The Songs of Pete Seeger, Vol. 2:  If I Had a Song...
Political militancy so rarely results in more than topical art; thus  it's amazing how well Pete Seeger's talking blues, kiddie jingles, angry  anthems, and fragile adages to peace have aged. This single-disc successor to  Appleseed's double discWhere  Have All the Flowers Goneboasts a finer musical diversity, but is  ultimately as uneven as the previous tribute. Even after 50 years, performers  haven't begun to exhaust Seeger's catalog, and so it's puzzling thatMoxy Früvouswould  waste tape on the forgettable "Maple Syrup Time," thatBilly BraggandEliza Carthywould see  any point to another version of "If I Had a Hammer," or thatKim and Reggie Harris(withMagpie) would push  the sing-along folksiness of "Old Devil Time" to the point of parody. The better  the song, however, the better the performance.John Wesley Harding(backed by Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey) rocks "Words, Words, Words" straight  into the psychedelic garage,Jackson BrowneandJoan Baezsurround  themselves with Cuban musicians for a memorable "Guantanamera,"Steve Earlecasts his  bitter, bloodshot eye deep into the heart of "Walking Down Death Row," andEric Andersen, his voice  an icy whisper, turns the pure lyricism of "Snow Snow" into the album's most  harrowing and memorable moment.--Roy Kasten