The Amazing Adventures of Kid Astro
WithKid Astro,the one-man musical universe that is Ralph Covert pulls up a chair alongside heroes and legends. Ralph's talent as a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, proved over the course of the first four Ralph's World discs and again here, plant him in the upper echelon of all pop performers--check out the bright California melodies of "Sun In My Eyes" and the hooky chorus of "Treehouse Orchestra." But it's the depth of humor in his discs that sets him apart. Like the scripts and characters in Sesame Street, certain Pixar films and, yes, SpongeBob Squarepants, Ralph's songs work brilliantly on a couple of levels. "Old Man Dan" is a crotchety guy who lives in a garbage can and says "humbug" a lot, to the delight of any 3-year-old. But to grown-ups, he's also a hilarious parody courtesy of Ralph's blustery, puff-chested delivery. Each of these songs rockets listeners of any age to places they'd rather be--the hallmark of a stratospheric talent. With any luck, the genre known as family music will hang onto him for at least a few discs longer.--Tammy La Gorce