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.

The Chemical Brothers released their third album with their status as one of the UK's most exciting bands unassailable. Surrender, managed to enhance their already burgeoning reputation, drawing on the talents of a formidable array of celebrity collaborators including Missy Elliott, Oasis' Noel Gallagher and Bernard Sumner. The Brothers shifted their attention away from hip-hop breaks towards more traditional 4/4 beats, but their unique blend of visceral energy, inventive melodies and eclectic samples remained unaffected. "Out Of Control", featuring the fragile vocals of Sumner, sounds like New Order on stronger drugs, before erupting into a groovy, guitar-studded monster not dissimilar to many of Underworld's offerings. The fairytale chords and Oriental chimes of "Sunshine Underground" provide a refreshing change in direction, while Mercury Rev's Jonathan Donahue makes a refreshing appearance on the psychedelic rock finale, "Dream On". Surrender is a deeply satisfying album from a band who grow from strength to strength. -Ed Potton.

HIStory's two CDs (one hits, the other new) were Jackson's attempt to connect his glorious past to a dodgy present and-given it's commercial and artistic performance-cast a shadow on his future. Conceived as his formal coronation as the "King of Pop", HIStory's second disc instead presents Jackson as an epauletted, single-gloved Richard III. By turns paranoid, angry, bitter, sentimental, and, in one instance, possibly anti-Semitic, HIStory was less a collection of songs than a case history. A few tracks-mostly those produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-are sleek, modern pop/soul, but too much of HIStory has the overblown vacuousness of a musician who knows his time is past, but is unsure as to how to react to the situation. -Steven Mirkin HIStory's 2 CDs (one hits, the other new) were Jackson's attempt to connect his glorious past to a dodgy present and-given it's commercial and artistic performance-cast a shadow on his future. Conceived as his formal coronation as the "King of Pop," HIStory's second disc instead presents Jackson as an epauletted, single-gloved Richard III. By turns paranoid, angry, bitter, sentimental, and, in one instance, possibly anti-Semitic, HIStory was less a collection of songs than a case history. A few tracks-mostly those produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-are sleek, modern pop/soul, but too much of HIStory has the overblown vacuousness of a musician who knows his time is past, but is unsure as to how to react to the situation. -Steven Mirkin.

Enya's 1988 recording, Watermark, achieved landmark success with her groundbreaking use of multi-tracking technology to fuse new age and Celtic themes and instrumentation. The meticulous production defines her sound and achieves continuity even while weaving together tender ballads, piano pieces, massively layered vocal harmonies and symphonic synthesizer movements. Although Enya's pristine voice isn't especially strong, her lead vocals possess a vulnerability that reflects the lyrics' sense of personal searching. From the ubiquitous, frothy single "Orinoko Flow" to the hard, bold edge of "Cursum Perficio", Enya's style remains fresh and engaging. -Richard Price.

Colombian superstar Shakira's first English-language disc, Laundry Service, carries the pointed credit "Entire Album Produced by Shakira". That might be a signal to US fans who helped two of her previous discs go platinum under the media radar-a sign that this planned breakthrough has more to offer than the input of a score of image makers and outside writers. And it does; even the occasional clunky lyric comes directly from her overflowing heart. Laundry Service's meld of danceable pop and rockier ideas and textures follows the similar path of the singer-songwriter's previous work. Indeed, for all its high-end production values, the record is ultimately one of the least glossy crossover vehicles imaginable. Despite an occasional lean toward Celine Dion territory ("Underneath Your Clothes"), it has a freshness that's sure to win over new listeners even after the first single, the sly "Whenever, Wherever", has reached the saturation point. While still not fully formed as an artist, she's getting close to something of her own-something that may flower after she dumps the vocal Alanis-isms. For now, it's still a pleasure to watch her grow. -Rickey Wright.

When people talk about the resurgent hip-hop underground of the late 1990s, they're usually talking about the West Coast, Northern Cali uprising-and when they talk about that movement, chances are good that, somewhere between Company Flow and the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, there will be some mention of Jurassic 5. Their self-titled EP features the group's deep lyrical skills flip-flopped with DJ Cut Chemist's supreme turntable compositions. ("Lesson 6: The Lecture" is a classic DJ cut, building a hip-hop collage of samples out of scraps from an old instructional music record. ) The format is typical for '90s hip-hop-an oversize crew of rappers passing the ball back and forth-but the vibe from the six-man pack of Jurassic 5 is still something of a throwback to a Last Poets or Pharoahs block party. Piano and flute loops weave through tracks like "Jayou" and "Concrete Schoolyard" and bring you to a place of higher consciousness, but the place where the MC skills truly meet the DJ skills is the anomalous cut-up funk of "Action Satisfaction," in which J5 teach the true meaning of sharing. -Todd Levin.

Far from collapsing after the departure of founder member Brian McFadden, Irish boy-band Westlife have gone from strength to strength. In the last two years they've undertaken successful tours, delivered top-notch singles and albums and generally behaved like the optimistic, non-stop pop sensations they are. Having recently inked a new five-album deal with Sony, this trend looks set to continue well into the future too. The Love Album, their eighth studio LP, sees the band offer something a little different. Covering 11 of what they consider to be the greatest love songs of all time, it presents a mix of classics and less obvious choices. The album begins with lead single, "The Rose", a reworking of Bette Midler's 80s smash hit, and proceeds idiosyncratically but smoothly through Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart", The Commodores' languorous "Easy" and evergreen ballads such as Kasey Cisyk's "You Light Up My Life" and Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful (To Me)". There's also a sterling collaboration with Aussie pop princess Delta Goodrem - a cover of Air Supply's "All Out Of Love" - and a rousing rendition of the Righteous Brothers hit "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" to wrap things up nicely. Along with mistletoe and candlelight, this is an Xmas must-have for all incurable romantics. -Danny McKenna.

"All pop music begins with Kraftwerk", it has been said-and, indeed, the 1970s experiments in minimalist electronics on the part of these four reclusive and bourgeois-looking young Dusseldorf men were directly responsible for the electrified landscape of subsequent decades of rock, pop and dance music. The album is dominated by its 22-minute title track, a beautiful electronic simulation of a motorway journey, from cranking up the engine to bowling along grey lanes cutting a swathe through the countryside, swerving and hooting the horn. Kraftwerk were prefiguring music's next step into the machine age but the antipathy they aroused in 1974 exposed the deluded Luddite tendencies of the pre-punk critical establishment who felt that music could only remain "real" by remaining as close to "nature" as possible. Kraftwerk slyly undermined this notion. After Kraftwerk, pop music would echo, not reject the sounds and rhythms of modern life. -David Stubbs.

By their very nature, best-of collections lend themselves to nostalgia, and Depeche Mode's instantly identifiable sound and string of pervasive, catchy singles are undoubtedly the soundtrack to many memories-memories served well by this fine collection of beautifully remastered songs. If you've heard any of the band's double-disc rereleases, you'll have an idea of just how good their remastered songs can sound. While there are some obvious omissions ("Somebody," "Policy of Truth"), compiling a career-spanning collection of Depeche Mode's best would be considered a challenge for just about anybody; and as this is Vol. 1, it seems obvious that there's more to come. There are a couple odd choices in the mix ("See You," "New Life") and the obligatory new track ("Martyr"), but the non-chronological mix makes these classics sound fresh and better than ever. -Alan Wiley.

The Avalanches are a much-feted six-man crew of sample-addicts from down-under, whose debut album Since I Left You is a bargain-bin vinyl throwback to the Daisy Age. Their everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach is exemplified by their debut single, "Since I Left You", which opens the record with its wistful disco-samba shuffle and a scintillating sliced-and-diced soul vocal. The album is constructed like a mix tape and calculated to tweak the dance floor. Snatches of familiar rhythms bubble up throughout, giving the record a comfortable lived-in feel, but also betraying the fact that the group haven't dug very far through the crates to source their raw material. Vast chunks of records by Madonna, Art of Noise, Kid Creole And The Coconuts and Parisian hip-hoppers Saian Supa Crew are easily identifiable. There's little doubt that this kind of sample re-construction has become standard fare for retrogressive adolescents with a mania for collecting records and precious little musical flair. The Avalanches get full marks for their seamless mixing skills, but otherwise it all feels way too neat and tidy, bristling with its own inventiveness when it should strive for something that transcends its influences. For every innovator like DJ Shadow and Dan the Automator, there will be an avalanche of imitators. -Chris Campion.