HOT TRACKS LISA ROBINSON

Unpredictable, unorthodox, unruly, unnerving, uncompromising, and not a moment too soon: this month, intense, heavy rock makes a welcome comeback.

Well worth the five-year wait, Nine Inch Nails'With Teeth is a masterpiece from Trent Reznor—with strong, intimate vocals and powerful new songs that range from sexy gospel mini-symphonies to breathless nonstop hard-core. System of a Down is back with the Rick Rubin-produced Mezmerize, replete with wild Armenian wailing, a furious vengeance, and the band's trademark Black-Sabbath-meets-Fiddler-on-the-Roof Freddie-Mercury-joins-the-Marx-Brothers persona. Audioslave's new one takes riffrock to extremes with the unbeatable interplay of Chris Cornell's vocals and Tom Morello's guitar.

Fire Wire:Lucinda Williams's two-CD Live at the Fillmore is the first-ever live recording from one of our greatest talents.

Bleed Like Me is a well-crafted modern rock album from Garbage with inspired singing from the divine Shirley Manson. The ever evolving Robert Plant includes his beloved Eastern musical influences and a rollicking tribute to Ray Charles on Mighty Rearranger. Sleater-Kinney's tough fuzztone-guitar heroics shine on The Woods.The Raveonettes channel Roy Orbison and the Ronettes on the echo-filled, retro-rockabilly Pretty in Black. Danger Mouse teams up with Gorillaz leader Damon Albam on the beat-laden Demon Days. Aerosmith guitar ace Joe Perry's eponymous solo disc is bluesy and rocking. The lyrics to "We Are All on Drugs" make for a fun anthem on Weezer's catchy new Make Believe.

Shuffle mode: For the slightly more faint of heart, Coldplay is Roxy Music—without the noir— for a new generation (also without the noir), and X&Y features lots of those Chris Martin-penned dreamy, romantic, signature piano ballads. Eels leader Mark Oliver Everett spent years finishing the somber Blinking Lights and Other Revelations.Michael Penn'sMr. Hollywood Jr., 1947 is haunting and gorgeous. Aimee Mann releases what she describes as a "soundtrack to a movie only I've seen"—the Joe Henry-produced concept album The Forgotten Arm. Amusing, provocative, and smart, Loudon Wainwright Ill's 21st album is Here Come the Choppers. Passionate vocals mark Martha Wainwright's self-titled debut disc. On the solo Something to Be, distinctive vocalist and hitmaker Rob Thomas showcases talents not previously heard with Matchbox Twenty. Following The Rising—his passionate response to 9/11—Bruce Springsteen releases the mostly acoustic, no less passionate, early-Dylanesque CD and DVD, Devils & Dust.

Fast-forward: Watch for more funkified fun from the Black Eyed Peas;Don't Believe the Truth from Oasis; Rebel, Sweetheart from the Wallflowers; R&B powerhouse Faith Evans'sThe First Lady:Eddie Palmieri'sListen Here!; and new records from Shelby Lynne, Maria -McKee, Nikka Costa, Fat Joe, Jamiroquai, Perla Batalla, Glen Phillips, and Mariah Carey.

Previous/Rewind:The Rolling Stones re-release the long-outof-print Made in the Shade and Sucking in the Seventies. Legacy's Jazz Moods series reissues Chet Baker, Louis Armstrong, Artie Shaw, and others. Live at the Continental: Best of NYC, Vols. I & II features Jesse Malin, Joey Ramone, the Lunachicks, Lenny Kaye, and others. Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection is a career-spanning DVD-and-two-CD set. And the Live from Las Vegas series brings us Bobby Darin recorded in 1963 at the Flamingo, Dean Martin recorded in 1967 at the Sands, and Frank Sinatra recorded in 1986 at the Golden Nugget.

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