SOUND CHECK.

TOOL: ``10,000 Days'' (Volcano/Zomba) - Three stars

Tool is in danger of giving industrial-strength metal a good name. The band shreds, but in a subtle, dynamic fashion that makes the 11 epic tracks on the long-awaited ``10,000 Days'' some of the most listenable and creative hard rock of any year.

Clocking in at more than 75 minutes, the Los Angeles quartet's first album since 2001's multiplatinum ``Lateralus'' shifts from melodic knockout punches that build from a whisper to a scream to opaque, goth-sounding workouts that wouldn't be out of place coming from Dead Can Dance or Sigur Ros. ``10,000 Days'' is perfect for armchair headbangers.

Among the most imaginative moments are the title track and ``Rosetta Stoned,'' which, at around 12 minutes each, artfully increase texture and tension, holding attention throughout. Relentless, sonically interesting and highly musical, Tool also has a snap-on sense of humor -- the track ``Jambi'' is named for the genie from ``Pee-wee's Playhouse.''

-- Fred Shuster

KIERAN KANE, KEVIN WELCH & FATS KAPLIN ``Lost John Dean'' (Compass) - Three and one half stars

Partial to old-timey shuffle beats with rich, bluesy bottoms, this fine trio brings forth infernal tales of confinement and escape that you can dance to, but also makes room for inspiring psalms of love and enlightenment. Balancing grit and transcendence is not an easy task, but KWK come close to striking it perfectly. And there's a sophisticated detour into aural film noir on the unique call-and-response number ``Postcard from Mexico.''

-- Bob Strauss

NATASHA MILLER ``Don't Move'' (Poignant) - Three stars

BOBBY SHARP ``The Fantasy Sessions'' (Poignant) - Three stars

Miller's new disc is the second chapter of a story begun when Sharp, hearing the vocalist interviewed on a Bay Area jazz radio station, sent her a batch of songs. Sharp wrote ``Unchain My Heart,'' an r&b foot-stomping classic made famous by Ray Charles, and later Joe Cocker, but his career was derailed by drug use. Hearing Miller's voice on the radio, he thought she could do something with his unreleased songs. She did, and her 2004 album, ``I Had a Feelin','' was so successful that she has recorded this follow-up. Sharp's songs, sung by the spunky, expressive Miller, manage to echo both the work of Johnny Miller and Johnny Mercer, laid-back swingers with finessed finger-poppin'. On his own disc, Sharp, now 81, sings 11 of his originals, accompanying himself on piano with the kind of deep feeling you'd expect from such a survivor.

-- Glenn Whipp

QUINCY COLEMAN: ``COME CLOSER'' (Melon Media) Two and one half stars

Chances are you haven't heard of Quincy Coleman. With her sophomore album, ``Come Closer,'' though, you may soon enough. And once her sugared voice trickles into your ear, it's all over. The native Angeleno songbird, a sweetened cross between Shivaree and Nikka Costa with aspirations of Norah Jones, hopscotches between boppy diner show tunes and booming ballads where a string of horns and drums only amplifies the trumpet in a voice. She's country. She's pop. She's brooding. And it makes for perfect rainy-day music.

-- Emmanuelle Soichet

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(1) no caption (TOOL)

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