Angels & Electricity
Artist: Eddi Reader
Community Score: 10.00

In these health-conscious times, it's tempting to distrust the sweet and pretty. But not everything that tastes good is bad for you. Bear that in mind as you listen to Eddi Reader's latest solo album, on which she teams up with fellow British pop-folkie Boo Hewerdine (who plays guitar, produces and wrote half the songs) to deliver a luscious... Read More

Rain, Steam & Speed
Artist: The Mutton Birds
Community Score: 10.00

Envy of Angels has a higher percentage of remarkable songwriting, as anyone who's heard the smooth, flowing, lovely-but-not-wimpy "April," "Come Around," "She's Been Talking," and "Come Around" can attest. But that's not such a bad tradeoff for an LP that sounds more immediate; the self-produced Rain, Steam & Speed is less streamlined than Envy... Read More

P.S.: A Toad Retrospective
Artist: Toad the Wet Sprocket
Community Score: 6.80

Toad the Wet Sprocket was among the best and most popular of the adult alternative pop/rockers of the early '90s. They harnessed R.E.M.'s jangle pop, smoothed it out, and turned it into something pretty, melodic, and accessible to a wide audience. Toad the Wet Sprocket never was as idiosyncratic or edgy as R.E.M., so they could reach a totally... Read More

The Trinity Church Sessions
Artist: Sheryl Crow

Numerous Sheryl Crow bootlegs came out in 1990s, many of which boasted excellent sound quality. The thing that set The Trinity Church Sessions apart from other Crow bootlegs is the fact that Crow isn't joined by a full band. Recorded live at the Trinity Church in Canada in January 1999, this CD finds the singer/songwriter having very little... Read More

The Globe Sessions - AUSTRALIA BONUS CD
Artist: Sheryl Crow

Since her dense, varied, post-modernist eponymous second album proved that Sheryl Crow was no one-album wonder, she wasn't left with as much to prove the third time around as she was the second, especially since she found her voice with her sophomore effort. Having created an original variation on roots-rock with Sheryl Crow, she was left with... Read More

Whereabouts
Artist: Ron Sexsmith
Community Score: 8.90

Ron Sexsmith's third album continues the singer/songwriter's talent -- and perhaps his need -- for revealing his delicate and contemplative reflections on life and himself. On Whereabouts, Sexsmith sounds vulnerable yet a bit more worldly than on his previous two albums, and his clear, plaintive vocals sound best on the most introspective tracks... Read More

By 7:30
Artist: Vonda Shepard
Community Score: 6.00

Vonda Shepard is a perfect example of how radically one's luck can change for the better. Given the boot by Reprise in 1992, the singer/songwriter lacked either a record deal or a manager for several years -- from 1992 to 1996, the last thing one expected from her was a platinum album. But in the late 1990s, Shepard's frequent appearances on... Read More

Adam's Rib
Artist: Melanie Doane
Community Score: 10.00

Canadian singer/songwriter Melanie Doane poses in a white T-shirt and black leather pants, with an electric guitar slung over her shoulder, on the front and back covers of her debut CD, Adam's Rib, but she doesn't actually play that instrument on the album, sticking instead to her primary axe, the violin, along with occasional piano and... Read More

Live at Luther College
Artist: Dave Matthews
Community Score: 9.17

After the bootleg industry was revolutionized by CDs in the late '80s, it seemed that every contemporary recording artist had at least one bootleg on the market. It wasn't that studio outtakes were suddenly available -- it was that it was easier than ever to record, press, and distribute live concerts. Rock bands who jammed, whether they were... Read More

Singles - SONY GERMANY
Artist: Alison Moyet