AMOS LEE

"Last Days at the Lodge"

(Blue Note)

Since he broke nationally with his self-titled 2005 debut, Philadelphia native Amos Lee has faced a steady stream of Norah Jones comparisons. He insists he's not merely a male version of that blockbuster songstress, but until now, he hasn't moved far away from the easily palatable folk-pop with a jazz tinge that she popularized earlier this decade. And his third album strays only slightly from the usual mellow approach.

"Last Days at the Lounge," a Don Was-produced set, finds him emphasizing his soul bent in a string of twanging pleas for love and justice (really, he's more like a Tracy Chapman than a Norah Jones). At heart, Lee is still a folky. His sensitive material rests on acoustic strumming, and he tackles universal political themes ambitiously. On "Jails and Bombs," he rails on Washington war policy, though his musings aren't particularly insightful. Opening for stalwarts like Bob Dylan and Paul Simon is quite an education for a young troubadour, but Lee relies too heavily on obvious rhyme schemes ("explanation," "preservation," "nation") to even think about sharing a class with those giants.

Lee shines most brightly when he sticks to more intimate subjects. The divorce song "It Started to Rain" is a nice slow burn with subtle biblical references and soft organ accompaniment. When his voice wobbles through soul-rasp on the chorus, it's clear that matters of the heart are what really get Lee going.

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: The ex-con anthem "Street Corner Preacher" combines a delicately funky beat with scatting and talk-singing about urban evangelism.

JUDAS PRIEST

"Nostradamus"

(Epic)

I had a premonition Judas Priest would make an album like this. But not even the 16th-century seer credited by some with predicting events centuries later could have known it would be this good.

The 2-CD set marks the British metal quintet's first concept album, a fascinating telling of the life and times of Nostradamus, the self-proclaimed prophet, his predictions and turbulent life.

More a continuous narrative than a collection of individual songs, the album flows from one topic into the next; its often difficult to know where one track ends and another begins. But that's the point with an album like this, which tells a story with music as well as lyrics. (Think Trans-Siberian Orchestra in black leather and studs, riding Harleys.)

Topics include Nostradamus' predictions of war, pestilence, and revolution; his clash with church authorities, and his musings on the future of the human race.

Singer Rob Halford is perfectly positioned to channel Nostradamus, with his sometimes demonic voice as scary in the low registers as it is in the air-raid siren higher ones. At times operatic, at times frenetic, Halford puts his legendary vocal cords to the test here, and wins every time.

But it's instrumentally that Priest really blossoms here, adding keyboards, strings and droning medieval choruses to the trademark screaming guitars and bashing bass and drums. The musical style of fellow Birmingham metallurgists Black Sabbath (Priest's summer touring partners this year) are evident as well on tracks like "Death," which owes more than a little to Sabbath's self-titled track "Black Sabbath."

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: The title track doesn't come until near the end of the second disc, but it's the closest to classic Judas Priest you'll find on the album. Starting out with Halford's trademark wail, thrashing double-bass drums and twin guitar riffs reminiscent of "Painkiller," this track will satisfy the beast within, which might be a tad weary of violins and wanting some violence by the end of this two-disc opus.

RY COODER

"I, Flathead"

(Nonesuch/Perro Verde)

Ry Cooder completes his intriguing California trilogy with "I, Flathead," another record that stands out for its lyricism and sounds a lot like a book set to music. Which, in this case, it is.

Cooder also wrote a novella that comes with the record.

"I, Flathead" tells the story of fictional "flathead" race car driver and musician Kash Buk, his band the Klowns and a variety of other friends and hangers on. It's very much a California record, but not in a Beach Boys sort of way. Cooder summons up images of losers and loners, deserts and car races, dance halls and roadhouses to create a fictional world that seems to keep reality just out of reach.

But in many ways, it's more real than what is right outside the window.

"I, Flathead" is not unlike the first record in his trilogy, 2005's "Chavez Ravine" that was based on the true story of the destruction of a Los Angeles neighborhood to make way for Dodger Stadium.

While "I, Flathead" doesn't have that much of its basis in reality, it does hearken back to a time that maybe never did exist, but seems like it could. Johnny Cash, cars, country music, and steel guitar players all get a tip of the hat from Cooder.

More successful than last year's "My Name is Buddy," but not quite as moving as "Chavez Ravine," "I, Flathead" gives listeners (and readers) plenty to consider. And in that regard, it's an unqualified success.

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: The record's leadoff song "Drive Like I Never Been Hurt" sets the tone for the record. Anyone who's ever gotten behind the wheel of a car should be able to find something to relate to in the song. "I'm in the road I'm in the right, I've got a mind to drive all night. ..."

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO

"Real Animal"

(Back Porch/Manhattan)

Many rockers glorify one aspect of their personalities, be it sexuality, anger, cockiness, or mysteriousness. But Alejandro Escovedo has spent the last two decades stripping away artifice in order to expose raw emotions and personal truths.

The veteran singer-songwriter has never rocked rawer or truer than on "Real Animal," which boils down his influences -- Lou Reed, John Cale, Iggy Pop, Mott the Hoople -- into a visceral statement about where he came from and who he became.

Escovedo still utilizes strings behind power chords as well as any rocker. But "Real Animal" emphasizes glam-rock swagger more than his recent works. Perhaps it's because these songs mine his youthful beginnings: "Nuns Song" is about his first punk band in San Francisco, and "Chelsea Hotel '78" is about the infamous Manhattan flophouse where Escovedo resided when Sid Vicious was arrested there for the murder of girlfriend Nancy Spungen.

Ecovedo's roots in Los Angeles and Texas come through too, especially in "Hollywood Hills" and "Chip n' Tony," the latter about his partners in the band Rank and File. But the songs skip decades too: "Golden Bear" deals with his recent health battle with hepatitis C.

But a listener needn't know Escovedo's story to enjoy his message. These tunes are about passion and true believers, and it treats those who didn't survive as honorably as those who have.

CHECK THIS OUT: "Always a Friend" is an upbeat, impossibly catchy anthem that celebrates what's good about the best connections we make in life.

10,000 BC

(2008, 109 min.)

Dir.: Roland Emmerich

The good old days are back, when men were really hairy and saber-toothed tigers ate them. The latest action spectacle from director Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow") leaps backward from his usual sci-fi mold to prehistoric days, following the adventures of a young tribesman who fights off human enemies and rampaging beasts such as woolly mammoths while trying to retrieve his woman from warlords who have abducted her. The DVD and Blu-ray releases have deleted footage and an extended version of the ending. The Blu-ray disc also throws in a couple of featurettes on the era the movie depicts and how the filmmakers re-created ancient structures and extinct creatures. DVD, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99. (Warner Bros.)

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES

(2008, 101 min.)

Dir.: Mark Waters

Hollywood's fantasy craze continues with this adaptation from the book series about a strange old house and its other-worldly denizens. A single mom (Mary-Louise Parker), her teenage daughter and twin sons (both played by Freddie Highmore) move into the home of a vanished uncle, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn), whose "field guide" of the fantastic creatures living in the area helps the family cope with an onslaught of evil beasties. Single-disc and two-disc DVD releases and the Blu-ray edition have excerpts from Arthur's field guide and a couple of featurettes. The Blu-ray and two-disc DVD release also pack deleted scenes and a handful of other making-of segments. Single-disc DVD, $29.99; two-disc DVD set, $36.99; Blu-ray, $39.99. (Paramount)

DEFINITELY, MAYBE

(2008, 111 min.)

Dir.: Adam Brooks

This how-I-married-your-mother romance features Ryan Reynolds as a hubby and father relating recollections of his past significant others to his young daughter. Reynolds plays a dad newly served with divorce papers who lets his curious kid (Abigail Breslin) in on the secret about the three loves of his life (Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher and Rachel Weisz) without disclosing which one eventually would become her mom. Along with deleted scenes, the DVD has commentary with Reynolds and writer-director Adam Brooks, plus a look at how the filmmakers crafted the designs and styles of the 1990s for the flashback scenes. DVD, $29.98. (Universal)

PERSEPOLIS

(2007, 95 min.)

Dirs.: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi

This nominee for best animated film at the Academy Awards is not your typical family cartoon. Co-directing with Vincent Paronnaud, graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi renders an autobiographical coming-of-age tale about a young Iranian girl experiencing terror and tragedy during the Islamic revolution of the 1970s and later searching out her identity as a teenager and woman in Europe. Chiara Mastroianni and her real-life mom, Catherine Deneuve, lead the voice cast for both the foreign-language version and a dubbed English edition contained on the DVD and Blu-ray disc that also features Sean Penn, Gena Rowlands and Iggy Pop. Satrapi, Paronnaud and Mastroianni provide commentary, and other extras include a session with cast and crew at last year's Cannes Film Festival. DVD, $29.95; Blu-ray, $38.96. (Sony)