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Masters of reinvention

By Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 3, 2008 at 6 p.m.

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Lucinda Williams

Photo by Danny Clinch

Lucinda Williams

Chrissie Hynde

Photo by Getty Images

Chrissie Hynde

Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne

Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell

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The releases have come fast and furious this fall, many from veteran singers and songwriters doing strong new work or trying to reinvent themselves.

brownm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2674

Lucinda Williams

Little Honey

Lost Highway

Grade: A-

It's hard to believe Williams took a six-year break between albums in the '90s. Since 1998 she has reliably been releasing strong, often heartbreaking discs with seemingly effortless ease.

Little Honey continues the string, with the proviso that Williams has now found happiness in her life. Despite the occasional downer like If Wishes Were Horses, we get no song as soul-numbing as the brilliant, savagely depressing Everything Has Changed from the album West. But maybe a little break is needed anyway.

The album is full of great lyrics and vocals, highlighted by the duet with Elvis Costello on Jailhouse Tears. Williams continues to distinguish herself as one of the most important writers in modern music. The cover of AC/DC's It's a Long Way to the Top just adds to the fun.

The Pretenders

Break Up the Concrete

Shangri-La Music

Grade: B+

After a silent period, Chrissie Hynde has come back with a full set of surprisingly diverse, well-written songs - this after having to pepper previous albums with cover songs. The Pretenders remain a band in name and brand only, as Hynde has surrounded herself with a set of sidemen. (Even drumming stalwart and original Pretender Martin Chambers is gone, replaced by studio vet Jim Keltner.)

Highlights include the lead-off Boots of Chinese Plastic and the bluesy Don't Lose Faith in Me. The title cut is a Cuban Slide rewrite, a fun shuffle lyrically similar to My City Was Gone in lamenting the changes in the world and the indifference to history: "Don't tell me it's progress, cuz that's just a lie" she sings. "We were so busy worrying 'bout them dropping the bomb / we didn't notice where our enemy was really coming from."

Jackson Browne

Time the Conqueror

Inside Recordings

Grade: B

Time hasn't changed Browne's smooth, expressive voice, though it's finally starting to show in his gray beard. He addresses it in the title track, a gentle, musing take on the passage of time, looking back and looking forward, and what it means to all of us: "Time will heal you / time will steal you blind." Browne never rushes his songwriting, giving him time to fully form his ideas in tunes that sound as current now as ever - go back 20 years and listen to the song Lives in the Balance for proof. Here are another 10 tracks that'll stand up for years to come, including the damning The Drums of War.

Glen Campbell

Meet Glen Campbell

Capitol Records

Grade: C

His ability to pick great songs is unparalleled - Tom Petty's woefully overlooked Walls is here. But Campbell too often tries to shove them into a '60s-style production with strings, vocal backings and horns that just don't fit. I'd love to hear this playlist - including U2's All I Want Is You and Paul Westerberg's Sadly Beautiful - with just Campbell's voice and guitar.

ALSO RELEASED THIS WEEK

* Sarah Brightman: A Winter Symphony

* Brad Paisley: Play

* Hinder: Take It To the Limit

NEXT WEEK

* David Archuleta: David Archuleta

* Enya: And Winter Came

* Seal: Soul