All the voices in Tom Waits' head come out on this album: the growler (of course), the crooner, the preacher, the screecher, and the Vegas cheese ball. The instrumentation is equally eclectic. (Yep, that's Waits himself playing the "rooster" on the album's best song, "I'll Be Gone". ) More memorable moments: "Innocent When You Dream" (both times), the vocal howling at the end of "Blow Wind Blow", and the lovely coughing fit after "I'll Take New York. " Frank's Wild Years is the musical remains of a theatrical collaboration between Waits and Kathleen Brennan, originally staged in 1986. It contains nuggets of important practical advice, sure-"never drive a car when you're dead" (from "Telephone Call from Istanbul")-but mostly these songs are fantasy freaks. Frank's is big-time dreamer. It's a dreamy album. Sweet dreams. -Dan Leone.

St. Anger shows that we should never underestimate the regenerative powers of Metallica. Following the stripped-down Load and Re-Load, they've returned to the raw, vitriolic savagery of their earlier canon, using 1984's Ride the Lightning as their template. The title track provides the psychic lynchpin of the album by combining the bombast and defiance of the band's earliest high-water marks with more deliberate lyrics and emotional nakedness. Equally cathartic is "Some Kind of Monster," a lumbering beast of a song that declares "This is the voice of silence no more". Despite that claim, there's an economy to these lyrics; James Hetfield's raw-toothed growl only occasionally punctuates the menacing soundscapes. In fact, "Dirty Windows", the standout track here, is a shimmering five-minute instrumental that's free of the baroque trappings that sometimes clutter the Metallica landscape. -Jaan Uhelszki, Amazon. com.

Reckoning, the 1984 follow-up to REM's brilliantly murky debut, features Michael Stipe's ambiguous moan, drummer Bill Berry's strong backbeat and guitarist Peter Buck's endless wave of catchy, jangling riffs. They wouldn't fully beef up their hard rock until roughly 1986's Life's Rich Pageant but the swimming melodies of "Pretty Persuasion", "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" and "Rockville (Don't Go Back to)" recall why the band frequently earned comparisons to a power-pop Beatles and the country-rock Byrds. Also, the jittery rhythms and deceptively simple guitar lines make the underappreciated "Harborcoat" and "7 Chinese Bros. " worth revisiting. -Steve Knopper.

Overwhelmed by sudden success, Nirvana promised to take a harsher, more abrasive route on their second major-label release. Enlisting Chicago-based noise maven Steve Albini (of Big Black fame), Kurt Cobain and company succeeded in producing a record that was violent, disillusioned, and deeply moving. Every song reads like a commentary on the cost of fame ("Serve the Servants") and the unhealthy relationship between performer and fan ("Milk It"). Of course, they might all simply be about Courtney Love. Gossip aside, there is no denying the sheer power of Cobain's song-writing, his singing, and the band's amazing, visceral power. Cobain even manages a John Lennon-like mantra at the end of the heart-wrenching "All Apologies". "All in all is all we are," he intones repeatedly, only for Cobain that's no consolation. -Percy Keegan.

As if answering the challenge of those who dismiss them as a cartoonish joke, Slipknot claim that Iowa is a statement of intent, a real heavy-metal album. As percussionist Shawn Crahan puts it: "We're able to cut into the wound, crawl inside, stitch it up ourselves and fester in the f***ing hurt". And right from the introductory shriek and grind "of (515)", you know they're deadly serious. Iowa is immediately intimidating in its unforgiving heaviness. Produced to cruel perfection by wonderboy Ross Robinson, it takes the best of Slayer as its starting-point and moves on. "People=Shit", "The Heretic Anthem" and "New Abortion" are relentless and wholly brutal. But this is no mere thrash. "Disasterpiece" features a weird, hypnotic riff, while "Left Behind" is like a duet between Alice in Chains' Layne Staley and Slayer's Tom Araya. "Gently" (an old track here re-recorded) builds slowly from industrial atmospherics to a punishing explosion of noise, and the title track (also old and formerly known as "Killers Are Quiet") is a heavy metal "Midnight Rambler", deeply unsettling. Frontman Corey Taylor claims to have performed it naked and bleeding from self-inflicted wounds, and that's not hard to believe. [+]

With valuable assistance from producer Rick Rubin, the Peppers find just the right blend of punk, funk, and hip-hop. Even with a running time of 74 minutes, this 1991 breakthrough has continuity and cohesion both within and across the 17 cuts. Riding Flea's surging bass, Anthony Kiedis delivers his explicit lyrics with a rapper's flair, extolling the virtues (and outlining the dangers) of sex and drugs. Plaintive ballads such as "Breaking the Girl", "I Could Have Lied", and the hit "Under the Bridge" give the album depth and provide contrast to the raw energy of "Mellowship Slinky in B Major", "Funky Monks", and "Give It Away". Rubin masterfully fuses John Frusciante's raunchy guitar with the irresistible grooves. -Marc Greilsamer.

Part one of Guns N' Roses' ambitious second album is arguably the better of the two. It certainly rocks harder, though this seems to be more coincidence than anything else; which songs went on which CD looks to have been a random selection. Use Your Illusion I stays closer to the band's bluesy hard-rock roots, with guitarist Izzy Stradlin contributing some of the best songs, including "Dust N' Bones" and "You Ain't the First". "November Rain" (clocking in at over nine minutes) became an instant classic, and there are a fair number of straight-ahead rockers, such as "Perfect Crime", "Don't Damn Me", and "Garden of Eden". Taking the best from this album and Use Your Illusion II would have made a killer single CD, but there's enough good stuff here to make it worthwhile. -Genevieve Williams.

Widely credited with being the band who kicked off (and merged) the two sub-genres of punk-pop and geek rock, The Green Album is Weezer's attempt to wrestle back their crown from the upstart likes of Blink 182 and Wheatus. The Green Album, recorded nearly five years after their previous album, the widely ignored (but wholly excellent) Pinkerton, sees the band reunited with former Cars frontman Rik Ocasek, who produced their multi-platinum debut way back in 1994. The result is an album of catchy pop gems, more accessible than Pinkerton, and with a quicker pace and more sonic depth than Weezer. Though the high-pitched harmonies of former bassist Matt Sharp are missed (he left to focus on his own band, the Rentals), lead singer/songwriter Rivers Cuomo still has a way with an infectious hook and a sing-along chorus, especially on "Don't Let Go", "Photograph" and "Knockdown Drag Out". The album's first single, "Hash Pipe", kicks off with a bass-heavy, 70s-sounding metal riff, while "Island in the Sun" is as summery as its title suggests. At just over 30-minutes long, The Green Album may leave some listeners feeling a little cheated, but overall, this is a gem of an album, small yet perfectly formed. It is also a worthy return for a band whose influence is undeniable, if under appreciated. -Robert Burrow.

It's easy to understand why Nine Inch Nails became the industrial band to break out of the techno ghetto and win a larger audience. Trent Reznor, who records the NIN albums almost entirely by himself (although he tours with a full band), tries very hard to pass himself off as an angry young man, but underneath the angst-ridden lyrics, pounding synths, and grating guitars is an irrepressible pop sensibility. On the second full-length NIN album, The Downward Spiral, Reznor builds his constructions of noise and gloom around warm, fuzzy melodies. On the album's first single, "March of the Pigs," for example, Reznor screams about swine lined up for slaughter amid guitars screeching in pain. Suddenly the guitars fall away to reveal the sensually throbbing rhythm track below; then that falls away to reveal a vocal-and-piano track that's as catchy as anything by Elton John. Because Reznor has a better handle on dynamics now, the melodic core is more obvious than ever. -Geoffrey Himes.

As much as any record, CSN's 1969 debut ushered in the early 1970s singer-songwriter boom. Yes, this was a group but it was one made up of three equal composer/vocalists, each with a heady resume-Crosby an ex-Byrd, Stills in Buffalo Springfield, and Nash a former member of the Hollies. Each supplied distinctive material and contributed to CSN's trademark harmonies. The addition of Neil Young made the supergroup an edgier outfit. There's a purity to the original trio recording, however, that would never be recaptured. -Steven Stolder.

While Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap sounds like every other AC/DC album, it is distinguished by a lyrical puerility spectacular even by Bon Scott's standards. Two tracks-"Love At First Feel" and "Squealer"-are ruminations on the morality of sex with schoolgirls. "Big Balls", ostensibly a narrative from the perspective of an aristocrat socialite, is actually a somewhat laboured excuse for the band to chant, "We've got big balls. " This juvenile posturing was, to a large degree, AC/DC winding up their burgeoning foreign audience by playing to stereotypical expectations of Australians. On Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, however, AC/DC try too hard. Only on "Ain't No Fun (Waiting Round To Be A Millionaire)" is Scott's laconic wit deployed to real effect: the sheer glee in the line "Get your fuckin' jumbo jet off my airport!" is almost worth the purchase price on its own. -Andrew Mueller.