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The compact disc may be supplanting the old vinyl record, but whatever the format, recorded music remains the ideal item for the last-minute shopper. Calendar's annual Top 40 Shopping Guide is designed to relieve the panic associated with belated buying by clarifying just what is in the grooves, or the bytes, or the oxide, of the 40 most popular pop albums, as calibrated by Billboard magazine for the week of Dec. 12.
The comments in the following Top 40 Guide are drawn from Calendar's original reviews, but the ratings in some cases reflect additional staff opinion. The rating system is the same as for Record Rack-four stars: Great Balls of Fire; three stars: Good Vibrations; two stars: Maybe Baby; one star: Running on Empty.
1. * * * VARIOUS ARTISTS. "Dirty Dancing" sound track. RCA. The sleeper smash of the season is an intriguing, satisfying mix of old and new hits. Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes' well-crafted but plodding "(I've Had) The Time of my Life" is the front-runner to win the Oscar next April, but the real delights here are golden oldies like "Be My Baby" and "Love Is Strange." (Paul Grein) 2. * * * MICHAEL JACKSON, "Bad," Epic. Jackson turns in two supremely relaxed performances on an album whose consistency, sureness and scaled-down intentions make it a respectable successor to "Thriller." The LP's retreat from "Thriller's" ambition is a letdown, but it's understandable. All in all, "Bad" is more reminiscent of "Off the Wall's" uniform strength than "Thriller's" peaks and valleys. (Richard Cromelin) 3. * * 1/2 WHITESNAKE, "Whitesnake," Geffen. An armload of songs with anthem-like lyrics, no-frills guitar solos, a rhythm section carved in granite and nary a nod to pop crossover. In keeping things basic, the band occasionally leans heavily on the past, but David Coverdale is in fine voice, helping to make the LP everything it strives to be: a completely unapologetic heavy-metal record. (Sharon Liveten) 4. * * 1/2 PINK FLOYD, "A Momentary Lapse of Reason," Columbia. David Gilmour is in the driver's seat now, and this album more often resembles a Gilmour solo LP than a Floyd record. Either way, it beats the heck out of the last Floyd disc-there's far less creepy verbal venom, and...