When you own as many damn CDs as I do it's truly rare to pull out something that surprises you and ends up in constant rotation for a while. A revisit, if you will. Well, that happened this weekend. Let's stir things up...

Brian Eno has been involved in a lot of great things but I think that this CD is truly his finest work. Oh, what's that? Berlin-era Bowie. "Lodger," perhaps? Nope. Though I do love "Low." Okay, then. Maybe something huge like "Joshua Tree." An over-rated album, but that's a rant for a later day. Okay, how about some Talking Heads? Nope. Maybe some of that Harold Budd stuff that I never understood? Surely not. Perhaps early Roxy Music? Again, no. Okay, then it has to be his solo stuff. Either "Here Come The Warm Jets" or "Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy." While I think "Baby's on Fire" is the best song of the whole glam era, that's not it.

Ready for this?

It's "Laid" by James. You probably only know the title track or perhaps the radio-friendly "Say Something." I'm telling you, this album stands the test of time. Tim Booth's lyrics are brooding but clever and thought provoking. Sort of like a Morrissey for the '90s. Eno's production truly shines. From the swirling chorus of the opener "Out To Get You" to the tense quiet of "Lullaby," he produces with a light hand and the sparse arrangement really allows the band to shine in all their alt-folk-pop-britrock grandeur. If you listen to their albums proceeding this one ("Seven," and "Gold Mother") you really hear what Eno brings to the recording. The others are oftentimes a muddled mess. Now, Eno did produce their next two albums (along with the glorious experiment from these sessions called "Wah Wah") with much less success. That, however, has much less to do with his production than Booth running out of steam.

You know you want to argue...