Thirteen is considered an unlucky number by some, but Light Years is the album that marked the miniscule Miss Minogue's 13th year on the pop scene and with it a remarkable return to form. The pint-sized girl-next-door had been delivering teen-pop to an insatiable public year after year with ever diminishing success. Her previous album Kylie Minogue was both a critical and commercial failure despite collaborations with some of music's most eminent and respected songwriters and producers. It certainly looked like Kylie's chart days were numbered. Light Years is Kylie's somewhat unexpected return to form as she goes back to her roots in full-on-feather-boa-disco-diva mode (à la "Step Back In Time") on tracks like "So Now Goodbye" and "Under the Influence of Love". This is an album brimming with songs that wouldn't sound entirely out of place on a Donna Summer album. There's plenty to boogie down to and if you liked the number one single "Spinning Around" you won't be disappointed. The Village People style "Your Disco Needs You" will have you stomping around the lounge with your mates in no time, while the easy-listening style "Loveboat" is the perfect soundtrack to a camp cocktail party. This is most certainly her best effort since 1990's Rhythm of Love and just goes to show that she's still got it. -Ronita Dutta.

It's difficult not to feel jealous of the audience who were present for these shows at the Blues Alley club in January, 1996. Eva Cassidy's voice has the soul of Aretha Franklin, the smoky melancholy of Billie Holiday, the raw passion of Janis Joplin all rolled into one-and she'll never make another record. Later that same year she died of cancer, leaving behind a painfully small recorded legacy to be discovered belatedly and posthumously by the rest of the world. But those fortunate few in the Blues Alley club knew the secret long before. Thankfully, producer, mentor and (for a time) boyfriend Chris Biondo had the foresight to record Eva Cassidy for-as things turned out-posterity. So, imagine yourself in a dark corner of that tiny club and let the woman with the guitar and the extraordinary voice serenade you. The set consists of standards, mostly jazz-alternately bluesy and torchy-but with a sprinkling of folk ballads that she sings with haunting delicacy (Sting's "Fields Of Gold" being the stand out track). Perfectionist that she was, Cassidy refused to let this album be released unless a studio track-Pete Seeger's "Oh, Had I A Golden Thread"-was also included. But every track is a polished jewel in her hands: the limpid beauty of Johnny Mercer's evergreen "Autumn Leaves", the swinging blues of Billie Holiday's "Fine And Mellow", the uptempo soul of Al Green's "Take Me To The River". There are only four albums featuring Eva Cassidy, and one of those is a compilation of the other three, so for anyone who is haunted by her voice, Live At Blues Alley is a must-have. [+]

In an era of digital downloads and singles, Tori Amos embraces the concept album in a sprawling 23-song oratorio. Firing across the American psychological, social, and political landscape, she takes on the state of the world, war, and feminism. To help her, she adopts five personas-her American Doll Posse-who take their characteristics from Greek gods, but not their names: Clyde, Pip, Isabel, Santa, and Tori. You need a scorecard to keep track, but don't worry. It's still Tori Amos, bending syllables in improbable pretzels with rippling piano themes and choruses that threaten to go Broadway at any moment. Amos vents her political spleen through "Isabel," leaving no doubt as to her targets on tracks like "Yo George," and comments on our impersonal age and computer addiction with "Digital Ghost. " That's sung by the character "Tori," who is reputedly based on Demeter and Dionysus, representing the split between Amos's earth-mother side and her wilder, more libertine tendencies. Anti-war and pro-feminist themes are plastered across American Doll Posse like sloganeering posters. "Dark Side of the Sun" laments both sides of the war, including the Islamic extremists who lay down their lives "for some sick promise of heaven. " Amos adopts a big '80s rock sound on many tracks, with guitarist Mac Aladdin pealing off Brian May-style guitar licks over an arena-rock beat. [+]

Most people primarily know Robert Palmer as the smooth crooner surrounded by sultry, black-clad models in the hit video for "Addicted to Love". Yet At His Very Best reveals him to be far more than simply a suave lady-killer. Indeed, he could be considered one of the finest white soul singers of his generation. Of course, his 1980s heyday is well represented here. "Addicted to Love" is a stand-out, alongside such hits as "Some Guys Have All the Luck", "Simply Irresistible" and "Some Like It Hot", the big hit he shared with Duran Duran's John and Andy Taylor as the Power Station. But fans will also enjoy the disco stylings of 1978's "Every Kinda People" (written by Free's Andy Fraser), the swampy funk of 1974's "Sneakin' Sally Thru the Alley" and a minimalistic but driving cover of ZZ Top's hilariously dumb "TV Dinners". This last track is a telling choice. Though Palmer is a serious student of music, he has always exhibited a gratifying sense of humour, a quality that's contributed mightily to his long-standing success. He's a wealthy man, and a diamond geezer. -Dominic Wills.

Bruce Hornsby is now best known for his stints playing keyboards with the Grateful Dead and for his involvement in such post-Dead projects as the Further Festival. An incomparable keyboard wizard whose skills are widely admired while his albums are consistently underrated, Hornsby's greatest commercial success is slipping rapidly into the past. His 1986 debut, The Way It Is (recorded with his band, the Range) is the high watermark of his career commercially, having sold several million copies and spawned a trio of hit singles, including "Mandolin Rain," "Every Little Kiss," and of course, the No. 1 smash, "The Way It Is. " Overall, it's Hornsby's most tuneful album, though not necessarily his most accomplished work. His is a catalog that is long overdue for reevaluation. -Daniel Durchholz.

Life for Rent was always going to be a tough prospect for Dido-how to follow up the multi-million selling No Angel? On initial inspection, it sounds like she's decided to stick to the safe option-if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So, it's business as usual with down-tempo beats, lush orchestrations, the odd bit of acoustic guitar and her distinctive voice as the cherry on top. However, a closer examination of the lyrics shows that the sweet happy English Rose has a much darker side to her-the joyous revelations of tracks such as "Thank You" on her debut album have been replaced by the sound of her heart breaking. Dido writes from the heart, sharing her personal life with her audience, so Life for Rent tells the tales of her life away from the recording studio, in particular her public break-up with her long-term boyfriend and all the apparent mess that ensued. With tales of rows ("Stoned"), confusion following an ended love affair ("White Flag") and her inability to settle down ("Life for Rent"), it's insecurities, self doubt and despair all around. There is hope, with one of the album's musical highlights "Sand in My Shoes", which sees her going off on holiday and embarking on a holiday romance-halfway between Club 18-30 and Shirley Valentine. It's impossible not to think of Bridget Jones when listening to the album, and this, in the first instance, is the audience for whom this album will reach out and touch. -Melanie Wilkin.

It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment Modest Mouse started sounding like a real band. But on Good News For People Who Love Bad News, front man Isaac Brock sounds like he's finally touching the earth, and the band-minus founding member and drummer Jeremiah Green-follows suit. For the longest time, singer-songwriter Brock seemed to exist solely to defy the established rules, forging forward on sheer momentum and ingenuity. Even Pavement looked relatively ordinary in comparison to the band's early releases like 1996's This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About and 1997's The Lonesome Crowded West. A relaxed mood prevails, not so much in volume but in attitude. On the follow-up to the group's 2000 major label debut, The Moon & Antarctica, big sloppy melodies battle it out with brass on punky epics such as "Float On" and "The Ocean Breathes Salty. " The lyrics are simpler, the arrangements tamer, but the vitality remains. The prevailing mood is that Modest Mouse has pulled off something extraordinary here: a well-rounded, lovable record that doesn't sound anything like David Gray. -Aidin Vaziri.

Few things in life are as reliable as UB40. For more than 20 years the eight Birmingham lads, led by brothers Robin and Ali (the one with the odd voice) Campbell, have been plying their very individual, and very British brand of reggae. And, save for a slight shift from the rootsy Ska of their first top-10 single, "King/Food For Thought", to the more commercial likes of "Homely Girl", little has changed over their 43-single career. Although their own tracks were always laid-back and infectious, it was their reggae-lite makeovers of pop classics like "Red Red Wine", "I Got You Babe" and "I Can't Help Falling In Love", that brought their biggest hits and are the main focus of The Very Best Of. Not as comprehensive as previous compilations, The Best Of UB40 Volume 1 and Volume 2, it still boasts more memorable and happily lilting hits than most bands could lay claim to. Of those, two tracks standout a mile-the William Orbit (he who revamped American Pie for Madonna) styled production of their recent cover of "Light My Fire" is exceptional, but "Rat In Mi Kitchen", thanks to superb lyrics, sparse yet perfectly formed dub horns and a little hindsight, is just as good as Brit-reggae gets. -Dan Gennoe.

Though they recorded just four full-length albums and lasted only four years, the Pixies were easily one of the most influential bands of the 1980s. Wave of Mutilation is a fairly concise effort at capturing some of the band's greatest moments, with 23 tracks spanning their albums, with a bunch of quality B-sides and rarities thrown in to keep fans happy (there's even the hard-to-find Neil Young cover "Winterlong"). Inevitably, however, trying to distil the essence of a band like this into just one CD is going to annoy some of the more die-hards (there's no "I've Been Tired", for example). But as befits the Pixies, every song here is a gem. From the Latin-pop of "Nimrod's Son" to the heavenly Kim Deal vocals on "Gigantic" to the theremin-led "Velouria" to the bitingly sarcastic "U-Mass", Wave of Mutilation is a good introduction to perhaps the best band Massachusetts ever produced. That said, there's nothing here that should prevent anyone from investing in their entire back catalogue. Nirvana would never have existed without the Pixies, and few record collections should be allowed to exist without them. -Ted Kord.

The first of many artistic milestones in the long and illustrious collaboration of Frank Sinatra and arranger Nelson Riddle that began at Capitol Records, In the Wee Small Hours is a first in other notable ways as well: it was the pair's first 12-inch LP; their first album devoted entirely to ballads; the first "concept album", a programme of songs designed to be heard in a particular sequence that sustains a mood and suggests a story; the introduction of Sinatra's definitive "saloon singer" persona; and the first flowering of Sinatra's mature artistic sensibility. Oh, and it's a masterpiece, too. The cover portrait suggests the mood of late-night desolation almost as effectively as the music, with Sinatra in the corner, smoking a solitary cigarette on deserted street illuminated only by the a foggy, blue-green glow of lamplight. Loneliness, thy name is Frank! (They say that memories of Ava Gardner caused him to break down after finishing this aching version of "When Your Lover Has Gone". ) Riddle's clarinet theme for "What Is This Thing Called Love?" is as haunting as Cole Porter's melody itself. And if there's a more devastating evocation of solitude than "It Never Entered My Mind", well, it must be on Only the Lonely. With songs like "I'll Be Around" and "Dancing on the Ceiling" to suggest at least the hope of hope, Wee Small Hours may flirt with despair but never succumbs to it. It's the kind of comforting company that misery likes best. -Jim Emerson.