It's been a long time coming: Lauryn Hill's second solo album hits shelves this week. It's not a proper studio follow-up to 1998's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, but for eager fans, it will have to do. MTV Unplugged 2.0, recorded during the taping of Hill's performance as part of MTV2's "Unplugged" series, showcases the power of a woman and her guitar.
Another blast from the recent past is Musiq — minus the Soulchild — whose second album features a misspelled title similar to his 2000 effort, Aijuswanaseing. This time around, Musiq takes the focus off of himself, makes the title slightly more coherent, and invites fans to Juslisen.
The fierce punk/pop girls of Bratmobile issue their third full-length album, Girls Get Busy, while Grandmaster Flash's Essential Mix: Classic Edition features the legendary DJ's favorite old-school hits. Over in radio rock's fertile fields, Linkin Park, Stone Temple Pilots and Staind are among the acts mixing and matching on the Family Values Tour 2001 live collection.
Also look for Naughty By Nature's latest, Iicons (which will likely spawn an anthemic summer single), two Tom Waits albums, and Feel the Love: The Best of Power Ballads, a compilation of so-bad-they're-good '80s love songs. Get your geek on.
20 Miles - Keep It Coming (Fat Possum) 98 Degrees - The Collection (Universal) Animals - Greatest Hits Live (Castle America) Asa Cruz - Asa Cruz (Abcess) Baba - Mind Music (Velour) The Blamed - Give Us Barabbas (Tooth & Nail) David Blue - David Blue (Collectors Choice) The Booginz - Aftermath of I-79 (Bandaloop) Bratmobile - Girls Get Busy (Lookout) Bright Eyes - There Is No Beginning to the Story (Saddle Creek) Brother Eye - All the Pretty Girls (Bandaloop) Caesura - More Specific, Less Pacific (Fifty-Four Forty or Fight) Ray Charles - Thanks for Bringing Love Around Again (Crossover) Jon Cleary - Jon Cleary & Absolute Monster Gentlemen (Basin Street) Coal Chamber - Dark Days (Roadrunner) Kellie Coffey - When You Lie Next to Me (BNA) Concentrik - Lucid Dreaming (Emperor Jones) The Contrast - Mystery #1 (Rainbow Quartz) Crooked Fingers - Reservoir Songs (Merge) Curl Up & Die - Unfortunately We're Not Robots (Revelation) Deus Ex Machina - Cinque (Cuneiform) DJ Chris Fortier - Bedrock (Pioneer) Done Deal Family - Runs in the Family (Done Deal) Earshot - Letting Go (Warner Bros.) Elf Power - Creatures (Spinart) Elk City - Hold Tight the Ropes (Warm Electronic Recording) Fatboy Slim - Live From Brighton Beach (Southern Fried Records) Foreigner - Complete Greatest Hits (Rhino) French Kicks - One Time Bells (Star Time) Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel 1: Car (reissue, Geffen) Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel 2: Scratch (reissue, Geffen) Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel 3: Melt (reissue, Geffen) Peter Gabriel - Plays Live: Highlights (reissue, Geffen) Peter Gabriel - Security (reissue, Geffen) Peter Gabriel - Shaking the Tree: 16 Greatest Hits (reissue, Geffen) Peter Gabriel - So (reissue, Geffen) Peter Gabriel - Us (reissue, Geffen) Alex Gopher - Wuz (Disques Solid) The Gossip - Arkansas Heat (Kill Rock Stars) Grandmaster Flash - Essential Mix: Classic Edition (Warner Special Products) Joe Grushecky - Fingerprints (Schoolhouse) Derrick Harris - I'm Not Leaving (Silent Planet) Highway 9 - What in Samhill? (Epic) Lauryn Hill - MTV Unplugged 2.0 (Columbia) Tony Humphries - Fabric Vol. 4 (Fabric) Icon of Coil - Soul is in the Software (Metropolis) Ink - Reagent Specs (Monitor/Symbiotic) Journalist - Scribes of Life (Motown) Kastro & Edi - Blood Brothers (OL Records) The Knack - ... But the Little Girls Understand (reissue, Capitol) The Knack - Get the Knack (reissue, Capitol) The Knack - Round Trip (reissue, Capitol) The Knack - Serious Fun (reissue, Capitol) Landing - Seasons (Ba Da Bing) Ronnie Lane - Lucky Seven (Pilot) Sasha Lazard - Myth of Red (Higher Octave) Leftover Salmon - Live (Compass) Lords of the New Church - Lords Prayer (Pilot) Major Stars - Distant Effects (Squealer Music) The Makers - Strangest Parade (Sub Pop) Teena Marie - Super Hits (Legacy) Jana McCall - Slumber (Up) Monique Miller - Monique Miller (Orpheus) Monstrosity - Millennium (Conquest) The Muffins - Bandwidth (Cuneiform) Mull Historical Society - Loss (XL) Musiq - Juslisen (Def Jam) Naughty By Nature - Iicons (TVT) New Orleans Juice - All Lit Up (Louisiana Red Hot) Nickel Slots - Starving Artist Sale (Abray) Laura Nyro - Live: Loom's Desire (Rounder) O.A.R. - Any Time Now (Everfine) Pacewon - Won (Ruff Life) Anthony Pappa - Resolution (Six-Eleven) Billy Paul - Super Hits (Legacy) Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - You're Gonna Get It! (reissue, Warner Bros.) Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (reissue, Warner Bros.) Pitchshifter - Psi (Sanctuary) Radar Brothers - And the Surrounding Mountains (Merge) Renaissance - Renaissance (Collectors Choice) Savoy Brown - Millennium Collection: 20th Century Masters (Polydor) Scoob Nitty & Kreep - Double Jeopardy (Supernatural) Steven R. Smith - Lineaments (Emperor Jones) Soft Machine - Backwards (Cuneiform) Stingee - In Different Ways (Lock & Load) Strapping Fieldhands - Third Kingdom (Omphalos) Strawberry Smell - Odorama (Rainbow Quartz) Stream - Nothing is Sacred (Crash) Submarine Funk - Living in the Free (Done Deal) Taydatay - Grind and Post (Jerzey Mobb) Three Degrees - Super Hits (Legacy) Andy Timmons - That Was Then, This Is Now (Favored Nations) Trans Am - T.A. (Touch & Go) Univers Zero - Rhythmix (Cuneiform) John Vanderslice - Life & Death of an American Fourtrack (Barsuk) Various artists - 156 Strings (Cuneiform) Various artists - Atticus: Dragging the Lake (Side One) Various artists - Bassdrive: America's Finest Drum Vol. 1 (Bass Mekanik) Various artists - Behind the Wheel: The Best of Road Rock (Rhino) Various artists - Bust a Move: The Best of Old School (Rhino) Various artists - Chicken Soup for the Soul: Love & Inspiration (Rhino) Various artists - Chillout 2002: The Ultimate Chillout (Nettwerk) Various artists - Circuit Party Vol. 7 (SPG) Various artists - Don't You Forget About Me (Medalist) Various artists - Down in Dixie: The Best of Southern Rock (Rhino) Various artists - Express Yourself: The Best of Soul (Rhino) Various artists - Family Values Tour 2001 (Elektra) Various artists - Feel the Love: The Best of Power Ballads (Rhino) Various artists - Feel the Noiz: The Best of Metal (Rhino) Various artists – "Felicity: Senior Year" soundtrack (Nettwerk) Various artists - Fields and Streams (Kill Rock Stars) Various artists - Freestyle Explosion Vol. 7 (Thump) Various artists - "The Importance of Being Earnest" soundtrack (reissue, Milan-BMG) Various artists - Joia: Chill out in Miami (George V) Various artists – "Legend" soundtrack (reissue, Silva America) Various artists – "Mr. Deeds" soundtrack (RCA) Various artists - Northern Soul: Keep the Faith (Pilot) Various artists – "Rollerball" soundtrack (Varese Sarabande) Various artists - Smooth Grooves: Cruisin' Classics (Rhino) Various artists - Superbad! The Soul of the City (Time Life) Various artists - Sweet Sixteen Vol. 5 (Parasol) Various artists – "Queer as Folk: Second Season" soundtrack (RCA) Varnaline - Sweet Life (Undertow) Billy Vera & the Beaters - At This Moment (Varese Sarabande) Tom Waits - Alice (Anti/Epitaph) Tom Waits - Blood Money (Anti/Epitaph) Wayne - Music on Plastic (TVT) Weak Lazy Liar - November Diaries (Multitask Music) Wild Cherry - Super Hits (Legacy) Wolfe - Wolfe (Okra-Tone) Marques Wyatt - For Those Who Like to Get Down (OM) Warren Zevon - My Ride's Here (Artemis) Atticus Fault - Atticus Fault (Island/Def Jam) Various artists - Now Presents Urban Hits (Columbia) Breeders - Title TK (Elektra) Tommy Lee - Never a Dull Moment (MCA) Raphael Saadiq - Instant Vintage (Universal) Eminem - The Eminem Show (Interscope) Lil' Romeo - Game Time (Universal/No Limit) David Bowie - Heathen (ISO/Columbia) They Might Be Giants - No! (Rounder) Papa Roach - Lovehatetragedy (DreamWorks) Swizz Beatz - G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories (DreamWorks) Boy George - Night Out (Moonshine) Jerry Cantrell - Degradation Trip (Island/Def Jam) Solange Knowles - Solo Star (Columbia) 
