Tattooed Heart

Aaron Neville is one of the greatest ballad singers of the English-speaking world, but he has one tragic flaw--he's a poor judge of material. Neville's quivering high tenor is capable of truly complex emotions, but he has an inexplicable fondness for songs that reduce emotions to the simplest sentimentality. The singer's strengths and weaknesses are both on display on this solo album, "The Tattooed Heart." His translucent voice is in great shape, but the bulk of the album was written by such Hollywood hacks as Diane Warren, Greg Prestopino, and Phil Galdston, whose cutesy melodies are matched by their lackluster rhythms and clichéd lyrics. When Neville gets a good song, however, the results are magnificent. With help from his siblings Charles and Cyril, Aaron turns Bill Withers' old R&B hit, "Use Me," into a second-line Neville Brothers number. Aaron and Willie Nelson's harmonica whiz Mickey Raphael brings a similar swamp-funk feel to Dennis Linde's song, "Down Into Muddy Water." Following up on the success of his '93 country album, The Grand Tour, Aaron mixes regret and affection on Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times" (a 1970 hit for Ray Price). Best of all is Aaron's shivering falsetto lead on a remake of Sonny Til & the Orioles' "Crying in the Chapel." --Geoffrey Himes