"The Look of Love": The Burt Bacharach Collection (Rhino)

I know. We've had countless Bacharach collections. But throw them all out, because this, no doubt, is definitive. It should be. Three CDs! Seventy five tracks! Best of all is that they are arranged chronologically, kicking off with The Story Of My Life. Nearly 40 years of hits, with maybe 15 tracks too many from the later years, which only serve to highlight the deterioration in Bacharach's work once he parted company with lyricist Hal David. Somehow, David's conversational lyrics were perfectly suited to the clipped, asymmetrical melodies created by our Burt. For their tracks alone, and the equally masterful vocal work of singers like Dionne Warwick, Tom Jones and Gene Pitney, this is a must-have Christmas present for any true pop fan. Joe Jackson

Various Artists: "Chef Aid: The South Park Album" (American)

Television's most repellent eight-year-olds make the inevitable CD, aided by top stars such as Wyclef Jean, Elton John, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Mase and Meat Loaf. Here's the premise: Chef (voiced by Isaac Hayes) has landed himself in a financial stew, so Kyle, Kenny, Cartman and Stan organise a benefit concert. Like previous CD spin-offs from cartoons such as Beavis & Butthead and The Simpsons, the meeting of cartoon voices and real-life performers grates on the ears, and the puerile double entendres in Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls, Perry Farrell's Hot Lava and Rick James and Ike Turner's Love Gravy fall disappointingly short of the series's truly gross humour. Kevin Courtney

Metallica: "Garage Inc." (Polygram)

The world's biggest metal band become pub band for a day, with rather mixed results. Whenever a band decides to "get back to its roots, man", the cringe factor goes all the way up. Garage Inc is a two-CD set of cover tunes by the metalloid monsters; CD2 gathers together all the band's previously-recorded covers, while CD1 boasts 11 new covers, recorded in three weeks, and featuring versions of Bob Seeger's Turn The Page, Blue Oyster Cult's Astronomy and Black Sabbath's Sabbra Cadabra, plus tributes to longdead bands such as Sweet Savage, Merciful Fate and Diamond Head. The sound has all the necessary roughness and raw power, although the cover of Thin Lizzy's Whiskey In The Jar sounds a little too slapdash and their attempt at Nick Cave's Loverman is, frankly, limp. Kevin Courtney