In Brief

** David Gates, “Love Is Always Seventeen,” Discovery. The former Bread head is now a cattle rancher, hence the mild country-pop slant to his first album since 1980. Hummable melodies still come to Gates as easily as in the ‘70s; his lyrics remain simplistically romantic, as the title suggests. As with Bread, Gates’ music is more Wonder than manna.

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