THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Tears can also be found on the ballad 'The Hurting Time,' while hurting is at the heart of 'Twisted.' Live concert standouts such as 'Honestly' and 'Wonderful' now have a context when heard on the album. 'The Saddest Song I've Got,' a bare-bones ballad and tearjerker delivers on its name, and on 'Bitter Pill' and 'Erased,' Lennox comes across as a woman determined to put the hurt and heartache behind her and get on with her life. Everyone will probably understand and be able relate to the desperate plea of album closer 'Oh God (Prayer),' on which the down-trodden diva is both repentant and ready to begin again.

Now, more than ever, we need a voice of reason from the Middle East and Natacha Atlas sounds like she is just the singer to supply it. On Something Dangerous (Mantra), her latest solo album, the multi-cultural Atlas collaborates with Jah Wobble, Sinead O'Connor and English composer Jocelyn Pook, among others, to map out a mystical musical strategy. The lush opening track 'Adam's Lullaby' lulls the listener as the next cut 'Eye Of The Duck,' featuring Tuup and Princess Julianna, brings on the dance party. Atlas's chill-inducing reading of James Brown's 'A Man's World,' is a haunting testimony to the power of a woman. The funky, fresh and fierce pairing of Atlas and Sinead O'Connor on 'Simple Heart,' beats with a feverish intensity, like a passionate chant. 'Daymalhum' is a dance track reminiscent of the late Ofra Haza and 'Who's My Baby' is a nu-soul duet featuring Niara Scarlett. The remaining tracks, including 'When I Close My Eyes' and 'Les Printemps' are among the most exotic chill-out tracks you are likely to come across the world over.

Almost 20 years after it was first released, 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun,' Cyndi Lauper's signature song, still sounds fresh and energetic and shows no signs of losing steam. In fact, many of the songs on The Essential Cyndi Lauper (Epic/Legacy), this 14-track single-disc collection stand the test of 'Time After Time.' The songs drawn from Lauper's Portrait/Epic years, which include 'Money Changes Everything,' 'She Bop,' 'All Through The Night' and, of course, 'Time After Time' (all from She's So Unusual), the title track from True Colors, her superior rendition of 'I Drove All Night' (recently totaled by Celine Dion), among others, may not make this collection as 'essential' as the Twelve Deadly Cyns disc, as much as an augmentation. This disc also includes selections from 1997's Sisters Of Avalon, as well as a pair of fine songs from her 1992 Hat Full Of Stars album. The real treat on this disc is the inclusion of 'The Goonies 'R' Good Enough,' the theme song to 1985's The Goonies, a movie that marked the big screen debuts of Josh Brolin and Sean Astin.

Actress, socialist, and cousin to Armistead Maupin, Sarah Jane Morris may be best known as the woman who sang with Jimmy Somerville on The Communards' cover of 'Don't Leave Me This Way.' A long-time supporter of the gay-rights movement, Morris is the kind of belting diva that gay men line up around the block for, just for the chance to bask in her three-octave glory. Morris co-wrote all 12 of the songs on her latest disc, Love And Pain (Evolver), which opens with the moaning 'Mad Woman Blues' and then spills into the gorgeous, shiver-inducing ballad 'Once In Every While.' The title track is beat workout and ''It's Jesus I Love',' with the lines 'Sunday morning I felt so holy/Sunday morning I felt so clean/But come that Monday dawning/Lord you don't know where I've been' is damn steamy dance with the devil. 'Blind Old Friends' is looking for a club remix, as is 'Nothing Comes From Nothing.' 'Cowboy Junkies' provides the answer to the challenge of naming the saddest tune, 'A Horse Named Janis Joplin' is a gambler's tribute to the late singer, and a contact buzz can be obtained from repeated listens to 'I Get High.'

Sopranos: can't live with them, can't snatch them bald. Sarah Brightman, star of stage and PBS specials, is one of the most visible and vocal sopranos of the modern age. Ever since her unexpected late '90s hit, the Andrea Bocelli duet 'Time To Say Goodbye,' Brightman has been struggling for some repeat action, but I don't think it's going to happen with the unusual song selection on Harem (Angel). The semi-exotic title track is a Middle-Eastern dance track that requires finger symbols and veils, as does 'Mysterious Days' (featuring the late Ofra Haza). 'It's A Wonderful World' opens with Brightman's characteristic whisper before she eventually belts it out. 'It's A Beautiful Day,' not to be confused with the U2 song of the same name, is based on music by Puccini (Madame Butterfly, I believe), and continues in the Middle Easter vein of the title tune. There are a couple of pleasant ballads here, including 'What You Never Know' and 'Free' (with lyrics co-written by Brightman and Sophie B. Hawkins!), but even with the 'harem' motif, the album is too schizophrenic for its own good.

The first thing I did when I put the self-titled RCA debut CD by American Idol runner-up and diva wanna-be Justin Guarini into my CD player was go directly to the two standard selections, 'Unchained Melody' and 'Get Here,' to see if the young vocalist could claim the songs as his own. To my surprise, it was Guarini's interpretation of the former that fared the best. It was as if he had the most respect for that song and didn't walk all over it. It was one of those times when restraint worked in a performer's favor. Next, I listened to 'If You Wanna,' the song that he co-wrote with Carole Bayer Sager (of 'Don't Cry Out Loud' fame). Basically, it sounded disappointingly like cookie-cutter faux blue-eyed nu-soul, as did 'One Heart Too Many,' 'I Saw Your Face,' 'Be A Heartbreaker,' 'How Will You Know,' 'Condition of My Heart,' and others. The album's best new tune is 'Inner Child,' co-written by Gregg Alexander (of The New Radicals renown). On this song, Guarini gets in touch with his inner child and allows it to run loose and have a good time. Unfortunately, this American Idol is stuck in idle.