#709 - A Century Ends, David Gray

"Gray grabs the listener with his poetic lyrics and takes off on an introspective ten-song ride through desperation, regret, lost love, and a longing for change. If A Century Ends is an indicator of things to come, then Gray has the potential to become a prolific singer/songwriter." (allmusic guide)




#708 - Cosmic Thing, The B-52's

"Then there was "Love Shack," an irresistible dance number with delightfully silly lyrics and hooks as big as a whale that unbelievably gave the group a long-awaited Top Ten hit. The thing is, Cosmic Thing would already have been considered a triumphant return without its commercial success. The big sales were just the icing on the cake." (allmusic guide)

#707 - The Allman Brothers Band, The Allman Brothers Band

"Rare is the debut that conveys new ideas with such confidence and in such a fully matured state. When the Allmans released this landmark in 1969, it was as if they had been playing together forever. "It's Not My Cross To Bear" is the blues equivalent of pure bitter pain, while "Whipping Post" is simply one of the greatest rock songs ever written." (real music guide)

#706 - The Charity Of Night, Bruce Cockburn
"Shades of light and shadow play through the album's theme of reflection and memory: Cockburn recalls many events of his past, taking stock and coming to grips with them. It's a very cohesive album in subject, with only the anti-land mine "Mines of Mozambique" seeming out of place (though it's a worthwhile song on its own). The centerpiece of the album is the title song." (allmusic guide)

#705 - Maybe You've Been Brainwashed, Too, The New Radicals

"In 1998, one of the most memorable examples of 1970s-flavored music came from the New Radicals. Although Radicals singer/leader Gregg Alexander was quick to espouse a left-wing point of view, Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too doesn't beat listeners over the head with a sociopolitical agenda. Nor is the CD an exercise in angry 1990s angst rock." (allmusic guide)

#704 - Going For The One, Yes

"In many ways, this disc could be seen as the follow-up to Fragile. Its five tracks still retain mystical, abstract lyrical images, and the music is grand and melodic, the vocal harmonies perfectly balanced by the stinging guitar work of Steve Howe, Wakeman's keyboards, and the solid rhythms of Alan White and Chris Squire." (allmusic guide)

#703 - The Healing Game, Van Morrison

"Returning to his own work, Morrison seems to want to come to terms with the bitterness sometimes expressed in more recent original albums like Too Long in Exile and Days Like This. That bitterness has not dissipated by any means, as he demonstrates most clearly in "This Weight" and "It Once Was My Life," but now he is at pains to make clear that he became a musician because of a pure, simple joy in music-making." (allmusic guide)

#702 - The Sky Is Crying, Stevie Ray Vaughan

"From the morbidly dark "Boot Hill" to the lilting "Little Wing" to the exuberant tributes to his influences -- Lonnie Mack on "Wham" and Albert King on "The Sky Is Crying" -- Vaughan makes the material resonate, and in light of his death, "The Sky Is Crying" and the touching survivor-story ballad "Life by the Drop" are two of the most moving moments in Vaughan's oeuvre." (allmusic guide)

#701 - Antics, Interpol

"It's a mystery how Interpol can expertly ape the post-punk legacy of early Psych Furs and Joy Division without making a monkey out of the music. The best dressed band in show business actually improves on its heralded debut with a livelier album that's austere, rocking and coldly romantic (instead of just cold)." (real music guide)