Off the Wall made music history. Not only was it the release that signaled the arrival of Michael Jackson as a major talent outside the Jackson Five, it was the first record by a solo artist to contain four US Top 10 hits. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", "Rock with You", "Off the Wall", and "She's out of My Life" were essential listening in the late 1970s and early '80s. The release also contains the kinetic "Working Day and Night" and "Burn This Disco Out", and Paul McCartney contributes "Girlfriend". Thanks to Quincy Jones's production, it was still all about the music back then. The artistry Jackson exhibited on Off the Wall still amazes. Avoiding the shallow excesses of most of the period's disco, Jackson's dance rhythms here are made all the more powerful by Jackson's vocal restraint. -Steve Gdula.

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.

For an artist who only released four proper albums in a 15-year career, it's astounding to recall how many hits Whitney Houston was able to achieve. The two CDs on Greatest Hits track Houston's rise from mid-1980s hit machine balladeer to standard-setting diva. Disc 1, CoolDown, runs chronologically through Houston's down-tempo love songs, from "Saving All My Love For You" and "I Will Always Love You" to the cleverly conceived new duet with Deborah Cox, "Same Script, Different Cast". She's also showcased as the remixee of choice for DJs on the second disc, Throw Down, which serves as the antidote to the lovesick first disc. Calling in marquee mix masters, Houston's old-shoe tunes get a new millennium polish. "My Love Is Your Love", reinterpreted by Jonathan Peters, captures the versatility of Houston's songs by making the downbeats danceable without going totally Euro-cheese. In contrast, Junior Vasquez's remix of 1985's "How Will I Know" pokes fun at the song's 1980s fluffiness by layering in bells, lasers effects, and echoes on top of Whitney's enthusiastic vocals. -Heidi Sherman.

Can't Slow Down is probably Lionel Richie's best solo album, full of songs that would become hits-"All Night Long (All Night)", "Running With the Night," "Penny Lover" and "Hello. " Like all of Richie's best music, the vocals are spare and the choruses inviting, with each track falling somewhere between straight-up pop and smoochy R&B. -Courtney Kemp.

In light of the un-harmonious five years Melanie, Shaznay, Nicole and Natalie spent together as All Saints, perhaps this anthology should have been titled "All Fights" instead of the more agreeable All Hits. Despite having two massive hit singles in 2000 (with "Pure Shores" and "Black Coffee"), and the release of their second album (Saints and Sinners), the girls' rows were viewed more newsworthy than their continued chart success. From early tunes such as "I Know Where It's At", right through to their appropriately titled final release "All Hooked Up" the quartet produced some of the catchiest hooks in pop. For both their studio albums, they recruited the hippest producers of the time, including Nellee Hooper, Cameron McVey and William Orbit. These "top bods" merged the girls' soulful vocals with the trendiest beats, producing classics such as "War of Nerves" and "Bootie Call". The best of these albums and more are included on All Hits. Also included is Mel's solo collaboration with Artful Dodger ("Twentyfourseven") and two powerful new tracks penned and performed by Shaznay, which are sneakily hidden at the end of a bonus remix of "Pure Shores". "I Feel You" is an epic five-minuter, sounding similar to Saints's classic "Never Ever" but with the other three's harmonies being replaced by a gospel choir. The second Shaz track "Dreams" is an Orbit style pop-trip composition that strangely (or perhaps predictably) echoes "Pure Shores". The group may have split but their sound lives on-in more ways than one. [+]

Unlike those of the other members of her family, Janet Jackson's albums are still worth waiting for. The best parts of All for You, her first disc since 1997's The Velvet Rope, continue to display the first-class pop-R&B talent who broke through decisively in the mid-80s with "What Have You Done for Me Lately" and "Nasty". Jackson's longtime cohorts Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are on board, and the production-writing trio demonstrates its mastery of everything from dirty funk ("You Ain't Right") to peppy, radio-perfect ("Come on Get Up" and 2000's No. 1 "Doesn't Really Matter") and hypnotically undulating sounds ("When We Oooo"). While much of All for You is irresistible, its handful of failures are poorly conceived and executed. Most glaring among these is "Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)", an unlistenable sequel to Rope's "Got til It's Gone" which substitutes one self-regarding singer-songwriter diva (Carly Simon) for another (Joni Mitchell), thereby wrecking Simon's one golden moment, "You're So Vain". "Son of a Gun" and "Truth" apparently target estranged husband Rene Elizondo, but Jackson is hardly as convincing a revenge artist as she is a sex kitten. In fact, the likes of "Love Scene (Ooh Baby)" and "Would You Mind" out-spice even the carnally obsessed Velvet Rope and Janet Janet. -Rickey Wright.

Rumours of a greatest hits package had been flying, but as millions of converts held their breath, Whitney Houston headed into the studio only to emerge-amid a flurry of drama screaming "diva" (a live Web broadcast of the international press conference revealing the album, and a veil of secrecy shrouding the new material)-with her first non-soundtrack album in eight years. So is it worth all the hype and hoopla? Probably. There are no real surprises (typical ballads such as "You'll Never Stand Alone", obligatory writer-producer-singer cameos from Babyface, Wyclef Jean, Missy Elliott, Faith Evans and Kelly Price-this time in a worthy attempt to slot into the late-1990s soul scene), but she does try to defend her marriage on the Elliott-produced "In My Business". Elliott's other effort, the slow-burning "Oh Yes", is a high point, but the hands-down driving force of this record is the multi-platinum, multi-octave power pairing of Houston with Mariah Carey on "When You Believe". -Rebecca Wallwork.

One listen to the eagerly anticipated third album from "The World's Biggest Girl Group" and it's clear there is one child with the most destiny. To paraphrase the hip-hop legends; who's house? Beyoncé's house, and with the lead vocalist producing or cowriting all of the 14 tracks it's hard to imagine what those other two chicks even do (other than act grateful to still have a gig). Seizing creative control is a bold move for Miss Knowles, and anytime an R&B act eschews the beat of the week, they have to be commended. But the problem is that Beyoncé, even with her ambition, has yet to suss out that the key to a pop-R&B smash is hook and melody. With the exception of the now-played-out title track (Can we all take moratorium on this mighty goddess theme for a second, please?) and the equally you-go-girlish "Independent Woman Part 1", most of the tracks here lack a strong core. Beyoncé crams a litany of thoughts and motifs into her mini-anthems, with samples ranging from Stevie Nicks to Tarzan Boy, but though the cuts sizzle and sparkle and throw off much attitude, Survivor is way too frenetic. Even with some strong singing and songs (most notably the laid back "Fancy"), Survivor lacks real emotion. -Amy Linden.

Voyage to India shows that India. Arie still has an exceptionally grounded head on her shoulders, despite the seven Grammy nominations and double platinum sales that greeted her debut album. In fact, her first taste of success seems to have reinforced her old fashioned values. "In the quest for fortune and fame, don't forget about the simple things," she implores over the shimmering groove of "Little Things" before reminding, "I do this for the love of music, not for the glitter and gold. " Other key elements to Voyage to India's harmonious philosophy include the power of conversation ("Talk to Her") and self-belief ("Get It Together"), along with the need to take life as it comes ("Slow Down") and savour love ("Complicated Melody"), all of which come with her mother's sound advice and joyously lazy jazz-tinged soul. Admittedly nothing quite compares to Acoustic Soul's highs-the glorious reggae bounce of "Video" or the smouldering shimmy of "Promises"-but its charm and grace remain. And in an age of empty sentiments and artifice, such wisdom and musical honesty are a rare treat indeed. -Dan Gennoe.