If you're a fan of Tom Green (the skinny guy from MTV who humps dead animals, among other inane stunts), then you will probably enjoy Subway Monkey Hour, highlights of which include watching him wander around a Japanese zoo wearing a furry green Godzilla costume; slurping excessively in a noodle restaurant; buying used panties from an underground used-panties dealer; vomiting in a hotel bathroom; or just generally inflicting himself upon the Japanese populace. If you are not a Tom Green fan, this is unlikely to convert you, as it's basically a record of his making a fool of himself all over Japan. You might, however, enjoying watching him being attacked by wild monkeys. --Bret Fetzer

Recorded in July 2001, Tom Jones's high-voltage return to his roots in Live at Cardiff Castle, featuring more than two hours of hits spanning four decades, certainly set the grounds of Cardiff Castle--and 10,000 fans--alight. As a singer, Jones has always played a canny game. He's proved particularly adept at reinventing himself as an avuncular costar for today's young singers, bumping and grinding through hip-hop and rhythm and blues without neglecting the brassy novelty numbers which set him on the path to stardom back in the 1960s. The voice has survived the years virtually intact. Subtlety was never exactly a Tom Jones trademark and everything is attacked with the stops full out. All the hits are here: "Delilah" and "What's New Pussycat" are interspersed with "Burning Down the House" and a "Sex Bomb" which really zips along.

The hips might not be as snake-like as they once were and the pouring sweat is testimony to the effort required by gyrations which would test a much younger man. But when he sails into "The Green Green Grass of Home", it sounds like a deserved paean both to his staying power and a charisma which genuinely appeals across the generations. --Piers Ford