After the death of Paul McCartney’s wife, Linda, many people expected that when he finally confronted the issue in song, it would be on an album filled with a certain somber ambience.

“Driving Rain” is in fact just the opposite. This is not an album of grief, and there isn’t a hint of loneliness or self-loathing. Papa’s got a brand new bag – fianc‚e Heather Mills – and it shows. McCartney is full of life, his songs wringing with the optimism that comes with getting past tragedy to find new love.

The album is dominated and carried along by McCartney’s bass playing. “Lonely Road” kicks off the album with an eight-second bass intro before blasting into vintage McCartney vocals – deep, personal and introspective, oozing with Beatle-esque pop sensibility: “I tried to get over you/I tried to find something new/But all I could ever do/was fill my time/with thoughts of you.”

By the end of the song, McCartney’s voice has become a rugged wail, growling “Don’t want to walk that lonely road again” at the top of his lungs. It definitely doesn’t sound like a guy pushing 60.

“Driving Rain” has a certain ragged and raw feel to it. McCartney purposely under-produced the album to give it a more original rock `n’ roll feel, which does wonders on “From a Lover to a Friend,” a simple and intimate ballad where McCartney takes a look ahead in his own life, asking himself to love again.

And while “Driving Rain” is an album full of on-target hits, it has a few misses. “Spinning on an Axis” is a lackadaisical five-minute drab that’s hard to get through. And one can only hope McCartney’s rap at the outset of the song is an off-the-wall attempt at parody.

McCartney also seems to indulge in himself a few too many times. During “Rinse the Raindrops,” an unforgiving 10- minute romp that never ends, McCartney gets a little too excessive when flexing his musical muscle. He lets loose with one driving bass-driven jam after another. And it’s one or two too many.

But hey, this is Paul McCartney. And who’s gonna tell Paul freakin’ McCartney to “tone down the genius level a bit, you’re intimidating the kids.” The guy’s a Beatle for Christ’s sake.

– Tim Paluch

“All right stop/ collaborate and listen/Ice is back with the brand new invention.” Yea, that’s right, Vanilla Ice, or V-Ice as he refers to himself now, is back with a new album, a double disc packaged as one.

The first part, “Skabz,” is rap/rock and the second part, “Bomb the System,” is straight hip-hop.

Ice’s 1998 release “Hard to Swallow” was surprisingly good, but Ice doesn’t quite follow up here. But he doesn’t completely fail either. Thanks to guitar work from former Slipknot guitarist Josh Brainard, the riffs have a good groove and are heavy as hell, especially on gems such as “Nothing is Real,” and “Exhale,” a song in which Vanilla responds to Eminem’s constant mocking of the former superstar.

“You gibber jabber, bullshit, flapper, wanna be rapper/ Fake mini-me like who? Marshal Mathers.”

It’s the rap half, Ice’s supposed forte, that is painfully embarrassing to listen to at times. Although sometimes he sounds razor sharp, other times his rapping is almost unbearable. This is especially obvious on “Hip Hop Rules” where he says, “Needless to say I rap back today/ Ya’ll forgot about me like ya’ll forgot about Dre/ But I’m still here/ With no fear.”

Yikes.

“Tha Weed Song” is the worst song written about smoking weed since Ice graced us with the 1998 track, “Zig Zag Stories.” And “Hot Sex” is probably just the worst song ever written, period.

Guest appearances by Wu-Tang affiliate La the Darkman on “Unbreakable” and by Chuck D of all people on “Elvis Killed Kennedy” boosts the rap half of the album greatly. But Ice manages to sink to extreme lows with “Insane Killas,” featuring the Insane Clown Posse. Surprisingly, it’s not just the sheer stupidity of ICP that ruins the song though, it’s the fact that Vanilla ripped off Dre and Ice Cube’s “Natural Born Killers,” all the way from the bass line to the “icky icky wah wah.”

This album is very disappointing after “Hard to Swallow,” and as always, Vanilla Ice is full of contradictions. One minute he’s talking about peace, the next talking about kicking people in the head. And there is an awful lot of talk about smoking pot and taking ecstasy and mushrooms for a guy who is supposed to be clean.

Yeah, Ice is back, but the invention isn’t so brand new.

– Trevor Fisher

“I don’t care if Monday’s Blue/ Tuesday’s great, and Wednesday too/ Thursday I don’t care about you/ It’s Friday/ I’m in love.”

It’s an all too familiar tune, and is now being replayed on The Cure’s “Greatest Hits” album.

It is quite a chore to sift through the entire collection of Cure albums. Since their debut in 1976, the goth-rockers have amassed an overwhelming discography, complete with a few live albums and anthologies of singles.

And now with the release of “Greatest Hits,” fans of these mopestars are wondering if this could make the untimely, yet not so untimely, demise of a band that has a career spanning multiple decades.

This album features 16 Cure hits, rumored to have been chosen by Robert Smith himself as definitive releases for the band. Well-known songs such as “Friday I’m in Love” and “Just Like Heaven” team up with hits “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Inbetween Days” to showcase the fusion of melancholic, yet melodic music with Smith’s crooning vocals.

If you have already accumulated a decent amount of Cure albums, you may be asking yourself why you need this one. You may think you already have these songs on other albums, and buying this album would be futile.

But this album introduces two brand new tracks to The Cure’s cult following. “Cut Here” and “Just Say Yes” end the album in typical Cure fashion.

Expect the same towering guitars and synthesizers, and the same somber Smith lyrics that somehow manage to leave you confused as to whether to dance, cry or shout out with happiness.

Also, the first pressing of this album includes a bonus disc of acoustic tracks. But before you get too excited, the bonus disc has the same exact track listing. While it’s still a neat item to own, a new list of acoustic tracks could have made this album more appealing.

So if you already have the complete discography of Cure albums, should you go buy the album? “Just say yes. Do it now. Let yourself go.”

– Erin Randolph