Huey Lewis and The News

Plan B

A well-crafted "Plan"

Review Score:

(8/10)
In the can for some time, and only recently released through Silvertone Records, a division of Jive, "Plan B" is a solid release that's more faithful to the News' R&B-flavored blues-pop that's been entertaining audiences for years.

After a disheartening handful of new songs on Huey's 1996 "Time Flies" collection that seemed to suggest Lewis & Co. were chasing a pop landscape they could never catch up with, this return to roots is a breath of fresh air. Lewis' vocals are strong and assured, the band is playful and focused, and the songs are good. "Plan B" is the kind of album that goes down so smoothly, it's surprising when it actually ends. By the way, that's good.

Several tracks are stand-outs: "We're Not Here For A Long Time" is a rouser, and a perfect way to kick off the album. "Plan B" and "The Rhythm Ranch" are catchy foot-stompers. "So Little Kindness" is a reworked song from "Time Flies" that actually becomes a much better song AFTER it's inclusion on a Greatest Hits album!

The Wynonna duet is a nice ballad, and makes one wonder why the recent hit remake of "Cruisin'" with Gwyneth Paltrow was excluded. Finally, "My Other Woman" is almost a send-up of achy-breaky country songs while keeping tongue firmly in cheek.

Will this set any sales records? Of course not. Despite being released from the same parent house of *Nsnyc and Britney Spears, there's simply no support from the home office. But for the true Huey Lewis fans who can separate one of the hardest working bands of the past two decades from their Top 40 fortunes, this is an album long overdue.

More Reviews: