Various Kickin' the 3... (Shanachie) Hammonds old (Jimmy McGriff) and new (Martin, Medeski & Wood). 9 (RB)

Echo & the Bunnymen Ballyhoo: The Best Of... (Korova) Best of raincoat rock and bird's-nest-hair pop. 7 (CY)

Paul Weller Heavy Soul (Island) Bailing on acid jazz, the man from the Jam gets back to his roots. 7 (RB)

Blue Rodeo Tremolo (WEA) Coasting on Grahm Parson's coattails. 5.5 (JC)

The Nixons (self-titled) (MCA/Universal) These guys need a Watergate of their own. 4 (RB)

Dwight Yoakam Under The Covers (Reprise) Covering the Clash, Kinks and Sonny & Cher, Dwight takes steak and gives us meatloaf. 4 (JC)

Supertramp Some Things Never Change (BMG) They're really asking for it. 2 (CY)

Huffamoose We've Been Had Again (Interscope/Universal) Spineless testosterone pop only to open for Collective Soul. 2 (LE)

John Tesh Avalon (GTSP/Polygram) ET's John Tesh has sold his soul to Zamfir. 2 (JC) more discs...