Pat Monahan, the singer from Train, just released a solo album, Last Of Seven--and while no one is making the claim that he can single-handedly save the music industry like Rick Rubin, the fact that no one is saying Monahan can't single-handedly save it speaks volumes as well. A big record company put money behind this idea. And they've done so in the past with middling results. Used CD and record bins are jammed with "sure things" that never panned out.

And then I also took note that none other than Edward Vedder, he of the Pearl Jam clan, has also taken to a solo album and his---get this--is the soundtrack for a movie written and directed by Sean Penn, who was once married to Madonna. This means something! And it isn't just a lack of royalties going into pockets of his band members either.

Here are five solo albums from guys (and gals) who should've just stuck with their bands.

Billy Squier--The Tale Of The Tape: Piper recorded two albums in the late '70s that suggested if the group

Pavarotti made a name for himself as a singer because he could sing. Sounds obvious and redundant. But there have been plenty of singers who throughout the past five decades while this scourge called "rock 'n' roll" has taken hold who clearly cannot sing and seem to flaunt it at every turn. Of course, it would be preferable if well-credentialed authorities, to ensure the safety of the listening public, carefully screened all potential singers.

But we have been negligent so long that an entire industry has had to resort to computerized auto-tuning programs to ensure mere competence. If only people were forbidden from making music until they were really ready. Let's support a Constitutional Amendment banning "illegitimate singers" today.

Each of the following singers has made a stunning amount of albums, has an ungodly amount of fans, and has at some point in their lifetime filed a tax return claiming "musician" or "singer" as their occupation. None of them will be confused with

OK, if we're going to let Amy Winehouse complain about her father-in-law, in fairness, we have to find songs to complain about mother. Now, as I've pointed out in this column before, when Fred Flintstone decided to become a songwriter he researched his market and discovered that people liked love songs and songs about mother. So that's what he did. These people took a different tact.

Tex And The Horseheads--"Oh Mother": I get so many requests from readers asking for more Tex And The Horseheads that I feel as if it's my duty to mention them here. They were a struggling cowpunk band back 25 years ago and to think they're still going at it makes you wonder how many times a man can hit his thumb with a hammer and ignore the pain and bleeding. But that's what true rockers do! They don't sit around and whine about how bad they had it. They make their present day a living hell of long nights and endless tours! What--and quit showbiz?

Three Dog Night--"Mama Told Me Not To Come": Randy Newman

With Amy Winehouse's father-in-law calling for a boycott of her music, you can imagine the great new material Ms. Winehouse could work up for her next album. Oh, the anger and the indignity! Songs about innuendo and the press, drugs and sobriety, weight issues and family relations, the list is long and mighty. If Amy decides to apply herself, there can't be a sophomore slump. If anything, she's been given the gift of controversy. Anything she sings will be analyzed, scrutinized, 24-hour Martinized! (A really excellent dry-cleaning process I must say).

But when it comes to parents, not everyone is a natural born Sylvia Plath. So, should Amy decide to take on her stepdad, she can always sidestep things ever so slightly with a cover!

Here are the five I would consider if I were Amy Winehouse. Though, last check in the mirror, I was sadly still me.

Fleetwood Mac--"Oh Daddy": This is the kill them with kindness technique. No one would see this coming. "Why are you right when I'm so wrong?"