Amazon.com
This souvenir from the popular teen television drama contains several high-profile pop
smashes tied to the show (Sixpence
None the Richer's "Kiss Me," Paula
Cole's "I Don't Want to Wait," and Shawn
Mullins's "Shimmer"), along with a number of other...Read more
Amazon.com
Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin's self-titled first English-language album is a
triumph of an omnivorous world-pop sensibility--but more important is that at its best,
it's a real kick. The first single, "Livin' La Vida Loca," employs a
revved-up...Read more
Amazon.com Debbie
Gibson never recorded anything as sexy as Britney Spears's white-funk smoker
"...Baby One More Time." Unfortunately, neither does the 17-year-old Spears's
debut album contain anything else that remotely approaches that instant hit single. A...Read more
Amazon.com
The Star Wars cycle, George Lucas's stellar pop parable cum merchandising
blitzkrieg, has long since made history as an unparalleled cinematic-cultural-marketing
phenomena; somewhere Billy Jack should be in one envious, ass-kickin' mood. Phantom...Read more
Amazon.com's Best of 1998
Belle & Sebastian follow up the considerable promise of 1997's fantastic If You're
Feeling Sinister with an album that is, unbelievably, even better. The Boy with
the Arab Strap is an immediately infectious and delicious pastiche of fey, Nick...Read more
Vibe (10/97)
...Usher conveys a luscious sensuality....succeeds with MY WAY by accenting the mystery of
sex....[He] leaves a little something to his listeners' imaginations... Read more
Amazon.com
As these two boys from Brisbane, Australia, know, it doesn't hurt to be endorsed by Rosie
O'Donnell. When the Queen of Nice sang the words to "I Want You" and the praises
of the duo behind it, the song catapulted up the charts. Largely ignored by the...Read more
Amazon.com's Best of 1998
The first solo album by the Fugees'
most distinctive voice quickly wipes away the pretensions of so many current hip-hoppers'
discs. It does so by both engaging their widescreen ethos--"To Zion," with its
martial drums and gospel choir, is as epic a...Read more
Amazon.com essential recording
There's the requisite number of gorgeously melodic and deeply heartfelt songs here--the
addictive "Sweet Surrender," the Hollywood-style ballad "I Love You,"
the sad, profound "Angel," the flat-out spectacular...Read more
Amazon.com
The world may be divided into two camps when it comes to the Orlando-based Backstreet
Boys--detractors and hard-core fans--but no one can deny the fact that the boys produce
perfectly polished pop that sells. The hits on this album speak for...Read more
Amazon.com
Despite its title, director Whit Stillman's follow-up to Metropolitan and Barcelona
isn't really about disco at all. It's more a story about young people coming of age,
friends all a bit out of touch with the direction in which their lives are...Read more
Amazon.com
Like most "overnight sensations," Vonda Shepard had been slogging away for quite
a spell--more than a decade's worth of touring, and three previous albums, to be
precise--before getting to grab the brass ring via the hit TV show Ally...Read more
Amazon.com
Brandy has a lot to prove. She's had five Grammy nominations; she's won one Billboard
Music Award, one American Music Award, and several Image and Soul Train awards; and she's
sold over 4 million records--all by the age of 19. Never Say Never enters...Read more
Amazon.com's Best of 1998
It's been a dozen years since the Beastie Boys broke, and on Hello Nasty, they show
that--though they've grown up, matured, and just gotten older--they're still in touch with
the inner brat that always made them so much fun. Turns out that the brat's...Read more
Amazon.com
Remember the music that was playing during the steerage party in Titanic? That was
Gaelic Storm, who on their self-titled debut present an engaging mix of traditional music,
dance music, and songs, all performed with energy and enthusiasm. The album...Read more
Amazon.com
For some fairly shallow performers, there comes a time when their craft becomes a chore,
when scribbling songs for the big follow-up album turns into a black-and-white deadline.
Clever composers can almost disguise this ennui, burying it in a smarmy,...Read more
Music Madness 
