In Brief

** 1/2 David Bowie, “Hours . . . ,” Virgin. On 1996’s “Earthling,” Bowie had seemingly resurrected his creative self, finding new inspiration in the drum-and-bass movement. But, as ever, he’s already abandoned that edgy style on “Hours . . .” (due Tuesday), which is often emotionally naked but musically unformed, with memorable melodies hard to find. The album does have fine moments, such as the regretful torch song “Something in the Air” and lively guitar work by Reeves Gabrels and Chris Haskett (formerly of the Rollins Band). Which makes for some nice passages, but not a great album.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.

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Hear the Music

* Excerpts from Melissa Etheridge’s “Breakdown” and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: http://mediakit.nohib.com./soundclips