Billboard CD reviews: Sheryl Crow, Lenny Kravitz

ARTIST: SHERYL CROW

ALBUM: DETOURS

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Since 2005's reflective "Wildflower," Sheryl Crow ended her engagement with Lance Armstrong, battled breast cancer, adopted a son and stepped up her activism efforts. She's also reteamed with Bill Bottrell, who produced her multiplatinum 1993 debut, "Tuesday Night Music Club." Thus the roots-rock of "Detours" is old-school-sounding Crow with a heightened consciousness of the world around her. Every day is still a winding road, but it costs too much to drive down ("Gasoline"); a change would do, well, everyone some good, particularly those struggling to rebuild their lives post-Hurricane Katrina ("Love Is Free"). If the message is a bit heavy-handed at times, Crow still delights with the melodic chorus of "Shine Over Babylon" and the breathe-easy "Now That You're Gone" and "Lullaby for Wyatt," a tender reminder of just how far Crow has come and what her future holds in store.

ARTIST: LENNY KRAVITZ

ALBUM: IT IS TIME FOR A LOVE REVOLUTION (Virgin Records)

Lenny Kravitz has been letting love rule since he started releasing music 18 years ago, so declaring that "It Is Time for a Love Revolution" is not quite a, well, revolutionary concept for the rock alchemist. He exhibits a different kind of urgency this time out, however, partly fueled by the times and perhaps also motivated by a desire to bounce back from the disappointing sales of 2004's "Baptism." Kravitz doesn't fly away from what brought him here, though. The mostly one-man-show of "Time" is another amalgamation of the vintage rock stylings that are his stock in trade, from the crunchy, Led Zeppelin-styled blues rock of "Bring It On" to the psychedelic riffing of "A Love Revolution," the mannered dynamics of "If You Want It" and the trippy, Beatles-flavored melodicism of "Good Morning" and "A New Door."

ARTIST: OTIS TAYLOR

ALBUM: RECAPTURING THE BANJO (Telarc Records)

Bluesman Otis Taylor gathers an all-star cast of fellow blues revivalists and banjoists -- Keb' Mo', Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Guy Davis, Don Vappie -- to pay brilliant tribute to the instrument rooted in the legacy of African-American music. Spurning banjo stereotypes (from minstrelsy to bluegrass) and keying in on the instrument's rhythmic versatility, Taylor covers a broad swath of stylistic ground, including rocking blues, funky swagger, jazz-inflected melody, Creole dance, old-timey jug band and country blues. And in testament to the banjo's role in a rock setting, Taylor nods to Jimi Hendrix in his charged rendition of "Hey Joe."