CD reviews for Nov. 6, 2009

• By JOHN WIRT
• Music critic
• Published: Nov 6, 2009

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Weezer
RADITUDE

Always good for an exploding chorus, Rivers Cuomo and Weezer are more out of their shell than ever for Raditude. Driven by frenzied drums and acoustic guitar, sunny opening song “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” throws the door open to this frequently loud, hard-kicking collection. High energy continues with an exuberantly happy love song, “I’m Your Daddy,” and another song that, in characteristic Weezer style, blasts forth like a power-pop exclamation point, “The Girl Got Hot.”

Other tracks turn generic, as if Weezer were doing an impression of stereotypical modern rock. And the pedestrian chord progressions of “In The Mall,” befitting the song’s title, summon mediocre ’70s arena-rock. Guest artists Lil’ Wayne, Jermaine Dupri and Indian vocalist Amrita Sen and sitarist Nishat Khan bring interesting new flavors to Weezer, a band that stays mighty even if every Raditude track isn’t so mighty.

Orianthi
BELIEVE

Australian native Orianthi Panagaris scored the guitar gig a lifetime earlier this year when Michael Jackson picked her for his 50-concert series of performances at London’s O2 Arena. When Jackson died shortly before the London gigs were to commence, the world lost one of its biggest stars and Panagaris missed her golden opportunity to share his spotlight.

Nonetheless, the singer-guitarist who bills herself as simply Orianthi is prominently featured in Michael Jackson’s This Is It, the documentary about the making of the Jackson concerts that never were. Perfect timing, too, that she released her second album, Believe, last week, just as the film opened across the world. As seen in This Is It and heard in Believe, Orianthi is a chops-wielding guitar slinger and expressive singer. But the inclusion of predictable songs composed by committee, plus heavy production, tend to jettison Orianthi into a hair-metal time warp that crashes into Evanescence, Avril Lavigne and country-pop. Ironically, the CD’s best track is the comparatively low-budget “Highly Strung,” a soaring instrumental duet performed and co-written with guest electric guitar maestro Steve Vai.