SOUND CHECK.

FIONA APPLE: ``Extraordinary Machine'' (Epic) - Four stars

When Apple's intriguing album ``Tidal'' came out in 1996, it signaled a talent with a lot of promise. After seeming to lose her way in the years since, Apple fulfills that promise with this new album. It doesn't take long to hear the difference. Your ears prick up immediately during the first few seconds of the title cut that opens the disc. ``Extraordinary Machine'' is a bouncy ditty with bass, pizzicato strings and a chime for punctuation. It and the final cut, ``Waltz,'' were produced by composer Jon Brion and are the only numbers remaining from the first version of the album. For whatever reasons, the Brion-produced album was never released, and Mike Elizondo redid the other 10 tunes, which have a more percussive-bass sound. Either style works because it's Apple's songs, which flow from her piano stylings, that grab your attention. There are plenty of influences present in her music, from the Beatles (a little McCartney here, a little Lennon there) to blues to show tunes to you name it, but it all has Apple's voice. Quirky time changes and sudden flights of vocal fancy (from earthiness to falsetto, although it's mostly Apple's assured expressive alto you hear) augment the passion, drama and humor of the songs. Apple's subject matter may be her messy love life, but by adding a giggle or two and a few genuinely reflective insights, she gives her lyrics a lift. ``Extraordinary'' may not be really extraordinary in this over- hyped world, but it's damn good.

- Rob Lowman

FRANZ FERDINAND: ``You Could Have It So Much Better'' (Sony) - Three and one half stars

All you can ask of a pop album these days is that, like a good toaster, it have some kind of use. This sophomore volley from the stripey-shirt Scottish quartet has been working miracles around our house, its 13 tracks having the same effect as cold air up a dog's nose. Perky, top-notch pop-rock tracks ``This Boy,'' ``Fallen'' and ``Do You Want To'' come with a jolt of melody, caffeine riffs and bracing vocals, strong enough to propel even the most dedicated coach potato into something resembling a frenzy of activity. Franz Ferdinand has done the impossible and made a terrific second album.

- Fred Shuster

SHERYL CROW: ``Wildflower'' (A&M) - Two stars

The love of Lance Armstrong seems to have mellowed Crow. Rather than turn out another sunny, pop-rock offering like her last, '02's ``C'mon, C'mon,'' the 43-year-old, nine-time Grammy winner delivers a disc plump with lush, breezy strings and introspective song lyrics that border on sappy. That's not to say some of the 11 songs on this set aren't gorgeous. The opener ``I Know Why'' mingles acoustic folk guitar and banjo picking with sweeping orchestrations, while a quiet piano eases us through ``Always on Your Side.'' Between the ballads are poppier offerings, including the single ``Good Is Good.''

- Sandra Barrera

VARIOUS: ``Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the Second Psychedelic Era (1976-96)'' (Rhino) - Four stars

Rhino's ``Nuggets'' boxes are a music geek's dream realized: dozens of great songs cranked out by great bands, some known, some beyond-obscure, pulled together in packages to be enjoyed, absorbed and then acted upon. (You can't hear, say, the Revillos' howling ``Motorbike Beat'' without becoming obsessed with finding more from this band.) This four-disc set picks up where Rhino and Lenny Kaye, the godfather of the garage-rock anthology, left off in two previous efforts, pulling together 100 songs by post-punk bands influenced by the '60s sounds of pop and psychedelia. So you have early sides by the Smithereens, Plimsouls and Teenage Fanclub sitting alongside scores of unsung classics by the Nashville Ramblers, the Chills and the Barracudas. The insightful, 100-page, photo-laden book explains it all. Add this to your record collection and then be sure there's room for more. A lot of great underground music is about to see dry land.

- Glenn Whipp

NEIL YOUNG: ``Prairie Wind'' (Reprise) - Two stars

Somewhere deep in the midst of each of the countless albums Young has released since his last great one 30 years ago (``Zuma''), there've been fleeting flashes of the old artistry. Young's devotees will certainly find those moments in this frequently dull disc, hyped as the third in an acoustic trilogy of the far-superior ``Harvest'' and the just-average ``Harvest Moon.'' On the surface, the sound here is reminiscent of Young's '70s gold rush, but lacking the distinctive musical touches, heartfelt melodies and turns of phrase that mark the period. The title track is the best of it, a lively slab of pungent country-soul, pushed along by the Memphis Horns, three harmony singers, and Young's guitar and harmonica. Young gets an extra star for giving Southern-soul great Spooner Oldham, who appears here on various keyboards, a payday.

- F.S.

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(1) no caption (Fiona Apple)

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