Rating: NNN
Taking a break from his 9-to-5 job writing innocuous scores for family films, Randy Newman returns to sweetly sardonic singer/songwriter mode for Harps And Angels, which is meant to be his overdue return to the political arena. Admittedly, something like A Few Words In Defense Of Our Country, which makes the case that the Bush administration isn’t quite as bad as the regimes of Stalin, Hitler and King Leopold of Belgium, might seem like a bold move compared to what you hear from rock’s self-righteous rabble-rousers, but there’s nothing here that comes close to past masterstrokes like Louisiana 1927, Sail Away and Rednecks.
In fact, there’s nothing that even stands up to what you might hear on a regular weekday broadcast of the Daily Show With Jon Stewart or the Colbert Report, which suggests that Newman may need to step up his game if he expects to get the attention of anyone but boomers who are still afraid to admit they like Short People.
Randy Newman swings into Convocation Hall Saturday (September 20).
