Firefall

Firefall's debut makes the Eagles and Pure Prairie League sound like heavy metal. So never mind that drummer Michael Clarke was once in the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers; Firefall is mid-'70s West Coast country pop at its softest and most in love with mirrors, which isn't a bad thing at all. Every single instrument -- from the synths and congas to those airy harmonies -- sounds as if it's cut from crystal. The smooth ballads are better than the lite funk jams, but that's nitpicking.