A live album billed as "An Evening in the Weimar Republic," Faithfull marches confidently through the work of the German composer Kurt Weill. Standards such as "Alabama Song," "Mack the Knife," "Pirate Jenny," and "The Ballad of the Soldier's Wife" sound fine, if a bit shopworn, making her version of a lesser-known Weill tune such as "Complainte de la Seine" stand out. Actually, some of the album's better moments draw on composers and performers other than Weill. The title track and "Don't Forget Me" are satisfying nods to a pair of non-Teutonic gods, Noel Coward and Harry Nilsson. Two other songs, "Want to Buy Some Illusions" and "Falling in Love Again." approximate Marlene Dietrich's Blue Angel cabaret to convincing effect. Overall, 20th Century Blues is no match for Faithfull's best albums, Broken English and Strange Weather, but Faithfull's fascination with the glamour and decadence of pre-World War II Berlin is more befitting a twilight performer than the barely-legal fantasies of her '60s/'70s peers, Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler. --Keith Moerer
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