Broken Toy Shop
The L.A. based singer-songwriter has lost the McCartney-cute tunefulness that undermined his promising 1992 debut and matured with a somewhat tougher, more personal sound.  "Standing At The Gate" and "Most Unpleasant Man" get under the skin in short order, while a pair of Paul Buckmaster-orchestrated ballads  ("Manchester Girl," "The Day I Wrote You Off") are standouts.--Jeff Bateman