Whitey Ford Sings The Blues [CD], Everlast, CD

When you think about it, House of Pain really were ahead of their time. Tracks like "Jump Around" may have been light on the content side, but they delivered in the production department--they played with sounds in the same way that Missy Elliott and Timbaland have popularized, and they crossed over to a rock audience long before Puffy ever tried it. On Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, Everlast's second solo album, the opening is an appropriation of "The Fat Boys are Back"; a couple of songs favor a sensitive folk-rock touch, with Everlast on guitar; and others reach back for House of Pain's best rock-influenced sounds. Though plenty of others have rhymed over rock and folk tracks, Everlast has a good feel for it and his songs are solid. If this isn't a career album, it's damn close. --Randy Silver