HOT TRACKS LISA ROBINSON

For his first recording following his marriage to Gwen Stefani and the breakup of his band. Bush. Gavin Rossdale opted not to put out a sappy, sensitivc solo disc; instead. Institute is hard, heavy, guitar-based rock. Sheryl Crow'sWiki'flower has catchy songs, impeccable production, and sparkling vocals. Fresh from their "rivalry" with the more "artistic" (read volatile) Brian Jonestown Massacre in the hit documentary Dig!,the Dandy Warhols drop some of the irony and step it up with the sexy, feedback-tinged Odditorium or Warlords of Mars.Black Rebel Motorcycle Club'sHowl is a timeless, joyous ode to rock, blues, and gospel. On Electric Blue Watermelon, the North Mississippi Allstars get back to what they do best: raw, rocking blues with a crazed edge. Charlie Sexton has been touring with Bob Dylan for the past three years and the influence is obvious on Cruel and Gentle Things, the first disc in 10 years from the Austin guitarist. Booker T. & the MG's guitarist Steve Cropper gets production credit for The Soul Truth, the new one from astounding blues singer Shemekia Copeland. Famed Jamaican duo Sly and Robbie team up with Sinéad O'Connor for Throw Down Your Arms, an album of roots-reggae covers. Also out: Carly Simon's gorgeous Moonlight Serenade, her Richard Perry-produced album of standards; Sigur Ros's sweeping, ethereal Takk;Sonny Rollins's live concert recording Without a Song (The 9/11 Concert); and All One, the new album from Krishna Das, a four-part mantric suite with a 70-person choir and a 20-piece orchestra.

An indispensable education for all you fans of the Strokes, Interpol, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is Richard Hell's Spurts— 21 of his "greatest hits" with various bands, including Television, the Heartbreakers, and the Voidoids. Also edifying: re-issues of the Stooges' early albums. No Direction Home: The Soundtrack is the seventh in Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series and accompanies Martin Scorsese's long-awaited, two-part American Masters Dylan documentary. In addition, Bob Dylan: Live at the Gaslight 1962 will be conveniently on sale to baby-boomer caffeine consumers at Starbucks, Rosanne Cash releases three expanded CDs from the past 25 years, Try for the Sun: The Journey of Donovan is a three-CD/DVD set, and The Essential Frank Sinatra with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra includes 44 tunes that helped define the big-band era.

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