BUSH

The Sea of Memories

[Zuma Rock/eOne]

By releasing the first album in 10 years under the Bush banner with a lineup that sports only one other returning member (drummer Robin Goodridge), frontman Gavin Rossdale runs the risk of alienating fans who treat ’90s triumphs like Sixteen Stone as gospel. But from the opening machine-gun snare of “The Mirror of the Signs” to the buzz-saw guitar counterpoint throughout, there’s no mistaking you’re in Bush country. Rossdale reasserts himself with his trademark emotional delivery, chronicling the ins and outs of tricky human interrelationships. By the time you arrive at the closing ballad “Be Still My Love,” you’ll feel like you’ve been on a series of family therapy sessions. But this isn’t a poetry seminar, it’s a rock ’n’ roll record: “All My Life” boasts thick slabs of guitar over a sludgy beat, with harmonized leads that create a ’70s-style metal vibe. In other words, Bush is back. –Bob Cannon

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