On Songs From The Last Century, George Michael seems determined to demonstrate just how much he's matured since the carefree days of Wham!; by offering his own interpretations of some of the century's classic songs, he manages to shake off any lingering remnants of his boyband past. Michael has one of the most versatile and beautiful voices ever recorded-a voice more suited for jazz or soul than pop-a fact that his own records have often only glossed over. Much better, therefore, to have him cover songs made famous by the likes of Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Brother Can You Spare A Dime", "Where Or When" and other standards are all performed to stunning effect, lushly backed by an orchestra that's as restrained and powerful as Michael's voice. He also manages to toss some surprisingly inspired choices into the mix: on "Roxanne", he wisely realises that no one can sing like Sting and opts for a more delicate approach, while his version of "Miss Sarajevo" (from the U2/ Brian Eno collaboration Passengers) elevates this obscure track to the classic status of the other standards. -Robert Burrow.

Released in the summer of 1978 and cruelly denied the Number One spot by the decidedly non-New Wave Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, Black and White-The Stranglers' third studio album-found Guildford's gruesomely confrontational punks persisting brilliantly with their angrified and melodiously intoxicating melange of Hugh Cornwell's scrubby telecaster guitar, Dave Greenfield's burbling psychedelic keyboards and Jean-Jacques Burnel's brutally flatulent bass. That said, the album marked a noticeable departure from the antagonism and political incorrectness of No More Heroes. Deadpan pessimism featured prominently on Side 2 (the "black side" in old vinyl terms) courtesy of the apocalyptically grim "Enough Time" and the Cold War neurosis of "Curfew". Burnel spouted the memorable line "Bring me a piece of my Mummy, she was quite close to me" on "Threatened" and also paid tribute to controversial Japanese poet Yukio Mishima on the almost funky "Death And Night and Blood". Cornwell, in comparision, was relatively jovial, satirising the sterility of Scandinavian life on "Sweden" ("too much time to think too little to do") and penning a memorable joyriding ode in the spirit of "Fun Fun Fun" or Chris Spedding's "Motorbikin'", except this one was called "Tank". Black and White's less morbid moments included the elongated (and probably the best ever version) of Bacharach & David's "Walk On By" (imagine an instrumental, New Wave version of Deep Purple), the biblically-versed punk-reggae of "Nice 'n' Sleazy", the epic "Toiler On The Sea" and the ungainly mesh of punk noise (including Laura Logic's squawky toy sax) that was "Hey! Rise Of The Robots" ("They're gonna want a union soon, oil break that's dead on noon"). A brilliant record, true, but the best was yet to come. Kevin Maidment.

George Michael's second post-Wham! outing, Listen Without Prejudice could not have been more appropriately titled. Following on the booty-shakin' heels of Faith, Listen found Michael being more serious than sassy. "Freedom 90" had a strong groove, a catchy melody, and of course, the sex-bomb video. The contemplative tone of the album is best illustrated by the other hit that it spawned, "Praying for Time. " Michael's voice was as strong as ever, and he did indeed take several risks on the CD. "They Won't Go When I Go," (not a Michael composition) was almost cryptic, and "Cowboys and Angels" was a lament of a different kind. -Steve Gdula.

The idea of remaking the Rat Pack's infamous shaggy-dog story cum Vegas heist thriller may have seemed ludicrous without a Rat Pack. But that didn't deter ever-inventive director Steven Soderbergh, who's again wisely teamed up with not only Out of Sight star George Clooney but also that underrated project's Irish-born club mixer turned scorer David Holmes. The resulting soundtrack is a spunky, cross-cultural joyride that careens from Perry Como's "Papa Loves Mambo" to the loopy hip-hop of Handsome Boy Modeling School's "The Projects", while paying some gratifying visits to Percy Faith, Arthur Lyman, Quincy Jones, the terminally cool Claude Debussy and, of course, King Elvis along the way. Holmes' own concoctions are as smartly retro-hip and seamless, slyly intertwining cool jazz-funk and smoky cine-Muzak with some dance-floor grooves that keep the musical tension boiling. The sharp dialogue snippets that bubble throughout seem a quirky throwback to soundtracks gone by, a sometimes oversized olive in Holmes' inviting musical cocktail. -Jerry McCulley.

Turin Brakes is the name under which British duo Ollie Knights and Gale Paridjanian have been quietly acquiring a cult following prior to the release of this, their debut album. Though The Optimist is a heavily derivative work-and heavily derivative, at that, of what is becoming a tediously rigid indie orthodoxy defined by Radiohead and Jeff Buckley-it is certainly possible to see what the small amount of fuss has been about. At the very least, The Optimist knocks spots off anything yet accomplished by Coldplay or Travis. Turin Brakes' instrumentation is mostly kept to an ascetic minimum, and it says much for the songs collected here that this is generally all they need. In fact, the only real clunkers are those which try too hard to sound like a proper rock band. Turin Brakes are at their best in their quiet, reflective moments: the opening track, "Feeling Oblivion", is a supremely pretty song, and "State Of Things" is an adroit summoning of the ghost of Bob Dylan circa Freewheelin'. -Andrew Mueller.

Good-natured rock & roll wise guy Joe Walsh not only made a name for himself as guitarist for The Eagles and The James Gang, but he also had a successful solo career. Known for his self-deprecating sense of humor ("Life's Been Good") and his dirty guitar boogie (the pulsating "Rocky Mountain Way"), Walsh drew a fan base from those who were fond of the harder edge he gave to The Eagles. He was easily one of the better guitarists of his generation, not so much for flashy licks but for his rhythmic sensibilities and awareness of restraint and economy. Yet Walsh continued to view himself as an "Ordinary Average Guy. " His keen self-awareness and his understanding of the importance of rock in the overall scheme of things was further evidenced in "A Life of Illusion. " Even the title of this collection, Greatest Hits: Little Did He Know shows Walsh, for all of his talent, never lost sight of the fact that it's only rock & roll. The album also contains the memorable "Funk#49," "Bolero," and "Midnight Man. " -Steve Gdula.

A collection of B Sides (Sorry, G Sides) from a band with only one album to their credit should be an exercise in lowest-common-denominator barrel-scraping. But Gorillaz' G Sides, as befits a band whose "live" performances take months of preparation, is an exercise in careful planning that actually manages to outstrip this near certainty. It's by no means a work of lost gems. "19-2000" features as a more uptempo mix, and "Clint Eastwood" reappears as the more chunky mix performed on the BRITs with Phi Life Cypher, and as a CD-ROM video. Other tracks, such as the closer "12D3" come across as 13 era Blur on autopilot. Unsurprisingly it's not hefty either, weighing in at a fairly paltry 37 minutes and 10 tracks, but overall it provides a fairly good companion to the album, and is better than it has any right to be. -Chris Blenkarn.

For many bedroom producers, Daniel Bedingfield's debut, Gotta Get Thru This must seem like a dream come true. A songwriter, home-producer and vocalist whose laptop hit, the title track of this album, got released by Ministry of Sound to become one of 2001's biggest hits. Bedingfield's style could be described as Prince covering a Michael Jackson song whilst dabbling in UK Garage. "James Dean (I Wanna Know)" is a poppy piece of eighties soul-funk in the vein of Cameo but with a distinctive, fresh edge that sets it apart from countless other 80s' revivalists hanging around the charts. We see a softer side of Bedingfield on "If You're Not the One", a ballad which could easily be dismissed as generic album-filling slush but with a few listens the well-crafted song writing shines though and shows Michael Jackson how his Invincible album should have sounded. One tiny gripe about the album is the re-recorded version of "Gotta Get Thru This", while sounding far more polished and professional than before, it lacks the infectious raw groove of the original. Aside from that one small thing, the album is a positive look at how pop music should be made with a strong emphasis on the artist's music and ability rather than image. -David Trueman.

Stop the obituary column! If nothing else, Greatest Hits proves that Billy Idol lives. And no one seems more surprised-and naturally relieved-about that than the platinum-plumed, former Generation X man himself. Save a couple of cameo film appearances and rent-a-celebrity guest slots with the likes of the Who and Black Sabbath's Tommy Iommi, the last few years have been a downhill, demon-grappling descent into ill-health and white powder abuse for the motorbike-crashing, curly-lipped "Punk Elvis". And it's been that way since 1993's rotten, futuristic concept-album flop Cyberpunk. Greatest Hits not only features Idols' first new material in years (ok, so it's a cover of a song associated with Simple Minds, but this is actually a last-minute replacement for "Bitter Pill" which will now appear on his next studio album) but it also reminds us that in the 1980s, Billy Idol-and his never-mentioned-enough over-haired guitar-slinger Steve Stevens-had the populist touch with their America-friendly, melodious alloy of metal and polished-up punk. And that situation remains. "White Wedding", for instance, is now a record as ceremonially ubiquitous as Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday". And whilst "Rebel Yell" was never even slightly rebellious or even much of a yell, it certainly made for some energetic male bonding at certain over-lubricated Rugby Club social events (also included is a acoustic version of that song from LA's KROQ radio in Christmas 1993). Greatest Hits is the most comprehensive Billy Idol compilation available. Here's hoping his imminent comeback will contribute towards making his next compilation even better. [+]