The death of the singer/songwriter (someone for whom an acoustic gig was an everyday event, not some MTV-style special occasion) has been inevitable for some time, so releases like Figure 8 should be cherished. With no obvious singles, no clear fashion statement and nothing but a handful of melodies, a paper-thin voice and a piano or guitar for protection, it's clear that Elliott Smith is living on borrowed time. This is a shame, because-like Bernard Butler-Dallas, Texas born Elliott, after four solo albums, is only just finding his feet. Mixing peace loving folk ("Everything Reminds Me Of Her"), drugged up ramblings ("Everything Means Nothing To Me") and honky-tonk tales of serial killers ("Son Of Sam"), this makes for some pretty special listening. Figure 8, like his much acclaimed album XO before it, is a mess of beauty, ingenuity and slight insanity. If the days of the singer/songwriter are drawing to a close, this album is one hell of a way to remember them. -Dan Gennoe.

Since the break-up of teen duo Wham! in 1986, George Michael has constantly had to reinvent himself as a credible master of various musical styles. Ladies And Gentlemen charts this journey, from his duets with pop elite such as Aretha Franklin ("I Knew You Waiting (For Me)") and Elton John ("Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me"), to dance floor classics such as "Too Funky" and "Fastlove" and bleak, evocative numbers such as "Jesus To A Child" and "A Different Corner". The songs are arranged on two complementing discs: the slower, ballady productions are on the first disc ("for the heart"), and the more dancey, poppy numbers are on the second ("for the feet"). The compilation also includes three tracks specially recorded for the album, most notably his duet with Mary J Blige on the Stevie Wonder classic "As". -John Galilee.

The Who Sell Out's pirate-radio concept goes south in the album's second half-the Who ran out of time before they could write enough faux commercials-but it still remains in many ways their best and most entertaining album. Pete Townshend and John Entwistle supply song after great song, and along with Keith Moon play them with power and focus. The classic single "I Can See for Miles" is matched on at least a handful of tracks, including the opening psychedelic-pop blast of "Armenia City in the Sky" (written by Townshend pal Speedy Keen), the hilarious social-interaction tales "Odorono" and "Tattoo", and the majestic mini-opus "Rael". This remaster's bonus tracks are occasionally too much of a good thing, but the Tommy rough draft "Glow Girl" is brilliant. -Rickey Wright The Who Sell Out's pirate-radio concept goes south in the album's second half-the Who ran out of time before they could write enough faux commercials-but it still remains in many ways their best and most entertaining album. Pete Townshend and John Entwistle supply song after great song, and along with Keith Moon play them with power and focus. The classic single "I Can See for Miles" is matched on at least a handful of tracks, including the opening psychedelic-pop blast of "Armenia City in the Sky" (written by Townshend pal Speedy Keen), the hilarious social-interaction tales "Odorono" and "Tattoo," and the majestic mini-opus "Rael. " This remaster's bonus tracks are occasionally too much of a good thing, but the Tommy rough draft "Glow Girl" is brilliant. -Rickey Wright.

Some singer/songwriters (think Paul Westerberg and Elliott Smith) develop their world-weariness through the unforgiving trials of passing years and the heart-breaking grind of the music business. Others (Van Morrison, Neil Young) seem to have sprung from out of nowhere with the fully formed soul of a life well-lived. Ray LaMontagne belongs with the latter. On this, his debut, LaMontagne has crafted a handful of quietly devastating meditations on life and love-and delivered them with a raspy vocal all his own. The simple, mournful lyrics of "Burn," "Shelter" and the title track recall a Hank Williams ballad, and the reserved production by alt-country/americana genius Ethan Johns (the Jayhawks, Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon) make this a great disc for smoky Saturday nights, and rainy Sunday mornings. -Ben Heege.

Few bands of the 1960s retained as much a sense of the roots of rock and roll as did Creedence Clearwater Revival. Their music is rife with country, rockabilly, and R&B influences, a combination that produced several hit singles-most of which are present on this collection. These include "I Heard It through the Grapevine," "Lodi," "Up Around the B ," "Who'll Stop the Rain," and of course "Bad Moon Rising. " This is an excellent greatest-hits collection, and a perfect introduction to the music of a band that has been enduringly influential. -Genevieve Williams.

Thankfully, Will Young's debut album From Now On wasn't subjected to the same fast-track production that the Pop Idol album suffered, so at least the show's 2002 winner has a fighting chance to prove himself as an album artist. It's all very slick and well produced, which suits the smooth crooner image of Will, but this methodical approach leaves it a little sanitised and flat with no room for the songs to breath. Rather than describe the album as 13 versions of the same song with different lyrics, it can be broken down into three main groups. There are the loungey, Andy Williams-style numbers such as "Love Struck", "Over You", the rather lovely "What's In Goodbye" and hit single "Light My Fire" (the Jose Feliciano arrangement, not the Doors one). There are acoustic, rhythm-based songs in a Ronan Keating vein, such as "Side by Side" and the title track, which smacks of Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" (although less rocking). And of course, there is weak, soggy, cabaret-circuit pop such as first single "Evergreen" and "The Long and Winding Road", which although they are big sellers for Will, definitely aren't his greatest strength. It's doubtful Robbie Williams has anything to worry about, but at the very least, From Now On will provide light relief after the bingo for many years to come. -David Trueman.

The Eagles might have covered his song "Ol' 55" but Tom Waits was cut from a different cloth than California's other singer-songwriters-he suggested a scruffy beat poet who'd walked out of a forgotten scene of Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Waits's beatnik schtick could get old and he developed into a much more musically adventurous songwriter in later years, but his second album contains some of his best early work, including the sweet romantic blues of "New Coat of Paint" ("You wear a dress baby, I'll wear a tie"), and his best hipster recitation, "Diamonds on My Windshield". Two songs are enduring classics: the doleful, dirge-like "San Diego Serenade" ("Never saw the morning till I stayed up all night") and the touchingly sweet "(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night" ("Stoppin' on the red, goin' on the green, 'cause tonight'll be like nothin' that you've ever seen"). -John Milward.

Ever the primary conceit of mainstays Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, 1976's The Royal Scam marks the first time the Steely Dan duo actually owned up to the fact. Musically, it's their edgiest, most guitar-driven record (thanks to Becker and a murderer's row of session greats that includes Larry Carlton, Elliot Randall, Dean Parks, and Denny Dias). Lyrically, the songs cut an ever-sardonic, presciently discomforting slice of modern life that was a couple decades ahead of the game (who else was extolling the virtues of condom-couture, à la "The Fez", mid-Me Decade?). Though it didn't garner the radio attention of Aja, its more jazz-suffused, multi-platinum follow-up, Scam boasts a diverse, occasionally muscular musical rhetoric and some of the Dan's most telling portraits (the deranged, yet all-too-familiar killer of "Don't Take Me Alive", "Kid Charlemagne"'s drug-culture celebrity, the tropical convenience of a "Haitian Divorce"). Small wonder many Dan fans consider it their best. -Jerry McCulley.

Badu and her large turban appeared out of nowhere in early 1997, on a murmuring, romantic album that trod the median between old-school soul and contemporary electronic R&B. Badu's songs, especially the hit "On & On" and the catchy "Certainly", recall Sade in their polished, subtle sexiness. Badu almost never raises her voice-save the occasional "ooh-wee!" exultation-but she skilfully uses repetition and chanting to empower her words. Later portraying a beautiful swamp queen, she was one of the only good things about the movie Blues Brothers 2000. -Steve Knopper.

It's practically impossible to mention Muse without also bringing up Radiohead. Listening to Muse's debut, it's easy to see why. Showbiz was produced by John Leckie, the producer of The Bends, and features the frightfully Yorke-esque choiral falsetto of front-man Matthew Bellamy, running the whole emotional gamut of unhappiness from sincere upset to outright dysfunction. New ground, it's fair to say, remains distinctly unbroken. To Muse's credit, though, they do this angst thing pretty well. "Cave" is a wonderful, terrible epic, replete with rank after rank of bludgeoning guitars, "Muscle Museum" builds up swathes of complex baroque noise, and "Escape"-well, it's a surrogate "No Surprises" with a firework finale, and should keep us ticking over until the next Radiohead album, thank you very much. See? You can't escape the comparison. But at least Showbiz wears it well. -Louis Pattison.