Entertainment

Buzzcuts: New Music

November 19, 2007 / 5:54 PM EST / CBS/AP

Aretha Franklin, best known for her solid and soulful voice that has carried over generations and topped the music charts releases "Jewels of the Crown: All-Star Duets With The Queen." Also, this week brings The Hives' "The Black and White Album."

Aretha Franklin, "Jewels of the Crown: All-Star Duets With The Queen,"
The Hives, "The Black and White Album"

Aretha Franklin, "Jewels of the Crown: All-Star Duets With The Queen," (Arista)

Pity the fool who attempts to go up against the undisputed Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.

At age 65, she can still sing circles around her younger counterparts.

Franklin demonstrates her ability to belt it out with the best of them on "Jewels in the Crown," a collection of 16 mostly old duets with such artists as Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, spanning almost the entirety of her career at Arista, from 1981 on.

The album also includes two new numbers: the Underdogs-produced smooth R&B tune "Put You Up On Game" with "American Idol" winner Fantasia and the much more funky, catchy "What Y'all Came to Do" with crooner John Legend.

The latter duet, which samples a riff from Sam & Dave's 1968 dance anthem "I Thank You," highlights Franklin's gritty soul chops in the best way possible. She whoops, she hollers, but she doesn't overdo it. Legend knows how to complement, versus compete with, her voice.

The best of "Jewels in the Crown" are actually reworkings of Franklin's '60s hits, from a grooving, layered version of "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" with Bonnie Raitt and Gloria Estefan from 1993's Fox TV duets special to a spirited "Chain of Fools" with Carey from VH1's 1998 "Divas Live" concert.

Franklin's two duets with Blige may verge on the edge of a vibrato standoff, but also emphasize the elder chanteuse's deep-seated vocal and emotional influence.

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: There's nothing like hearing Franklin take on the soaring aria from Puccini's opera "Turandot" as a last minute replacement at the 1998 Grammys for the then-ailing Luciano Pavarotti. On a different note, 1987's dance-pop hit "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves" with the Eurythmics remains a feisty gem.

The Hives, "The Black and White Album" (Universal)

The Swedish band whose hit "Hate to Say I Told You So" and two-tone suits launched a Scandinavian rock revival seven years ago are back with their fourth full-length album and, yes, more black and white suits.

While 2004's "Tyrannosaurus Hives" repeated the group's garage formula, the Hives' appropriately titled new album is half ear-smashing rock 'n' roll perfection and half a hapless attempt at commercial experimentation.

Recorded in Sweden, England, Mississippi and Miami, the album starts with a quick bang on "Tick Tick Boom," a surefire single with singer Howlin' Pelle Almqvist's shout-outs of "yeah!" clamoring over thunderous riffs.

The next five songs continue that sense of garage-fueled relish, from the shakers and sing-along chorus of "Try It Again" reminiscent of Danish popsters Junior Senior to the punky cowbell-filled "Hey Little World."

Indication of less workable things to come starts in the middle of the Pharrell Williams-produced "Well All Right!" A bouncy, groovy tune filled with handclaps and Almqvist's soul man growls and whoops, the song breaks into a strange, dirge-like interlude midway.

Williams also lends his hip-hop touch to "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.," a number sporting '70s funk licks, a robotic New Wave chorus and Almqvist singing falsetto, chanting "we rule the world" without his usual ego-driven gusto.

"Giddy Up!" is just plain ridiculous, a synth ditty with yelped lyrics and a "My Sharona" thrust. "Puppet on a String" replaces guitars with piano, throwing in an oddly deep hip-hop chorus and spooky howls.

It's commendable the band is inching out of its garage rock shell, but that shell has also served the five-piece well and shouldn't be broken.

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: "You Got It All ... Wrong" has radio-friendly written all over it, with surging pop-punk guitars, speedy beats and Almqvist yelling out, "You try it fast when you should really do it slow."