Jailhouse Rock/Love Me Tender
Artist: Elvis Presley

As part of the commemorative releases surrounding the 20th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, RCA Records released the soundtracks for Jailhouse Rock and Love Me Tender on a single disc, adding several alternate takes as bonus tracks. It was the first time Jailhouse Rock had been released as a complete soundtrack; it had previously been... Read More

Tracks
Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Community Score: 7.00
Hatful of Rain: The Best of Del Amitri
Artist: Del Amitri
Community Score: 3.50

It's likely that a large portion of the audience Del Amitri won with the lightly infectious, incessantly catchy "Roll to Me" thought of the Scottish group as a new band, not an outfit that had been recording for over a decade. That may be one of the reasons why Hatful of Rain: The Best of Del Amitri was released in 1998, a mere three years after... Read More

Everybody Loves a Clown/She's Just My Style
Artist: Gary Lewis & the Playboys

This two-LPs-on-one CD compilation from Collectables was previously available directly from Capitol, and it's worth owning for the 12 tracks off of She's Just My Style, which was the best record that Gary Lewis & the Playboys ever cut. The digital remastering brings out the hard rocking sound on those cuts and especially on the guitars, and it... Read More

Homebrew
Artist: Crowded House
Majestic Grill: The Best of the Men They Couldn't Hang
Artist: The Men They Couldn't Hang

Majestic Grill: The Best of the Men They Couldn't Hang is a fine 16-track collection that covers the group's entire career, from their 1985 debut Night of 1000 Candles to their 1996 reunion, Never Born to Follow. Between those two albums, the group released four other records, all of which contained some blistering, politically-charged Irish... Read More

Moon Hut
Artist: Kim Fox

Opera training from Vassar College grants Fox delicate control of her voice, which she expresses naturally, and a blunt intelligence giver her a poetically cynical view of the world. The debut is all piano melodies and whispered songs of a bared soul. She is equal parts an innocent PJ Harvey and embryonic Tori Amos. Potent lyrics and the bright... Read More

Young and Warm and Wonderful/Just One Smile
Artist: Gene Pitney

Sequel reissued the bulk of Gene Pitney's '60s albums for Musicor as a series of compact discs that contains two original albums each. Although the material on each disc is different, one basic pattern does emerge -- by and large, the singles were the best songs on each album, but the remaining songs, usually comprised of solid album tracks,... Read More

Chronicles
Artist: Verbow

Though on initial impact this Chicago four sound a damn sight too much like Sugar (you would think so even if you didn't know that that group's gallant leader, Bob Mould, produced this), and the later songs come off way too much like Nirvana circa In Utero with less firepower, less abandon, and less chilly aura, the fact remains that Chronicles... Read More

Middle of Nowhere
Artist: Hanson
Community Score: 8.68

Sounding like a post-alternative version of the Jackson 5 -- complete with effervescent harmonies, sunny melodies, rolling hip-hop beats, and dense, layered productions -- Hanson is positively bubbling energy throughout its surprisingly infectious and melodic debut, Middle of Nowhere. It's hard not to hear the lead single, "MMMBop," or the... Read More

Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House - UK BONUS LIVE DISC
Artist: Crowded House
Community Score: 8.00

Recurring Dream is a 19-track collection which assembles most of the band's singles and adds three new studio tracks to entice fans -- "Not the Girl You Think You Are," "Instinct," and "Everything Is Good for You." As a career summary, the collection works fairly well, though the nonchronological sequencing makes for a slightly confusing listen.... Read More