The Pretenders Greatest Hits (Warner.esp) Twenty songs. All the stuff and more. Reviews itself. 9 (CY)

Valentino Orchestra Daybreak Express (Just a Memory/Fusion III) The music of Ellington, another feather in the cap of Andrew Homzy and friends. 8.5 (LD)

Matthew Sweet Time Capsule: The Best of... (Volcano/BMG) ¯Girlfriend,“ ¯Sick of Myself“ and all that other Sweet stuff from this undersung power-pop wizard. 8 (RB)

Various Gems of Italian Cinema (Amsterdamned/Song) From the soothing trill of classical guitar to a world of cheesy horns and sleazy keyboards, this should satisfy all your sultry, out-of-synch needs. 8 (LC)

The Gloria Record A Lull in Traffic (Crank!) The words ¯self-indulgent“ and ¯experimental“æoh wait, this isnÌt the new Radiohead album. This is The Bends, condensed to an EP. 6 (LC)

Various Sing a Song for You: Tribute to Tim Buckley (Manifesto) Considering that Tim BuckleyÌs been ¯tributed“ by 4AD since 1984, how about tossing one the sonÌs way? 6 (CY)

Meat Puppets Golden Lies (Breaking/Warner) How the mighty have fallen. 4 (JC)

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