Whatever and Ever Amen
Artist: Ben Folds Five
Community Score: 7.38

Expanding on the hook-laden songcraft of their eponymous debut, the Ben Folds Five turn in another glitzy array of Todd Rundgren-esque, piano-driven pop on their second album, Whatever and Ever Amen. Though it isn't as consistently tuneful and clever as their first record, Whatever and Ever Amen has a snazzy sense of popcraft -- the hooks of... 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

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

The Best of the Lemonheads: The Atlantic Years
Artist: The Lemonheads

Evan Dando -- for all intents and purposes, he is the Lemonheads -- is a sporadically brilliant songwriter. Every one of his albums contains as many flops as masterpieces, sometimes more. Hardcore fans have learned to live with this and even cherish his dopey detours, but there are many others who would prefer to have all the best bits on... Read More

Homebrew
Artist: Crowded House
Spin This!
Artist: Danny Wilde

The departure of Phil Solem left Danny Wilde in sole control of the Rembrandts, which meant that he had the burden of crafting the follow-up to the group's fluke hit, "I'll Be There for You." Truth be told, writing a number one hit wasn't Wilde's primary concern -- especially since he didn't write the hit -- and he set out to make another... Read More

Shaken & Stirred
Artist: David Arnold

David Arnold, the composer of the Independence Day soundtrack, assembled a talented roster of musicians for his James Bond project. The tracks include the most famous themes from the super spy series, including "Moonraker," "Diamonds Are Forever," and "Nobody Does It Better." The covers by the Propellerheads, Leftfield, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, and... Read More

Egyptology
Artist: World Party
Community Score: 7.00

Karl Wallinger defined the ornate, Beatlesque World Party sound on their debut Private Revolution, and he never strayed from that blueprint over the next decade, even if he augmented it with other '60s and '70s pop flourishes. Egyptology finds Wallinger at his most conservative, sticking to the basic late-'60s pop and psychedelia that... Read More

Woodface - UK BONUS CD
Artist: Crowded House

Where Crowded House's previous album, Temple of Low Men, showcased the often dark side of a man alone with his thoughts, Woodface represents the joy of reunion and the freedom of a collaborative effort -- more than half of the album was originally conceived as a Finn Brothers project, which was Tim and Neil's first crack at writing together. The... Read More