SOUND CHECK.

50 CENT: ``Massacre'' (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) - Four stars

As the album opens, 50 Cent is sending a valentine to all his fans. It seems innocent enough, but on an album called ``Massacre'' by one of America's pre-eminent hard-core rappers, there's nothing innocent about such a gesture. Six pregnant seconds later, we hear a woman's screams drowned out by a hail of gunfire. Empty shells clatter to the ground as an ambient chord lays the menacing tone for the action-packed drama that follows up on 2003's ``Get Rich or Die Tryin'.'' In his latest ghetto fantasy, 50 Cent's not just the hustler (``In My Hood''). He's the bag of heroin (``A Baltimore Love Thing'') trying to seduce a drug addict back while scrumptious beats and snatches of The Dells' ``I'll Be Waiting There for You'' play. We hear classic r&b throughout this set, including in ``Ski Mask Way,'' which offers glimpses of the O'Jays' ``What Am I Waiting For.'' The '70s soul-inspired ``Ryder Music'' is another standout on an album full of standouts. But with top producers and guest vocalists like Jamie Foxx backing him on the sweet-talking Dr. Dre production ``Build You Up,'' how could 50 Cent fail?

- Sandra Barrera

PETRA HADEN: ``Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out'' (Bar None) - Four stars

When Mike Watt of the Minutemen asked Petra Haden to take on a note- for-note a capella re-creation of one of his favorite albums, few could have imagined the result. What started as a DIY side project has earned the L.A. singer and violinist praise from Pete Townshend himself. No wonder. Haden's gorgeous interpretation of ``Sell Out'' - a precocious and tuneful poke at commerce and pop art circa 1967 that many count as the best thing the Who ever did - shows off Townshend's maturing songwriting skills to amazing effect. She sings all the parts, and as if her multi-octave range weren't impressive enough, Haden shows true creativity in capturing the album's sonic highlights, from the shimmering arpeggios of ``Tattoo'' to the hive-like drone and braided harmonies of ``I Can See for Miles.'' Haden even manages to sustain the irreverence of the original record, right down to the radio jingles and phony ads. Caught off guard by the buzz, she is telling interviewers she hopes die-hard Who fans won't ``kill'' her. No worries, Ms. Haden - can we get you to do ``Lifehouse'' as an encore?

- Quinn Hanchette

M. WARD ``Transistor Radio'' (Merge) - Four stars

``I've dug beneath the wall of sound/ I ended up where I started,'' sings Ward on ``(Got Lonesome) Fuel for Fire,'' an achingly lovely country song that is so timeless it could come out of any era. The gravelly, sweet- voiced Ward may have started in California but there is no easy way to describe his sound. At times, the 31-year-old singer-songwriter, now based in Oregon, can sound like he's channeling a past life - a Southern minstrel, a Depression-era folkie, an old bluesman - through a hip, pop sensibility. The blues-based ``Four Hours in Washington,'' with its building, insistent rhythms, feels like its subject matter - insomnia - while ``Here Comes the Sun Again'' riffs off the George Harrison song to create its own light. Ward, whose playing was influenced by the late guitarist extraordinaire John Fahey, begins and ends the disc with cool instrumentals of the Beach Boys' ``You Still Believe in Me'' and Bach's ``Well-Tempered Clavier.'' In between, though, from wry rockers like ``Big Boat'' to the oddly compelling ``I'll Be Yr Bird,'' it's a trippy dreamscape. Ward will be at the Troubadour on March 29.

- Rob Lowman

HEATHER WATERS: ``shadow of you'' (redd fogg) - Three stars

L.A.-based singer-songwriter Waters has a sigh-catching voice as evocative as Emmylou Harris', and she loves to deploy it on the most heartbreaking, country folk tunes she can find. Sometimes this goes overboard into lonely-girl bathos, but on such cuts as ``Hush,'' ``Alone in Tennessee'' and the Gillian Welch-composed ``You Just Don't Love Me,'' the effect is transcendentally moving. Waters also has an invaluable collaborator in Eric Heywood, whose pedal-steel licks complement her vocals with rare, devastating precision. Catch Waters live at Room 5 in Hollywood on March 22; call [phone] for show information.

- Bob Strauss

WASILEWSKI/KURKIEWICZ/MISKIEWICZ / ``Trio'' (ECM) - Three and one half stars

Maybe the names aren't familiar right off the bat, but pianist Marcin Wasilewski, bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz and drummer Michal Miskiewicz make up three quarters of trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's quartet. This is their debut recording as a piano trio and it's every bit as good as you'd expect from hearing them play on Stanko's last two albums. ``Trio'' features the musicians in a variety of settings, including improvisational pieces, original compositions and inspired covers. It's late-night jazz, contemplative, a little bit more melodic than the Stanko recordings, but possessing the same deep, deliberate lyricism.

- Glenn Whipp

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Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com

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