MATCHBOX TWENTY

On YOURSELF OR SOMEONE LIKE YOU, Matchbox 20's debut, vocalist/lyricist Rob Thomas leads his band down the same path as Counting Crows, to a post-Pearl Jam, Van Morrison/Band-influenced home at the top of the charts. Thomas' raspy voice wraps a romanticized alienation around folky, roots-inflected rock tunes that share the thematic aspirations of Van circa TUPELO HONEY and The Band's self-titled second album, if not their literary wisdom. Having lived through the grunge breakthrough, the Georgia quintet puts far more `oomph' into their power-chords than those classic rockers ever could. Their best results--the melancholy description of an emotionally isolated lover on "3 AM," the embittered daydream of "Real World," even the upbeat don't-give-a-damn rave-up "Girl Like That"--fit snugly on the same shelf as the aforementioned Crows and fellow crackers Collective Soul.

Estimated despatch 5-10 days after ordering.