SOUND CHECK.

ROD STEWART: ``Thanks for the Memory ... The Great American Songbook Vol. IV'' (J Records) - Three stars

Guys like Stewart have all the luck. The crooner has sold 13 million of these ``Songbook'' discs since the series began in 2002, with a new one issued each year. But can Rod the (former) Mod hit the notes? Yes, and some impossibly high, too. Are the arrangements top notch? Absolutely. And one thing about that voice - it's an original.

A variety of guests add spice. The oft-covered ``I've Got a Crush on You'' here becomes a fine duet with Diana Ross, and Stewart's rasp actually invokes (no death threats, please) the spirit of Louis Armstrong. There are even hints of Al Jolson on Irving Berlin's ``I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.'' Stewart also does well on ``My Funny Valentine,'' even if a Dylan-esque warble creeps in.

Stewart proves he's got stones, all right, by doing Sam Cooke's ``You Send Me'' with powerhouse Chaka Khan. Elton John fares less well on the ``Makin' Whoopee'' duet, bringing to mind Bill Murray's ``Star Wars''-crooning lounge singer.

As on Stewart's earlier standards discs, instrumental solos are limited to restating the theme in eight bars or less, no solos allowed, even by big-name guests. Trumpeters Chris Botti and Roy Hargrove, guitarist George Benson and saxophonist Dave Koz are wasted. But on all 13 songs, Kenny Asher's bread-and-butter piano and Bob Mann's steady rhythm guitar keep the proceedings humming along.

If you love Stewart's voice, there's no better way to hear it than here. And if you can't stand it, at least give the guy credit for tackling the Great American Songbook, although the millions he's made from the venture is probably thanks enough.

- Steven Rosenberg

SOUNDTRACK: ``Good Night, and Good Luck'' (Concord) - Three stars

One of the many solid decisions George Clooney made with his film,``Good Night, and Good Luck'' was to use chanteuse Dianne Reeves to evoke the movie's smoky 1950s setting. Reeves, seen throughout the film in brief cutaways, recorded new versions of 15 ballads and standards, all of them chosen by Clooney. Like the movie, the music here is tasteful, intimate, stopping short of being revelatory, a sentimental journey for anyone who enjoys music of the sort made by Clooney's aunt, the great Rosemary Clooney.

- Glenn Whipp

BILLY BOB THORNTON: ``Hobo'' (Big Deal Records) - Three stars

The third album from everybody's favorite foul-mouthed movie Santa is a surreal, echoing evocation of dashed California dreams. Like he was stuck in a ``Grapes of Wrath'' time warp, Thornton talk-sings his way through a variety of encounters, most dealing with the contemporary cracks and absurdities running through our Golden State's tarnished culture. Ever the actor, he moves in and out of various characters in some songs, sometimes with hard-boiled hilarity and, in other instances, deep in existential despair over a spiritual earthquake zone that even the ``Hotel California'' Eagles might deem too darkly shattering. Hallucinogenic noir in a dead-perfect setting.

- Bob Strauss

TRACY YOUNG, ``Danceculture'' (Ferosh) - Three stars

This Miami-based DJ knows how to get the party started and shows how in her first compilation in two years. By the third track, ``The Beats and the Drums,'' Young's infectious, polyrhythmic percussion puts listeners into a tizzy, keeping the hands in the air with an exclusive mix of Madonna's ``Easy Ride,'' and such rump-shakers as Offer Nissim's ``Alone'' and William Umana's ``Te Quiero.'' Dancing queens love dramatic vocal turns, so Young's closing salvo by Terry Barber and Cyndi Lauper should leave them smiling. Young spins Sunday at the Avalon in Hollywood.

- Phillip Zonkel

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(1) no caption (Rod Stewart)

Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images

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