It's hard to be the progeny of a successful popular musician. You have to deal with publicity almost from day one. You could find yourself on a reality show or dangling from a balcony. And, if you're considering a musical career of your own, you can look forward to years of comparisons to your famous dad or mom. Lisa Marie Presley (daughter of Elvis Presley) and Joe Sumner (son of Gordon Sumner, better known as Sting) know this well. After decades of relative media seclusion spiked with high-profile marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicholas Cage, Lisa Marie has, rather suddenly, decided to follow in her father's blue suede footsteps with "To Whom It May Concern," a collection of slick, angsty, poppy tracks. Sumner's band, Fiction Plane, has labored in the trenches of the college music scene since the late '90s while attempting to avoid any association with Sting. Their first album, "Everything Will Never be OK," reflects the raw sound that they've developed. But will these acts' musical pedigrees result in quality CDs? Read on.

Rob: As far as I can tell, there are two ways that musical legacy acts can handle the recognition brought on by their famous parents. They can use Jakob Dylan's approach with The Wallflowers -- minimizing the "Oh look, it's Bob Dylan's kid" effect by calling the band something that doesn't incorporate the family name and trying to become popular through the band's own merit. Or they can go the Kelly Osbourne route and cash in on their names for every cent they're worth. From the publicity Fiction Plane and Lisa Marie Presley have received, it seems like Joe Sumner has gone the Wallflowers route while Lisa Marie (whether she intended to or not) has followed Kelly Osbourne.

Dan: Well, considering Lisa Marie Presley has been a celebrity since the day she was born, she's really got no choice on whether or not she's going to get a lot of press. Fiction Plane practically curses Sting's name (their contract stipulated that Sting's name wouldn't be named in any of their promotional materials). And, let's face it, Sting is all well and good, but Elvis is ELVIS, so Lisa Marie definitely has more fame baggage. But enough about names. As for the pudding that we have been left to find the proof in, these two CDs indicate that both kids have inherited some tuneful genes, but neither of them produce astounding work.

R: I'd argue that Lisa Marie could have avoided the type of fame she's garnered lately. Are people automatically going to be interested in music by the original rock legacy child? Yes. Did she therefore have to pose for magazine covers and do feature spots on VH1? No. And that's a problem with "To Whom It May Concern." Both of these albums, while far from perfect, show potential, but Lisa Marie has subjected herself to more media scrutiny than Sumner. I think that makes it easier to criticize her. She's produced a first effort by a musician with almost no experience, but it's hard to treat it as such.

D: Well, Lisa Marie's got to pay some bills too, so if she wants to pose for Rolling Stone, so be it. This doesn't make her a better (or worse) musician. In fact, both of these artists approach the media in fashions similar to the ways that they approach their music. Presley's album is slicker and more consumable for the masses while Fiction Plane has some rougher edges and is not a likely candidate for pop chart domination. Sumner and company have a definite college-rock flavor on "Everything Will Never Be OK."

R: And I think that pays off for Fiction Plane. While I found the album to be frustrating at times and light on sincerity, the band matches their somewhat immature sound by shooting for the image of a good college band and avoiding over-ambitious release hype for "Everything Will Never Be OK." Therefore, it's somewhat easier to focus on the album's good points, like Sumner's wicked cynicism in "Cigarette," and hope that the band capitalizes on these elements with a stronger second album.

D: I'd say that Fiction Plane has a lot of work to do, even in the cynicism department. Sumner is a direct lyricist and his style works on "Cigarette" ("Touch me 'cause my daddy's rich"), but it doesn't work out as well on "Hate." The big chorus builds into Sumner singing "We're cool, we're different/ And we hate things/ Yeah we hate things/ We hate people." While he's spunky and blunt, the lyrics are a bit opaque and when Sumner yelps them repeatedly it sounds more and more awkward.

R: Yeah. He sounds more disenfranchised than angry. I think I might have gotten off on the wrong foot with Fiction Plane. To me, "Everything's" opening track, "Listen to My Babe," sounds like a five-year-old's conception of what rock lyrics are supposed to be. Sumner mentions his "babe" repeatedly, but I can't figure out if he is talking about is girlfriend, child or dog (From where did the line "I forgot to feed my babe today" come?). It took a few more tracks for me to lose that song's stink.

D: I couldn't help but think of this indie rock guy walking around carrying the talking pig under his arm. Speaking of talking pigs: Elvis Presley. (All hail Dan, king of segues) Presley's baby girl has come up with an album that's a lot flashier than Fiction Plane's, but not much better or worse. The album seems very nice. It isn't offensive musically. For that matter, it's not engaging, powerful or annoying. When I finished listening to the album, I barely even realized that it had been playing. Lisa Marie's confessional songwriting has just as much bite as Sumner, but without the musical support. The girl's got a surprisingly strong voice (deep, rich and a little soulful), but the music seems factory-made.

R: The instrumentation is my biggest issue with "To Whom It May Concern." Lisa Marie's voice is quite good and unique to boot. While Sumner obviously sounds like Sting, Lisa Marie has a voice that subtly echoes Elvis' throaty croon while remaining feminine and distinctive. I just wish her background musicians would let her use it. The album is a wall of sound that's difficult to process. And, unfortunately, Lisa Marie's sometimes poignant vocals, such as her lament that Memphis is where her family is "buried and gone" get lost in the shuffle. I don't often say this, but this album sounds overproduced.

D: But Lisa Marie's sincerity and personality shine through. It would have been nice if she learned to pick up a guitar and be more of a musician, but she has managed to carve out a personality of her own. With a family reputation and drab backing music holding her back, that's a pretty big feat. And I don't really think Sumner sounds like Sting. Sumner's voice isn't smooth and controlled like Dad's. His voice is like Elton John bred with a Chihuahua; he croons with a yelp.

R: Lisa Marie's sincerity is a bit of a paradox for me. I wasn't ready to take her seriously, thanks to her spontaneous exposure as a musician and her album's pop-ish orientation, but the earnestness of her songs impressed me. The same can't be said for Sumner. The anger in his songs seems to stem more from lack of anything else to write about than inspiration. Hearing "Hate" and "I Wish I Would Die" for the first time made me want to tell him to go commiserate with Rufus Wainwright about the doldrums of being young and pseudo-famous.

D: True. While it must suck to feel that you have to prove yourself twice as hard, if your life's biggest hardship is that you've got too much exposure, then things aren't going too badly. I think the best song on Fiction Plane's record is the quietest. "Fallow," is a delicate, acoustic lullaby that was sensitive without being smart-alecy or whiney. Plus, it has some of the melody that the rest of the album is lacking.

R: Ooh. Good call. "Fallow" really is a highlight. It has that cool little driving snare in the background. And it brings up a pretty good point about "Everything Will Never Be OK" - that its instrumentation is actually pretty good, if not exactly groundbreaking. While conversely that means that the band's songwriting isn't so hot, that might be good news for Fiction Plane. It means that they don't require a complete overhaul; Sumner just needs to learn to tweak his writing.

D: Fiction Plane may not need a complete overhaul, but they have room for improvement in every area. While I'm sure Sumner hates being referred to in the context of his father, he needs to let his guard down a little bit. The album seems really defensive, as if he knows that people will be talking about it, so he beats them to the punch. Musically, the album's tracks are fresh and unique, but not thrilling. The band is at its best with "Fallow" and the jangley "Soldier Machismo, and at its worst with "Hate." I don't foresee popping this CD in my stereo if I don't have to. Lisa Marie's album doesn't have as high highs (or as low lows), but the album is consistently "pretty good." The opening "S.O.B." and the ballad "The Road Between" are two of the strongest tracks, because they've got discernable melodies and tones. In the end, I can see myself listening to "To Whom It May Concern" more than "Everything Will Never be OK," which is counter to what I expected.

R: I'm also favoring Lisa Marie unexpectedly. "S.O.B.," "Lights Out," and "Important" express sincere emotions, including grief over a father's death and anger at ex-husbands. Presley sings about what she knows, and that honesty will help listeners relate to her. But what I'd really like is a re-release of "To Whom It May Concern" that focuses on her voice rather than the album's crappy instrumentation, which eclipses tracks such as "Better Beware." But I don't want to give Fiction Plane a completely raw deal. "Cigarette," "Fallow," "Wise" and the title track from "Everything Will Never be OK" are all pretty good, and the instrumentation throughout the album is solid. Furthermore, Sumner's songwriting is callow, but his voice is pleasant. And, unlike Lisa Marie, Fiction Plane made a good move in opting for a low-key first release. While many may judge Presley on the basis of "To Whom It May Concern" alone, Sumner's band has time to develop without the world watching. I'm not guaranteeing success for either, but I'd like to hear both Lisa Marie Presley's and Fiction Plane's next albums.