As last week's release of big name titles by Britney Spears, the Eagles, and even the Backstreet Boys makes clear, this is the time of year when artists and record companies pull out all stops and release the hottest product they can in order to "maximize profits" during the long-awaited fourth quarter.

As an added bonus, they can also remain financially solvent!

That's why this week we're seeing oodles of greatest hits sets, high-profile DVD releases by the Beatles and the Who, and--my personal favorite--"reissues" of albums that are still high on the charts!

So if you missed picking up country sweetheart Taylor Swift's debut album, now's your chance to get it again--this time with bonus tracks and videos included! Already have it? No problem! CDs make wonderful coasters for holiday parties and are a great added touch when serving hot spiced wine or egg nog! It's win/win for everyone!

Jay-Z: American Gangster (Def Jam) I don't think people give pioneering rapper Jay-Z enough credit.

You want well-rounded? This week's new releases feature acts who made their names in the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, and '00s!

Maybe today's music scene is as its absolute zenith--and consumers of all ages will be rushing to retail outlets to pick up the latest exciting recordings from their respective heroes!

Or maybe record companies are now completely at wit's end--and hurling anything out there in hopes something, somehow will stick against the wall!

Or maybe it's all just completely random and there's no natural order to the world whatsoever!

Nah! That would be stupid!

Let's go get coffee!

EAGLES: Long Road Out Of Eden (Eagles Recording Co.) This is the big week in which the Eagles' new album is released, and if you happen to be shopping at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club or surfing the actual Eagles website--and heck, who isn't?--you're sure to know that already! Because those are pretty much the only places you can buy it! And if you live out in the boondocks, with no Wal-Mart or Internet

It's a week highlighted by solo projects--or collaborations from artists who've made a name for themselves in other contexts--and guess what? Most of them are pretty good!

Among those doing solo rounds are Depeche's Mode's Dave Gahan, System Of A Down's Serj Tankian, Del Amitri's Justin Currie, and--with bluegrass/country star Alison Krauss in tow--Led Zeppelin's own Robert Plant!

And in a stunning twist, most of these artists have made their living playing music people liked rather than appearing gussied up and lip-synching in a surplus of music videos!

Hopefully that won't happen again!

ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS: Raising Sand (Rounder) The combination might look strange on paper, but throw in the superior production skills of T. Bone Burnett--for in fact he has been thrown in--and you've got one of the most surprisingly tasteful albums of the year. Krauss's high voice and country leanings keep Led Zep crooner Plant's tendencies to veer off into coyote-frequency in check, and the

I'm the last guy in the world to say the best music ever was made years ago--heck, that new Trapt album may be their best album yet--but sometimes the facts just speak for themselves!

Though most of the 10 major releases this week aren't exactly the works of babes in the woods, that may just be a function of today's major labels holding their strongest releases until the year's fourth quarter. Students return to school loaded to the gills with moolah, the holidays roll up and people are out there shopping for gifts, and somehow a new release by an AC/DC or a Neil Young seems more of a "sure thing" than a new release by someone no one normal's ever heard of!

Who knows? Maybe next year things will be different!

R.E.M.: R.E.M. Live (Warner) You can't knock the track selection on this fine collection of R.E.M. tunes, recorded live in Ireland two years ago. A bountiful package including two CDs and a DVD--not to mention a striking portrait of Michael Stipe on its cover--this is about as

What a week! After this new hubbub about that "exhilarating" Britney Spears video come three new albums--all in their own way just as relevant to today's sizzling pop music climate, and certainly a much-needed breath of fresh air.

First, that new Radiohead album which costs as much--or as little--as fans want to pay!

Next, the long-awaited debut of the unconventionally named Naked Brothers Band!

And finally, the release of Electric Six's I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being The Master--clearly the year's best album for its name alone!

Sadly, all three albums must be played to be fully enjoyed!

Kid Rock: Rock 'N' Roll Jesus (Lava/Atlantic) Love him or leave him, invite him to your awards show and watch him punch someone out, Detroit's own Kid Rock is a colorful character that you can't help rooting for! Rock? Rap? Country? Other? No problem! Predictions are the Kid will either soar to renewed superstardom or plummet into the depths of hell purely for

It's a stunning battle of the old vs. new! In this corner we have today's hottest hitmakers--the exciting Souljaboy and Trey Songz, dictionaries in hand--and in this corner, cultural icons Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, even Ike & Tina Turner! All of them have new releases this week, battling for top sales at the cash registers, but only one generation can win!

Will it be today's best and brightest? Or will it be yesterday's superstars, back yet again for another grab at the brass ring?

Or will it be all of us, enriched by this golden opportunity to hear some of the finest music ever made?

Let's find out!

Soulja Boy: Souljaboytellum.Com (ColliPark Music/Interscope) The mastermind behind the charming summer opus "Crank That (Soulja Boy)"--not to be confused with "Crank That (Sheryl Crow)"--makes an especially strong, slightly surrealistic debut here, most notably with "Let Me Get 'Em." The track begins with a spoken admonition that it's "a dance, not intended to incite any

It's a heavy duty week of big-time album releases, you may have noticed, and there's a reason for that. It's back-to-school time, and there's a whole world of college freshmen whose parents gave them more money than they actually needed! They didn't know any better! Plus, it's getting closer and closer to the holidays --which means record companies know that the time to strike is now, as gift-giving season unfolds!

Translation: There'll be lots of turkeys this Thanksgiving!

The Cheetah Girls: TCG (Hollywood) We all know it would be way too easy to take a potshot at the lovable Cheetah Girls--I mean, they sell boatloads of album to prepubescent fans who'd be similarly thrilled if this sounded like either Metal Machine Music or the latest Michelle Shocked album. So let's get down to brass tacks: Despite everyone's natural snooty urge to dismiss this music as little more than kiddie fodder, could it in fact be possible that this album is surprisingly catchy, startlingly mature considering

Well, this was the big week when rappers 50 Cent and Kanye West went head-to-head in their dramatic battle to sell the most records! And I know I wasn't alone in quivering with excitement! Best of all--as a special bonus to buying the CDs, consumers were actually allowed to listen to them!

So forget the sales brouhaha--let's talk quality! I was pretty excited by the 50 Cent album, mostly because of that great picture in the CD booklet showing him actually eating a gun from a dinner plate! And the Kanye West album was great because one of the three billion tracks it blatantly ripped off--er, I mean, one of the fab tracks it included prominently credited Can, the ultragreat German band, who'll probably be getting lots of unexpected royalty money as a result!

The real winner? I'd say it was journalists all over the world, who could spew meaningless copy everywhere during an otherwise dreary news week! Just like me! Hey, I'm not proud!

James Blunt: All The Lost Souls (Custard/Atlantic)