Blues Traveler and their carefree style of blues-rock are finally back. Bridge, the band’s seventh album, arrives four years after Blues Traveler’s last release and two years after the death of longtime bassist Bobby Sheehan. This New York-based group, known for its protracted touring and jam-it-out blues style, first gained prominence with its fourth album, aptly titled Four. “Hook” and “Run-around” dominated the airwaves until 1995 and helped propel Four to quintuple platinum status, making Blues Traveler a household name. Unfortunately, Bridge is fairly ordinary. Decidedly less bluesy, Popper’s signature harmonica solos are rare and truncated and many of the songs sound like everyday pop, closer to poor copies of Barenaked Ladies or Dave Matthews than to vintage blues. The notable exception is “Pretty Angry (for J. Sheehan),” a superb blues piano ballad in memory of their deceased bassist. But most of the songs are clearly closer to the pop, and not the blues, side of the rock spectrum. Bridge is a decent album, but somewhat disappointing when contrasted with Blues Traveler’s previous efforts. Hopefully Blues Traveler will go back across the Bridge to the blues bank on the river of rock & roll music. —John Paul M. Fox
Semisonic
All About Chemistry (MCA)
From the band that formed as an attempt to make “makeout music for the millennium,” (and no, sonorous-voiced Barry White was never a member) comes an album that falls more appropriately into the rock genre, but still retains hints of Semisonic’s previous aspiration. Most famous for their 1998 hit “Closing Time” which pushed sales of their second full-length album, Semisonic have just released All About Chemistry, their first album since Feeling Strangely Fine.
Any bonding found in Chemistry is sexual, not chemical. Themes of love, sex and “experimenting” abound on this album. The upbeat first track, “Chemistry,” is, as its name implies, a tale of a man trying to find good sexual chemistry with various women during the course of his life. “Bed” is a slightly more risqué song which details one person telling their significant other that they aren’t sexually satisfied, complete with profound lyrics: “Show me a body that gets no love, and I’ll show you a body that’s way messed up . . . I’ve got to find someone else to bed.” Nothing hard to understand about that chemistry lesson. Other, somewhat subtler songs, illustrate the instrumental versatility that Semisonic possesses. “She’s Got My Number” showcases a wide range of synthesizer effects, which gives it a futuristic sound. The long instrumental portion at the end of “I Wish” sounds like something from a concert and demonstrates the characteristic electric guitar sound for which the band is known. “Act Naturally” is a dramatic ballad that slows the pace of the album down, with softer, more relaxed drum and piano parts. Though the album is somewhat uniform regarding content and overall sound, the majority of the songs are catchy and, at times, insightful. In its most “basic” form, All About Chemistry passes the test for radio-quality music with flying colors.
—Sarah N. Kunz