Low Estate - 16 Horsepower
Pop/Rock, review by Natasha Stovall
16 Horsepower: hellfire-and-brimstone pop
(01/26/98)

Stay Down - 2 Lone Swordsmen
Pop/Rock, review by Amanda Nowinski
Proudly synthetic, the electronic duo 2 Lone Swordsmen prove that man is more intelligent than machine. (07/08/99)

The Big 3 - 60ft Dolls
Pop/Rock, review by Douglas Wolk
Spinal Tap reincarnate: Clichéd Welsh rockers break like the wind (01/29/97)

"Earbox" - John Adams
Classical, review by Patrick Giles
"Earbox" collects the intricate grace and visionary minimalism of John Adams. (12/09/99)

1965 - Afghan Whigs
Pop/Rock
A straight-up party record. Lead singer Greg Dulli has never sounded so open, his great and terrible bastard persona nowhere to be found.
(12/09/98)

Virgin Suicides - Air
Soundtrack, review by Michelle Goldberg
Air's "Virgin Suicides" soundtrack sparkles with the sublimated passion of teenage occultism. (02/29/00)

Stir It Up: The Music of Bob Marley - Monty Alexander
Jazz/World
Jazz pianist Monty Alexander's gutsy vision stirs up Bob Marley's greatest hits. (05/25/99)

I Am the Greatest - Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali)
Soundtrack, review by Andy Battaglia
"I Am the Greatest" captures the boastful rants of a young boxer caught between Cassius Clay and Muhammad Ali.
(08/23/99)

The Gathering - Geri Allen
Jazz/World
A pianist/composer as familiar with funk and the blues as she is with free flowing hard bop.
(08/19/98)

Gimcracks and Gewgaws - Mose Allison
Pop/rock, review by Geoff Edgers
Mose Allison's cool, smoky growl
(02/12/98)

Boys For Pele - Tori Amos
Pop, review by Cynthia Joyce
This time, not even sex can save Tori Amos. (1/13/96)

To Venus and Back - Tori Amos
Pop/rock, review by Michelle Goldberg
A new record suggests that Tori Amos' power is inversely proportional to the number of instruments involved. (09/22/99)

From the Choirgirl Hotel Tori Amos
Pop/Rock
Amos adds her recent real-life miscarriage to the heap of negative experiences that she pours into otherwise imaginary dramas. (05/13/98)

Landmarks - Clifton Anderson
Jazz/World, review by Andrew Gilbert
Boning up: Authoritative swinging from trombonist Clifton Anderson. (01/16/97)

Living in the Flood - Horace Andy
Jazz/World, review by Michelle Goldberg
Reggae legend and Massive Attack collaborator Horace Andy returns to the rootsy style and socially conscious work of his early Studio One career. (03/02/00)

11,000 Virgins (Chants for the feast of St. Ursula) -Anonymous 4
Pop/rock review by Brett Campbell
The upsurge in the popularity of medieval and early Renaissance music has produced dozens of albums, but none as compelling as these recordings of the music of German abbess Hildegard von Bingen (12/18/97)

Richard D. James - Aphex Twin
Pop/Rock, review by Hans Eisenbeis
Is it sound or is it music? Aphex Twin's terrific techno-trance tunes. (01/27/97)

Aphrodite - Aphrodite
Rock/Pop, review by Michelle Goldberg
Aphrodite's first commercial drum 'n' bass record gets at the difference between music for the DJ and music for your stereo. (10/27/99)

"When the Pawn ..." - Fiona Apple
Pop/Rock, review by Alex Pappademas
Fiona Apple transforms from a flinty "Shadowboxer" to a raging bull. (11/24/99)

Tone Soul Evolution- Apples in Stereo
Pop/Rock review by Andrew Hultkrans
Apples frontman Robert Schneider, a four-track whiz kid with a line in homebrew pop that draws on the Beatles, Kinks, Byrds, and most prominently, Pet Sounds/Smile-era Beach Boys, doesn't sing about anything in particular on "Tone Soul Evolution," but who cares? With melodies this memorable, lyrics are pure frosting.(11/03/97)

White Trash Heros - Archers of Loaf
Pop/Rock
They could damn well have made a great album, but there's little here to justify the Archers's status as preeminent indie-rockers.
(10/07/98)

Vitus Tinnitus - Archers of Loaf
Pop/Rock, review by David Fenton
Archers of Loaf: Uneasy beauty from a massively underappreciated band. (01/24/97)

The Seduction of Claude Debussy- Art of Noise
Pop/Rock
On "The Seduction of Claude Debussy," Art of Noise offer a playfully pretentious tribute to the father of modern music.
(07/13/99)

"Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" - The Artist
Pop/Rock, review by Christina Nunez
Call it a comeback: The Artist employs Sheryl Crow, Ani DiFranco, Chuck D. and others to get back into the groove. (11/09/99)

Caribe Atomico - Aterciopelados
Jazz/World
Columbia's ambassadors of hipness mingle neo-folkloric takes on pop, punk and alt-rock with ambient soundfields and back-stepping beats.
(10/07/98)

Aquarius - Aqua
Pop, review by Michelle Goldberg
Aqua's radio confections match pomo knowingness with sugar-shocked swells. The insidious result: Pop that eats itself. (03/28/00)

Nu Blaxploitation - Don Byron and Existential Dred
Pop/Rock
Byron's abrasive, self-absorbed personality fights for space with the virtuoso musicality that marked his past work(03/16/99)

Life Could Be A Dream - Auntie Christ
Pop/Rock, review by Joe Heim
As the music charts float and flutter with the pristine melodies of Jewel and the pseudo-funk harmonies of the Spice Girls, the disquieting, discordant rage of Exene Cervenkova on Auntie Christ's "Life Could Be a Dream" is more than a welcome antidote. (05/30/97)

Immobile - Autour de Lucie
Pop/rock, review by Natasha Stovall
The latest from the French pop band Autour de Lucie sounds like everything the Cranberries should be, with none of that band's taste for pretension
(02/24/98)

Died For Your Sins - The Avengers
Pop/Rock
Nine rare songs collected for the first time. Punk can get faster and more gnarly than this, but it doesn't get more musically whole (03/02/99)x

Time Capsule - The B-52's
Rock/Pop
Two solid new tracks show the B-52's still searching for a planet, or a dimension, cool enough to host their party (07/08/98)

The Way We Were - Babe the Blue Ox
Pop/Rock
The Brooklyn trio mixes art-rock polyrhythms and kick-ass hooks to create a sound that's both complex and catchy.
(10/28/98)

Millennium - Backstreet Boys
Pop/rock, review by Jon Dolan
Why teenage girls will murder their grandmothers for a whiff of Backstreet Boys sweat.
(07/28/99)

Industry and Thrift - Bad Livers
Country/Folk
Known for bluegrass and punk-rock purism, Livers eschew roots-rock clich é -- which is why this may be the roots-rock album of the turn of the century
(02/16/99)

Live - Erykah Badu
Pop/Rock review by Michelle Goldberg
Erykah Badu may never be as haunting as Billie Holiday, but Holiday never had the perfect comic timing Badu reveals on "Live." (12/02/97)

It's Very Stimulating - Paul Barman
Hip-Hop, review by Joseph Patel
Infused with pop culture and heady literary theory, Paul Barman's Ivy League rhymes crackle with clever jokes and silly wit. (02/14/00)

Remedy - Basement Jaxx
Pop/Rock, review by Amanda Nowinski
House music will never die: The hyped -- but worth it -- Basement Jaxx testifies. (08/13/99)

Inna Heights - Buju Banton
Pop/rock, review by Rosalind Cummins-Yates
Buju Banton's newest release reinforces his rare ability to showcase many of reggae's variations -- dancehall, roots and vintage ska -- on one cohesive album.
(03/12/98)

Chant d'Amour: Melodies Francaises - Cecilia Bartoli
Classical, review by Andrew O'Hehir
Unmitigated Gaul: Cecilia Bartoli tackles French art songs. (12/13/96)

The Pet Sound Sessions - The Beach Boys
Pop/Rock review by Mark Athitakis
The reworked music of "Pet Sounds" is so wondrously varied, so thrilling, so listenenable in and of itself that it's a Beach Boys fanatic's dream come true (11/12/97)

Desert Skies - Beachwood Sparks
Pop/Rock, review by Carrie Havranek
Listening to the sound of deserts and canyons, Beachwood Sparks ride a California dream. (04/17/00)

Hello Nasty - Beastie Boys
Rock/pop
The Beasties return to a slower, hollering rap style.
(07/15/98)

The Beatles Anthology, Volume 2 - The Beatles
Pop/Rock, review by Mark Hertsgaard
Their "new" single "Real Love" is one of the highlights of the Beatles' second Anthology CD. (3/23/96)

Mutations - Beck
Pop/Rock
Another record where Beck "turns shit to gold"; constantly churning through forgotten pop movements, the folkie alchemist resuscitates late '60s Brazillian jazz, hayseed country and orchestral easy listening.
(11/11/98)

Odelay, Odelay - Beck
Pop/Rock, review by David Fenton
With his new album, "Odelay, Odelay," Beck proves he's more than a one-hit wonder. (6/10/96)

Bedhead Loved Macha - Bedhead/Macha
Pop/Rock, review by Joey Sweeney

Bedhead sing their swan song through Macha, the only indie-rock band forgiven for smelling like patchouli. (05/17/00)

Transaction de Novo - Bedhead
Pop/rock, review by Mark Athitakis
In a rock world that's built for speed, Bedhead are -- surprisingly, elegantly -- the ones who are moving faster and seeing farther
(02/18/98)

Salad Days - Adrien Belew
Pop/Rock
This collection offers a satifying tour of Belew's universe, which is loony but not sardonic, full of suprising and moving pathos
(02/02/99)

Tigermilk - Belle and Sebastian
Pop/Rock, review by Douglas Wolk
Pastoral pop group Belle and Sebastian finally re-release their out of print debut "Tigermilk," which once sold for $1,200. The excellent disc is worth the long wait, if not the inflated auction price. (07/15/99)

The Boy With the Arab Strap - Belle and Sebastian
Pop/Rock
A promising, gifted band reverts to involuted studies in pop allusion.
(09/02/98)

Lazy Line Painter Jane (EP) - Belle and Sebastian
Pop/Rock review by Nick Hornby
Belle and Sebastian, a ramshackle, cute and only occasionally fey folk-pop band from Scotland, provide a charming respite from the braying mob that is Britain these days (11/14/97)

Ben folds five By Brett Anderson
Piano man Ben Folds grows up on "The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner."
(05/17/99)

Naked Baby Photos - Ben Folds Five
Pop/Rock, review by Gavin McNett
As the outtakes and B-sides of "Naked Baby Photos" show, Ben Folds Five have always been charismatic and generally appealing, but not always totally likable
(01/12/98)

Whatever and Ever Amen - Ben Folds Five
Pop/Rock, review by Gavin McNett
Even without the success of their new album, "Whatever and Ever Amen," Ben Folds Five's fresh, distinctive rock sound is enough reason to see them live -- although maybe not in New York. (05/01/97)

On Holiday - Tony Bennett
Jazz/World, review by Charles Taylor
Tony Bennett's beautifully weathered tribute to Billie Holiday. (2/6/97)

Moon Safari Air
Pop/Rock
French electronic duo Air create easy-listening for the furrow-browed. (05/06/98)

Verdi Per Due - Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorghiu, Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Claudio Abbado
Classical
Their second recording of duets proves unequivocally that the art of opera's golden couple is as remarkable as their life.
(11/18/98)

Dan Bern - Dan Bern
Pop/Rock, review by Lori Leivobich
Singer-Songwriter Dan Bern may sound like and even sing about Bob Dylan on his self-titled debut EP -- but that doesn't mean he's not sick of the comparison. Lori Leibovich talks to Bern about what it's like to be anointed the new folk king. (07/04/97)

50 Eggs Dan Bern
Pop/Rock, review by Joe Heim
Dan Bern, the neo-folkie who was dubbd the "next Bob Dylan" after his self-titled debut, has developed a Tori Amos problem on "50 Eggs": He vomits words, sets them to music, and somehow thinks this makes him an inspired songwriter (04/28/98)

'I'm Still Here... Damn It!' - Sandra Bernhard
Soundtracks
Acerbic wit, personal memoir and song create the kind of pop-culture roller coaster ride that only comic/performance artist Bernhard can provide.
(12/02/98)

Live 81-82 - The Birthday Party
Pop/Rock, review by Dave Clifford
Nick Cave and The Birthday Party adored the sound of piercing feedback, physical exhaustion and collapse.
(07/21/99)

Social Dancing - Bis
Pop/Rock, review by Michelle Goldberg
Growing up all wrong: The anti-electronic anthems of Bis make hypocrites out of youngsters who should know better.
(08/16/99)

Homogenic - Björk
Pop/Rock, review by Keith Moerer
With her fourth album, "Homogenic," Björk combines the warmth of Iceland's String Octet with Mark Bell's programmed beats on the same songs, provoking shave-headed DJs to swoon and conservatory-trained musicians to party like it's 1899. (10/02/97)

Telegram - Björk
Pop/Rock, review by Keith Moerer
Björk remix: Studio wizards turn sexy Nordic pixie into robot (01/13/97)

Quite contrary - Mary J. Blige
Hip-Hop/R&B, review by Jon Dolan
Mary J. Blige transforms herself into the first diva with both feet on the ground.
(09/02/99)

Share My World - Mary J. Blige
Hip-Hop/R&B, review by Laura Jamison
Mary J. Blige, the mean queen of hip-hop soul, reigns on the smooth "Share my World," but she seems to have lost heart along with her rough edges. (05/02/97)

Yitzhak Rabin - Alpha Blondy
Jazz/World
Ivory Coast's reigning reggae star completes the Bob Marley connection with a tribute to a great peacemaker.
(08/05/98)

Bloque - Bloque
Jazz/World
Columbian culture-clashing, aesthetically ferocious and stylistically dazzling.
(10/07/98)

Never to Be Forgotten - The Bobby Fuller Four
Pop/rock, review by Dawn Eden
"Never to Be Forgotten," Del-Fi's new Bobby Fuller Four box, doesn't explain how Fuller died, but it does show why his music has survived
(03/10/98)

Brand New Year - The Bottle Rockets
Pop/Rock, review by Kandia Crazy Horse
The Bottle Rockets trade trad country for classic rock, leaving them with one tire in a ditch, the other on the right track. (09/09/99)

Hours - David Bowie
Pop/Rock, review by Gavin McNett
After hemorrhaging mystique for a decade, David Bowie finally releases a record that's better than its gimmicks. (10/15/99)

Earthling - David Bowie
Pop/Rock, review by Gavin McNett
Ground Control to Major Tom: David Bowie goes techno on "Earthling," gets lost in space. (2/11/97)

Nico - Blind Melon
Pop/Rock, review by Hans Eisenbeis
Blind Melon's passionate farewell (12/5/96)

Live from Chicago's House of Blues - Blues Brothers and Friends
Hip-Hop/R&B, review by Pete Golkin
With the lesser Belushi standing in for John, the old minstrel show is back -- just in time for the Clinton era, where the man himself brings home the Reagan Democrats and is known to strike the smirk-and -shades pose at his favorite House of Blues. (06/20/97)

Im/possible to Keep - Hamiet Bluiett
Jazz/World, review by Michael Ullman
The Old "New Thing": Baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett makes his mark blending avant garde with traditional jazz.(2/20/96)

13 - Blur
Pop/Rock
Is celebrity ennui a fitting topic for a concept album? (03/30/99)

Blur - Blur
Pop/Rock, review by Gavin McNett
With the Brit-crits on their case, Blur goes American-eclectic -- and sounds suspiciously like a bald-faced caricature of the Amerindie style (3/20/96)

Big Backyard Beat Show - BR5-49
Country/folk
Fourteen songs that honor tradition, without being too smart about it.
(07/15/98)

Blush - Bows
Pop/Rock, review by Lydia Vanderloo
On the debut "Blush," Bows creak and skitter like a haunted house. (08/31/99)

William Bloke - Billy Bragg Pop/Rock, review by Gavin McNett
On his new "William Bloke," Billy Bragg, the loveable socialist folksinger, finally merges his political and personal sides.
Text-only version. (9/2/96)

Mermaid Avenue - Billy Bragg and Wilco
pop/rock
A 15-song tribute to Woody Guthrie, America's most important folksinger (06/24/98)

Shelter - Brand New Heavies
Pop/Rock, review by Ezra Gale
Instead of pursuing the "brand new funk" they so obviously yearn to patent, Brand New Heavies have opted to take a step back in time and grab for the brass pop-star ring on "Shelter." (05/16/97)

Die Vögel - Walter Braunfels
Classical, review by Paul Festa
A forgotten composer's forgotten opera to refresh your cultural wardobe. (3/21/97)

The Noise Made By People - Broadcast
Pop/Rock, review by Carlene Bauer
Futures past to past futures, Broadcast fuse the cool sounds of '60s films to singer Trish Keenan's chilly fables. (05/08/00)

"In the Life of Chris Gaines" - Garth Brooks
Pop/Rock, review by By David Cantwell
Garth Brooks had friends in low places. Chris Gaines is just weird. (10/11/99)

Swingin' on the Strings: The Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant Collection, Volume 2 - Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant
Country/Folk, review by David Hill
Session men Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant hot-licked Hollywood -- and escaped the long arm of Nashville. (06/17/99)

The Pawn Shop Years - Buick MacKane
Pop/Rock, review by Gavin McNett
Buick Mackane's "Pawn Shop Years": A virtuoso performance disguised as mondo-trasho slop by under-the-hill veteran Alejandro Escovedo. (2/28/96)

Ultimate Alternative Wavers - Built to Spill
Rock/pop
Layers of guitar sit brooding, then punch through the speakers.
(07/22/98)

Perfect From Now On - Built To Spill
Pop/Rock, review by Joe Rosenthal
They're "Perfect From Now On": Built to Spill's guitar-rock masterpiece (01/30/97)

Deconstructed (Techno remixes of album material) -Bush
Pop/rock review by Gavin McNett
Tricky manages to bring out qualities of depth and reverie in singer Gavin Rossdale's voice on this collection of Bush remixes (12/09/97)

"Razorblade Suitcase" - Bush
Pop/Rock, review by Keith Moerer
Pothead poetry for teen seductions (11/19/96)

The Coming - Busta Rhymes
Hip-Hop/R&B, review by Milo Miles
The Fugees, Busta Rhymes and Positive Black Soul take black music back from the gangstas. (5/13/96)

My Inspiration: The Music of Brazil - Charlie Byrd
Jazz/World
Byrd's distinctive guitar establishes him as one of the few non-Brazilian masters of the bossa nova genre
(02/02/99)

Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, The Ballad of Easy Rider, The Notorious Byrd Brothers - The Byrds
Pop/Rock, review by Sean Elder
Columbia's reissue of four album's from the Byrds' own "Blue Period" (1967-1970) harkens back to a time before lite rock, when the band's distinctly Southern California sound projected an optimism and sense of possibility that perfectly captured the mood of the times. (04/10/97)

Feelings - David Byrne
Pop/Rock, review by Mark Athitakis
Working hip-hop, feedback-drenched rock and even country into his trademark Latin themes, David Byrne has created his freest, most diverse and optimistic post-Talking Heads work with "Feelings." Mark Athitakis talks to Byrne about "surviving through change." (06/30/97)

Bug Music - Don Byron
Jazz/World, review by Milo Miles
Wacky jazz CD inspired by The Flintstones (11/13/96)

"Dwarf Star" - Chris Cacavas
Pop/Rock, review by Dawn Eden
Don't let songwriter Chris Cacavas play with guns. (10/08/99)

Goodbye, So What - Cake Like
Pop/Rock, review by Robbie Woliver
On "Goodbye, So What," New York trio Cake Like play power pop with sweet and sour kiss-offs. (07/14/99)

Somewhere in the City (Original Soundtrack) - John Cale and various artists
Soundtracks
This piano and cello-dominated score is stark in effect but warm in mood.
(09/23/98)

Eat/Kiss - John Cale
Pop/Rock, review by Mark Athitakis
Like some of John Cale's more experimental solo records (like "Fear" or "Music For a New Society"), "Eat" and "Kiss" conjure up a sense of both forboding and joy -- and often blurs the line between the two. (06/19/97)

Hot Rail - Calexico
Pop/Rock, review by Lisa Gidley
Like a long drive through the American Southwest, Calexico's "Hot Rail" evokes a landscape of sun-cracked desert basins and lusty border towns. (05/10/00)

The Black Light - Calexico
Country
Calexico look South of the border for inspiration, adding mariachi horns, Latin rhythms and Tex-Mex accordion to their desert musings (07/08/98)

Can Box - Can
Rock/Pop
The German progressive-rock band Can made world music for some other world. (05/27/99)

The Dust Blows Forward (An Anthology) - Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
Pop/Rock, review by David Bowman
A new anthology tries to put the wild career of the deranged Captain Beefheart in perspective -- as if that's even possible. (09/08/99)

Grow Fins, Safe as Milk, The Mirror Man Sessions - Captain Beefheart
Pop/Rock, review by David Bowman
Oh, Captain, my Captain. Zoot Horn described it best when he said Captain Beefheart was "Jackson Pollock trying to play John Lee Hooker." A new box set and two re-releases chronicle the chaos. (06/23/99)

Life - The Cardigans
Pop/Rock, review by Charles Taylor
The Cardigans' American debut, "Life," evokes the spark and fantasy of pop at its best. (4/6/96)

Butterfly - Mariah Carey
Pop/Rock, review by Gina Arnold
The woman may have a ruthless career plan, but Mariah Carey also has genuine pipes, and, seemingly, her finger directly on the pulse of the populace. Carey, now sure of her fanbase, divorced Mottola just in time for the release of "Butterfly," her fifth and cheesiest LP yet. (09/30/97)

A Woman & A Man - Belinda Carlisle
Pop/Rock, review by Michelle Goldberg
She may be gorgeous now, but like Madonna, Carlisle made her best music when she was chubby and funky. But beneath layers of treacly production on "A Woman & A Man," Carlisle's voice trills just as prettily as it did when she was the fabulous lead singer of the Go-Go's. (07/22/97)

Furnace Room Lullaby - Neko Case
Country, review by Joe Heim
Caught between Patti and Patsy, between Dolly and the Dolls, Neko Case steamrolls your emotions, then whispers confessions you should probably never hear.(02/24/00)

Flying Saucer Blues - Peter Case
Pop/Rock, review by Geoff Edgers
From "Hanging on the Telephone" to hanging in the old oak tree, Peter Case has left power pop for jilted folk. (04/18/00)

Love God Murder - Johnny Cash
Country, review by David Hill

Johnny Cash never killed a man just to watch him die, but he forged a career of love, God and murder. (05/18/00)

At Folsom Prison - Johnny Cash
Country/Folk, review by Seth Mnookin
"Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." (10/22/99)

Unchained - Johnny Cash
Country/Folk, review by Gavin McNett
Essential work by the master (11/7/96)

Equally Cursed and Blessed - Catatonia
Pop/Rock, review by Stephanie Zacharek
Like Lolita with a conscience, Catatonia's Cerys Matthews blows and huffs through the beguiling "Equally Cursed and Blessed." (04/11/00)

Sharps & Flats By Dave McCoy
On "The Covers Record," Cat Power strips "Satisfaction" of Jagger's swagger and manages to velvet over the VU. (03/24/00)

Moon Pix - Cat Power
Pop/Rock
Songs so slow, spare and understated that they seem to be coming from some Southern Gothic music box.
(09/23/98)

The Boatman's Call - Nick Cave
Pop/Rock, review by Sam Hurwitt
The godfather of goth lets his lyrics into the limelight on "The Boatman's Call." (3/19/97)

"Us and Us Only" - The Charlatans U.K.
Pop/Rock, review by Michelle Goldberg
The Charlatans U.K. aren't really an innovative band, but they've got a world-weary confidence that makes for good rock 'n' roll. (10/12/99)

Cheap Trick, In Color, Heaven Tonight - Cheap Trick
Pop/Rock
Cooler than ever, their gleeful and triumphant snideness is a natural fit for current indie-rock's studied, joyful cynicism.
(10/21/98)

Stereotype A - Cibo Matto
Pop/Rock, review by Jon Dolan
Cibo Matto's "Viva! La Woman" rewired hip hop in the same way that riot grrrls reinvented punk. What happened on "Stereotype A"? (06/09/99)

Vertigo - Cinnamon
Pop/Rock, review by Joey Sweeney
Swedish popsters Cinnamon have the singer, the songs and the sheen. They're like the Cardigans -- for smart people. (04/12/00)

The Lightning Fingers of Roy Clark - Roy Clark
Country/Folk
These 12 instrumental virtuoso swing standards first released in 1962 are crackerjack. (04/08/99)

I Am the Greatest - Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali)
Soundtrack, review by Andy Battaglia
"I Am the Greatest" captures the boastful rants of a young boxer caught between Cassius Clay and Muhammad Ali.
(08/23/99)

Bury the Hatchet - The Cranberries
Pop/Rock
The songs are not particularly innovative -- they still have that same grungified dreaminess -- but the album maintains a consistency and stamina absent on the group's bland third album. (04/20/99)

The Globe Sessions - Sheryl Crow
Pop/Rock
Full of small strange gestures that show she's not entirely resolved to full-speed-ahead hitmaking.
(09/16/98)

"Late Night Sessions" - Caravana Cubana
Jazz/World, review by Jason Ferguson
Caravana Cubana, a handful of seasoned island music vets, out-spice "Buena Vista Social Club." (01/13/00)

The Story of Babar, Rapsodie Negre, Six Songs By Poulenc - Hugues Cuénod
Classical
For those afraid that the Three Tenors may never retire, it is salutary to hear this 95 year-old Swiss tenor still going strong (03/23/99)

"All the Way ... A Decade of Song" - Celine Dion
Pop/Rock, review by Geoff Edgers
To deny Celine Dion is to deny the culture that made her a star. (12/01/99)

Time Out Of Mind - Bob Dylan
Pop/Rock, review by David Bowman
It's now been seven long, lackluster years since Bob Dylan's "Oh Mercy" -- can producer Daniel Lanois fire up the Bard a second time? Amateur Dylanologist David Bowman takes on the long-awaited "Time Out of Mind." (09/19/97)

Epiphany: The Best of Chaka Khan - Chaka Khan
Hip-Hop/R&B, review by Michael E. Ross
Sizzling tribute to a funk goddess (11/21/96)

Night and the City - Charlie Haden and Kenny Barron
Pop/rock, review by J. Poet
Those currently enamored with the ironic hipness and faux feeling of the Lounge Revival should give "Night and the City" a listen to find out what real sophistication is all about
(03/30/98)

Eat - Charming Hostess
Pop/Rock, review by Douglas Wolk
The women of the funk-folk band Charming Hostess draw on dozens of traditions that have never met before, and even when the results are flawed, they're never less than interesting
(01/22/98)

Surrender - Chemical Brothers
Pop/Rock, review by Jon Dolan
The Chemical Brothers grow up but find no place to go. (06/18/99)

Dig Your Own Hole - Chemical Brothers
Pop/Rock, review by Terri Sutton
With its hip-hop influenced hybrid of techno and rock, the Chemical Brothers' "Dig Your Own Hole" is dangerous enough to seduce all your sullen guitar diehards into crashing the all-night disco party. (04/09/97)

The Salesman and Bernadette - Vic Chesnutt
Country/Folk
Talented but self-indulgent, country absurdist Chesnutt privileges the hit-or-miss surrealism of private lyrics over the art of the song.
(11/18/98)

About to Choke - Vic Chesnutt
Pop/Rock, review by Joe Heim
The beneficiary of "Sweet Relief II" sings his own songs on his major-label debut. (11/11/96)

Tubthumpers - Chumbawamba
Pop/Rock review by Gina Arnold
If they could just learn a little restraint, Chumbawamba could be one of the better lesson-bands of the decade (12/01/97)

Keepers - Guy Clark
Country/Folk, review by Milo Miles
On Guy Clark's first live album of his 22-year career, the Texas songwriter reclaims his own often-covered tunes, highlighting a voice that's richer with dry, dusty creaks than ever. (04/07/97)

Classics for Moderns
Classical, review by Tim Riley
Ten new classical music recordings that even a novice will want to own. (7/15/96)

Nightlife - Cobra Verde
Pop/Rock, review by Joe Gross
Cobra Verde find the swaggering essence of glam rock that Todd Haynes and "Velvet Goldmine" missed. (09/21/99)

Valley of Christmas - Andrei Codrescu
Pop/rock review by Mark Athitakis
Bargain-priced and custom-built for every possible target market in existence, you can rest assured that there's a "Silent Night" to fit every musical taste, age, race, sexual preference and denomination (12/19/97)

Providing the Atmosphere - Cloudberry Jam
Pop/Rock, review by Alex Abramovich
Now that the new Swedish record company North of No South, or NoNS, is bracing itself for an all-out assault on our shores, it's a good time to ask why Sweden has long been such an anomaly in the global music market
(01/07/98)

Forever: The Judy Collins Anthology -Judy Collins
Pop/Rock review by Gavin Mcnett
There's no clearer soprano in popular music, nor is there a singer who can enunciate so crisply with so much warmth. The thing to do with "Forever" is just to sit back and let the Voice wash over you (11/20/97)

Blue Train - John Coltrane
Jazz/World, review by Michael Ullman
Now that Blue Note has reissued John Coltrane's "Blue Train" in such excellent sound, you can hear why critics in 1957 called it a perfect recording -- and why Coltrane considered it his favorite. (04/17/97)

Still Life - The Connells
Pop/Rock
Southern guitar-rockers give Ben Folds Five a run for their money in the college-hit sweepstakes (05/27/98)

My Soul - Coolio
Hip-Hop/R&B, review by Natasha Stovall Coolio has an ear for using just the right musical spark on his knockout new album, "My Soul," jamming with samples as if they were other instruments, but never letting himself be carried by them. (09/05/97)

"Remembering Bud Powell" - Chick Corea
Jazz/World, review by Andrew Gilbert
Chick Corea's tribute to monster pianist Bud Powell (2/18/97)

Fantasma - Cornelius
Pop/rock, review by Mark Athitakis
Cornelius -- the moniker for Japanese one-man-band Keigo Oyamada -- really is big in Japan, having already sold half a million copies of "Fantasma," his third album, in his homeland (04/03/98)

All This Useless Beauty - Elvis Costello and The Attractions
Pop/Rock, review by Joyce Millman
Mr. Costello records the songs he wrote for his favorite singers — because they won't. (5/13/96)

Across a Wire - Counting Crows
Rock/pop
Another slowly metered-out rock product.
(07/22/98)

Recovering the Satellites - Counting Crows
Pop/Rock, review by Gavin McNett
Counting Crows play it safe on their long-awaited second album. (10/21/96)
Text-only version. (10/21/96)

Elvis in clubland - Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve
Pop/Rock, reviewed by Stephanie Zacharek
The new live CD set "Costello & Nieve" is a magical memento of five intimate concerts. (12/9/96)

Miles From Our Home - Cowboy Junkies
Rock/Pop
The latest from the Cowboy Junkies is what grunge sounds like after it achieves ambiance (07/08/98)

200 More Miles - Cowboy Junkies
Gentle Creatures - Tarnation
Pop/Rock, review by Sam Hurwitt
Sam Hurwitt mainlines the Cowboy Junkies and Tarnation. (12/2/95)

Gentleman's Blues - Cracker
Pop/Rock
Maturity fits this post-hippie cult hero well.
(08/26/98)

To the Faithful Departed - The Cranberries
Pop/Rock, review by Charles Taylor
On "To the Faithful Departed," the Cranberries' craftsmanship gets buried beneath a wave of socially conscious gruel. (5/6/96)

Take Your Shoes Off - Robert Cray
Rock/Pop
Take Your Shoes Off" is a sign of life for Cray after a serviceable if somewhat uninspired decade of anemic electric stylings. (05/04/99)

The 9 Volt Years: Battery Powered Home Demos and Curios (1979-198?) - Marshall Crenshaw
Pop/Rock
Relaxed, unstudied songs that distill the energy and eternal themes of sock-hop pop.
(07/29/98)

Miracle of Science - Marshall Crenshaw
Pop/Rock, review by Charles Taylor
Although out with the in-crowd, Marshall Crenshaw is a master of pop song-craft. (7/29/96)

Crescent City Soul
Jazz/World, review by Tony Scherman
A new four-CD box, "Crescent City Soul" digs deeply into the hot, soulful world of New Orleans r&b. (4/6/96)

The White Album - Sheryl Crow
Pop/Rock, review by Stephanie Zacharek
Contemplating the sonic blancmange that is Sheryl Crow
Text-only version. (9/30/96)

Bloodflowers - The Cure
Pop/Rock, review by Michelle Goldberg
Cure fans know the band was at its best making shiny, happy pop. So why have the cartoon necrophiliacs gone back to wallowing in muddy gunk? (02/17/00)

Voodoo - D'Angelo
Pop/Rock, review by Michelle Goldberg
D'Angelo's potent sensuality sneaks into dreams and turns day into steamy night . (01/31/00)

Homework - Daft Punk
Pop/Rock, review by Michelle Goldberg
Daft Punk's debut album "Homework" puts a Eurotrash gloss over fat, squishy hip-hop beats and ecstatic house crescendos, and the result is exuberant, hands-in-the-air techno. (05/29/97)

Half Mad Moon - The Damnations TX
Country/Folk
A smart, tuneful roots-rock trio from Austin, TX., with potential in spades
(02/16/99)

Playback Swingers - Damon and Naomi
Pop/Rock, review by Mark Athitakis
"It's the turn of the century -- which way you going to go?" Damon and Naomi ask on "Playback Swingers." Straight to bed for a good, long mope, the album's nine weary, lazy songs suggest.
(04/13/98)

Before These Crowded Streets - Dave Matthews Band
Pop/Rock
Forget Viagra -- "Before These Crowded Streets," the sexy third studio album from the Dave Matthews Band, could make even Church Lady feel like a sexpot (05/20/98)

The Complete Columbia Recordings, 1956-61 - Miles Davis and John Coltrane
Jazz, review by Michael Ullman
Three kings -- Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly -- rip through six CDs of the most ravishing jazz ever played. (05/03/00)

Miles Davis Box Set: five discs - Miles Davis
Jazz/World, review by Ezra Gale
Miles Davis Box Set: Five discs ("Black Beauty: Live at Fillmore West," "Davis at Fillmore," "Live/Evil," "In Concert:Live at Philharmonic Hall," and "Dark Magus") that verify the musical merit of Davis' heavily criticized early '70s work. (09/16/97)

Adored - Day Behavior
Pop/Rock, review by Alex Abramovich
Now that the new Swedish record company North of No South, or NoNS, is bracing itself for an all-out assault on our shores, it's a good time to ask why Sweden has long been such an anomaly in the global music market
(01/07/98)

Ordinary Man - Day One
Pop/Rock, review by Michelle Goldberg
Day One find beauty in the sidewalk cracks without glossing over the British lower-middle-class milieu. (03/06/00)

Stakes Is High - De La Soul
Hip-Hop/R&B, review by Zev Borow
De La Soul's new "Stakes Is High" returns to the high cross-over ground of the rap group's breakthrough first album, "Three Feet High and Rising." (7/8/96)

Both Sides of the Brain - Del Tha Funkee Homosapien
Hip-Hop, review by Bill Werde
At 18, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien had hits, connections and a major record deal. Nine years later, Del the Funky Homosapien has got domino rhymes and severely sore thumbs. (04/27/00)

Hatful of Rain: The Best of Del Amitri - Del Amitri
Pop/Rock
Seventeen tracks reflect the band's soft and harder-rocking styles and hang together as a meditation on troubled romance.
(10/07/98)

000 - Delta 72
Pop/Rock, review by Mac Montandon
Goddamn! Soul-punk R&B fans the Delta 72 trade sharp angles for shaggy, stoned beats. (04/06/00)

"To the Teeth" - Ani DiFranco
Pop/Rock, review by Michelle Goldberg
Forget the solipsistic neurotica of Fiona Apple, on "To the Teeth" righteous babe Ani DiFranco feels the funk and represents Buffalo. (11/16/99)

Up Up Up Up Up Up - Ani DiFranco
Pop/Rock
The 12th album from the courageous folk/punk musician is a baffling misstep. This time, she's just fakin' the funk
(02/02/99)

Dilate - Ani DiFranco
Pop/Rock, review by Lori Leibovich
Ani DiFranco is making it the hard way — on her own. (6/3/96)

Little Plastic Castle - Ani DiFranco
Pop/rock, review by Lori Leibovich
"Little Plastic Castle": Fame takes its toll on weary Ani DiFranco
(02/20/98)

Living in Clip - Ani DiFranco
Pop/Rock, review by Lori Leibovich
With more than two hours of live music, the double cd "Living in Clip" is a perfect introduction to the powerfully sexy voice and dynamic onstage aura of indie queen/feminist folkie Ani DiFranco. (05/21/97)

C'est La Vie - Henri Dikongué
Pop/Rock, review by j. poet
"C'est La Vie" tips its hat to the international cadences of the African Diaspora by embracing reggae, samba, salsa, soul and jazz as well as the expected Cameroonian rhythms of makossa and bikutsi. (04/08/98)

Hand It Over - Dinosaur Jr.
Pop/Rock, review by Gavin McNett
Joe Mascis, the Greatest Living Burnout, may still be playing with the old high school band, but he parlays his genuinely epic slackness into an oeuvre of remarkable consistency on "Hand it Over." (03/28/97)

Whatever You Love, You Are - The Dirty Three
Pop/Rock, review by Lydia Vanderloo
The sad, dangerous sounds of the Dirty Three capture the wisdom of pain and experience. (03/10/00)

Casanova - Divine Comedy
Pop/Rock, review by Gavin McNett
Divine Comedy's adult-pop album "Casanova" is a big-ticket, technicolor Alfa Romeo ride through a landscape of antique Eurochic, moody sensuality and unfiltered cigarettes. (10/21/97)

Fly - The Dixie Chicks
and Ruff Ryder's First Lady - Eve
Pop/Rock, review by Jon Dolan
Thug rapper Eve's assertive female raps would sound even more radical at the top of the charts if the countrified Dixie Chicks weren't telling the exact same stories. (10/04/99)

Dizzy Gillespie - Dizzy Talkin
Jazz/World, review by Michael Ullman
Wildly unexpected Latin rhythms from Dizzy Gillespie (02/04/97)

A Night at the Playboy Mansion - DJ Dimitri from Paris
Pop/Rock, review by Michelle Goldberg
DJ Dimitri from Paris swings at the Playboy Mansion. (04/24/00)

Kakusei - DJ Krush
Pop/Rock, review by Amanda Nowinski
DJ Krush reduces trip-hop to suggestive subtlety. (08/30/99)

Milight - DJ Krush
Pop/Rock review by Michelle Goldberg
When Krush puts his DJ skills at the forefront, the results are layered and plush, if sometimes lacking in variety. But it's the mindless stoner bon mots that distract from what would otherwise be a deliciously narcotic groove (11/24/97)

Soundshock Vol. 1 - Funky Breaks Edition - DJ Harware
Hip-hop/R&B
DJs play more than records.
(07/22/98)

Soundshock Vol.2 - Trance Edition - DJ Harware
Hip-hop/R&B
DJs play more than records.
(07/22/98)

Preemptive Strike - DJ Shadow
Pop/rock, review by Natasha Stovall
Fusing hip-hop break beats with forays into soul, funk, jazz, new age, classical and real-life-whatnot, DJ Shadow takes us down long, winding rivers of sound on "Preemptive Strike."
(02/04/98)

"Subliminal Minded: The EP" - DJ Spooky
Pop/Rock, review by Amanda Nowinski
DJ Spooky remixes the remix. (12/06/99)

" ... And Then There Was X" - DMX
Hip Hop, review by Britt Robson
Suspended between murder and redemption, DMX captures the conflicted soul of a hardcore thug. (01/11/00)

Eric Dolphy: The Complete Prestige Recordings - Eric Dolphy
Jazz/R&B, review by Milo Miles
A magnificent, new 9-CD box set by Eric Dolphy, jazz's classic modernist (1/13/96)

Star Crossed Lovers - Placido Domingo, Rene Fleming
Classical
One of the classical "theme" CDs increasing in popularity documents a mutilmedia event featuring romantic duets (03/09/99)

American Teenage Rock-n-Roll Machine - The Donnas
Pop/rock, review by Natasha Stovall
The Donnas may say they're "Seventeen, and already going nowhere" -- but their kickass music says otherwise
(02/10/98

Day One - Sarah Dougher
Pop/Rock, review by Stephanie Zacharek
Sarah Dougher, a collaborator with Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker in Cadallaca, releases her own minor suite of summer songs. (09/23/99)

Complete Lute Works, Vols. 1-5 - John Dowland
Classical, review by Paul Festa
Odette's reserve, while perhaps appropriate to stereotypes of the English character, may leave some listeners wondering if this quiet little instrument might not be capable of a little bit more oomph
(01/27/98)

.Duke Elegant - Dr. John
Pop/Rock, review by Seth Mnookin
New Orleans boogie king Dr. John botches an album of standards. Duke Ellington would not be amused. (01/28/00)

Times Like This - Slim Dunlap
Pop/Rock, review by Keith Moerer
Ex-Replacements guitarist's minor-league masterpiece. (12/11/96)

Dylan live
Pop/Rock, review by Bill Wyman
The temperamental troubadour plays one more encore along the Never-ending Tour. (06/22/99)

Evergreen - Echo and the Bunnymen
Pop/Rock, review by Mark Athitakis
For all of the drab middle-of-the-road pop "Evergreen" proffers, none of it erases any of the impact and power of what Echo and the Bunnymen accomplished back in the days of "The Cutter" and "The Killing Moon" -- but it does make it look that much more like distant history. (08/04/97)

Caught in a Trap and I Can't Back Out Because I Love You Too Much, Baby - Mark Eitzel
Pop/Rock, review by Jerry Dannemiller
The gloomy-Gus-with-open-wounds role has always suited Mark Eitzel, and on "Caught In A Trap," he seems all too eager to carry a few more sad sacks on his back
(01/15/98)

West - Mark Eitzel
Pop/Rock, review by Richard Overton
Former American Music Club crooner Mark Eitzel still has traces of bitters in his soda on "West," but thanks in part to the appearance of Peter Buck, the fog of his obscurity is lifting. (05/08/97)

Twistin in the Wind - Joe Ely
Pop/Rock
Ely's recorded output has often failed to reflect the dynamism of his live shows, but album number 13 proves lucky for the Texas singer-songwriter (05/20/98)

The Slim Shady LP - Eminem
Hip-hop/R&B
Eminem is a phenomenon, "a ghost wrapped in a beat." (04/27/99)

"The Drop" - Brian Eno
Pop/Rock, review by Joshua Klein
No doubt "The Drop" will sound to some like aural wallpaper peeling. But for those willing to invest the time to get to the bottom of Eno's theory, it may be his most satisfying release since 1982's epochal "On Land." (08/13/97)

EV3 EASTWEST - En Vogue
Pop/Rock, review by Laura Jameson
It's a good thing the women of En Vogue can sing as well as they do -- even with their hackneyed proselytizing, EV3 is still a joy to listen to. (07/21/97)

Cowboy - Erasure
Pop/Rock, review by Gavin McNett
On "Cowboy," synthpop duo Erasure makes every song seem like an offhand gesture -- even while continuing, against the trend, to do things the hard way. (05/05/97)

"Phaethon" by Christopher Rouse - Christoph Eschenbach conducting the Houston Symphony
Classical, review by Douglas McLennan
Composer Christopher Rouse has lost a number of friends to death in recent years, and he has tried to translate his grief into his music -- he dedicated the second movement of this symphony to the late composer Stephen Albert, and "Phaethon" to the Challenger astronauts who died. (05/22/97)

Fly - The Dixie Chicks
and Ruff Ryder's First Lady - Eve
Pop/Rock, review by Jon Dolan
Thug rapper Eve's assertive female raps would sound even more radical at the top of the charts if the countrified Dixie Chicks weren't telling the exact same stories. (10/04/99)