Texas 25 by Texas
From a certain angle, Texas could be seen as proto-Amy Winehouse. In 1997, a full seven years before Winehouse's debut Frank, Texas reinvented themselves as a blue-eyed soul group via their fourth album, White on Blonde. Buoyed by the hits "Say What You Want" and "Black Eyed Boy" -- the former sultry, the latter bouncing along like Motown -- the album was a smash throughout Europe, arguably opening the door for Winehouse and later Adele to walk through, but Texas never saw the same level of prominence, particularly in the U.S. Maybe that's why they've decided to celebrate their quarter-century anniversary by reworking a substantial chunk of their catalog with the Truth & Soul collective, who supported both Amy and Adele on various recordings. Texas 25 has eight of those reworked hits, every one now emphasizing the group's retro-soul leanings, plus four brand-new songs that suit this style. Occasionally, the group sounds a little bit older and wiser -- vocalist Sharleen Spiteri is slightly huskier than she was when the songs were first essayed -- which is an attitude that fits nicely with the stylish groove of Truth & Soul. It's a subtle difference -- there's not a world of difference between the original and remake of "Say What You Want" -- but it's enough to make Texas 25 seem like a celebration, and one that long-term fans will likely enjoy.
The fourth album in the American Recordings series that comprised Johnny Cash’s comeback was the last released during his lifetime. It’s no coincidence that <i>The Man Comes Around</i> is the most poignantly elegiac of those releases, with the rumble-toned troubadour transforming such unlikely source material as Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” from an angst-filled alt-rock stomp into a hushed acoustic requiem for all he holds dear. These stripped-down statements from deep within Cash’s indomitable soul are impossible to shake off—not that anyone would want to.
