STOP. Think for just a moment. When was the last time you heard an album that MEANT SOMETHING? Or at least, you thought it did? You may have to go digging digging back through your old stacks of vinyl for such an oddity, but when you find it, you will say aaaaah, right-o! and smile knowingly that it belongs in your collection.

UHF's LOTTERY is perhaps such an album. Written in the grand tradition of concept albums such as the Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow, The Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society, The Who's Sell Out, and the Small Faces' Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, LOTTERY is more than the sum of its parts. Yes, pick a number, any number; each song stands on its own two feet. But put them all together, and you have a single unified statement.  Go ahead, listen from start to finish . . . the way you used to listen to an album, the way it's meant to be heard.

Have these boys flipped their lids? Just what's it all about, you ask?

It's an an album about where you've been. About where you're going. About old friends and new jobs. About lucky winners and listless losers. About the cool kids you looked up to in school, and how they became the adults you always hated.

Three icons of the music scene in Western Canada came together a number of years ago to perform and record under the name of UHF. Shari Ulrich, Bill Henderson and Roy Forbes released UHF II in 1994 by combining their songwriting talents - all 12 tracks were written by individual members of the trio. Today, the three continue to pursue solo careers in addition to playing as UHF, although Henderson continues to play and tour with Chilliwack, a band whose popularity dates back to the early 70s. Ulrich is also known for her part in The Hometown Band, another group that earned a large following three decades ago or so.