North Ave. Wake-Up Call
Artist: The Freddy Jones Band

With their third album on Capricorn Records, the Freddy Jones Band find more focus and the result is impressive. North Avenue Wake-Up Call still retains the groups' roots rock attack but manages to pay more attention on songs and lyrics.

"Waitress" kicks the album off with its lyrical plight of working folks, including the song's... Read More

G.I. Ay, Ay! Blues
Artist: El Vez

Continuing in a tradition of brilliant album titles, El Vez diversifies even more on his third full-length studio album and gets more political. The song titles say it all: "Say it Loud! I'm Brown and I'm Proud," "Mexican-American Trilogy," and "J.C. Si Lowrider Superstar." The last song somehow segues Bowie's "Rock & Roll Suicide" into... Read More

A Woman & A Man
Artist: Belinda Carlisle
Community Score: 10.00

After a brief Go-Go's reunion, Belinda Carlisle returned to her solo career in 1996 with A Woman and a Man. And with her return to her solo career came the abandonment of any punky pop hooks -- after all, she had outgrown that nonsense. So, A Woman and a Man is a measured, mature collection of adult pop, with cool keyboards and subtle... Read More

Afternoon Delight: The Best of the Starland Vocal Band
Artist: Starland Vocal Band
Community Score: 10.00

Compiling a dozen tracks from the group's four LPs, Afternoon Delight is the best Starland Vocal Band collection on the market, complete with bright sound and informative liner notes. The title track is the best thing here, of course, its kitschy charms undimmed even decades after the fact; while their rendition of "Boulder to Birmingham" (which... Read More

Anthology 3
Artist: The Beatles
Community Score: 7.45

The final installment of the Anthology series has two discs of previously unreleased material from the White Album era through the group's demise in early 1970. In terms of sheer listenability, this may be the strongest volume of the three, if only because it focuses almost solely upon studio recordings rather than mixing live... Read More

Jennifer Love Hewitt
Artist: Jennifer Love Hewitt
Community Score: 7.25

She was doing it before Britney Spears, and she was doing it better. Teen princess Jennifer Love Hewitt attained a level of popularity based predominantly on her immensely likeable girl-next-door appeal. But before she became a household name with TV's Party of Five and as the heroine of the I Know What You did Last Summer movies, she was... Read More

Hits
Artist: Mike + the Mechanics
Community Score: 10.00

All of Mike + the Mechanics' biggest hits are included on the 13-track Hits collection. Though there are a fair share of non-hits and mediocre album tracks, Hits is a first-rate compilation, giving the casual fan all of the essential Mike + the Mechanics tracks, from "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" and "All I Need Is a Miracle '96" to... Read More

The Atlantic Collection
Artist: Hall & Oates
Community Score: 6.00

Drawing from Hall & Oates' four Atlantic albums and adding one previously unreleased song, The Atlantic Collection is a definitive overview of the duo's early years. Although they only had one hit during this period -- "She's Gone," which is included here in its full-length album version -- their early recordings contained some of their richest,... Read More

Don't Bore Us - Get to the Chorus! Roxette's Greatest Hits - EDEL
Artist: Roxette
Community Score: 8.75

Berry Gordy, Jr. once said "Don't bore us -- get to the chorus," which basically sums up most of pop music. It doesn't, however, do credit to Roxette, who has crafted some of the best tunes of the '80s and '90s. This compilation exhibits what pop masters Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson are. It sums up major hits ("It Must Have Been Love,"... Read More

The Forbidden Songs of the Dying West
Artist: Jackie Leven

Over the years, so many great musical talents have allowed their demons to destroy them. From Charlie Parker to Hank Williams, Sr. to Kurt Cobain, you could write a book about all of the musicians or vocalists who were hell-bent for self-destruction. But there are also many artists who have successfully conquered their demons, and when Scottish... Read More

Chasing: Live in Japan
Artist: John Wetton