Sam Phillips,
"Omnipop" (Virgin)

In the age of "alternative," "pop" is a filthy word; the very whisper of it implies a haunted house of smile-on-your-brother platitudes, cloying hit parade bubblegum, dancers, hair stylists. Occasionally it's a fair argument, as a visit to the dungeon of today's Top 40 bears out. But Sam Phillips thankfully remembers its other, original meaning, the one that conveyed both mass appeal and a willingness to experiment, the one that could envelop albums as varied as the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds," Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" and Blondie's "Parallel Lines" in its three letters. Phillips' fourth album, "Omnipop," doesn't quite stand with those classics. But in taking their cue, she winds up with one of the most fascinating and surprising mainstream -- O.K., pop -- albums of the year. Surprising, because the album marks the end of Phillips' slow climb up from mediocrity. After removing herself from the Christian pop ghetto in the mid-'80s, she joined with husband-producer T Bone Burnett and some high-profile sessionmen (including Elvis Costello and Van Dyke Parks) to record a pair of miserably derivative albums, "The Indescribable Wow" (1988) and "Cruel Inventions" (1991). Big production remained key on 1994's "Martinis & Bikinis," but this time Phillips' songwriting merited the sonic touches that graced it. Her voice was plaintive and impassioned where once it came off as merely whiny; songs like "Same Changes" and "I Need Love" resonated as Byrdsian homages instead of just pale imitations. It was a nifty balancing act, one that landed her both on the "Melrose Place" soundtrack and on critics' Top 10 lists. Next page: Faster pussycat to the library!