Phantom Planet

“Phantom Planet” (Epic)

Compare to: The Vines, The Hives, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Maybe the band name means something. Phantom Planet has materialized as a different band.

It’s not that the California-born group’s new self-titled release is bad. It is simply a total departure from the band’s earlier pop-driven sound.

It doesn’t even sound like the same band. Prior to this album, Phantom Planet was known for catchy pop tunes, such as “California,” the theme song for Fox’s “The O.C.,” and harboring pseudo-celebrities-turned-musicians such as “Rushmore” star Jason Schwartzman. In August of last year, however, drummer Schwartzman was replaced by Jeff Conrad. This seems to have led the band to abandon its old sound.

On its new eponymous album, the band seems to have joined the throng of 1970s-influenced “The” bands and produced an album that sounds decidedly similar to The Strokes. Almost every song prominently features a vocoder.

On the standout track “Knowitall,” lead singer Alex Greenwald mourns, “I came home as someone else / Must have wished it on myself,” which is an accurate assessment of the state of the band.

The major problem is pacing. The first five songs are uptempo, but the last six are slower, less aggressive tracks, which makes the album feel very uneven. With a different order, the album could have been much better.

Fans of previous Phantom Planet offerings should know this album bears little resemblance to “The Guest.” It was probably not a good move for the band to an already saturated genre. Taken for what it is, however, the album is still very enjoyable, although it certainly doesn’t forge any new musical ground.

— Kyle Sederstrom

Amici Forever

“The Opera Band” (RCA)

Compare to: Josh Groban, Sarah Brightman, Opera Babes

“Amici” is Italian for friends, and forging friendships among musical styles is what Amici Forever attempts to do with its debut album, “The Opera Band.” The five classically trained singers — tenors David Habbin and Geoff Sewell, sopranos Jo Appleby and Tsakane Valentine and bass-baritone Nick Garrett — use a pop aesthetic to separate their sound from the stodgy presentation of opera.

With listening stations now commonplace in music stores, the first 30 seconds of a debut album have to be spectacular to attract a first-time listener. Unfortunately, the first 30 seconds of this album are overly dramatic and border on overwhelming, but the rest of the CD isn’t quite so brazen with its orchestral accompaniments.

The concept behind the CD seems to be a desire to breath new life into old songs. On some tracks, this works better than on others.

Who knew “Unchained Melody” could be transformed into an Italian operatic ballad? Perhaps this is what the song should always have been. Nothing against the Righteous Brothers, but “Senza Catene,” Amici’s version of the song, is the only interpretation to so intensely capture the passion, the desire and the ache of the lyrics — and how better than in Italian?

The idea of taking old songs and making them accessible to a contemporary audience is best achieved with “Whisper of Angels,” based on Gabriel Faur‚’s “Pavane,” written in 1887. Thoughtful lyrics were added by Amy Sky, a Canadian songwriter — turning 117-year-old dance music into a beautiful love song.

Could it be that after nearly a decade, the public will begin to tire of interchangeable pop “artists” with only a smattering of real vocal talent? These five singers have real talent, but only time will tell if Amici Forever can break its way into the American pop scene.

— Sarah Kloewer

Damageplan

“New Found Power” (Elektra)

Compare to: Sepultura, Soulfly, Meshuggah

When Pantera split, fans of the band wondered if music of the same caliber would ever see the light of day. The two key members of the band have given their reply.

Former Pantera axeman Dimebag Darrell and his brother, Vinnie Paul, are as musically fired up as ever. And with newfound musical comrades bassist Bob Zilla and vocalist Pat Lachman, they are ready to establish a new plan — Damageplan.

The album starts with a laid-back guitar riff during the intro to “Wake Up” and is not especially typical of Dimebag’s style. The track is deceiving at first, but after the first few bars, the music kicks in and Dimebag shows his true metalhead insanity.

The music has that classic Pantera feel, but things have obviously changed. The guitars on “New Found Power” scream loud and hard, reminiscent of Dime’s Pantera glory days. Bob Zilla’s pounding bass and Vinnie Paul’s violently beautiful double-bass-driven beats add perfect, unhindered depth to the mix.

Every song is filled with tense, skull-crushing musical chaos, and Lachman’s howls grow more agonizing with every note. The hard, metalhead look has also been carried over to Damageplan — Lachman and Bob Zilla seem like they’ve adapted nicely.

For the formation of Damageplan, Vinnie and Dime hand-selected Hawaiian-born Zilla, a longtime friend and tattoo artist, to play bass. The band also added former Halford and Diesel Machine guitarist Lachman as its vocalist, thus making Damageplan a reality.

The album reeks of freshly ground and uncensored metal from start to finish. With song titles like “Soul Bleed” and “Blunt Force Trauma,” Dimebag, Vinnie and their new amigos have reassured the world that their hearts and minds are still dwelling on writing the same brand of attitude-driven, take-no-prisoners metal music that worked for them in the past.

Pantera fans will either love this release or hate it. Traditionalists might not latch on to Zilla and Lachman like they did to Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown. However, fans who loved Pantera for Dimebag and Vinnie should be pleased with this one.

— Dan Hopper

Norah Jones

“Feels Like Home” (Blue Note)

Compare to: Diana Krall, Carole King, Cassandra Wilson

Norah Jones took the music world by storm when her first album, “Come Away With Me,” was released. When she won five Grammys last year, including Best New Artist, fans started wondering if her second album would suffer from the dreaded sophomore album syndrome.

It doesn’t.

“Feels Like Home” is the best sophomore album Jones could have put out. It shows her ability to add different sounds to her music without totally revamping her sound.

This album really does feel like home. It has a soft bluegrass sound on top of the jazz influences that were more apparent on her last album, causing the listener to imagine sitting at home on a rainy day.

A country sound was also evident on her last album, especially on “Lonestar.” In “Feels Like Home,” country surfaces throughout the album, possibly as a result of the guest appearances of alt-country band The Handsome Band. Songs like “The Long Way Home” to “In the Morning” could redeem country music from the rut it’s been in for the past 20 years.

Even with the change of the accompanying music, Jones has realized she never had to create a new image or change the tone of her voice. Her tone sounds exactly the same, which is one of the best parts of the album.

Jazz has long been the music of love and heartache, but lately artists haven’t been able to deal with relationships in a non-traditional way, especially when they’re categorized under pop, as Jones now is.

“Feels Like Home” is almost completely filled with statements of love and heartache, but it’s barely noticeable that Jones is singing about the same topic.

From lyrics like “And before the night is done / I just have to hear / Those sweet words / Spoken like a melody” to “I don’t miss you at all / I hear children playin’ laughin’ so loud / I don’t think of your smile,” Jones can cover all the aspects of love and loss in a way that doesn’t sound overdone or clich‚d. Maybe it’s Jones’ voice. She could probably sing about a kitten’s violent death and still sound calm and sweet.

Listeners’ worries should be absolved — it looks as if Jones is here to stay.

— P. Kim Bui