SOUND CHECK.

Sting/``Brand New Day'' (A&M)

New album, same sonic stew of love songs with quirky time signatures. And that's not a bad thing. Because while you can always count on Sting to hopscotch between styles (bossa nova, country, world beat, jazz and gospel all receive workouts here), you never know what approach he's going to take.

Here, on his seventh solo album, he has jettisoned longtime collaborator Hugh Padgham in favor of producer/programmer Kipper, aiming for a sonic-collage feel on several songs. But boomers take comfort: James Taylor and Stevie Wonder are on hand, too, as well as trumpeter Chris Botti, who brings noirish Miles Davis shadings to a couple of tracks. While this may not be a completely brand-new day, it is another engaging step in the evolution of one of pop's most compelling personalities. Three stars

- Glenn Whipp

Eve/``Let There Be ... Eve - Ruff Ryders' First Lady'' (Ruff Ryders/Interscope)

Hip-hop's latest femme fatale got noticed for a string of cameos on such projects as the Roots' Top 10 hit ``You Got Me'' and Blackstreet's ``Boyfriend/Girlfriend.'' The West Philly native's classy debut album, backed by the Ruff Ryders crew and hitmaking producer Swizz Beatz, is a hard-core rap fan's delight, bolstered by such standouts as the remix of the Ryders' smash ``What Y'all Want,'' which emphasizes the song's salsa flavor by piling on the instruments and rhythms.

Another goodie is ``Scenario 2000,'' bringing together DMX, the Lox and Drag-On in a hip-hop super session. Eve's spirited first single, ``Gotta Man,'' goes against the grain by singing the praises of monogamy, while ``Love Is Blind'' shows vengeance belongs to this new star of the Ruff Ryders camp. Three stars

- Fred Shuster

Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines/``Greatest Hits'' (Capitol)

First, let's set aside the nonissue of whether country superstar Brooks is betraying his fans and/or compromising his integrity by creating a fictional alter-ego and releasing this record under the name Gaines. Haven't pop performers from the Traveling Wilburys to KISS been doing similar things for years?

The real problem with Gaines' music is that, excepting two or three tracks, it sounds too much like Brooks' to justify this new post-punk persona. Take away the guitar licks, the gritty vocals and the minimal improvisations of some first-rate jazz and pop session cats, and you've got a disc that fits easily within Brooks' country canon. Nothing necessarily wrong with that. Brooks always has tipped his Stetson to soft-rock and pop, and in tandem here with producer Don Was he has crafted a smoothly digestible pop-country confection.

``Main Street'' laments a downcast Middle American thoroughfare, ``Driftin' Away'' effectively utilizes a Boyz II Men-style falsetto chorus, and ``Digging for Gold'' offers a growling, Merle Haggard-esque rebuke to an ambitious female. But ``Unsigned Letter'' and the retro-'60s ``My Love Tells Me So'' recall the innocuous '80s pop-rock that Nashville's ``New Traditionalists'' rose to supplant. ``Right Now,'' by far the most venturesome track, mixes a Brooks rap solo with the chorus to the Youngbloods' 1969 hit ``Get Together'' but is so politically middle-of-the-road it practically sideswipes itself.

For all its conceptual ingenuity, ``Greatest Hits'' doesn't add up to a compelling, risk-taking pop statement, but instead is a cleverly contrived musical pose. Two stars

- Reed Johnson

Paula Cole Band/``Amen'' (Warner Bros.)

Cole's previous effort spawned the ubiquitous hits ``Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?'' and ``I Don't Want to Wait'' (the ``Dawson's Creek'' theme). But nothing can explain the nearly universal sour reviews her ambitious new disc has been drawing. ``Amen'' just isn't that terrible, folks. Really. The nine-song album often pays tribute to Cole's love for r&b and other genres, most successfully on the humid Barry White-style album opener ``I Believe in Love'' and the velvety African-inspired dirge ``Suwannee Jo.''

Sometimes the lyrics can get a little banal, but Cole is clearly stretching here. What'd you want - six remakes of ``Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?'' Incidentally, the Cole band appears Oct. 20 at Vynyl in Hollywood. Three stars

- F.S.

Various/``R-E-S-P-E-C-T: A Century of Women in Music'' (Rhino)

How do you capture 100 years of female artistry in 114 songs? You don't, but the archivists at Rhino give it a solid shot with this five-disc box.

The compilation comes closest to conclusive in its first two discs, which include a strong sampling of show tunes, vintage blues, jazz and torch songs. As genres begin to multiply and splinter, however, the task becomes harder, particularly given licensing difficulties. Thus, ``R-E-S-P-E-C-T'' has nothing from Joni Mitchell, Madonna, Annie Lennox or Karen Carpenter (or '90s divas like Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey or Janet Jackson for that matter).

Still, this set boasts a bounty of great material and plenty of evidence that women were making significant musical moves long before Lilith Fair came along. Three stars

- G.W.

Brooks & Dunn/``Tight Rope'' (Arista Nashville)

The odd song out on top-selling country duo Brooks & Dunn's sixth studio effort is a soulful remake of John Waite's 1984 hit, ``Missing You,'' which is currently heading straight for the top of the country charts. The other dozen tracks, co-written by one or the other of the duo, deal with various phases of love, most effectively on such laments as ``Hurt Train'' and ``Too Far This Time.''

There are also a few upbeat party tunes in ``Temptation 9'' and ``Beer Thirty,'' while album-closer ``Texas and Norma Jean'' is a tender tale of a chance encounter. Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn do it again. Three stars

- F.S.

John Pizzarelli/``P.S. Mr. Cole'' (RCA Victor)

For his second tribute album of the year (he earlier mined the Beatles' songbook), jazz guitarist and vocalist Pizzarelli turns in a charmingly affectionate nod to Nat King Cole's great piano trio.

Accompanied by his bassist brother, Martin, and pianist Ray Kennedy, Pizzarelli displays a deft knowledge of Cole's catalog as well as the work of Oscar Moore, Cole's crack guitarist.

Highlights include the carefree ``Walkin' My Baby Back Home,'' a rollicking ``Indiana'' and ``I Like Jersey Best,'' the hilarious concert staple that shows up here courtesy of a 1996 date at the Algonquin Hotel. It has nothing to do with Cole, but everything to do with Pizzarelli's continued appeal. Three stars

- G.W.

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6 Photos

Photo: (1) no caption (Sting)

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