This is a reviews page based on my own collection, which just keeps growing despite itself. If it isn't listed here, it's because I don't own it yet, or I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Also, bother your local "new rock" radio station and make sure they are playing "new rock" and not "I Melt With You," which is not new.

note: entries in red text indicate my pick for the artist's best available album. A gold numeral indicates the POPocalypse winner of the year's best album; second- and third-place winners are in blue. Green lettering indicates an obviously exploitative record company compilation without apparent artist input.

GRANT LANGSTON: All This and Pecan Pie (1999, ***)
Admittedly, I just grabbed this because the artist has the same name as me (my middle name, from my father's mother's family, is Langston), but I'm glad I did. This considerably more talented Grant Langston was raised in Alabama and relocated to California for a career of twangy guitar and homespun tales with a lot of passion and energy behind them. His MSG debut features six studio songs and three recorded live in September 1999. He leads with a pair of very humorous ditties before slowing down for the very sweet "Homemade Peach Ice Cream" and a stunning story of rural interracial love called "Alan Williams." After those, the other studio songs, despite their charms, can't help but feel anonymous and forgettable. "Alan Williams" definitely should have closed the album. The three live tracks are very good. The audience is rambunctious and reacts well to his clearly-enunciated comedy piece "Cameron Diaz" in particular, but all three sound like they came from one heck of a good show. More, please!

CYNDI LAUPER: She's So Unusual (1983, UK #16, US #4, ***)
Her radio-heavy 1983 solo debut is aging poorly, but the ballads are as strong as ever and Cyndi manages to do a Prince cover ("When You Were Mine") that's better than the original. "All Through the Night" still thunders, though "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" stopped being cute a decade ago.

CYNDI LAUPER: True Colors (1986, UK #25, US #4, **)
The three singles pulled from her second album are all gems, with "Change of Heart" her best song ever and the cover of Martin Gaye's "What's Going On" very passionate. Sadly the rest of the album is pure filler, with an embarassing Pee-Wee Herman cameo on one track. Beautiful Annie Leibovitz photography on the sleeve, though.

CYNDI LAUPER: A Night to Remember (1989, UK #9, US #37, ****)
Cyndi's third album is a damn sexy little masterpiece and probably the pinnacle of her career, with the only dud being one co-written with Diane Warren. Contains the smash "I Drove All Night" and several others that didn't do as well.

CYNDI LAUPER: Hat Full of Stars (1993, UK #56, US #101, **)
Her fourth album, after a four year layoff, is an immensely personal and radio-unfriendly opus that flopped and yielded no hits. The vocals and lyrics are very strong, with "Sally's Pigeons" being a song to hang a career's reputation on, but the music is often very cluttered and discordant, with Junior Vasquez's production not flattering the material.

CYNDI LAUPER: Twelve Deadly Cyns...and then some (1994, UK #2, US #81 [in 95], ***)
This excellent 1994 compilation (released in the US a year later) covers all the essential tracks, hits-that-were and hits-that-shoulda-been, with two new tracks, bringing the track listing to 14. There's perhaps too much emphasis on the first two albums, but the songs presented are all excellent. But where are the singles "The Goonies R Good Enough" and "Hole in My Heart," neither of which are available on any CD?

CYNDI LAUPER: "I'm Gonna be Strong" CD single (1995, UK #37)
The second single from Twelve Deadly Cyns meanders a bit around a dull set of verses, but Cyndi's voice brings it roaring to life. Also includes two album tracks from Hat Full of Stars to round out the package.

CYNDI LAUPER: Sisters of Avalon (1997, UK #59, US #188, ***)
Once again, some of the behind-the-scenes work helps to cripple an otherwise engaging package. The production is mostly unflattering and the backup vocals (particularly on the title track) are intrusive. Her own voice and songwriting continue to improve and impress. Key songs: "The Ballad of Cleo & Joe," "You Don't Know" and the beautiful, listen-in-a-dark-room elegy "Unhook the Stars."

THE LIGHTNING SEEDS: Cloudcuckooland (1989, UK #50, US #46, ***)
Prior to his solo career, Liverpool's Ian Broudie was known as an excellent producer, whose services were sought by a host of bands who loved the sound of the delicate pop sheen he mastered. Today, Broudie is known in America as a one-hit wonder for his astonishing debut single "Pure." In England, he's better known for later efforts, including the massive 1996 hit "Three Lions." Unsurprisingly, his first album is therefore overlooked by most listeners. It's a great little album, with just-simple enough melodies and a tentative, questioning tone, the sound of a guy wanting to explode with love, but just a little unsure how the whole emotional-commitment thing works.

LINKIN PARK: Hybrid Theory (2000, UK #4, *)
No human beings were injured in the creation of this CD. Nor, from the evidence presented, were any present at any stage of its production.

LITTLE RED ROCKET: It's in the Sound (2000, ***)
Perfect pop for not-perfect people. This is the wonderful second album from the Athens quartet. They take a few detours from the two guitars-bass-drums sound, they go out of tune sometimes on the harmonies, they apologize to their lover for their "Wandering Eye." This is simply wonderful and I adore it to pieces.

LONE JUSTICE: The World is Not My Home (1999, *)
Lone Justice gained a huge amount of press attention in the mid-80s due to Maria McKee's recording and touring ties to Tom Petty, Dave Stewart and Little Steven, but they disbanded with only the smallest dents into the US chart. It is important to stress that this compilation was assembled with loving care and does a fantastic job archiving the band's two album career with seven very good tracks culled from them. These are augmented with seven demos that predate the 1985 Lone Justice album and three live cuts. Unfortunately, the demos and two of those tracks are completely horrible, most obnoxious of all a hoot-n-holler number called "Rattlesnake Mama." A live attempt at tackling "Sweet Jane," with Bono sharing vocals, fumbles from the kickoff. For what it's worth, the remaining unreleased song, a live performance of "Wheels," is absolutely wonderful.

LUNA: Lunapark (***)
Sort of a Wilburys for the alternative set, the still hitless Luna comprises former members of Galaxie 500, the Chills and the Feelies. This is slow, well-crafted, dreamy rock, just a little faster than Mazzy Star but just as moody. My son wants you to know that the single "Smile" is his favorite song.

LUNA: Bewitched (***)
Luna's follow-up features the car song "California (All the Way)," guest guitar by Sterling Morrison and some weird Clockwork Orange-style furniture design. "This Time Around" is spectacular, a resigned sigh of a song that really pulls on the heartstrings.

LUNA: Penthouse (**)
Penthouse starts off the weakest of Luna's first three albums, with stumbles both musical and lyrical ("you're out all night chasing girlies"?). It picks up quickly, and by "23 Minutes in Brussels" it's quite good, and by the closing (unlisted) cover of Gainsbourg's "Bonnie and Clyde," it's excellent. This is thought to be the only album to ever namecheck Christopher Boyce.

SHELBY LYNNE: I am Shelby Lynne (1999, UK #94, ***)
It's usually a good sign when a country album is released in England ahead of the States, since it means the artist might be bucking the establishment. In the case of Alabama's Lynne, who was displeased with a few light pop efforts in a stereotypical "new country" vein, this was due to her honest, angry and bitter material. Production is handled on this album by Sheryl Crow's collaborator Bill Bottrell. This is the firey sound of a hurt woman, who must be really incredible live.