OK, guitar-based ballads-don't you just hate the connotations? There are so few artists who make this stuff without making the listener yawn, they should be set in stone for the world to see. And so are Mazzy Star with "Among My Swan", their best release to date. Truly one of the most touching and emotional albums of the musically prolific 90's. This is no stretch. So unique, so mellow and dark at one, this is one of the best albums for autumn/winter I know ( along with Lamb's debute, Nick Cave's "Boatman Call" and "Turn Loose The Swans" by My Dying Bride). Whether you're listening to it on your way to work at 7 AM or in your room with a bottle of Baileys, November night, raining outside, phone's off the hook...well you know the setting, this is an unforgettable experience. Tracks like "Cry Cry", "Take Everything", "Happy" and "I've Been Let Down" can be either the most uplifting or the most depressing songs in the world, depending on your mood at the moment. "All Your Sisters" is probably the spookiest number ever done by a soft rock act. "Disappear" and "Umbilical", with their guitar-driven dark psychedelia could make the late Syd Barett himself wipe a bitter tear. The bottomline: if you still don't own it, get it whatever the cost is. You're missing a world within itself.