SUGARLAND

"Love On The Inside"

(Mercury Nashville)

Sugarland captures the exuberant possibilities of life as well as any modern country act. On "Love On The Inside," the third album for the duo of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, they once again tap into a joyful energy that's as irresistible as it is catchy.

It doesn't matter if the tune is about something as meaningless as lazily blowing off a work day (the album's first hit, "All I Want To Do"), as common as the rush of falling in love ("We Run") or as colorful as a working woman establishing that she may be poor and she may look rough, but she's not easy to dismiss ("Take Me As I Am").

Fortunately, Sugarland has repeatedly proven capable of more than lighthearted fun, especially on 2007's award-winning ballad, "Stay." It's on the songs where the duo takes their biggest chances, and on the ballads where Nettles unveils what an emotional singer she can be, that the two confirm that they're in it for the ages.

The stripped-down acoustic songs give Nettles the most room to show her talent, this time on the heartbreaking "Keep You" and the wise "Very Last Country Song." The duo also show some nerve, and plenty of wit, on the goofy "Steve Earle," about a woman pleading with the alternative singer-songwriter named in the title to fall for her long enough to write a great song about her.

It's in the moments when the band stretches that this million-selling duo paves a platinum road toward a long, sweet future.

CHECK THIS OUT: On the simply titled "Love," the album's most ambitious song, Nettles and Bush deliver a slow-building, dynamic rocker on par with U2 or Coldplay.

KERLI

"Love Is Dead"

(Island Def Jam)

Surely at least a few of the suits at Island Def Jam lobbied to apply the traditional star treatment to their new signee, Kerli Koiv: send her voice through the generic hit-making process in the studio and splash a photo of her glammed-up face on the cover of her release.

But to do so would have corrupted everything that is Kerli because she's different -- like, really different. So instead of her model-beautiful face, her release sports a cartoon caricature. And as the "Love Is Dead" title hints, the songs are far from formulaic.

Kerli, a 21-year-old native of a small town in Estonia surrounded by forest, proudly represents the outsider. She embraces all aspects of life, from hokey optimism to morbid fascinations, and consequently, "Love Is Dead" is broad, albeit weirdly accessible.

On the autobiographical "Walking on Air," she pits her childlike, heavily accented and unusually enunciated voice against lullabylike, crackling electronica to sing about "That little creepy girl, oh she loves to sing." And sometimes she is creepy, like on the dark "Hurt Me," where she sings, "See me crawling on the floor/Is that what you've been longing for?," and in a more funhouse/glamour-Goth way, as on "Creepshow" and "Fragile." Kerli is big on love drama, too, as she achingly warns of her vulnerability on the power ballad "Bulletproof" and swells in the grind of the title track, "All I want is right here/But love don't live here anymore."

Meanwhile, the sonic diversity jaunts from the high-voltage, Garbage-y strains of "I Want Nothing" to the raw beats and heavy churn of "Strange Boy" to the hip-hop reverberations of the upbeat "Beautiful Day."

It's an unusual journey, but as Kerli puts it on the keyboard-driven romp "The Creationist," "Whatever happens was meant that way."

ACE YOUNG

"Ace Young"

(PAZZO)

"American Idol" has unloaded on this nation a glut of inconsequential performers with high hopes of stardom. A few of the more skilled contestants have clawed their way out of the mass, but little can be said about most of the rest of the refugees from the popularity contest masquerading as a talent show. What's more, no one is sure what to do with these folks or what use they serve.

Enter Ace Young, the seventh-place finisher from "Idol" in season five (from a couple of years ago; you're excused if you don't remember him). The Colorado native didn't strike immediately, purportedly so he could get it right with his newly released "Ace Young." To do so, he received the assistance of some of the music industry's (formerly) big power players, including production and collaborative writing from Desmond Child plus additional songwriting from Andreas Carlsson and Diane Warren.

So apparently Young's purpose is to resurrect careers, and as a result, "Ace Young" feels hopelessly passe.

For example, first single "Addicted" sounds like a boy-band reject from a decade ago because it was penned by Carlsson, who wrote for the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync. The cut is a polished bit of safe, broad pop/rock that reveals nothing about Young.

Child and company throw just about everything out there to see what sticks, and not much does. Not the inevitable bombastic ballad ("You Redeem Me"), or the clunky urban-kissed grinder ("Where Will You Go") or the cluttered, dorky Michael-Jackson-ish drama ("The Letter"). When Young plunges into the smoky faux-funk dance cut "Fast Life," complete with rap break, it's clear the song is no Timbaland/Timberlake concoction.

To be fair, Young's not awful. He simply hasn't found his identity. And when he sails through album-highlight "Young Money," singing about the collective fabulousness on the dance floor -- "Everybody in the club/We're shining tonight" -- he's just a face, and voice, in the crowd.

BLACK SABBATH

"The Rules of Hell"

(Rhino)

These are words almost too blasphemous to type: Enough with the Black Sabbath reissues already.

With "The Rules of Hell," Rhino completes an exhaustive -- and ultimately exhausting -- reissue of Black Sabbath's entire catalog that started with "Black Box." That first box set covered the Ozzy Osbourne years from 1970-78. It was a mostly fantastic time for a band that unraveled in a bitter scrum of drug addiction, alcoholism and the rock 'n' roll lifestyle.

Five-disc "The Rules of Hell" covers the overbaked Ronnie James Dio years, an exercise that wasn't really necessary for posterity's sake. By the time the band fired Osbourne, there wasn't much of interest left musically and Dio mostly disappoints.

Though equally influential, Osbourne and Dio are as different as heavy metal singers can be. Osbourne's crazed delivery and more topical and introspective subject matter define one pole of the genre, while Dio's fantastical romps and mystical imagery are the tent stakes of the opposing camp.

Few favor both. You either love Ozzy or you worship Dio. The music of guitarist Tommy Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward's eventual replacement Vinny Appice -- who now work with Dio as Heaven and Hell -- changes with each singer. Their work on "Heaven and Hell," "The Mob Rules" and "Dehumanizer" is recognizable yet more complex and ponderous than the beautiful menace of those early classics "Paranoid" and "Master of Reality."

But there's no need to lob insults at the ever worshipful camp of Dio fans. Like those Van Halen fans who prefer Sammy Hagar over David Lee Roth, just smile and nod your head when they talk.

CHECK THIS OUT -- The two-disc "Live Evil" set includes Dio's interpretations of Osbourne era classics "Paranoid," "War Pigs" and "Iron Man." Pretty damning evidence for the "I love Ozzy" camp.

DAFT PUNK

"Electroma"

(Vice Records)

French electronica duo Daft Punk -- Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo -- have become known as much for their visual presentation, in both their innovative videos and stage performances, as they are for their groundbreaking music.

Keeping in tune with their robotic stage personas, Daft Punk's experimental film, "Electroma," provides a stunning array of visuals and an eclectic soundtrack, but its lack of dialogue and vaguely executed story probably won't register with many outside their hardcore fan base.

The existential plot is quite simple: A pair of robots -- blandly named Hero Robot No. 1 and Hero Robot No. 2 -- set off through a desert landscape and eventually come to what can only be called a robot town.

From there they attempt to become more human, with fleshy foam latex poured over their helmets to create human faces -- which look so comical it makes you hope that's the point. The pair are quickly shunned and driven from the town by their metallic brethren.

Without playing too much of a spoiler, another drawn-out desert trek ensues and climaxes in a moment of self destruction.

The End.

The cinematography of the rocky California desert is quite impressive -- all the more so with Bangalter helming a film camera for the first time here -- while music from Brian Eno, Todd Rundgren and Curtis Mayfield (among others), along with a moody orchestral score, does an amiable job of conveying some emotion on the part of the robots.

However, a soundtrack with Daft Punk's own music might have been a bit more appropriate -- and pleased fans to no end.

For those who take an analytical gaze there are moments of possible allegory: The robotic town may be a critique of consumer culture or conformity; the status quo driving the pair from the town after they've been "humanized" could represent racism or faux patriotism run amok.

But it's a stretch to say the least.

There's been criticism from some for what they see as blatant stealing from films by Gus Van Sant and Vincent Gallo -- particularly the final trek through the desert -- and anyone simply looking for an entertaining movie will see this as a self-indulgent waste of time.

The film garnered very mixed reviews at a special screening at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival -- and the same will no doubt apply to audiences who take in the fans-only "Electroma."

SHINE A LIGHT

(2008, 121 min.)

Dir.: Martin Scorsese

It sounds like a match made in rock 'n' roll heaven: The Rolling Stones and Martin Scorsese, who blazed trails when he loaded his early film "Mean Streets" with a hip rock soundtrack and made the great rock documentary "The Last Waltz." Yet Scorsese's rock documentary on the Stones seems 20 years too late, catching Mick Jagger energetically but predictably going through the motions in concert alongside Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Charlie Watts. The DVD and Blu-ray disc come with four extra performances, among them "Paint It Black," plus a behind-the-scenes segment. DVD, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99. (Paramount)

HAROLD & KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY

(2008, 107 min.)

Dirs.: Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg

John Cho and Kal Penn return for another road-trip adventure in this follow-up to their cult comedy "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle." The sequel picks up moments where the first flick left off, with the bright, resourceful pot-smoking duo having satisfied their munchies and preparing for a trip to Amsterdam. Mistakenly branded as terrorists en route, they end up on the run from Guantanamo, encountering Southern inbreeders, George W. Bush and, once again, Neil Patrick Harris as a partying sex-fiend version of himself. The movie comes in a bare-bones single-disc DVD or Blu-ray and two-disc DVD releases with an unrated version, deleted scenes, commentary and a digital copy of the movie for computers and portable players. Single-disc DVD, $28.98; two-disc DVD set, $34.99; Blu-ray, $35.99. (New Line)

Also debuting on Blu-ray is "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle," $28.99. (New Line)

NEVER BACK DOWN

(2008, 113 min.)

Dir.: Jeff Wadlow

It's the old story: Teen moves to a new school, meets a babe, gets beaten silly by her boyfriend then learns mixed martial arts to avoid another thrashing. Sean Faris stars as the new kid, who finds a mentor in a martial-arts trainer (Djimon Hounsou), his lessons preparing him for a rematch and inevitably imparting wisdom on when to refrain from fighting. The movie arrives in an unrated extended cut in the Blu-ray release and two-disc DVD set, both containing deleted scenes, commentary with the cast and director Jeff Wadlow, plus a couple of featurettes. The theatrical version is available on a single-disc DVD, with commentary and deleted footage. Single-disc DVD, $26.99; two-disc DVD set, $32.99; Blu-ray, $34.99. (Summit)