Now Hear This

THE HIPPIES' REVENGE
Collective Soul will unleash Dosage, and the Spin Doctors threaten to return from the dead.

THE SENSITIVE LADS
The male troubadour tradition is alive and well, as Ron Sexsmith's Whereabouts, Paul Westerberg's Suicaine Gratifaction, Billy Bragg, and Freedy Johnston will prove. And if you're in the mood for a little insensitivity, try talk-show host Jerry Springer's country album, due this spring.

PURE POP FOR NOW PEOPLE
Prepare for a saccharine overdose with offerings from 'N Sync, OMC, the U.S. debut of Titanic chanteuse Sissel, U.K.'s Billie, and the solo bow from New Kid Joey McIntyre.

GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS
It looks like another vintage year for women in rock (pop, hip-hop, R&B...). Besides Joan Osborne's looong-awaited follow-up, look for CDs from L'il Kim, Diana Ross, Missy Elliott, Sophie B. Hawkins, Jennifer Lopez, the Breeders, Alana Davis, Bjork, En Vogue, Paula Cole, and Mrs. James Brolin.

NUEVO WAVO
Major skinny-tie alert for old-wave types: Blondie (No Exit), Iggy Pop, and the Pretenders.

MIA
The lesson of the Universal/PolyGram restructuring seems to be that even big-shot recording artists are subject to downsizing: The fate of previously scheduled albums by Paula Abdul and Radish is anyone's guess. As one stunned survivor of corporate consolidation opines: ''Things are changing so fast. I just can't keep up!'' Tell us about it.