SOUND CHECK.

VARIOUS: ``Progressions: 100 Years of Jazz Guitar'' (Columbia/Legacy) - Three stars

Los Angeles jazz guitarist Tommy Kay put it best after spinning this five-hour, four-CD box: ``You hear all these great players you've forgotten about - guys like Eddie Lang, George Barnes and Jimmy Raney. Then Wes Montgomery comes on and it's a TKO in one punch.''

He's right. While this entertainingly wide-ranging anthology touches on such important figures as Lonnie Johnson in the '20s, Django Reinhardt in the '30s, Charlie Christian in the '40s and Johnny Smith in the '50s - and 74 other players of varying renown - it's Montgomery's ``Unit 7,'' a forceful, beautifully melodic cut from the guitarist's mid-'60s peak ``Smokin' at the Half Note'' that's so powerful and utterly distinctive it makes a listener snap to attention.

Along with familiar headliners Barney Kessel, Chet Atkins, Jim Hall, Grant Green and Joe Pass, ``Progressions'' serves up thrilling moments from the equally deserving Eldon Shamblin, Hank Garland, Phil Upchurch and Lenny Breau, and even manages to umbrella items from Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck. Nice box, but, like a Bill Frisell solo, too long.

- Fred Shuster

LEWIS TAYLOR: ``Stoned'' (HackTone/Shout! Factory) - Four stars

Cult fave Taylor has been a stoned soul secret for years, quietly releasing deep-grooved, psychedelic soul records in his native U.K. for the past several years. Word about Taylor is finally getting out. Listening to this compilation, it's easy to see why people are clamoring for the man. Taylor sings (the layered tracks would make Brian Wilson jealous), arranges and plays every instrument on the album's 14 songs. He has a sweet, expressive voice that has won comparisons to Stevie Wonder and his electric guitar playing at times brings to mind Hendrix. Heady company, but, believe it or not, the man belongs in their league. You can't go wrong with this album.

- Glenn Whipp

DEPECHE MODE: ``Playing the Angel'' (Sire/Reprise) - Two stars

Boasting a mix of industrial clank and loud guitars, the latest by this pioneering synth-pop outfit mostly turns out to be a shadow of the greatness that once was. One of the worst offenders on the dozen-song set is the ballad-y ``Macrovision,'' with its cheesy vibrato. From there it's one disappointment after another. If only the last half of the album were as explosive as the first, with songs like ``John the Revelator'' and ``Precious.'' But the real highlight is ``A Pain That I'm Used To,'' which opens with a screaming assault of sirens as if to say something big is about to happen. And then it does, as beefy instrumentals give way to singer Dave Gahan's fractured lyrics. That song, alone, is worthy of 1990's great ``Violator.'' Comes out Tuesday.

- Sandra Barrera

SOUNDTRACK: ``Forty Shades of Blue'' (Memphis International) - Three and one half stars

The Sundance Film Festival prize-winning indie movie about a Memphis music producer has an equally award-worthy soundtrack. Recorded primarily by artists from the Tennessee city, this is a rollicking collection of soul, blues, string band and barrelhouse scorchers, interspersed with snippets of the film's haunting score by Dickon Hinchliffe of the British art-rock outfit Tindersticks. There's Jim Dickinson's classic ``Jelly Roll Boogie'' and J. Blackfoot's heart- quivering rendition of the even more classic ``Dark End of the Street.'' But really, every track's a high point.

- Bob Strauss

BLISS: ``Quiet Letters: U.S. Edition'' (Quango) - Three stars

Awful band name, good album. Like Massive Attack, Bliss resides in the open space on the edge of melancholy, a few miles east of Sade and Morricone. Borrowing elements from African, electronic and classical music, the Scandinavian quartet creates a lush, cinematic noise that perfectly approximates the fuzzy state between sleep and consciousness. The opiated results are polished, melodic and often wonderful. A collaboration with Zero 7 singer Sophie Barker on the beautiful ``Don't Look Back'' is a highlight here, while the tribal chill-out of ``Song For Olabi'' will be instantly familiar to those susceptible to TV's ``CSI.''

- F.S.

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Photo:

(1) no caption (Tommy Kay)

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