For many years, there has been a glut of slick, soulless RB and hip-hop where talent is obscured by the canned packaging. Members of three bands who broke from that stale scene -- En Vogue, Tony! Toni! Toné!, and A Tribe Called Quest -- have formed the alter ego Lucy Pearl. With rock star makeovers gracing the cover and good press, you'd expect some cross-bred, innovative results. But the new hip-hop, soul, rock, and RB adventures on Lucy Pearl are buried in the last third of the album. Until then, Dawn Robinson's rock-hard vocals, Raphael Saadiq's melodic and guitar talents, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad's knack for intricate beats seem lost in a gloss of overproduction, forgettable lyrics, and cookie-cutter melodies, despite some trippy jazz beats and the witty I Can't Stand Your Mother. The groove finally gets hot with the Chic-inspired Don't Mess with My Man and blasts into the scathing music biz attack Hollywood -- is this the real Lucy Pearl? Drawing samples from Albert Collins and Notorious B.I.G., the trio mixes up a super-loose feel, acoustic guitars, old-school machine beats, and guest raps from Snoop Dogg and Q-Tip. The inventive, witty Lucy Pearl Tells looks back on college and growing up in the '80s, even calling up the Alabama AM Marching Band covering the first Lucy Pearl single Dance Tonight. [This version of the album includes bonus material.] ~ Theresa E. LaVeck, Rovi

1		Lucy Pearl's Way
2		Trippin
3		Dance Tonight
4		Lala
5		Everyday
6		Can't Stand Your Mother
7		Good Love
8		Without You
9		Don't Mess with My Man
10		Hollywood
11		Remember the Time
12		They Can't
13		Do It for the People
14		You
15		Lucy Pearl Tells
16		Dance Tonight