In Brief

** Richard Marx, “Paid Vacation,” Capitol. Remember Player? The Sanford/Townsend Band? Well, Richard Marx does, along with, in his better moments, the late-era Raspberries. His fourth album, made with his usual stable of collaborators, is a combination of the sort of pasty rock made by these ‘70s forebears and some schlocky ballads that are produced prettily enough to be memorable.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).