Editor’s Note: In Sound Advice, the first Saturday of every month, veteran NEWS entertainment writer Dale McGarrigle reviews new rock, pop, alternative, country, folk or blues albums. Different NEWS writers contribute reviews from other musical genres.

“Laundry Service” (Epic) ? Shakira

Who would have thought that the saviour of Latino pop-rock would be a petite half-Colombian, half-Lebanese blonde?

But as the fans of her Spanish-language recordings already know, Shakira is the real deal. “Laundry Service,” her first English-language effort, proves that.

The album is packed with pop-rock that most Americans will find accessible, but there’s also exotic touches such as Andean pan flutes, Brazilian drums and Middle Eastern rhythms. Shakira’s voice holds hints of every great female vocalist from the ’80s (Chrissie Hynde, Patty Smyth, Pat Benatar, Bonnie Raitt, Martha Davis, etc.). “Laundry Service” manages to feel comfortable and unusual at the same time, a difficult combination to achieve.

More impressive is the fact that she wrote eight songs on the album in a new language, assisted lyrically by Gloria Estefan (the hit “Whenever, Whatever” and “Eyes Like Yours”), producer Glen Ballard (“The One”) and Brendan Buckley (“Fool”).

Many Latino performers are dynamic live. But Shakira manages to transfer those qualities into the studio, producing an organic album with live musicians and very little electronic sounds.

A music-industry veteran at 24, Shakira uses all that she has learned on “Laundry Service.” Her first English album definitely proves to be worth the wait.

“Fantasies & Delusions” (Sony Classical/Columbia) ? Billy Joel

I once had a boyfriend who was a painter, an actor, a musician and a pretty good cook. After a few years, I could see his brushstrokes in his guitar playing, and taste his acting in his onion soup. This experience taught me a valuable lesson about personal expression and how an artist’s imprint shows up in everything about that person. “Fantasies & Delusions,” a collection of compositions for solo piano, reminded me of that phenomenon.

The Piano Man is best known as a rock keyboardist whose tunes dig deep into urban life, desire and relationships. In this new recording, Joel returns to his own early training as a classical pianist and finds, in these original compositions, the influence of all the old Romantic masters: Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Debussy and Beethoven. There may be some Joplin in there, too. But who’s counting?

What’s for sure is that this recording is dripping with pure Joel. In short, the pieces, played with sophistication and soul by Richard Joo, are quite appealing and piano-y. Joel’s signature lyricism shows up in these classical works and can be heard in this phrase or that movement throughout the 12-track CD. Pedantic critics ? who tend to resent crossover artists anyway ? are likely to find this release facile and embryonic. They probably don’t know the first thing about Italian restaurants or uptown girls or loving people just the way they are ? and it takes that kind of loving trust to follow an already established star into a new universe.

Joel’s fans, especially those who have taken up piano because of him, will be charmed, excited, and perhaps inspired to see a hero of the American rock ballad take on a new challenge that may not be profound but is certainly pleasant. After all, it’s not as if Joel is pulling an Andy Williams.

Those who know firsthand about varietal artists will only cheer Joel on in his quest to diversify and, after all, this is pretty music. Who knows what will come next? Billy Joel the sculptor? Billy Joel the novelist? Hey, I’m game. ? Alicia Anstead

“Get Ready” (Reprise) ? New Order

New Order is a band that, probably more than any other, belongs together. The band’s oft minimalist offerings always amply demonstrated the nonequation “sum of parts < final glorious product.” After all, who remembers the side projects that have dotted the band’s career? Revenge or Monaco anyone? How about The Other Two? Even Electronic was guilty as charged with willful underachievement. Don’t forget that the latter featured not only the elfin vocal talent of Bernard Sumner, but Johnny Marr’s musical genius. Pah.

Yet “Get Ready,” surprisingly only New Order’s seventh album, and its first since 1993’s mildly disappointing “Republic,” finds the band seemingly rejuvenated. You might have guessed that already, if you’ve seen the video for “Crystal,” in which we find the band played by a pouting, posing bunch of models.

All that we hope for from New Order is here ? the slashing chords and Peter Hook’s looping bass melodies, all seemingly played north of the 13th fret, but there is more space here now. Stephen Morris has unhinged his joints to deliver looping clatters of dance-floor drums, adding an urgency to tracks such as “Primitive Notion” or “Rock the Shack.”

Even Sumner’s voice sounds stronger than before. “Slow Jam” finds him growling, “I don’t want the world to change. . . I can’t get enough of this.” However, he may want to watch the Bobby Gillespie stylings sometimes.

For a group that has apparently been a great fan of dance music since house first hit in the UK, it’s taken a long time for the band to successfully marry those inflections to its own distinctive sound. “Get Ready” is a confident stride forward. To try to make these journeys without betraying your own identity is difficult; many fine bands have failed. Yet New Order has come up with its best album in 15 years. Now let’s see where the band goes next. Hopefully, wherever it is, we’ll get another postcard before 2009. ? Adam Corrigan

“Here We Go Again” (Crooked Cove) ? The Troubles

This aptly named release finds this southern Maine-based band in fine form, continuing the energetic sound the sextet created on its 2000 debut album “It’s About Time.”

The Troubles, named after the internecine warfare in Northern Ireland, are Joe Brien (lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitar, piano), Rusty Gates (drums, vocals), Joe Petty (electric guitar, vocals), Joe Donovan (bass guitar, vocals), Phil Gilikson (acoustic guitar, piano, vocals) and Jack Chance (piano, vocals).

In a bracing group of 11 originals, these veteran musicians have recreated the best of the ’60s and ’70s pop-rock sound while still being refreshing, not derivative. (The only cover is the ’60s classic “The Letter.”)

Theirs is also a mature rock, with the lyrics addressing issues of concern to adults, not the precious teen demographic. One big change from the first album is that the entire group got more involved in the songwriting process, with a greater variety the result.

Enjoyable, musician-driven rock is timeless, and so are The Troubles.

(“Here We Go Again” is available at Bull Moose Records in Bangor and www.thetroubles.com.)