'Don't Kill the Magic' review: Not 'Rude,' just too nice

MAGIC!'s lilting smash "Rude," the unlikely tale of asking an angry father for his daughter's hand in marriage, is well on its way to being an even unlikelier No. 1 hit.

However, the Canadian reggae band's album "Don't Kill the Magic" (Latium/RCA) accomplishes an even more unexpected feat. It makes "Rude" sound edgy.

MAGIC! is clearly a capable band, but it is so bent on depicting a squeaky-clean world, especially in the bland "One Woman One Man" and "How Do You Want to Be Remembered," that it's hard to take seriously, especially when bits of "Stupid Me" sound a little too much like Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven."

MAGIC!

"Don't Kill the Magic"

THE GRADE C

BOTTOM LINE Reggae that's not "Rude," just cloyingly nice.

SEE PHOTOSRock stars then and now