Brian Setzer should stick with imitation

The retro thing is Brian Setzer`s forte. Originality is his downfall. In the `80s, Setzer made his name in rockabilly with the Stray Cats. In the `90s, he preceded the swing revival and rode its wave through Gap ads and dance halls with aplomb. Setzer`s sound works because it re-creates the past with the kind of crystal energy that only a modern-day recording has. Too bad he tries to improve upon this with odd modernizing efforts. The press kit to "Vavoom" claims that it`s amazing that there haven`t been more imitators to Setzer`s sound, attributing this to the complexity of the music. After all, the Brian Setzer Orchestra is a 17-piece band - that`s five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones, a piano, bass and drums, plus Setzer on guitar and vocals. And maybe this is true.

Or maybe it`s because it`s Setzer who is the ultimate imitator. He succeeds only when his copy is carbon. The reason this album fails is because of Setzer`s originality. He`s added weird hip-hop samples and lyrics to the swing-standard "Pennsylvania 6-5000" and created disastrous lyrics for the instrumental swing standard "In the Mood." A vamped-up version of "Gloria" (made famous by the Cadillacs in 1954) also fails to excite.

Setzer`s original songs are all fast-paced - jumpin` jives, if you will. And they all sound pretty much the same. They simply lack flair. And his lyrics, which are presumably an attempt to re-create some big-band era feeling, are predictable and stale.

There are a few bright spots on the album. Setzer`s rendition of "Americano," which he first heard in the film "The Talented Mr. Ripley," soars. And "Drive Like Lightning (Crash Like Thunder)," which features some utterly groovy surfer guitar, has a passion his other original tracks lack.

"Riding With the King"; B.B. King and Eric Clapton; Reprise Records.

Eric Clapton may be a guitar god, but it`s B.B. King who makes this album worth listening to. Every guitar lick or vocal strain that pours out of the 74-year-old singer`s heart is infused with the blues. King brings a soulful combination of skill, experience and emotion to this album that Clapton cannot quite match.

"Riding With the King" is a combination of old standards and new songs. The new songs are utterly forgettable popscapades. The oldies soar. "Ten Long Years" showcases King`s throaty voice and electric-guitar mastery. "Three O`Clock Blues," a King classic, puts out more of the same beautiful energy. It`s perfectly sad, gritty and alive. In "Key to the Highway," even Clapton shines, letting his guitar playing loose, showing off his technical expertise and passion - and wrapping it all up in some terrifically throaty vocals.

Often the two artists switch off vocals, and usually it`s to ill effect. "Worried Life Blues" showcases this dynamic. Clapton comes off as skilled but stiff, outshone by King`s bluesy swell at every turn.

In the end, the album best serves as a way to give Clapton fans a taste of what King has to offer. And this is nothing new. Back in 1969, when King visited Europe for the first time, critics ignorantly called him an "up-and-coming guitarist of the Clapton school." Of course, then, like now, nothing could be farther from the truth. True to the title, Clapton really is "Riding With the King."

(c) Copley News Service

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Author: Emily Friedlander