Rock/Pop

The Devlins: "Waiting" (Universal) The second long-player from the Devlin brothers is a much more solid effort than their rather ineffectual debut, Drift, and songs like World Outside and Years Could Go By manage to stick in the mind a little longer than their longforgotten predecessors. Colin and Peter Devlin may be Irish, but their musical vision is firmly American, and songs like Heaven's Wall and Waiting put them closer to The Wallflowers than to The Verve. Much is made of the silences, the gaps and pauses in the songs, and these add to the atmosphere, allowing Colin Devlin some space to develop a bit of maturity in his voice. The Devlins' songwriting belongs to the long-gone era of FM rock, but their attention to the finer nuances of sound and style keeps them well up with the pack. Kevin Courtney

John Lennon: "Lennon Legend The Very Best Of John Lennon" (EMI) Having been electronically resurrected in The Beatles' Anthology series, John Lennon is now laid to rest with a straightforward retrospective of his solo career, comprising 20 of his bestknown songs, though not always showcasing his best work. Lennon's peaceloving spirit is invoked in the opening track, Imagine, and his erratic, angry and often inspired work with the Plastic Ono Band is covered with songs like Instant Karma!, Mother, Jealous Guy and Cold Turkey. Mind Games and #9 Dream saw Lennon revisiting the headspace of his latter days with The Beatles; I suppose they had to include the sugary (Just Like) Starting Over and the cooing Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) from 1980's Double Fantasy love-fest, but Working Class Hero is how we'd rather remember him. Kevin Courtney

Janet Jackson: "The Velvet Rope" (Virgin)

Janet samples Joni Mitchell on Got 'Til It's Gone - why not? She's one of the few dance divas who explores the emotional and social terrain more often associated with singer-songwriters such as Mitchell. Previously it was racism, here on Free Zone she highlights homophobia and on Together Again sings of lovers who have died from AIDS. She also accuses a lover of physical and mental abuse in What About which, in turns, is musically soothing and suddenly vengeful. Providing the musical settings, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis wrap Janet's velvet voice in ribbons of silk rather than rope. But in the silk there are those razor blades that seem to define the Jackson psyche. Bravest of all, in Rod Stewart's Tonight's The Night, by not changing the gender of the woman about to be seduced Janet Jackson adopts the role of a bisexual. Similarly, So Deep celebrates sexuality in way that somehow seems all the more celebratory on an album that also focuses on physical abuse. Great album. Joe Jackson