It was Dylan himself who said "the present now will later be past" and there's no better proof of it than this bizarre live collection of his old hits performed in big band versions where nothing seems to mean what it originally did. There's something going on here and even Dylan doesn't know what it is. Following the success of Cheap Trick and Neil Diamond-who both scored with Japanese live albums-Dylan took his Las Vegas revue with him and handed up "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Shelter from the Storm," and even "The Times They Are A-Changin'" without the vehemence that made them anthems for a past generation. Weird. -Rob O'Connor.

He may have made his name as one of those strangely genre-resistant singer-songwriters of the 70s, but Billy Joel's pedigree in pop dates back at least a decade prior to 1973's breakthrough Piano Man album. In 1964, Joel's prowess on Hammond organ even saw him playing on The Shangri-Las' "Leader Of The Pack". It was to these fledgling years in pop that Joel looked for inspiration when recording the most successful album of his career. To spend an afternoon in the company of An Innocent Man is to transport yourself to a New York diner in the early 60s, not a care in the world beyond waiting for your date to turn up. And when it works, it's positively life-affirming. "Uptown Girl" is surely the finest song The Four Seasons never recorded, while "The Longest Time" and "Leave A Tender Moment Alone" offer a humane return to the thrill of young love. Less successful are a couple of forays in more R&B influenced material (Joel doesn't quite have the voice for it) but never again did he quite sound like he was having this much fun. -Peter Paphides.

He may have made his name as one of those strangely genre-resistant singer-songwriters of the 70s, but Billy Joel's pedigree in pop dates back at least a decade prior to 1973's breakthrough Piano Man album. In 1964, Joel's prowess on Hammond organ even saw him playing on The Shangri-Las' "Leader Of The Pack". It was to these fledgling years in pop that Joel looked for inspiration when recording the most successful album of his career. To spend an afternoon in the company of An Innocent Man is to transport yourself to a New York diner in the early 60s, not a care in the world beyond waiting for your date to turn up. And when it works, it's positively life-affirming. "Uptown Girl" is surely the finest song The Four Seasons never recorded, while "The Longest Time" and "Leave A Tender Moment Alone" offer a humane return to the thrill of young love. Less successful are a couple of forays in more R&B influenced material (Joel doesn't quite have the voice for it) but never again did he quite sound like he was having this much fun. -Peter Paphides.

Lea Salonga, best known as the voice of Jasmine in Aladdin, steals the show here as the title character in Disney's Mulan. The former star of Miss Saigon adds touching elements to the feature, especially on introspective numbers such as "Reflection. " Unfortunately, the voice of Donny Osmond, relegated to anthems such as "I'll Make a Man Out of You" doesn't really enhance the story line, a saga set in ancient China. Jerry Goldsmith provides the Far East tinge to the score, almost reminiscent of early Les Baxter. While Mulan is a far cry from the memorable Beauty and the Beast, it is both funny and charming. -Jason Verlinde.

"A pissed off thirty-two year old, divorcee's version of 'This Year's Model,'" Elvis Costello deems this 1986 album in the Rykodisc reissue's liner notes; if anything, given its raw sonics and Esperanto sleeve credits, it's even more perverse than that 1978 masterpiece. A first finale for Costello's working relationship with the Attractions, Blood & Chocolate brings the group together for a series of songs that moves through garage noise ("Uncomplicated"), twisted folk-rock ("Crimes of Paris"), a harrowing Dylan-Lennon homage ("I Want You"), and other genre twistings. Perhaps the most underrated classic in the man's catalog, it carries six bonus tracks-including the fabulous "Baby's Got a Brand New Hairdo"-in this edition. -Rickey Wright.

The selection of tracks for this single-disc retrospective works on the premise that Roxy Music group records and frontman Bryan Ferry's solo efforts were pretty much of a whole. As the distance grew from the time founding member Brian Eno left the fold, that was more and more the case. (Eno quit Roxy with the release of the band's second album, 1973's For Your Pleasure; about the same time, Ferry put out his first spin-off collection, These Foolish Things. ) Commonly dubbed art-rockers (in large part because their flirtations with glam, prog, and something approximating mood music for moderns made them tough to categorize more specifically), Roxy's music has aged far better than that of most of their '70s contemporaries, thanks to inventive playing and Ferry's elegant persona and graceful vocals. Granted, this isn't the thorough retelling of the Roxy/Ferry chronicles that devotees long for, but it's a fine primer for more casual Rox fans. -Steven Stolder.

Elton John has been a force in pop music since the mid-1960s. This extravagant and colourful box set presents, in chronological order, his hit songs through 1990. Designed to accommodate a large booklet and the four CDs, which when placed side-by-side present a likeness of Elton, the package indicates the care and expense this huge-selling artist commands. With the exception of some very early work with Long John Baldry, the music is exclusively focused on the songs Elton wrote in conjunction with lyricist Bernie Taupin. Their unique songwriting method, whereby Taupin first submits lyrics to which John then gives musical shape, is discussed at length in an insightful interview with the two men. This method has produced a truly astonishing number of hit records, particularly throughout the 70s. Discs 2 and 3 contain all the monster hits-"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Daniel", "Benny and the Jets", "Crocodile Rock", as well as many others. The combination of John's pliable and emotive voice, Taupin's well-wrought words and strong production values led to mega-stardom. The 1980s were a period of transition and growth for Elton John. Disc 4 has a number of hits from that period-"Sad Songs", "Sacrifice" and "You Gotta Love Someone"-as well as featuring several live performances before a full orchestra, including "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me". [+]