En Vogue tries to create a masterpiece

This album is an experiment, a brave concoction of En Vogue themes, rhythms and styles rounded out by an exploration into classical music. While it`s not the trio`s best work (En Vogue was a foursome until singer Dawn Robinson left in 1997), it`s a brave attempt at something new.

Tracks like "Work It Out" and "Falling in Love" stick to a basic, smooth R&B sound, successfully highlighting the rich, pretty voices of Terry Ellis, Cindy Herron and Maxine Jones. However, the odd four-song suite, which comprises a third of the album, misses the mark.

The suite`s intro lays out its theme: "Girl meets boy, girl falls in love, girl falls out of love, girl has no clue, girl watches Oprah." It`s a fairly innocent rubric and En Vogue never deviates from it. Lyrically it`s tame - it`s the music that`s quirky.

"Love U Crazay" is built around "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from Tchaikovsky`s "The Nutcracker" and succeeds in building a plucky and fun sound. Other songs clunk. "Sad But True," for example, which uses a highly recognizable piece of Beethoven`s "Moonlight Sonata" is a plodding, tired and awkwardly timed piece.

In the end, "Masterpiece Theater" isn`t aptly titled. En Vogue is clearly offering up something new and different, on this their fourth album, hoping to differentiate themselves in a music scene taken over by racier and "edgier" female artists. And certainly they succeed in setting themselves apart from their contemporaries.

The thing is, when En Vogue was the "it" group of the moment they were different. Sure, the group`s first two albums were huge commercial hits, but they were lively, loud, catchy, sexy and markedly fresh and original. "Born to Sing" (1990) and "Funky Divas" (1992) still reign as the group`s finest works. Though some tracks in "Masterpiece Theater" demonstrate that En Vogue is still capable of producing the sexy funk they`re known for, the album is too uneven to reach past glories.

"Hallucinating"; Apartment 26; Hollywood Records.

If you`re tired of listening to your Nine Inch Nails, Korn and Prodigy CDs, why not pick up "Hallucinating"? The album is a likable rip-off of the techno-metal style made palatable by the above-mentioned groups.

Tracks move from metal ("Backwards") to hard techno ("Doing It Anyway") to a quasi-electronica sound ("Hallucinating"). The group, hardly claiming to be original, cites grunge, hard rock, electronica and underground techno as huge influences.

Despite the derivative tracks, which sound oddly familiar even upon the first listen, there`s something likable and fresh about "Hallucinating." The group`s lyrics are sickly - and humorously - fascinating. It seems as though this young and relatively new group is fantastically jaded. (This is their second album, a follow-up to "Within," which was released on a smaller label.)

Consider lines like this one from "Sliced Beats", which also appeared on the group`s last album: "All of this is here for me/With nothing left to be."

Biff, the band`s vocalist, explains this cynical attitude is as a reaction to the onslaught of fame the group experienced when they went on tour with Ozzfest in 1999. It`s a good thing the laughable lyrics are surrounded by appreciably dark and heavy beats. In the end, listening to Apartment 26 is like heading out to see a good tribute band - no they`re not the real thing, but you`ll have a good time during the performance.

(c) Copley News Service

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Author: Emily Friedlander