Chocolate and Cheese
Artist: Ween
Community Score: 8.19

A brilliant fusion of pop and gonzo humor, 1994's Chocolate and Cheese is arguably Ween's finest moment. Building on Pure Guava's more focused approach, the album proved for once and all that along with their twisted sense of humor and wide musical vocabulary, Dean and Gene are also impressive songwriters. Over the course of Chocolate and... Read More

Envy of Angels
Artist: The Mutton Birds
Community Score: 10.00

Envy of Angels could have been recorded ten years earlier considering its invocation of the new south -- in particular the moodiness of Dumptruck -- not to mention similarities to more commercial guitar rock of the same period, such as that of 54-40. Perhaps it isn't a coincidence that Hugh Jones, who also worked with Dumptruck, produced Envy of... Read More

Good Dog Bad Dog: The Home Recordings
Artist: Over the Rhine

Five years after the dissolution of their relationship with IRS Records, the Cincinnati-based lit-pop band Over the Rhine once again became a major-label presence when they signed with Back Porch, a new offshoot of Virgin Records. The group took the opportunity to refine and reissue their 1996 homespun masterpiece Good Dog Bad Dog, which had... Read More

The Greatest Hits of Nick Heyward
Artist: Nick Heyward
Studio: Selected Studio Recordings 1986-1995
Artist: Cowboy Junkies

Studio: Selected Studio Recordings is a fine compilation of highlights from the Cowboy Junkies' albums, including such songs as "Sweet Jane" and "Misguided Angel," as well as the previously unreleased "Lost My Driving Wheel." While this is a thoughtfully compiled retrospective, The Trinity Sessions remains the definitive Cowboy Junkies album,... Read More

Strange Country
Artist: Billy Strange

Recorded in the 1960s (the liner notes do not specify the exact date), this was a sessionman supersession of sorts, also featuring Joe Maphis on banjo, Tommy Tedesco on second guitar, Jimmy Bond on bass, and Earl Palmer on drums. Strange offers fluid, crisp instrumental interpretations of a mixed bag of folk and pop tunes, including not only... Read More

Yourself or Someone Like You
Artist: Matchbox Twenty
Community Score: 7.62
Shoe Box EP
Artist: Barenaked Ladies

Do they have the worst band name since Haircut One Hundred? Yes. Are they one of the finest pop groups in the world? Almost certainly. Their debut album was a tuneful, slapstick adolescent romp and their second was a remarkably mature folk-rock outing filled with as many irresistible hooks as a good Beach Boys album. This four-song EP previews a... Read More

Teenage Fanclub Have Lost It
Artist: Teenage Fanclub

The band took to a living room to record some off-the-cuff acoustic versions of songs from each of their albums -- "Don't Look Back," "Everything Flows, " "Starsign, " and "120 Mins." It works, but the between-song noodling is annoying and makes it difficult for radio DJs and home tapers to segue. ~ Denise Sullivan, All Music Guide Read More

Happy Nowhere
Artist: Dog's Eye View
Community Score: 8.00
Tangled
Artist: Nick Heyward
No Need to Argue - BONUS LIVE DISC
Artist: The Cranberries

With their second album, No Need to Argue, the Cranberries have managed to avoid a sophomore slump by turning in a set of songs that builds on their debut's finest moments. With the exception of the distorted march of "Zombie," there aren't that many great departures from the band's atmospheric, melodic guitar-pop. Most of the credit goes to the... Read More