POP : Do You Hear What We Hear? : Prick up your antlers: Calendar’s annual recordings guide is here to help you sift through the year’s notable pop, jazz, classical, children’s and holiday music--and the best of the box sets. : Separating Best Bets From Lumps of Coal

Calendar’s pop staff surveys 40 of the nation’s most popular or critically acclaimed albums :

** GLORIA ESTEFAN, “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me,” Epic. Mostly note-for-note versions of some of yesteryear’s most familiar hits. It sounds like an exuberant, talented fan lip-syncing in front of a mirror.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good, recommended) and four stars (excellent). A rating of five stars is reserved for reissues or retrospectives.