the Temptations' oldie "Ball of Confusion," it's hard not to be amazed by the depth and breadth of this music.
THE FREEDOM SESSIONS
Sarah McLachlan (Nettwerk CD + MM 6321)
There's been a lot of talk lately about how the multi-media potential of CD-ROM will give listeners a better sense of an artist's creative process, but little concrete evidence of how that would work. Sarah McLachlan's "The Freedom Sessions" should a long way toward changing that. This CD -- actually a combination mini-album and CD-ROM -- offers alternate, early versions of eight songs from "Fumbling Toward Ecstacy," as well as a multi-media presentation on the singer, her band and these songs. Computer users who can take advantage of the full package will find the blend of performance footage and interview snippets both entertaining and informative (not to mention absorbing). But even if all you have is a CD audio player, these lean, stripped-down renditions are just as affecting as the more familiar versions from "Ecstacy."
WAITING FOR THE PUNCHLINE
Extreme (A&M; 31454 0327)
Because hard rock has fallen on such hard times lately, it's no surprise that many heavy guitar bands are trying to put a new twist on their old sound. Extreme takes the process a step further with "Waiting for the Punchline," virtually reinventing itself in the course of its 12 songs. Granted, the band's basic elements -- the chemistry between guitarist Nuno Bettencourt and the band's funk-inflected rhythm section -- remain essentially unchanged, but the balance has shifted, making the guitar sound smaller and the groove bigger. That works fairly well on lean, scrappy tunes such as "Cynical," "No Respect" and "Tell Me Something I Don't Know," where the music's momentum is sufficient to overcome the rambling instrumental sections. But let the band get bluesy, as on "There Is No God" or "Evilangelist," and Extreme begins to sound suspiciously like bad-imitation Led Zeppelin.
JACKY TERRASSON
Jacky Terrasson (Blue Note 29351)
Even if he had nothing to say as a soloist, pianist Jacky Terrasson has such breathtaking command of his instrument that he'd attract listeners anyway. Don't worry, though -- there's more to "Jacky Terrasson" than keyboard flash. "I Love Paris" begins with Terrasson layering terse, rapid-fire phrases over an itchy, relentless pulse, then shifts briefly into a languid, Bill Evans-ish pastorale before proceeding into more abstract territory; "Bye Bye Blackbird," on the other hand, starts off slow and lean, swings elegantly for a while then slowly picks up pace while pushing the harmonic ideas further and further from the initial statement. Yet no matter how far afield Terrasson ranges, he never loses the thread -- or the listener's interest. An astonishing debut.