HOT TRACKS LISA ROBINSON

Lowering CD prices is like offering discounts on blank VHS tapes to Ti Vo users. —Jim Guerinot, manager, No Doubt.

Record-company warning that accompanies advance CDs: You should be aware that we are carefully monitoring the use of our pre-release copies by their recipients. Any promotional pre-release CDs that you receive are supplied in the strictest confidence. So ... shhh, don't tell anyone, but herewith, confidential information supplied by this recipient of pre-release CDs. In other words, news about new music. Patti Smith's voice is stronger than ever on Trampin', which includes melodic ballads, a nine-minute tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, and the forceful, rocking stuff that first electrified CBGB's audiences 30 years ago. ExHole/Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf der Maur provides a welcome dose of loud hard rock on her first solo release. PJ Harvey wrote all the songs, plays most of the instruments, and produced her latest, uncompromising, sexy disc. Avril Lavigne, who sold six million copies of her first album, mixes a harder sound with catchy, teenage pop-punk on Under My Skin. Country newcomer Julie (yes, Julie) Roberts should be huge following her soulful, funky eponymous debut. Janet Jackson's Damita Jo is replete with syncopated beats, heavy breathing, sexual innuendo, and an explicit parental advisory. The fabulous Johnette Napolitano is back with the scenic Mojave from a reunited, revitalized Concrete Blonde. The seductive A Boot and a Shoe is the latest from Sam Phillips. In addition to tunes by Mose Allison, Tom Waits, and Joni Mitchell, Diana Krall sings six lovely songs she co-wrote with new hubby Elvis Costello on The Girl in the Other Room. Deborah Lippmann swings on Nightingale. Patti LaBelle brings down the house on Timeless Journey. Patty Griffin's wonderful new CD is Impossible Dream. Mary Chapin Carpenter's 10th record is the first-rate Between Here and Gone.

The very talented 22-year-old Ben Kweller lives in the same musical world inhabited by Jonathan Richman, Beck, Ryan Adams, Jon Brion, Lou Reed, and Joe Henry; his On My Way is outstanding. Me and Mr. Johnson is Eric Clapton's much-anticipated, authentic homage to blues great Robert Johnson. On Baptism, Lenny Kravitz delivers his trademark funkified rock 'n' roll, a couple of made-for-MTV ballads, and a who-is-he-kidding song titled "I Don't Want to Be a Star." Rich Price makes a memorable first impression with Miles from Anywhere. Everlast proves, on White Trash Beautiful, that it's possible to combine acoustic ballads, hip-hop, and blues. Acid house, schmacid house: Chicago D.J. Felix da Housecat's Devin Dazzle and the Neon Fever owes a big thank-you to the B52's, Duran Duran, and the Flying Lizards.

D12 World, the second one from DI2, features clever lyrics, a sense of humor, and vocal and production participation from Eminem. Aerosmith's Honkin'on Bobo is the rough and raucous blues album the Rolling Stones should have made years ago; especially great is Joe Perry's guitar work. Busta Rhymes helps out on Method Man's Thai 0: The Prequel. Wilco fans will revel in the introspection, the drama, and the total heaviosity of A Ghost Is Born. Sonic Youth's 19th album. Sonic Youth Nurse, is dreamy, complex, and uplifting. Winning Days continues the Vines' commitment to rock. If We Can't Trust the Doctors, from Blanche, is sparkling, elegant, and smart.

Also out: New discs from Angelique Kidjo, Toots & the Maytals, Jimmy Cliff, Caetano Veloso, Youssou N'Dour, the Magnetic Fields, Modest Mouse, the Corrs, and Charlie Musselwhite; greatest-hits-type packages from Bobbie Gentry, Bob Marley, Jerry Garcia, and Dean Martin; a reissue of the Velvet Underground's Live at Max's Kansas City; and Live at Caesars Palace, featuring Sammy Davis Jr., Ann-Margret, Duke Ellington, Keely Smith, and Frank Sinatra.

When you've lived and loved the way Frank has, then you know what life's about.