Music Commentary

Parents' Guide

We analyze the content of new albums from Sisqo, 'N Sync, Faith Hill, No Doubt, and Pantera

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By Lois Alter Mark

Unleash the Dragon
SISQÓ

Who: One quarter of Baltimore-based hip-hop outfit Dru Hill
Musical Style: R&B meets T&A
Think: Marvin Gaye's ''Sexual Healing'' minus the soul
Recurrent Themes: Sex and love, in that order
Typical Lyrics: ''I'm thinkin' about the things that you did to me/Imagining your body movin' like a centipede''
Sex/Violence Content: This guy's all about unleashing that dragon.
Language: Explicit
What's Good About It: Dropping his playa facade, Sisqó wants to ''make it more than sexual.''
What's Not So Good: ''Thong Song'' may drive your teenage daughter to Frederick's of Hollywood.

No Strings Attached
'N Sync

BOLD "Who:"] Those guys up on your daughter's wall. No, the other ones.
Musical Style: Top 40, with a funky beat
Think: Backstreet Boys meet 98 Degrees meet LFO
Recurrent Themes: Puppy Love
Typical Lyrics: ''And I will take you in my arms/And hold you right where you belong''
Sex/Violence Content: Mildly suggestive
Language: Preteen friendly
What's Good About It: The boys serve as nonthreatening objects of affection.
What's Not So Good: Their misguided attempt to toughen up and go street rings false.

Breathe
Faith Hill

Who: Cover girl on the verge of diva-hood
Musical Style: Country, after a twang-ectomy
Think: Shania in twaining
Recurrent Themes: Love and heartbreak
Typical Lyrics: ''That's how love moves/Like a river running through you''
Sex/Violence Content: ''Let's Make Love,'' her duet with hubby Tim McGraw, is as randy as it gets
Language: No cussin' here
What's Good About It: ''Love Is a Sweet Thing'' is pure joy
What's Not So Good: The cheesecake CD photos

Return to Saturn
No Doubt

Who: So Cal party band fronted by punky, pink-haired Gwen Stefani
Musical Style: Ska's the limit
Think: A latter-day belly-baring Blondie
Recurrent Themes: Aging accompanied by fantasies of domestic bliss
Typical Lyrics: ''Makeup's all off/Who am I?/Magic's in the makeup/Who am I?''
Sex/Violence Content: None
Language: A parent-pleasing PG
What's Good About It: Five years older, they still R-O-C-K
What's Not So Good: At age 30, Stefani raises the ludicrous specter of spinsterhood

Reinventing the Steel
Pantera

Who: Ax-wielding Texas quartet
Musical Style: Metal to mosh by
Think: The construction workers drilling down the street
Recurrent Themes: Anger, futility, death
Typical Lyrics: ''They will tell you all about guilt/And in time you'll face the darkness/But darkness is a friend to you''
Sex/Violence Content: Not graphic, but plenty aggressive
Language: As hardcore as the music
What's Good About It: Your teens will eventually grow out of it.
What's Not So Good: They may go deaf first.