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*** Boy George

CHEAPNESS & BEAUTY

(Virgin)

Boy George used to be formula - about three parts clown, one part girl, and two parts Smokey Robinson - but now he's who he is and nothing else. Which is bad news for those who hope to dismiss the now non-star's addressing his fellow night cruisers' homosexuality as a too-late attempt to exploit an already overexposed zeitgeist. Thirteen songs full of ravishment, delicacy, and noise - as well as the singer's fervent, ironically realistic baritone - delve frankly into the mirror-like unreality of the masquerade life. From the bitter tones of his studio band's thrash guitar to the swollen orchestrations embellishing its beats, George and his musicians pound away at themes of glitter, obsession, and confusion.

But the true beauty of the CD is George's lyrics: succinct, honest, and barbed like none he's ever written. Difficult self-identifications like "God Don't Hold a Grudge" and "Same Thing in Reverse" force the truth out into the open, finding him the right note. Usually it's a full-mouthed, fatherly note heavy enough to lift the spirits of creatures of the night who, in raves like "Satan's Butterfly Ball," "Cheapness & Beauty," and "Genocide Peroxide," find themselves portrayed, celebrated, and dissected in music that breaks apart and recombines relentlessly. (Boy George and Eve Gallagher play Avalon this Monday, November 19.)

*** Boy George

CHEAPNESS & BEAUTY

(Virgin)

- Michael Freedberg