JAMES: NO STOMP

“THE FLAG.” Rick James. Gordy. Don’t accuse Rick James of being one-dimensional. While his songs have always painted a picture of James as being interested in nothing weightier than getting ripped and raunchy, James gets serious (briefly) here with “Funk in America/Silly Little Man,” a ditty about nuclear war--that ultimate deterrent to a good time. This album is meant to be a return to the hard-core funk sound that established James, and while it’s a step in the right direction, it doesn’t stomp hard enough. One high point is “Slow and Easy,” a teasingly effective type of love/sex ballad that James could probably toss off in his sleep. The rest of the album could just be tossed out, period.