HOT TRACKS LISA ROBINSON

Schizophrenia, deceit, communism, death, loneliness, despair, infiDELITY, revenge—life weighs heavily on the musically inclined.

Behold the spring collection: Billy Corgan is definitely not smiling; the angry guitars at the top of Machina/The Machines of God announce that this new SMASHING PUMPKINS album is much harder than their last. LOU REED is probably the only one who could—or would—write a song titled "Paranoia in the Key of E" and deliver it in that winning deadpan, as he does on Ecstasy.WYCLEF JEAN comes clean about love, business, and betrayal on 7wo Sides of a Book: Ecleftic. It's been 33 years since she wrote the song, and JONI MITCHELL has actually seen the world from both sides now, so the new version—on her exquisite album of standards, Both Sides Now—has a beenaround-the-block, Edith Piaf-like impact. Silver and Gold is the acoustic album NEIL YOUNG purists have been waiting for. Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh: PATTI SMITH'SGung Ho includes an 11-minute 41-second tribute to the North Vietnamese leader, extraordinary guitar from her 17-year-old son, Jackson, and some of Smith's best singing ever. OASIS'SStanding on the Shoulder of Giants is not just the best Beatles album released in years, let's go out on a limb and say it's probably the best Kinks one in a long time, too. DR. JOHN funks up Duke Ellington on Duke Elegant. YO LA TENGO takes a contemplative left turn on And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out.CATATONIA'S sex symbol, Cerys Matthews, sings like an adorable 10-year-old with a hangover on the hugely popular Welsh band's Equally Cursed and Blessed.NO DOUBT'S longawaited Return of Saturn highlights perky singer Gwen Stefani. BOSS HOG'S groovified Whiteout features Jon Spencer's nasty guitar, and wife Cristina Martinez's slinky vocals. Kudos to JILL SOBULE for dissing R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" on her clever, catchy Pink Pearl.

Debuts: Knockout singer-songwriter LEONA NAESS, who went from CBGB's to Calvin Klein Jeans ads, has a seductive voice, dreamy songs, and—judging from her irresistible debut album, Comatised—a. big career ahead. Techhead soul man P. J. OLSSON has arrived with the major, complex Words for Living.SNAKE RIVER CONSPIRACY'SSonic Jihad features a great cover version of the Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?" With urgent, forlorn songs on Come to Where I'm From, singersongwriter JOSEPH ARTHUR sounds as if he comes from the same neighborhood as Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave.

Can "Behind the Music" be far behind? On his solo debut, Debutante,NASH KATO fulfilled every lead singer's dream—he just got rid of his band and made l an Urge Overkill album anyway. Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash has yet another new lead singer (Rod Jackson) on yet another riff-rock album— SNAKEPIT'SAin't Life Grand—and an apparent belief that when you do something well, stick to it, it will eventually come back in style. Coming soon: Boxed, multi-CD sets from FRANK SINATRA, and the legendary MILES DAVIS-JOHN COLTRANE partnership; reissues of work by BILLIE HOLIDAY, LESTER YOUNG, CHET BAKER, ORNETTE COLEMAN, and LOUIS ARMSTRONG and ELLA FITZGERALD; and noteworthy new albums from AIMEE MANN, ELLIOTT SMITH, TRACY BONHAM, UNAMERICAN, TRACY CHAPMAN, ANASTACIA, CYPRESS HILL, VERNON REID, and ERYKAH BADU; plus the really long-awaited studio album from STEELY DAN, their first in 20 years.