The Blasters: Non Fiction (Slash/Warner Bros.)

THIS RESILIENT band continues to deal with the major question of their career, namely how does a very good bar band win the hearts of a national audience? As the Blasters have written more tunes and honed their individual "roots" style, they've lost some of the boozy sloppiness that used to ignite their sets and replaced it with a different kind of soul, one that depends on precision of execution, a grasp of the fundamentals and the ability of singer Phil Alvin to deliver the emotional goods.