Album: S.M.V. Thunder (Dreyfus/Sony)

How much low frequency pummelling can you take? With its opening gladiators-enter-the-arena music and naff back cover pic of the Fender-slinging trio against a stormy, apocalyptic sky, this supergroup session by fusion bassists Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten should be unspeakably awful.

Actually, it's really good for at least the first half hour, sounding both funky and musical. The combination of the trio's electric basses (Stan goes acoustic for one track, while Marcus plays bass clarinet and saxes too) generate enough slap-power to keep a small nation going for a decade or so. Then they slap some more.

Pick of the Album: 'Thunder': funk slap meets moody soundtrack