album reviews: Spin Cycle is a biweekly roundup of the latest music releases selected by Citysearch editors.

Toby Keith [ tickets ]
"Pull My Chain" (DreamWorks)

If the Eagles at their twangy-est recruited Barry White to sing lead vocals, the result would sound a lot like Toby Keith. A juke-joint staple since his first release in 1993, Keith belts out country music that's not quite pop, but won't scare off casual listeners with too many rodeo references. On his eighth album, Keith displays both his genius for catchy songwriting and his good-natured sense of humor. Most of the 13 songs are immediately likable; the lyrics, though far from complex, are universal. Keith's ballads in particular exhibit his distinctive voice--deep, resonant and sexy--even when he's singing about something as simple as scheduling his day ("My List"). And expect Corona-swillin' lonelyhearts everywhere to sing along with "The Sha La La Song," if only for the line about "a little blue-eyed blonde" who "wants to spice my chili." --Randi Schmelzer, citysearch.com

Macy Gray [ tickets ]
"The Id" (Epic)

On her second full-length, Afro-ed space oddity Macy Gray reveals the part of her psyche that's "dominated by the pleasure principal and irrational wishing" (thanks, Webster's). To wit, she kicks the door down with the opening track, "Relating to a Psychopath," a shambling soul send-up that finds Gray riffing on her ideal mate (a real f---ed-up dude who has stuck around while all her "lovers are in therapy"). A platter of hot-buttered R&B popcorn, liberally sprinkled with salty social critique, "The Id" finds Gray getting disco-freaky while instigating her "Sexual Revolution," and playfully rapping about her kids with Slick Rick on the funky burner "Hey Young World II." She goes from honey-sweet, cooing "Sweet Baby" with Erykah Badu, to homicidal, with the cheeky battered-woman saga "Gimme All Your Lovin' or I Will Kill You." Gray pondered life on her last record, but here she's strutting her inner-Macy. Wild stuff. --Scott Henkemeyer, citysearch.com

Mary J. Blige [ tickets ]
"No More Drama" (MCA)

Mary J. Blige has long been dubbed "the queen of hip-hop soul," and with each album, she gets closer to living up to that title. On her sixth release, she enlists an impressive cadre of producers--including Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Dr. Dre and Missy Elliot--and yet comes up with her most cohesive effort to date. Pulling it all together is her beautifully rough voice, which has grown more precise without losing any of its raw, bluesy power. She sounds equally at home on stomping party anthems ("Family Affair"), gospel-kissed introspection ("No More Drama") and the girls-only manifesto "PMS," which brilliantly utilizes a sample of the Al Green classic "Simply Beautiful." While 1999's "Mary" presented a more somber Blige, on "No More Drama" she takes a colorfully defiant stance--and does it without getting preachy. She's calling for an end to self-doubt and petty rivalry, and offers a smashing alternative with her streetwise optimism. --Justin Hartung, citysearch.com

Slayer [ tickets ]
"God Hates Us All" (American Recordings)

From Limp Bizkit to Nine Inch Nails, hard music currently tends to pride itself on complex recipes--add some hip-hop, a pinch of Sabbath, a little prog rock. But after nearly two decades together, Slayer remains an elemental metal band, continuing to surge on something high-grade and uncut. For "God Hates Us All," the quartet plays it thick, hard and fast atop gurgling twin bass drums, with manic vocals about pain and anger, plus whammy-bar-heavy guitar solos that wail like rubberized banshees. The record is denser than its predecessor, 1998's "Diabolus in Musica"--sonically richer, more pissed off and more mysterious, with mumbled background vocals and plenty of dramatic, lonesome riffs. Such distinctions may be lost on the band's detractors, but that's the case with singular music: you love it or hate it. And if you hate it--well, apparently God does too. --Marc Weidenbaum, citysearch.com

Jimmie Vaughan
"Do You Get the Blues?" (Artemis)

"Do You Get the Blues?" conjures the musty scent of a vintage guitar amp with the tubes nicely warmed. Pure and simple, this is a classic example of contemporary Texas rhythm and blues. Jimmie Vaughan, drummer George Rains and B-3 player (and contributing songwriter) Bill Willis play a lone-star combination of swing jazz, classic R&B, roots rock, blues and gospel that doesn't tilt too far in any one direction. Rains, master of shuffles and rhythmic nuance, sets the stage with deep, precise grooves while Willis plays keys brilliantly, covering bass lines with his B-3's foot pedal. Though he might not fancy himself a jazz vocalist, Vaughan becomes one on this album, his voice mellow as a fine cognac. His guitar playing is gorgeous, understated and deliberate. "Without You," co-written by his son Tyrone, includes the next generation Vaughan on guitar. The legacy continues. --Don Harvey, austin.citysearch.com

Previous Spin Cycles:

August 23: Björk, The Isley Brothers, Sparklehorse, John Lee Hooker, Robbie Fulks

August 9: Usher, Prince, Freedy Johnston, Joy Division, Chocolate Genius

July 26: 'NSync, Aaliyah, Cake, Toni Price, The Beta Band

July 12: Melissa Etheridge, Tha Liks, Perry Farrell, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Craig David

Have a comment or question? Send a message to the Spin Cycle editor: Don Harvey.