New Recordings: Pharrell Williams, Rick Ross, Jason Eady

Ratings: **** Excellent, *** Good, ** Fair, * Poor

Pharrell Williams

G.I.R.L.

(Columbia ****)

nolead ends As singer, composer, and collaborator, Pharrell Williams has had a starry year under his production moniker, the Neptunes. His hits with Robin Thicke ("Blurred Lines") and Daft Punk ("Get Lucky") were summer 2013's soundtrack. His Despicable Me 2 theme, "Happy," pumped up Sunday's Oscar ceremony. Last week, Major Lazer's Apocalypse Soon EP appeared, for which Pharrell teamed with Philly's Diplo. And - finer yet - now we have G.I.R.L., Williams' second solo album, steeped in inventive soul, eccentric electro-disco, and melodic tinged tunes dedicated to his muses.

Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys, Miley Cyrus, and the helmeted Daft Punk duo (their computerized, hooky "Gust of Wind" is the best teaming here) make appearances, but it's Williams alone - that falsetto, that control - that makes this G.I.R.L. gorgeous. Starting with the swelling strings (courtesy Hans Zimmer) of "Marilyn Monroe," Pharrell moves with bravura from dramatic drone to a discoesque groove. That same energy and panache are in evidence in the sexy "Hunter," the Neptunes-ish "Gush," and the minimalist "Lost Queen" ("I'm half good and half nasty"). And you also have the joyful "Happy"! With such riches, G.I.R.L. could well be the Thriller of the 21st century.

- A.D. Amorosi

nolead begins Rick Ross
nolead ends nolead begins Mastermind
nolead ends nolead begins (MMG/Def Jam **)

nolead ends The rap world turns, Rick Ross doesn't. Kanye innovates, Jay Z transitions to dad-rap, and Kendrick Lamar dazzles with technique and narrative. Ross still just wants to be the Notorious B.I.G., so on Mastermind, his sixth album, he remakes Biggie's "You're Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)." By doing so, the Miami "bawse" reminds us how singularly lackluster his lyrics and storytelling can be. This is meathead, gangster-fantasy, luxury rap. That's fine if you really want another 16 tracks of Ross lazily rapping about gated mansions, expensive cars, meaningless murders, and jail cells with WiFi. But not even the guest appearances by West, Jay Z, and Meek Mill make Mastermind any less exhausted or routine. This is Ross standing still.

- Elliott Sharp

nolead begins Jason Eady
nolead ends nolead begins Daylight and Dark
nolead ends nolead begins (Thirty Tigers ****)

nolead ends On the best country album of the year so far, the alcohol begins flowing right away, and, fittingly, it's the hard stuff. Jason Eady starts off Daylight and Dark with the terrific barroom honky-tonker "OK Whiskey" (it "treats me better than that old 3.2"). That's followed shortly by "Temptation" and then a really killer drinking song, "One, Two . . . Many."

That concludes the portion of the track listing headed "Causes." What follows are "Consequences," and Eady's take on them is as unsparing as the music is uncompromising, hard-core country. In other words, this isn't a Luke Bryan record. "Now I'm left with the damage I've done," Eady, a Mississippi native, laments on "Liars and Fools." The title song points up the existential struggle of these characters as they try to find their way in a world that is not always black and white: "It's a worn-out situation when you don't know where you are."

The "Recovery" portion of the program doesn't sound much cheerier. "Late Night Diner" is colored by mournful steel guitar as the singer ponders more of the heavy costs of his behavior. The bonus track, "A Memory Now," concludes things on a brighter note, musically at least, framing the biting kiss-off of the lyrics in a jaunty two-step with guest vocalists Hayes Carll and Evan Felker.

- Nick Cristiano

This Week Last Week

Locally   Nationally   Locally

1   1    Schoolboy Q Oxymoron   -

2   5    Romeo Santos Formula, Vol. 2   -

3   2    Various Artists Frozen   1

4   3    Beck Morning Phase   -

5   4    Kid Cudi    Kid Cudi Presents Satellite Flight  -

6   10    Beyonce Beyonce   2

7   6    Dierks Bentley Riser    -

8   8    The Fray Helios   -

9   12    St. Vincent St. Vincent   -

10   11    Lorde Pure Heroine   8

SOURCE: SoundScan (based on purchase data from Philadelphia and Montgomery, Delaware, Bucks, Chester, Camden, Burlington and Gloucester Counties). Billboard Magazine 3/15/14 © 2014

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