Releases bring same old and some new

Cassidy

'Split Personality' (J Records)

The first track on Cassidy's debut album, "Split Personality," offers hope that the rapper's lyrics may actually be worth listening to -- something more than unimaginative rhymes about sex, drugs and bling-bling. Maybe that song was from his demo. Because all the other songs show that the Philly rhymer offers nothing new or original to the game. Instead, he's just another forgettable rapper who may have enough wit for a guest appearance on somebody else's track, but certainly not enough to sustain a whole song, let alone an album. Guest appearances from Snoop Dogg and Jadakiss can't elevate the material from its pedestrian feel.

David Byrne

'Grown Backwards' (Nonesuch)

David Byrne's "Grown Backward" blurs the line between rational and absurd by melding delightfully confusing lyrics with an unlikely orchestral backing. It's almost a format for Byrne: take a pop song and jumble it around until it's something else. When he was the lead singer for the Talking Heads (which he left in 1991), what the band sang about wasn't nearly as bizarre as how they sang about it (Remember the ballad "Psycho Killer"? It was dark, sure, but danceable). "Astronauts" is a sad and subdued ballad of an alienated man. "I poke my hand in a hornet's nest. They fly out around my face. I guess it's just self-defense," he sings. A decade removed from his days with the Talking Heads, Byrne's work now arguably has more serious goals than giving high school kids something to dance to.

Godsmack

'The Other Side' (Universal)

Hard-rocking Godsmack is unplugging its act. "The Other Side" is an acoustic-only album that features stripped down versions of some of its staples and a handful of brand new songs. Acoustic versions of previous hits "Spiral" and "Awake" -- now titled "Asleep" -- let the band show its melodic abilities and give lead singer Sully Erna an opportunity to show he can sing as well as scream lyrics. Perhaps the best effort on the album is "Touche," which showcases the band's acoustic songwriting and performance abilities. As good an effort as "The Other Side" is, and it is a good one, the band needs to get back to hard rocking as soon as possible.

-- The Associated Press