thestar.com

* See The Light Jeff Healey (Arista): For years, Toronto blues aficionados have known about the kid with the sit-down Stratocaster. Now, with his major-league debut album, the rest of the world may finally twig to Healey's fluid, quicksilver technique and his rough, bruising emotionalism, both heard to astonishing effect on this 12- song collection, produced in Los Angeles by Greg Ladanyi.

From the opening bars of John Hiatt's "Confidence Man," Healey plays and sings with a terse authority that matches the pluck and power of his live performances, without the histrionics that have occasionally marred his stage delivery. Predominantly known as a young axe sensation (praise has issued from such disparate sources as Stevie Ray Vaughan and B.B. King), Healey's work on See The Light suggests someone who will have little problem transcending the "guitarist" tag.

* Love Tracks Don McLean (Capitol): If I were Don McLean, I'd probably be bitter, too. The American songwriter sold a gazillion records in the early '70s with his classic Buddy Holly parable, "American Pie," a poignant declaration of lost innocence and a crafty allegory that had pop-cult sleuths tripping over themselves to dissect the song's meaning. Despite remaining a favorite of the folkie set, McLean has never regained his early popularity. Nor has he written a song anywhere near as compelling as "Pie" or "Vincent."