SOUND CHECK.

RAY CHARLES: ``Pure Genius: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1952-59)'' (Rhino/WEA) - Four stars

Exhausting, inspiring and expensive, this box documents the foundation of Charles' reputation - but you could just as easily pick up a few of the individual Atlantic albums to get the picture. Packaged in a '50s-style record player case with an 80-page linen-bound booklet, the elaborate $150 set - a perfect gift for the soul boy or girl in your life - contains 164 tracks (155 on seven CDs and nine tracks on a DVD of Charles at Newport), taking in the signature gospel/r&b hits (``It Should Have Been Me,'' ``I've Got a Woman,'' ``Greenbacks,'' ``Drown n My Own Tears,'' etc.), and moving through compelling jazz-blues with Milt Jackson and dramatic live turns. A chance to eavesdrop on a 1953 rehearsal where Charles and Atlantic's Ahmet Ertegun run through ``Mess Around'' (a moment immortalized in the biopic ``Ray'') is a nice touch.

- Fred Shuster

BILLY JOE SHAVER: ``The Real Deal'' (Compadre) - Four stars

It sounds like Shaver has gotten somewhat past the pack of tragedies he suffered at the start of the century and back to the outlaw country basics. This terrific collection of unforgiving kiss-offs, lord praisings and brags about all the stuff an old lump can still get away with is expertly and eclectically arranged (stay tuned for Flaco Jimenez's accordion on the hidden ``Feliz Navidad'' track). The songs run quite a gamut, too, from the umpteenth recording of ``Live Forever'' (with Big & Rich, and more joyous than ever) to pure country satire to a haunting Old West Oedipal narrative. As the title song says, you can bet your sweet patootie this is the genuine article.

- Bob Strauss

SEU JORGE: ``Cru'' (Wrasse) - Three stars

The dude who played Knockout Ned in ``City of God,'' crooned Bowie by way of Brazil in ``The Life Aquatic'' and is cool enough to get Bill Murray to appear in his music videos has a new album, his second. Yes, it has its share of gorgeous, spare, sun-soaked ballads, including a song made famous by Elvis, ``Don't.'' But like kissing cousin Jack Johnson, Jorge isn't afraid of being topical - one song here decries the prevalence of silicone breast implants, another the harsh realities of the slum poverty seen in ``City of God.'' So even though Jorge's deep voice sounds as if he wants to lull you to sleep, it's clear, too, that he'd like people to wake up to the world around him. Jorge comes to Hollywood's Knitting Factory on Tuesday.

- Glenn Whipp

BARBRA STREISAND: ``Guilty Pleasures'' (Sony/BMG) - Three stars

In 1980, Barbra hooked up with the Bee Gees' Barry Gibb for the playful multiplatinum ``Guilty,'' which some say was the best Streisand album of the last 25 years. In this reunion, featuring a lush remake of the late Andy Gibb's ``Our Love (Don't Throw It All Away),'' the songs and arrangements touching on r&b (recalling the first Streisand/Gibb meeting) fare best - a disco-fied ``Night of My Life'' and the Motown-tinged ``It's Up to You'' especially. Aficionados will also savor bigger-than-life ballads ``Stranger in a Strange Land'' and ``Golden Dawn,'' delivered with earth-shaking conviction.

- F.S.

RYAN CABRERA: ``You Stand Watching'' (Atlantic) One star

He may ``Score'' big as host of the upcoming MTV show in which contestants win dates based on their songwriting skills. But when it comes to his own skills, Ryan Cabrera could stand to use some help. Granted, he self-produced this sophomore set of sentimentalized, romantic mush, whose rhythm guitar-driven melodies are awash in white noise and annoying vocal affectations. Just how annoying are they? Outright. Rather than sing, the 23-year-old (whose claim to fame is a wild 'do and a former relationship with Ashlee Simpson) gasps, squeals and rasps his way through one bleeding heart anthem after another: ``From the Start,'' ``Photo,''``Last Night.'' A score? Don't think so.

- Sandra Barrera

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(1) no caption (Ray Charles)

(2 -- 6) no caption (CD covers)