BECK. You haven't completely ex-perienced Guero (Interscope; Music ••••, DVD-Audio Mix ••••, Extras ••••) until you've seen and heard this two-disc Deluxe Edition. Packaged like a hardcover book, it's filled with pictures, lyrics, and whimsical drawings. The stereo CD includes seven bonus tracks: remixes, remakes (with alternate titles), and three new songs ("Send a Message to Her" being the keeper). And the DVD-A disc has a lively surround mix by Elliot Scheiner. The bassy groove of "Go It Alone" made my subwoofer rumble like a lowrider's muffler, while the pointillistic synth of "Girl" and the steely slide guitar of "Scarecrow" streamed from the main channels like aural lasers. Every song has a video (essentially, abstract computer-generated patterns), but I prefer the option to view a gallery of static images while listening. Parke Puterbaugh

THE WALLFLOWERS. After hearing the alleged (and uncredited) multichannel version of Rebel, Sweetheart (Interscope; Music ••^½, DualDisc Mix •, Extras ••^½), I ran a diagnostic check on my system. No, the problem was the freaky faux surround sound, in which only occasional, faint keyboards can be heard in the center and surround channels. You may like the band's pleasantly innocuous rock if you like midperiod Jackson Browne, but that mix and the nonessential bonuses (studio rehearsals, an insult-filled mock interview by Jon Lovitz, and a scene aboard an aircraft carrier) should keep you from paying extra for this DualDisc edition. Parke Puterbaugh

BON JOVI. Forget about the big hair. A certain album released 20 years ago (!) was bursting with big rock - and it boasted a big sound, since it was produced by Bruce Fairbairn and mixed by Bob Rock. Now, remixed by Obie O'Brien for six channels, Slippery When Wet (Mercury; Music ••••, DualDisc Mix •••^½, Extras ••••) is even bigger, featuring super-active surrounds stuffed with keyboards, harmonies, and ambience. (If only Jon's lead vocals and the bass could've gotten more oomph in the center channel and the subwoofer.) The videos for the five big hits are a bit washed-out, but who cares? These are brilliant, career-making clips. Alas, the extras on the new Have a Nice Day (Island; Music •••, DualDisc Mix ••, Extras ••) include five bland, stereo-only live performances and a title-track video ruined by handheld camerawork that's excessively jittery. The album keeps Bon Jovi in a solid holding pattern, but here the production by John Shanks and the band isn't so much big as dense, and O'Brien's very different surround mix fails to open up the sound. Ken Richardson

DVORAK. Recordings of 19th-century symphonic warhorses - with their standard upfront, concert-hall format - don't always make the best choices for surround sound. But the Cincinnati Symphony and conductor Paavo Järvi's Super Audio CD of the Symphony No. 9 (Telarc; Performance ••••^½, SACD Mix ••••^½), engineered by Michael Bishop, provides warmth, clarity, and depth, enhancing the pleasure that this ever popular music can still provide. Järvi and his orchestra are in full command of the soulful, stirring music. And coupling this "New World" Symphony with the Symphony No. 2 by Dvorak's 20-century countryman Martinu was a brilliant stroke of programming. Robert Ripps

MAHLER. This recording of the tragic Symphony No. 6 has Claudio Abbado returning to his former home base at the Berlin Philharmonic (Deutsche Grammophon; Performance ••••, SACD Mix •••^½). He remains a Mahler conductor par excellence, and the Berliners are extraordinarily sensitive to the shifting moods of this work. The composer's rich, complex sound world is a natural fit for multichannel SACD, and mixer Klaus-Peter Gross provides satisfying live surround on these two discs - highlighted by offstage cowbells and the final movement's devastating "hammer blows." Robert Ripps

TCHAIKOVSKY. Thankfully, Joshua Bell has found a way to make the overplayed, often-recorded Violin Concerto in D Major (Sony; Performance •••^½, SACD Mix ••••) a worthwhile listening experience, with his nuanced, caressing reading of the score. Michael Tilson Thomas and the Berlin Philharmonic seem somewhat subdued, and it's all a bit too "serious" for a work that would profit from a bit more abandon. The Danse Russe from Swan Lake and the Méditation in D Minor are well-played if skimpy encores for the 36-minute main event. But the uncredited surround mix is quite good - both buoyant and enveloping - and a reason to recommend this recording in a crowded field of competition. Robert Ripps