New releases -- for week starting January 14, 2001.

RECOMMENDED CATALOGUE NEW RELEASES

TOM JONES: Loaded (RPM 234) The veteran vocalist is in fine voice on this collection, which is subtitled The Brassed Up Funked Out Club Sides and includes his unique and contemporaneous take on pop and soul favourites, with a few originals interspersed. Among the highlights are his hit She's A Lady, written by Paul Anka, and full-throated assaults on Proud Mary, Venus and The Resurrection Shuffle. Jones never gives less than 100%, and his unique vocals -- as suited to rock-rooted workouts such as this as to crooning ballads -- are a constant source of delight.

ATOMIC ROOSTER: Heavy Soul (Castle Music CMDD 0364) A fine two-disc set pulling together 30 tracks from the progressive rock band's 1969-1974 output, neatly covering both its first recordings and its peak. The tracks include their two big hits Tomorrow Night and The Devil's Answer, intelligent and concise tunes which remain popular on gold radio stations and helped to define the group's unique niche in the history of prog rock.

PEARL JAM: Vitalogy (Epic 4778612) A more difficult and less successful album than their previous chart efforts Ten and Vs., Vitalogy was nevertheless a much-lauded release in 1994. It duly made the Top Five, while spinning off the group's only Top 10 single, Spin The Black Circle, as well as the more modestly achieving follow-up Not For You. Vitalogy returns at mid-price and provides a more satisfying investment than any of the 21 live albums the group unleashed last year -- although the mood is very dour and the songs are gloomy, tense affairs which flair into explosive life at intervals. Not the ideal first buy for a new Pearl Jam convert but a good album for all that.

KULA SHAKER: Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts (Columbia 4931422) After topping the charts and becoming the critics' darlings with their excellent debut album K, Kula Shaker waited three years to release this similarly-styled set of hippy rock tunes. But their reception was less welcoming second time around, with Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts barely claiming a place in the Top 10. They broke up after that album, and the world still waits for enigmatic frontman Crispian Mills' debut solo release.

NEW RELEASE COUNTDOWN

Key releases scheduled for the next few weeks