* * * * <i> Great Balls of Fire</i> * * * <i> Good Vibrations</i> * * <i> Maybe Baby</i> * <i> Running on Empty : </i> : BLOODLESS BLONDS BOUNCE BACK STRONG

* * * “GO ON.” Mr. Mister. RCA. * * * “YOYO.” Bourgeois Tagg. Island.

Stiff, bloodless--those were the terms that most often came up previously in regard to Mr. Mister and Bourgeois Tagg, both bands led by blond bass-men prone toward pallid, slick tinges of California funk-pop, vaguely spiritual concerns and overwhelming self-seriousness.

Ballad-prone Mr. Mister was easily dismissed as a SoCal “studio” concoction; the more aggressive Bourgeois Tagg had more “home-grown” Northern California roots that might as well have been put together behind a mixing board, for all the difference it made. As things turn out, neither group is as negligible as it first seemed; their new albums, to varying degrees, do have blood in the tracks.

Mr. Mister is no less ponderous this time, but thanks to a tougher sound and more focused songwriting, the pondering comes to some good. Singer Richard Page and co-writer John Lang are engaged in a Search For Meaning, which results in some overbearing pop anthems of universal good will but also brings up surprisingly overt, soul-baring religious material--like “Healing Waters,” an instant-goosebumps classic.

The more outwardly concerned numbers--like “Dust,” about the children of American servicemen in Vietnam, and “Power Over Me,” about an ill-loved one--aren’t always entirely convincing, but coming from the commercial side of town that snobs love to hate, it all seems convincingly heartfelt for its genre. Probing synthesizers and high-tech tricks are still the order of the day, but within that context, Mr. Mister and co-producer Kevin Killen achieve something approaching a band feel, making it sound less fussed-over than it probably really was.

Bourgeois Tagg has listened up even more, happily, and on “Yoyo” the musical sophistication doesn’t cancel out the fun. Producer Todd Rundgren has obviously encouraged the band’s latent wit and added his own typically classy/kitschy rock sound. Modified slick funk elements remain in parts, but more often the band reaches for a compositionally stripped-down but heavily ornamented style a la the Beatles or XTC (Rundgren’s most recent production before this) or--surprise--Todd’s own Utopia. A remarkable turnaround all around.