Rock/Pop

The Vengaboys: "The Party Album!" (Violent Records/Positiva)

From the boys who brought you the catchy, irritating three-note dance anthem Up & Down, comes a cheesy collection of four-to-the-floor Eurotrash beats. Step on board Venga Airways for We're Going To Ibiza (a rehash of Typically Tropical's 1970s hit, Going To Barbados), or take a disco trip around the world via We Like To Party (The Vengabus).

Intrepid party people can go boldly where no hairdresser has gone before, and meet the Vengababes From Outer Space, and there's plenty of room for terrace chanting on Ho Ho Vengaboys. It all began when DJ duo Danski and Delmundo were touring Spanish resorts in a school bus, and met singers Kim, Robin, Roy and Denice.

This summer, every disco in Europe will be rocking to the inimitable sound of the Vengabeat, so be afraid - be very, very afraid. By Kevin Courtney

Elton John and Tim Rice: "Aida" (Rocket)

One would wonder if these guys ever actually listen to their own recordings: if so, Elton John surely must have gotten a great laugh hearing Lenny Kravitz sing the line "you can't escape your jeans". Actually, it's "genes": but it sounds like "jeans". The line sums up the preposterous nature of this project: Elton and Tim take on Verdi, and do their interpretation of Aida? If that's not enough, it turns out that this isn't the cast album of the forthcoming production as the artists featured here will not, in the main, appear in the show; nor are the songs sung as they will be on stage. So what you're left with is a kind of demo with Sting, Tina Turner, Shania Twain and Dru Hill performing music by Elton and lyrics by Tim Rice. But the biggest joke of all is The Spice Girls doing My Strangest Suit. The Spice Girls as interpreters of dramatic text? Next. By Joe Jackson

Roxette: "Have A Nice Day" (Roxette Recordings/ EMI)

The granny and granddad of Euro-rock return with a new album which is guaranteed to grab lots of airspace on daytime radio, but also threatens to plunge pop music back into a late-1980s time-warp. Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson come on like a Swedish parody of Eurythmics, all squiggly synths, swishy guitars and tough-cookie vocals; Fredriksson's voice is the trump card and works well on such ballads as I Was So Lucky and It Will Take A Long Time.

Alas, Gessle's voice is as reedy and ineffectual as ever. With such great Swedish bands as The Cardigans and The Wannadies creating pop heaven, I can't think of one reason why the world needs Roxette any more, and this album doesn't offer any. By Kevin Courtney