Billboard CD reviews

NEW YORK (Billboard) - At this point, if you're Al Green, messing around with your formula isn't so much unlikely as it is pure madness; it'd be like AC/DC deciding to add bassoons.

Even the highly touted input of the Roots' ?uestlove (producing with James Poyser, both in place of Green's longtime go-to Willie Mitchell) results more in decoration than innovation. It's not the new-blood-fueled revelation some might have hoped for, but who cares? Green's voice remains lithe magic, and he's brought in such contemporary all-stars as Anthony Hamilton, John Legend and Corinne Bailey Rae. ?uestlove's drums get a little boost in the mix, and Poyser's B3 lightly brushes each song's cheeks. But when it comes to Green, what more needs to be said? The reverend preaches on.

ARTIST: USHER

ALBUM: HERE I STAND (Jive Records)

After a four-year break, Usher's fifth set is bursting with grown man, true-to-life tales about leaving his player ways behind ("Before I Met You"), falling in love ("Something Special," "Lifetime" and the title track), making love ("This Ain't Sex") and having a child ("Prayer for You," featuring a weeping Usher Raymond V, his new baby son). Grown-up relationships drive "His Mistakes," about a woman who is scarred by a past fling, the piano-and-drum-laden "Best Thing" featuring Jay-Z and "What's a Man to Do," which finds Usher belting about loving two women at once. Still, tracks like the naughty "Love in This Club," the sensual "Trading Places" and the Danja-produced "Appetite" confirm that Usher still hasn't lost his young-boy charm.

ARTIST: CYNDI LAUPER

ALBUM: BRING YA TO THE BRINK (Epic Records)

Over 25 years, Cyndi Lauper has certainly played the singing minstrel, but also revealed deep lyrical introspection as an observer of society's foibles. On "Brink," she craftily meshes the two personas. Melodically, Lauper still just wants to have fun, with jaunty dance-floor jams (she traveled the world to work with beat masters Basement Jaxx, Digital Dog, Peer Astrom, Scum-Frog and Rich Morel), but after a twirl under the disco ball, listeners have the opportunity to explore layers underneath. "Same Ol' Story" is among Lauper's most inviting melodies ever, as she talks about how folks hold others to a different set of values than their own. "Raging Storm" is a thunderous blast, until you observe its thoughtful theme of aligning life priorities.

ARTIST: SPIRITUALIZED

ALBUM: SONGS IN A & E (Spaceman/Fontana)

Jason Pierce's sixth album as Spiritualized tows his usual load of strange melodies and fuzzy feedback, but he pushes those tendencies to the back as he dips deep here into Gothic Americana. Inspired by a live tour he did in 2007 flanked by backing singers and a seven-piece string section, some tracks from "A & E" orbit just outside of gospel and touch on the blues. The remaining songs are peaceful and pretty, with quiet orchestras floating behind tidal verses that crash and ebb like ocean waves. Pierce ties the dark to the light with poetic folk ballads like closing lullaby "Goodnight Goodnight," making "A & E" a strange and pleasing concoction of old and new.

ARTIST: ORCHESTRA BAOBAB

ALBUM: MADE IN DAKAR (World Circuit/Nonesuch)

This iconic Senegalese band last released "Specialists in All Styles" in 2002, marking a return from an extended hiatus. "Made in Dakar" is an 11-song mix of new tunes and previously recorded songs that the band has retracked in grand fashion. Several of the tunes have all but vanished, so to find them again here is a major thrill. The album offers a great retrospective on Orchestra Baobab and no shortage of stylistic turns. "Ami Kita Bay" is a combination of the mbalax style and salsa, while "Aline" is a classic Congolese rumba. "Nijaay" is a quintessential Orchestra Baobab groove highlighted by Youssou N'Dour and Assane Mboup on vocals and the distinctive sound of Issa Cissoko's tenor sax. Also note the unmistakable Cuban feel of the tune "Cabral."

ARTIST: THE FUTUREHEADS

ALBUM: THIS IS NOT THE WORLD (Nul Records)