I, Napoleon (1991)

Is this debut album the product of a mad genius, or merely a blabbering madman? Steve Napoleon — the singer-songwriter behind this quartet-seesaws between the two extremes, but strangely enough, he never loses his melodic sensibility. The music created by his band is uncategorizable — it's loud and wild, polite and pleading, urgently sad, sarcastically cheerful. It could be called hard rock, but how many hard-rock bands put a piano concerto (''Concerto in D Minor'') on their albums? I, Napoleon also shows classical influence in the melodic structure of tunes like ''Perfect Absolution'' and ''Don't Wanna Sleep Alone,'' but the approach is completely unpretentious — Mozart as compared to Beethoven. But don't start thinking this is a group of refined, upstanding young men — they're wildly emotional, and titles like ''Whipped Silly'' and ''Sweet Cyanide'' only hint at the album's warped lyrics. I, Nap's different elements finally come crashing together on a scary little tune called ''I Am the Idiot,'' in which banging piano, sick saxophone, out-of-control screeches, and maniacal laughter attack from all angles. I, Napoleon is bound to be loved or hated. But it's impossible to ignore. A