David Bowie: Hours . . .(Virgin)

Now that he's fiftysomething, it's no surprise to find that Bowie has moved on from dabbling in beats and has returned to his old themes of time and change. Hours . . . finds Bowie in introspective mood, examining his past lives and wondering if he has created anything of value for the future. Thursday's Child and If I'm Dreaming My Life lift the masks from Bowie's many personae, revealing the fragile but indomitable ego underneath. Selfdoubt must suit the Thin White Duke well, because these 10 tunes are well-executed soundbites of Bowiesque brilliance. Something In The Air, New Angels Of Promise and Brilliant Adventure lean towards the Heroes/Lodger/ Scary Monsters era, while Seven harks back to Hunky Dory days. The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell, however, proves that Bowie is not about to indulge in neo-futurist nostalgia, while What's Really Happening, with lyrics written by a lucky subscriber to the Bowie website, shows that the Dame still has one eye on the next millennium.

Kevin Courtney

My First Album (Virgin)

Face it, dadrockers: pop is a kid's game nowadays, and your mature, meaningful bands are always going to be outsold by manufactured teenypop drivel. With the future now firmly in the hands of pre-pubescent pop fans, it's imperative that parents keep up with their children's quickly-changing tastes, and stay ahead of that ever-shortening attention span. This week's fruity pop flavour is a 21-year-old named Lolly, who comes on like a rollerskating teenage shopaholic, and writes sleevenotes like: "I'm really excited about the release of My First Album and I can't wait to travel and see places, and go shopping, of course!" The album features a fizzy version of Tony Basil's Mickey, but the best thing about this record - from your kids' point of view - is that the CD also contains a karaoke version of the album, which should keep your darling minipops singing along to their little hearts' content.

Kevin Courtney

Christie Hennessy: This Is As Far As I Go (WEA)

How's this for a dose of irony? "I never knew the Bishop lied/ I never saw Hitler fight/ I was out of town when Kennedy died/ And I slept right through the leap for mankind." Great lyric, shame about the singalong melody in All Around The World. But then Christie Hennessy is shamelessly populist. And when he turns his compositional skills to slow, sad love songs like Please Don't Go Tonight and She Sits behind the Wall, Hennessy is a total heartbreaker. Immaculate music. Sure, he may lack the biting edge many people prefer in music but for fans of the man, This Is As Far As I Go is undoubtedly Christie Hennessy's best album to date. 99£11£747

Joe Jackson