In one sense, human heads function much like those of other mammals. We use them to chew, smell, swallow, think, hear, and so on. But, in other respects, the human head is quite unusual. Unlike other animals, even our great ape cousins, our heads are short and wide, very big brained, snoutless, largely furless, and perched on a short, nearly vertical neck. Daniel E. Lieberman sets out to explain how the human head works, and why our heads evolved in this peculiarly human way.

Awards season was even more depressing than usual for anyone who loves smart, honest country music. Taylor Swift's banal adolescent ramblings, one-hook wonders Lady Ante-

bellum's constant droning, all of Miranda Lambert's wicked sass kicked out of her on that sappy song about the house .... So imagine what a relief it is to hear real poetry, ingenious wit and pedal steel perfection on Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers' second album. A Seattle kid who somehow remembers everything Nashville's forgotten, songwriter Muth sings in a slightly flat purr that works equally well on evocatively elusive country rock lyrics ("I've Been Gone," "Before the Night Is Gone"), socially engaged folk ballads ("Tired Worker's Song") and "If I Can't Trust You With a Quarter," the greatest and funniest anthem ever written (with Anna Brown) for a honky-tonk angel with superior musical tastes. The High Rollers are as tight and innovative a country band as you could ever want to hear; they bring the traditional without ever sounding stale. In a genre that's declared authentic and fresh dirty words, Muth and the boys make those lost values ring.

Bob Strauss, Daily News

Lou Reed has always dabbled in contrasts, so it comes as no surprise that the follow-up to his darkly serious concept album BERLIN was a commercially oriented, good-time rock & roll fest. ROCK N' ROLL ANIMAL is a live set that finds Reed stretching out on some of his best-loved Velvet Underground tunes with the help of his crack touring band at the time. Though the songs are somewhat given to stylistic excess, the overall sound is streamlined, accessible, and visceral.

The twin guitar attack of Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter help transform Velvet classics like "White Light White Heat," "Sweet Jane," and "Rock 'N' Roll" into pomp/glam-rock [is pomp the word meant here? not pop?] showpieces, complete with extended arrangements, elaborate instrumental sections, and of course, plenty of long guitar solos. Those who cling to the image of Reed as punk godfather might be mystified by his transformation here into Rock God. But the heart of rock & roll beats in the chest of all of Reed's chameleon-like personalities, and ROCK 'N' ROLL ANIMAL amplifies the sound of that heart to great effect.

Recorded live in 1973, Rock N Roll Animal is Reed's glam-rock sneer back at his Velvet Underground legacy. Five tracks are VU classics (two about the redemptive power of rock, three about the transformative power of drugs) dressed up into slick, flashy twin-guitar attacks, with big riffs and solos. Eight previously unissued tracks, three from 1972's Transformer LP, four from 1973's Berlin LP, and one VU classic flesh out this reissue version of the original concert in it's entirety.

Broken Social Scene materialized in 1999 when K.C. Accidental's Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, formerly of By Divine Right, bonded their friendship into a band. They spent the next few years honing an atmospheric rock sound in their native Toronto and the dynamic was great. Feel Good Lost marked their debut album in 2001 and introduced a revolving cast of Canadian indie musicians. Drew's fellow mate from Do Make Say Think, Charles Spearin, was added to the band, as well as Evan Cranley (Stars), James Shaw, and Emily Haines (Metric). By the time their guitar-fueled sophomore effort, You Forgot It in People, was released in fall 2002, Broken Social Scene had become an 11-piece collective. Jason Collett, Andrew Whiteman, Justin Peroff, and Leslie Feist fulfilled the band's bombastic, orchestrated sound, and critics loved it. You Forgot It in People was a buzz among indie cohorts, and plans for a stateside release on Arts & Crafts was slated for the following summer. A surprise, however, coincided with those plans in spring 2003 when Broken Social Scene won a Juno for Alternative Album of the Year for You Forgot It in People.

Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. She is the prototype for the female pop singer of today. At the height of her chart popularity in the late '50s and early '60s, Francis was unique as a female recording artist, amassing record sales equal to or surpassing those of many of her male contemporaries. Ultimately, she branched into other styles of music -- big band, country, ethnic, and more. She still challenges Madonna as the biggest-selling female recording artist of all time.

It may be a budget-line, ten-track collection, but Sony's Super Hits is pretty much the definitive retrospective on the pop-metal quartet Firehouse's career. The disc wisely concentrates on the group's first two records, 1991's Firehouse and 1992's Hold Your Fire, which was when the band was at the peak of their popularity. All their hits from these two records are here -- "Don't Treat Me Bad," "Love of a Lifetime," "All She Wrote," "Reach for the Sky," and "When I Look Into Your Eyes" -- except for "Sleeping With You," which just barely scraped the charts at the height of grunge-mania. The other half of the record is devoted to album tracks, including selections from the little-heard Firehouse 3 and Good Acoustics. They might not be as memorable as the hits, but they're pleasant hair metal in the same vein. Truth be told, this music works best as nostalgia for anyone who came of age during the early '90s -- those who remember slow dancing to "Love of a Lifetime" or waving their lighters to power ballads from Slaughter and White Lion -- and anyone who is of that mindset will likely enjoy this concise and rather thorough compilation.

The pristine tones and lilting melodies of the Celtic harp are immediately inviting. Celtic Harpestry, a companion to a PBS performance special, explores a sound both traditional and modern in a tasteful and evocative collection. This isn't a purist's album--half of the harpists aren't even from the Celtic isles, and among the album's old Irish chestnuts is "My Heart Will Go On," the love theme from Titanic. The otherwise-joyful Belfast Harp Orchestra tromp through the James Horner tune, almost pulling some subtlety out of its overwrought themes. Turlough O'Carolan, the blind patron saint of the Celtic harp, might wish he were deaf as well, if he could hear it. But the bard would be thrilled to hear the 12-piece BHO playing the traditional "Brian Boru's Set" or one of founder Janet Harbison's zephyrlike originals. Her "Earth, Water, Wind and Fire" elicits shifting textures and colors that belie their traditional roots. The song also exemplifies the ethereal side of the Celtic harp explored on Celtic Harpestry with artists like Rudiger Oppermann. Playing a wire-strung harp accompanied by bass and keyboards, the German harpist soars through crystalline melodies whether he's playing traditional tunes or originals. The most traditional sound actually comes from the American players. Cheryl Ann Fulton gives a straight-up rendition of "Breton Medley," and jazz harpist Deborah Henson-Conant is refreshingly restrained, faithfully rendering "Londonderry Aire (Danny Boy)" and "The Minstrel Boy." Although Celtic Harpestry focuses on slow airs, there are robust performances here, including those by Maire Ni Chathasaigh's group and the harp and vocal duo of Sileas. Outside of the Titanic love theme, Celtic Harpestry is an elegantly wrought collection.

Chick Corea and John McLaughlin share one of the great pedigrees in the music of the 20th century: they were both key sidemen on Miles Davis' seminal albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. They have played together since those heady days, as a duo or as sit-in guests. Five Peace Band was Corea's idea of putting together a dream band to play all kinds of jazz, and he approached McLaughlin. Corea chose the other members in saxophonist Kenny Garrett, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, and bassist Christian McBride.

Tony Bennett has a typical lack of effusiveness about the kudos of his seven-decade career, but he does reportedly display an inscribed picture from a longtime colleague and fellow saloon singer in his Manhattan apartment. It reads: "To the best goddamned pop singer I've ever heard." It's signed "Frank Sinatra." But don't take the Chairman's word for it. Just listen as these two discs bound from one masterly performance to the next, documenting a career whose ups and downs--Bennett actually went long years without a record contract--belie a robust evolution of vocal strength and subtlety of phrasing. The arc of Bennett's art in the decade from "Cold Cold Heart" and "Rags to Riches" to "The Best Is Yet To Come" and his signature "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is remarkable enough, but it just keeps getting better. When the singer's management shrewdly orchestrated his MTV-powered "comeback" in the late 1980s and '90s, Bennett delivered considerably more than mere hype. Indeed, the highlights of those efforts (a warm, semi-autobiographical collection of ballads; tributes to Sinatra, Astaire, Ellington, and the blues; the obligatory MTV Unplugged set) included here barely skim the surface and arguably warrant a double-disc collection all their own. Still, the 39 tracks here represent the best kind of anthology: one that leaves you craving more. --Jerry McCulley

Crafting fast-paced power metal since their inception in the early '80s, Helloween has followed a very curious and unique path throughout their career. Releasing heady concept albums (the Keeper of the Seven Keys series) and complicated metal anthems while keeping their tongue firmly in cheek, the band managed to stay relevant in a stagnant genre by not being afraid to be different. This two-CD set showcases their career by mixing the tracks together from every point of their existence. This works because the sheer variety is complementary to their accomplishments, even if that variety is questionable when compared to less narrow genres. Still, they were always very catchy and memorable, and every important Helloween song imaginable to a casual fan makes an appearance here. Most importantly, the full 14-minute version of "Halloween" is included, and that song more than any other is a cult classic that has gained notoriety through MTV's insistence on playing the track on October 31st for years after the single's release. Their American debut, Walls of Jericho, is well represented through several excellent tracks, and their aforementioned Seven Keys albums also contribute a large amount of material. Those unfamiliar with the band may find it unusual that they obsess over weird things like proper names ("Dr. Stein," "Mr. Torture," "Mr. Ego") and have albums with titles like Pink Bubbles Go Ape. But that's the charm of Helloween: they don't have the overblown pomposity of Iron Maiden or oddball gimmicks like Running Wild, they just make solid power metal. This isn't for everybody, but one listen to "I Want Out" should remind fans old and new exactly why Helloween is good: they rocked.

This four-CD set contains a somewhat streamlined presentation of Parker's complete known live broadcasts from New York's Royal Roost, dating during 1948 and 1949, augmented with five of the live September 29, 1947, Carnegie Hall recordings and one lower-quality tape made in Chicago during 1950. The vitality of these performances still radiates off the tapes in whatever format they're reproduced 50-plus years later -- the interaction between the bandmembers, which include Miles Davis (or Kenny Dorham) on trumpet and Max Roach at the drums, and Tadd Dameron or Al Haig at the ivories, is spellbinding. The difference between these performances and Parker's studio work of the period is that he was always "on" for the broadcasts, and had already achieved something of a peak that he still missed in his studio work of the era -- those along with him rose to the occasion, as witnessed by Kenny Dorham's playing on Miles Davis' "Half Nelson" in December of 1947. On the other hand, nobody could touch Parker when he was at his peak on stage, which he ascends easily on a jam set to Irving Berlin's "White Christmas." The Chicago material, which exists on a separate CD from Savoy (One Night in Chicago), isn't as well recorded -- the rhythm section is muted, and the balances are off, but Parker is certainly audible, and hearing his improvisations on material like Rodgers & Hart's "There's a Small Hotel" is worth the price of the disc, even on what amounts to a good audience tape. The source material has been very carefully mastered, striking a good balance between clean playback and fidelity to the original performance, and the dozens of pages of notes represent virtually a separate, free-standing book on Parker during this period in his career.

Crafting fast-paced power metal since their inception in the early '80s, Helloween has followed a very curious and unique path throughout their career. Releasing heady concept albums (the Keeper of the Seven Keys series) and complicated metal anthems while keeping their tongue firmly in cheek, the band managed to stay relevant in a stagnant genre by not being afraid to be different. This two-CD set showcases their career by mixing the tracks together from every point of their existence. This works because the sheer variety is complementary to their accomplishments, even if that variety is questionable when compared to less narrow genres. Still, they were always very catchy and memorable, and every important Helloween song imaginable to a casual fan makes an appearance here. Most importantly, the full 14-minute version of "Halloween" is included, and that song more than any other is a cult classic that has gained notoriety through MTV's insistence on playing the track on October 31st for years after the single's release. Their American debut, Walls of Jericho, is well represented through several excellent tracks, and their aforementioned Seven Keys albums also contribute a large amount of material. Those unfamiliar with the band may find it unusual that they obsess over weird things like proper names ("Dr. Stein," "Mr. Torture," "Mr. Ego") and have albums with titles like Pink Bubbles Go Ape. But that's the charm of Helloween: they don't have the overblown pomposity of Iron Maiden or oddball gimmicks like Running Wild, they just make solid power metal. This isn't for everybody, but one listen to "I Want Out" should remind fans old and new exactly why Helloween is good: they rocked.

Sonny Rollins' Milestone period, which resulted in 20 separate recordings from 1972-96, has been much maligned by dissatisfied jazz critics who feel the great tenor's later output has not been on the same level as his earlier work. Although there have been a few inconsistent sets during the time, the best of Rollins' records from those years ranks with his finest of all time. This two-CD set has 19 selections taken from 13 of the albums, mixing together diverse originals with classic versions of "Autumn Nocturne," "Duke of Iron," "Cabin In the Sky," "Tennessee Waltz," and a rendition of "Skylark" that has a long melodic cadenza by Rollins. A fine sampler of Rollins' later years with superior liner notes by Chip Stern, although collectors will want to get many of these complete sets (virtually all of which are currently available on CD).

There are those who will claim that this double-disc best-of is worth its price based on the inclusion of three new songs alone, and given their smolder, it's hard to argue with them. First single and disc one opener "Open Arms" is a stuff-strutting affair, with the leggy rock icon letting loose a vocal torrent to prove that in Tina years 60 is the new 25, not the new 40, and "Complicated Disaster" and "Something Special" don't sit uneasily alongside disc mates like "Typical Male" and "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)." Undiminished vocals and still-vital rock instincts aside, though, the reason to pick up this anthology is its classics. Unlike 1991's Simply the Best which pulled from 1983 till then, All the Best reaches back to 1966 for the soul-steeped "River Deep Mountain High" and chugs through the decades, dipping into the '70s for the Ike'd-up hit "Nutbush City Limits" and hanging around the '80s and '90s for the bulk of 33 tracks. "Proud Mary," a 1993 rendition, keeps on burning, and "Private Dancer" and "What's Love Got to Do With It" land as seductively on the ears as ever, but the lesser-known numbers don't lack for heat either: too many spins of swamp-rocker "Steamy Windows," for example, may require new wiper blades. -Tammy La Gorce

Those Were the Days is an ambitious four-disc, 63-track box set that divides Cream's career into two halves. The first two discs feature every studio track the group ever released, plus a handful of unreleased cuts, alternate takes, and rarities. The other two discs are devoted to live material, which is segued together in an attempt to recreate the "ideal" Cream concert. It's a remarkably comprehensive collection, complete with an extensive booklet and remastered sound, yet it doesn't reveal any new insights about Cream, nor does it offer any invaluable rarities. Therefore, it's only for die-hard collectors or listeners wanting to acquire the entire Cream catalog at once; casual fans will be satisfied with individual albums or greatest-hits collections.

The full saga of Lather (pronounced leather) is tangled enough to give a migraine to all but committed Zappaphiles. Basically, what you need to know is that this project was originally conceived of as a four-record box set. When record company politics prevented its release in that format, much of the material was spread over the albums Live in New York, Sleep Dirt, Studio Tan, and Orchestral Favorites. This three-CD set presents the album as it was originally conceived, with the addition of four bonus tracks at the end. It mixes previously available material, alternate mixes, and edits, and previously unissued stuff, though only the most serious Zappa fans will have a good grip on exactly what has appeared where (the liner notes are surprisingly unexact in this regard). And the music? It's almost like a resume of Zappa's bag of tricks: Uncle Meat-like experimentation, intricate jazz-rock, straight hard rock, orchestral composition, and comedy. Some of those comedy tracks became some of his most notorious routines, like "Punky's Whips" and "Titties 'n Beer," which amounted to avant- rock for drunk frat boys and pot smoking, underachieving junior high school students. The juvenile humor, hamfisted parody of hard rock cliches, and the shaggy-dog opera of the 20-minute "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary" are outshone by the lengthy, more experimental instrumental passages. It's interesting, but exhausting to wade through all at once, and the avant-garde/composerly cuts are not as exceptional as his earlier work in this vein in the late '60s and early '70s. That means that this will appeal far more to the Zappa cultist than the general listener, though the Zappa cult -- which has been craving Lather in its original format for years -- is a pretty wide fan base in and of itself.

This double-CD set presents a real conundrum, on a lot of levels. For starters, on its face, 55 songs may well seem like overkill to the casual fan who only knows or remembers (or thinks they only remember) five or six big hits by Paul Revere & the Raiders. And there are more modest single-CD collections to be found on this band that seem less daunting. But as it turns out -- for those who give this set a try -- Paul Revere & the Raiders did have just enough hits, when coupled with a sufficient number of respected album tracks and B-sides, to sustain a double-CD set. And that goes double for anyone who likes plain old rock & roll -- even when this band got ambitious and a little bit progressive and serious, they never lost sight of the value of a great beat and carefully placed vocal and instrumental hooks, and they were always fun. The truth is, whether it was the classic lineup playing frat rock or an early-'70s version of the band delving into more complex songs, these guys delivered high-quality music across a decade, from 1964 through 1974, and it's all represented here. And amazingly, this was the first Raiders compilation to include "Indian Reservation," the group's only number one hit, or to place it alongside their earlier round of hits, so that one can hear their progression from Pacific Northwest dance rock to smoothly professional AM pop/rock, absorbing elements of the British Invasion, garage punk, and psychedelia along the way.