ALBUM REVIEWS

** 1/2 Barenaked Ladies, “Stunt,” Reprise. Canada’s Barenaked Ladies are a very big deal in their homeland, and have also maintained a sizable following in the U.S., by striking a balance between cheeky, ironic pop and crowd-pleasing tunefulness. Unfortunately, it seems as if the band’s good fortune of late--last year’s “Rock Spectacle” went gold in the U.S.--has made it soft-headed and fuzzy. On “Stunt,” the group has leached out all the goofy wordplay and off-kilter wit of its previous albums, leaving only ordinary Top 40 pop fodder. Too bad. Pointed humor is an all too rare commodity in pop music these days.

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