SOUND CHECK.

Janet Jackson/``The Velvet Rope''

Once you get past the fact that Jackson's voice is about as strong as a wet paper towel, her music can and often does kick. But consistency has always been her downfall. Where the new album falters is with the mix of slow ballads that leave a neutral feeling, such as the ill-chosen remake of Rod Stewart's ``Tonight's the Night'' and the wimpy ``Special.'' On the whole, ``The Velvet Rope'' reveals a maturity with its deep themes and adult lyrics. Interestingly, a few songs sound remarkably like brother Michael's. The album may require a second or third listening to really get into, but once hooked, her fans will be satisfied with her more sophisticated up-tempo style. Three Stars

?13- Joy R. Sewing

Houston Chronicle

Bjork/``Homogenic''

The Icelandic imp promises, in the opening track here, to ``bring back the goods.'' And by blending her own art-song sensibilities with an internationalist mix that brings the Icelandic String Octet together with a battery of electronic textures, Bjork makes that stilted English promise stick. This is a record with a sustained flair that makes her daring earlier efforts seem careful. Recorded in Spain with the aid of Brazilian disco producer Eumir Deodato, ``Homogenic'' is improbably effective. ``Hunter'' marries an organic drum 'n' bass foundation with a fanfare of cellos and violins; ``Alarm Call'' constructs a mounting, chunky, dance-floor groove atop which Bjork the seeker announces, ``I'm not a ... Buddhist, but is this enlightenment?'' And ``Pluto'' uses machine-gun blasts of static and the singer's car-alarm voice to create gleeful chaos that, like the rest of ``Homogenic,'' boldly ventures into the techno future while never losing its intensely personal vision and human heart. Three and One Half Stars

?13- Dan DeLuca

Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

Sarah Brightman/``Time to Say Goodbye''

On her latest CD, Sarah Brightman sings in four languages (English, Hebrew, Spanish and Italian) and at least three genres (opera, classical, pop). Funny how it all sounds like ``The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.'' Brightman rose to fame in this country by playing Christine in her then-husband's production of ``Phantom of the Opera.'' Backed here by the magnificent London Symphony Orchestra, she performs the title track with tenor Andrea Bocelli, which provides some window dressing for her shrill soprano. She escapes mediocrity only once, and that's when she transforms Mozart's heavenly ``Alleluja'' into three minutes of sheer hell. One Star

?13- Chris Ledbetter

Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

Everclear/``So Much for the Afterglow''

Over the course of 14 riff-ripping songs (including the hidden track ``I Will Be Hating You for Christmas''), Everclear leader Art Alexakis writes about his past to present, from his estranged father to his mother's nervous breakdown, with all the confessions of a decidedly unglamorous survivor in between. But it never gets self-indulgent, because Alexakis is a literate craftsman, and his empathy for losers and the lower class shines through. Everclear knows that life, like music, is too short to be all ironic, all the time. They may never be very hip, but in bedrooms and cars all over America, they will save lives. Too bad MTV doesn't make videos about, or give awards for, that. Three and One Half Stars

?13- Jim Walsh

Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

Various/``Cuba: I Am Time''

Although the Cuban people have been the real victims of the trade embargo, Americans have been deprived of much more than decent cigars. For decades, only a fraction of Cuba's indigenous music was smuggled into the United States, and then, too often, in tourist-targeted packages. This amazing four-CD set, wryly packaged in a cigar box, is an exhaustively researched compendium of a half-century of musical and rhythmic innovation. It encompasses every variant from ``son'' - from whose Afro-derived rhythms, string instruments and romantic Spanish melodies flow the wellspring of Cuban music - to rhumba, trova, mambo, salsa and the stop-start percussion of Latin jazz, which affected everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Carlos Santana. A beautifully illustrated 112-page booklet leads you from hymns sung to orishas, the deities of ancient religions, by the great singer Merceditas Valdes, to trombonist Gonzalo Rubalcaba's Cubanization of Gillespie's ``Woody 'n' You.'' It's the next best thing to a diplomatic visa. Four Stars

?13- Terry Lawson

Detroit Free Press 

Fatboy Slim/``Better Living Through Chemistry''

One persistent problem with all sorts of synthesizer-based dance music: Its range of groove possibilities is limited to the rather insular imaginations of its programmers. Fatboy Slim, the latest project of former Beats International catalyst Norman Cook, is the first to open the drums 'n' bass world to naturally occurring rhythm patterns. The terrific ``Better Living Through Chemistry'' offers a parade of block-rockin' beats not born in a test tube. These include an old-school gospel funk workout built on a Sly Stone bass line, ``Everybody Needs a 303,'' a spongy conga-line march called ``Give the Po'Man a Break,'' and a memorable rock anthem built on a droning single electric-guitar note, ``Santa Cruz.'' Three and One Half Stars

?13- Tom Moon

Philadelphia Inquirer

Mark Chesnutt/``Thank God for Believers''

He doesn't go in for theatrics - compare his wry, understated ``Friends in Low Places'' from his debut to Garth Brooks' hammy hit version. Nor does he abide much pop sweetening. Mark Chesnutt is just a country singer - what a concept! - and one of the most gifted Nashville has to offer right now. ``Thank God'' is only slightly less consistent than 1995's great ``Wings.'' Chesnutt is good enough on the album's western swing and up-tempo barroom honky-tonk and a couple of tunes that have a harder-rocking edge than usual. But it's on such ballads as ``Numbers on the Jukebox'' and ``Any Ole Reason'' that he really does the tradition of fellow East Texan George Jones proud. Three and One Half Stars

?13- Nick Cristiano

Philadelphia Inquirer

Boyz II Men/``Evolution''

It would be nice to report that Philadelphia's ultra-smooth ambassadors of song Boyz II Men live up to the title of their third full-length album ``Evolution.'' Since they proclaim an evolutionary step, it would be wonderful to detect even teeny progress in the sound or approach. Alas, the most noteworthy thing about this sure-to-sell collection of imploring ballads and slinky bedroom r&b is the list of collaborators, which includes Sean ``Puffy'' Combs, Babyface, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The high-priced help does exactly what is expected, and that's a problem: Rarely is this group required to stretch, to move beyond the repertoire of melismatic moans and buttery harmonies that is its signature. Babyface presides over heart-fluttering ballads such as the '70s-soul throwback ``Never'' and the cloying ``A Song for Mama.'' Combs conjures a slightly agitated hip-hop pulse for the simmering, can't-miss single ``Can't Let Her Go,'' one of the album's few up-tempo jaunts. And Jam and Lewis contribute a few gorgeous tone poems, including the masterful a capella ``Can You Stand the Rain,'' one of the few inspired compositions on this slick if numbingly competent collection. Two and One Half Stars

?13- Tom Moon

CAPTION(S):

5 Photos

Photo: (1) From classical to techno, Bjork samples it all on ``Homogenic.''

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