When Ian Brown was recording Golden Greats, he made sure it clocked in at just around 45 minutes. This was primarily done for two reasons: "You can listen to it all in one go … [and] … you can fit it all on one side of a C90 [cassette], tape it for your mates." Obviously this is a man who understands why we need music. Viewed in light of the recent Napster/MP3 earthquake that is shaking up the music industry, he has cut to the heart of the matter; music is something to be shared. On this album are ten songs that Brown wanted to share with us (plus a couple of bonus tracks).

Elements of the Stone Roses are still evident on this album, but Brown’s focus and instrumentation have evolved considerably since their breakup. Rich infusions of club beat and world beat propel the album through it’s changes, as it goes from driving electro-rock to mellow Britpop and back again.

The album is far from flawless, and a few of the songs do seem to drag it down in spots. Even at his worst, though, Ian Brown’s songwriting is still head and shoulders above the majority of his peers. As far as the bottom line is concerned, this is an excellent disc whether viewed as a whole or on a song-by-song basis. (Polydor)

On Element 101’s Tooth & Nail Records debut album, Future Plans Undecided, the group puts forth their youthful effort to revive punk from its roots. Taking influence from punk-pop’s greatest including Blondie and The Ramones, Element 101 takes a creatively monotonous approach to the songs on the album. All the tracks sound the same — great punk-pop led by the sweet and innocent voice of Crissie Verhagen on lead vocals. It takes a listen or two through the whole CD to discern an identity for each song. Every unrelenting driven tune has the unmistaken heart of buzz saw pop with compelling lyrics spoken from the soul of someone who’s been there and still searching to get somewhere else. But despite a good release with Future Plans Undecided, the New Jersey-based band begs for better production. The track "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" is an incredibly short exhibition of musical talent. If the band can put together a full CD of this sound behind a vocalist, they should be able to muster enough energy to strut their stuff when the vocalist steps away from the mic. But even if the album doesn’t get your gold seal of approval on the first try, keep your eyes and ears open for the best rookie lyrics to catch the air in a long time in tracks including "Leaving Me Before Spring Semester," "Keeping Secrets," "Jersey Never Seemed So Long," and "You Never Cease to Amaze Me." (Tooth & Nail Records)

Supergroups have the uncanny ability to make hardcore fans drool about the possibilities of collaboration. How a bunch of established members of other bands can come together, and somehow make music different or better than what any member’s original band is capable of doing, is essentially beyond the normal realm of thinking. Four astonishing members of four astonishing bands are most astonishing because of the sum of their parts, not necessarily because of a single member. So what magically changes when a supergroup is born? Actually, nothing changes; the members get together in their spare time and build a recording like they would with their own band. But what happens when the supergroup comes from a genre like industrial or post-punk, where the audience is much smaller? Be damned sure exactly the same thing, except people with dark eyeliner are going nuts instead of prog-rock fans.

Industrial supergroup The Damage Manual is comprised of Chris Connelly (Ministry, The Revolting Cocks, Pigface), Geordie Walker (Killing Joke), Jah Wobble (Public Image Ltd.) and Martin Atkins (Public Image Ltd., Ministry, Killing Joke, and others), and while each member brings a specialty to the table, The Damage Manual is producer Martin Atkins’ baby. As with most of his projects, Atkins delivers a killer production quality that propulses and whips this music into a frenzy. And all over >1, Atkins’ abilities shine through — most notably, with guitarist Geordie Walker sound wreaking havoc across >1. But what’s missing from The Damage Manual is memorable lines and lyrics that are so essential to cutting through the industrial din. With vocalist Chris Connelly on board, the lyrics should a no-brainer on >1, but they simply do not exist. Which leaves behind a droning monotonous dirge that bogs down several of the songs in the middle of >1 and leave The Damage Manual sounding, well, less than super.

Another Atkins-produced project that really shines is Meg Lee Chin’s debut CD, Piece and Love. Chin cut her teeth as vocalist for Pigface, but this CD is her coming out party. Atkins continues mining common ground, but the dynamism of Chin’s striking vocals raises the production to a higher level. The varied instrumentation highlights Chin’s voice and illustrates Atkins at the top of his game. Piece and Love grates and grooves on infectious beats, killer breaks and hypnotizing vocals.

(Invisible Records, invisiblerecords.com; The Damage Manual, Meg Lee Chin, and Not Breathing perform at Club Laga in Pittsburgh on June 14 and The Trocadero in Philadelphia on June 16.)