* GODSMACK “The Other Side” [ 1/2] Universal Records (three and one-half stars)

Godsmack has traded in its amps, attitude and aggression for “The Other Side,” an album that illustrates the quieter aspect of these Boston blasters.

Screaming Sully Erna sings – that’s right, sings – with confidence throughout a collection that mixes some older Godsmack songs like “Awake” and “Spiral” with a few new tunes written specifically as unplugged compositions.

Listen to the guitar work in the song “Spiral,” for instance. It’s bright and rings with flourishes you’d expect in a classical Spanish compositions. When you first hear how voice and guitar interweave on this tune, you can’t help but recall The Doors song “Spanish Caravan.”

As good a hard rock band as Godsmack is, in past albums and in concert the group’s musicality has often been lost in the manic, thrashing assault of speed and volume. This disc stands as one of the most daring records a metal band could have turned in because it strips the music bare, leaving the band nothing to hide behind.

That’s especially true for Erna. Instead of his usual gravel growl filtered through effects to make him sound even heavier, he sings with uncharacteristic vocal clarity and coolness. The words are easily understood, actually giving voice to Erna’s dark, emotional writing. You hear that especially on the fast strummer “Keep Away.” That one, along with “Asleep” and “Voices,” ranks as the best on this disc.

This is a terrific album that illustrates a completely new side of a band known for thrashing metal grooves. The melodies are well-crafted and avoid the conventional trap of verse-chorus-verse pop.

* DAVID BYRNE “Grown Backwards” [] Nonesuch Records (two stars)

Like every solo album that David Bryne has released since dissolving the Talking Heads, his latest record, “Grown Backwards,” is so uneven it makes you wonder if the artist is the musical genius he’s often hailed as, or a guy with a few good ideas that he just keeps repeating.

“Backwards” is an edgeless album that is so smooth, it can be considered musical poetry or string-laced background music. Sure, there’s the occasional samba rhythm and rock thump, but when faced with the basic digital decision about how good a record this is, and whether you want to hear it again, “Backwards” isn’t i-Podible.

The string arrangements are old-fashioned to a fault. Instead of being the urgent, expressive rock he can be, Byrne chose to croon like a shellac-headed star of a ’40s musical. That orchestration and vocal style stands in sharp contrast to junkyard percussions that ping and pop as if played on hubcaps and fenders.

Although there are more yawns than high points on this disc, listen for the songs “Glass, Concrete & Stone” and “Tiny Apocalypse,” the best of this record. Both offer provoking lyrics and pleasant melodies.

Intermittently, and unfortunately, Byrne dabbles in opera on “Backwards.” The least offensive effort is on Bizet’s “Au Fond du Temple Saint,” sung in a duet with Rufus Wainwright. They’re both pretty good, but you won’t find either of them bumping bellies at the Met.

* CEE-LO “Cee-lo Green . . . Is the Soul Machine” [ 1/2] Arista (two and one-half stars)

While James Brown is alive and well, Cee-lo’s claim to the title Soul Machine is flimsy, but the chubby singer is certainly a good hip-hop contraption with a well developed musical vocabulary.

On his sophomore album, Cee-lo demonstrates that with an 18-track disc that is musically eclectic, roaming from rap beats to jazz riffs, funk and torch-style blues.

In a way, the diversity here hurts the album because none of the tracks seems to relate to the one before or after it. This scattered approach leaves lots of room for a memorable handful of hot singles to stand out. Those numbers include the breezy “All Day Love Affair,” an ode called “The One” and a lock ‘n’ load tough-guy rap boast, “Glockapella.”

* VARIOUS ARTISTS “Greatest Irish Bands” [] Hip-O Records (four stars)

For those who cringe at the first notes of an Irish tenor working “Danny Boy” on St. Patrick’s Day, Hip-O Records has assembled a fantastic collection of Ireland’s best rock acts singing their most memorable songs. U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name,” The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York” and Hothouse Flowers’ “Don’t Go” make the Guinness go down easy.

* JACKSON BROWNE “The Very Best of Jackson Browne” [] Rhino Records (three stars)

This two-disc, best-of-career retrospective by Jackson Browne is a fine summary of his life in music and why 55-year-old Browne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last night.

The album of California country rock is stitched together chronologically, taking a few tracks from each of Brown’s dozen albums. Needless to say, his early work from the ’70s and early ’80s is where the singer/songwriter burns brightest.

Rather than a “Best of” album, this collection features the best songs from every album Jackson Browne has made. There’s a difference.