The Black Crowes: "By Your Side" (Columbia)

Following the noodling, cod-mystical Three Snakes And One Charm, which saw the hard-rockin', spliff-rolling combo disappear up their own beards, most of us lost interest in Atlanta's most famous Faces sound-alikes. With this new album, however, the Crowes come out of the weeds to deliver an ass-kicking hybrid of The Stones and Led Zep. Songs such as Go Faster, Kickin' My Heart Around, Heavy and Go Tell The Congregation condense the essence of Exile On Main Street and Physical Graffiti into a punchy, direct return to form. Of course, The Crowes are still hopelessly out of time and still strutting on the edge of irrelevance, but at least their retro has become rocket-fuelled again. Kevin Courtney

Lloyd Cole: "The Collection" (Polygram)The fall from grace of Lloyd Cole is hard to explain. A literate, sometimes over-literary songwriter, his singles with The Commotions very much defined the 1980s for many rock fans. This collection is a virtual soundtrack of those days, featuring his major hits with the band such as Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken and Perfect Skin. Better still, and ridiculously under-rated, are such solo offerings as Don't Look Back, She's A Girl and I'm A Man and the beautiful Butterfly. These are the real treasures on this album, and the songs that are bound to be a revelation to fans who are only familiar with his early work. A great, often deadpan voice delivering deadly lyrics. Joe Jackson

Various Artists: "Music From The Motion Picture Little Voice" (EMI Soundtracks)

While last year's The Full Monty revived interest in cheesy Seventies hits, this highly-acclaimed comedy starring Jane Horrocks should re-ignite interest in that evergreen genre, the torch song. While the movie focuses on Horrocks's uncanny renditions of the great singers, this soundtrack gives us the originals, including Judy Garland's That's Entertainment!, Billie Holiday's Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?), Shirley Bassey's Big Spender and Marilyn Monroe's My Heart Belongs To Daddy. Horrocks herself performs two songs - I Wanna Be Loved and Get Happy - both of which boast the musical ring of confidence. A big hand, then, for Little Voice. Kevin Courtney