Billboard CD reviews: Trisha Yearwood, Jordin Sparks

ARTIST: TRISHA YEARWOOD

ALBUM: HEAVEN, HEARTACHE AND THE POWER OF LOVE

NEW YORK (Billboard) - On her debut for indie upstart Big Machine, Trisha Yearwood digs into a comfortable sweet spot midway between slick Nashville bang and rugged roots-music twang. With its rich combination of polish and pain, that's precisely where her voice belongs. The material is strong throughout, but highlights include "Nothin' 'Bout Memphis," rich with horns; "The Dreaming Fields," a pretty piano ballad wistful enough for a Disney-princess flick; and "Let the Wind Chase You," a hushed plea for peace with handsome harmony vocals by Keith Urban and a dreamy string arrangement by Beck's dad, David Campbell. "Cowboys Are My Weakness" could be a response to George Strait's recent "How 'Bout Them Cowgirls." Turns out Mrs. Garth Brooks is on the prowl for a guy with "a little bit of outlaw, a little bit of Jesus."

ARTIST: JORDIN SPARKS

ALBUM: JORDIN SPARKS (19 Entertainment/Jive Records)

With an all-star team of writer/producers (Stargate, the Underdogs), 17-year-old "American Idol" champ Jordin Sparks releases a first effort that's all over the map -- and works. The best news is that nobody's trying to mold her into a fly ho or a torchy diva; these 13 songs sound like exactly what she should be singing at this age and juncture in her career. The overall effect is sophisticated teen pop marked by innocent good cheer and harmony-laden vocal arrangements, although the synthesizer and drum machine-dominated tracks work better in some cases ("Tattoo," "One Step at a Time," "Now You Tell Me") than in others ("Shy Boy," "Young and in Love"). "No Air," Sparks' duet with Chris Brown, has plenty of hit potential, while "Now You Tell Me," with its swelling arrangement and muscular chorus, is the album's gem.

ARTIST: DAFT PUNK

ALBUM: ALIVE 2007 (Virgin Records)

Nothing can quite match the in-person thrills of the current Daft Punk live experience, what with the robot costumes, onstage pyramid and body-rattling beats radiating out into the blissed-out faithful. But "Alive 2007" comes pretty darn close, capturing a hometown Paris audience so jonesing for a Daft Punk fix that it loudly sings along with the synth melody on "Television Rules the Nation." While it's great to hear the classics ("Da Funk," "One More Time") even if they're not played in full, perhaps the most useful service provided here is the rehabilitation of material from 2005's underwhelming "Human After All." That album's massive "Robot Rock" proves a perfect table-setter for the dance party to come, while the industrial-strength house of "The Brainwasher" pushes things over the edge.