RADIOHEAD
A futuristic concept album about the first human clone, Kid A shatters conventional notions about rock music with bold brilliance. Front man Thom Yorke stretches his elastic voice around his band's free-form sound. (Capitol)
All That You Can't Leave Behind
U2
Rock lives! Three years after releasing their last album, the self-parodying Pop, Bono, the Edge and the lads return revitalized with their unique, inspirational brand of heroic rock anthems. (Interscope)
Lovers Rock
SADE
After an eight-year absence, the smoky-voiced Sade and her cool jazz-pop combo return triumphant. (Epic)
Buena Vista Social Club Presents
OMARA PORTUONDO
The sweet sounds of Cuban son music, which spawned mambo and salsa. (Nonesuch)
No Strings Attached
'N SYNC
Responding to criticism that they were no more than producers' puppets, the growing boys cut loose on their third CD with more soaring yet precise five-part harmonies. (Jive)
The Marshall Mathers LP
EMINEM
Talented but terrifying, the Howard Stern of rap sets his inventive rhymes about a horrific childhood and some scary, violent fantasies atop propulsive beats. Good thing he's just kidding (we hope). (Aftermath/Interscope)
Voodoo
D'ANGELO
An R&B jack-of-all-trades, this Virginia-born singer melds the grooves of classic soul with contemporary hip-hop styles and tops it off with sweet gospel harmonies. Imagine: Marvin Gaye jams with the Fugees. (Virgin)
The Hardest Part
ALLISON MOORER
The country vocalist evokes the spirits of powerhouses past (Kitty Wells and Patsy Cline) as well as the present-day likes of Patty Loveless and Mandy Barnett. Dazzling. (MCA Nashville)
Oops!...I Did It Again
BRITNEY SPEARS
Grown-up critics dissed even as they drooled over her videos, but the Louisiana Lolita Again drove them mad with catchy melodies and non-Nabokovian lyrics you could not get out of your head. (Jive)
Beyond
JOSHUA REDMAN
An heir to Rollins and Coltrane in the great line of jazz tenor sax, Redman nails a swinging set. (Warner Bros.)
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
