SPIN DOCTORS; "Turn It Upside Down" (Epic). * * 1/2
New York's Spin Doctors earned fame and a legion of fans when the 1991 debut "Pocket Full of Kryptonite" sold over 6 million copies worldwide and the band headlined MTV's 1993 "Alternative Nation" tour with Soul Asylum and Screaming Trees as well as its own world tour.In the interim, the band cut a remake of "Spanish Castle Magic" on the Jimi Hendrix tribute disc "Stone Free" and also covered Creedence Clearwater Revival's hit "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" for the soundtrack for the flick "Philadelphia."
So, with all this work, could it be the Docs had trouble finding the time to produce and release a worthy followup to "Pocket"?
"Turn It Upside Down" is not a bad album, but the spontaneity and creativity that turned critics' heads and lured millions to the first album gets lost in the mix.
Everything from the country-rocker "You Let Your Heart Go Too Fast" to the grinding, gritty "Bags of Dirt" sounds like standard Spin Docs. The production is a little raw, which makes listening fun, but overall the album offers nothing new . . . except maybe the single "Cleopatra's Cat."
The slinky, funky blues number slithers between a moving bass line and an alleycat snare. True fans will enjoy this album, but others might want to just give "Pocket" another spin.
HOLE; "Live Through This" (David Geffen Co.). * * *
Poor Courtney Love. Will she ever get a break?
Not more than a week after her husband, the late Kurt Cobain, reached Nirvana via a shotgun, Love's band Hole released an album with an appropriate title, "Live Through This." Ironic, isn't it?
But as vigil after vigil got under way to remember Cobain's genius or ridicule his escapade from life, the album got lost in the airwaves. Then, when the dust and lava cooled, Hole's own bass player, Kristen Pfaff, died of an apparent heroin overdose in a bathtub in Seattle. Yep, "Live Through This."
Bad timing? Karma? The whole situation wouldn't be so bad if the album was a flop. But it's good - very good.
From the somewhat acoustic introduction of the first cut, "Violet," to the tragic refrain of the last track, "Rock Star," the album is filled with edgy guitars, chopping bass lines and slinky vocals.
Love's seductive vocals alternately breath or scream out lyrics that attack sexism and chauvinism. Songs like "Jennifer's Body," "Doll Parts" and "Asking For It" focus on women's victimization in a man's world while "Miss World" ridicules society's and the media's concept of beauty.
The album's surprise is the furious "She Walks On Me." Angry powerchords, heavy bass lines and double-time drumming mix well with Love's throaty screams.
LIVE; "Throwing Copper" (Radioactive). * * *
Live's "Throwing Copper" is a very moody album.
The apocalyptic aura for the opening cut, "The Dam at Otter Creek," sets the atmosphere for the rest of the disc. True, the new collection is not as intense as the Pennsylvania quartet's debut, "Mental Jewelry," but the emotion is thick and the intention is good.
Songs such as "I Alone" and "Selling the Drama" provide social commentary on life as seen through the eyes of the younger generation. But at the same time, other tracks tackle topics universal to all humanity.
"Lightning Crashes" spins a sobering tale about the death of a mother during childbirth; "White, Discussion" takes on political correctness, and another describes the despair of living in a city where crack houses and crime are rampant.
Interestingly, the album's unifying element is religion. Fundamental undertones of submission, worship, freedom and enlightenment, present on all the tracks, are blatantly present in "T.B.D.," "Pillar of Davidson," "Iris" and "Top."
RATINGS: four stars (* * * * ), excellent; three stars (* * * ), good; two stars (* * ), fair; one star (* ), poor, with 1/2 representing a higher, intermediate grade.