June 17–24, 1999

disc quicks|rock/pop

Randy Newman

Bad Love
(Dreamworks)

Randy Newman had mastered his twisted brand of Tin Pan Alley songwriting back when Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright were content with toy pianos. On Bad Love, his first studio album since 1988 (unless you count the all-star 1994 rock version of Faust and scads of movie scores), he finds new slants to his sweeping, Stephen Foster-esque epics and sardonic ragtimes. Newman’s mordant worldview keeps him from sounding like a mere revivalist. (Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake’s production mirrors this aesthetic, making room for both the sparse combo performances and Newman’s excellent orchestral arrangements.)

Newman’s gallery of rogues has a whole new slew of creeps: the old millionaire chasing a young girl on the scabrously funny "Shame," the aging, oblivious rock star of "I’m Dead (But I Don’t Know It)," and the superficial Texas oilman on "Big Hat, No Cattle." In between the punchlines, however, Newman sinks in realistic ambiguities. The lyrics contain curveballs that render the narrators all too human. While there’s little here that matches the greatness of classics like "Sail Away" or "Marie" (the love ballads particularly fall below the mark), Bad Love is still a worthy addition to Newman’s canon.

—Michael Pelusi