Listen to me: Chan, the critic, gives his slant on new releases from Blink 182 and others

Chan Tran

Blink-182: The Mark, Tom & Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back) (MCA)

Say it ain't so, they will not go away.

All the small things this band has done musically does not justify a live release considering that the music far is far from credible. In fact, a majority of the 20 tracks are from Blink's last release, Enema Of The State, a pathetic attempt to create viable punk-inspired music. Much of the music sounds basically the same as the studio versions, further indicating that the band is a one-dimensional novelty act.

Millions of teenagers with a let-me-be-a-complete-loser complex will eat up the live sound. But wait, what's my age again? I'm 23 and this release means just as little to me as seeing the band prance around naked in music videos. Marketing the album as a limited release for a year may just give Blink enough money for new baggy jeans, girly tight shirts and baseball caps.

More inspired tracks such as "Voyeur," "Pathetic," "Dammit," Carousel" and "Peggy Sue" off of earlier albums, Dude Ranch and Cheshire Cat, are included. A new track "Man Overboard" and a few unreleased songs only performed in concert should thrill punk wannabe fans.

Dammit, I wish this band would go away.
 

Spice Girls: Forever (Virgin)

If you want to be their fan, you've gotta get with their dysfunctional tendencies.

Mel C, Mel B, Victoria and Emma are back without the sexy Ginger Spice ingredient. The music has not lost much girl-power taste, but the additional seasoning of big-name producers like Rodney Jerkins, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis should add a needed kick to the flavor.

Following critical and commercial failure from Mel B's solo endeavor, the girls may have to find a way to get out of that shadow. They have spent 14 months recording and writing in places such as London and Los Angeles, and yet, looming in the shadows are publicized divorces and threats of kidnap of the band members.

The first single "Holler" has yet to make a splash on the charts. Forever, which is their third album, needs to do more than appeal to the leftover fans of Backstreet Boys and ëNsync.
 

Fatboy Slim: Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars (Astralwerks)

We have to praise him like we should.

Slim, AKA Norman Cook, has made a tremendous impact on dance music for most of 2000. Right about now, he is perhaps the only dance artist to survive beyond the usual first-single hype. Remember the subconscious takeover of "Rockafeller Skank"?

Cook, the other half of Moby, has done something artists such as electronic dance artists Aphex Twin, the Orb and Prodigy have failed to achieve - global dance music. But instead of going back to his old cookbook of repetitive soul chants, Slim has moved onto funk-infested techno beats, going as far as using Jim Morrison's voice for "Sunset (Bird Of Prey)."

Guests of the alive and breathing kind include Macy Gray, Bootsy Collins and Roland Clark. Unlike his contradictory name, Cook has stuck true to his sincere music and elusive media presence from the start of his hype.

He's come a long way, baby.
 

Cher: Not Commercial (cher.com/artistdirect.com)

Cher believes in life after "Believe," the worst abuse of a voice digitizer in history.

Not Commercial is slated to be an exclusive Internet release, and features songs she wrote and recorded.

"The Fall," an ode to Kurt Cobain, and a track by ex-husband Sonny Bono, "Classified 1A," are among the unusual choices.

In an act that gets my vote for the worst musical atrocity of the year, she covers U2's classic love-with-thorns song "With Or Without You."