In Brief

** 1/2 Denis Leary, “No Cure for Cancer,” A&M.; Neither the three songs (including the novelty hit “Asshole”) nor the extended stand-up pieces are as sharp as Leary’s focused rants as seen in short MTV bits and Nike ads. But when he gets rolling on such topics as drugs and pop fashions, this is rock ‘n’ roll comedy, more so than either Andrew Dice Clay or the late Sam Kinison.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent).