A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

nvent Luther Vandross ' `` Don't You Know That , '' the best moments here are en

tertaining despite their seeming conservatism . -0- If all Collective Soul had t

o offer on `` Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid '' ( Atlantic 82596 ) was

 `` Shine , '' the band 's debut would be well worth the money . Artfully combin

ing the moody drama of post-R.E.M. . Southern rock with the over-amped grit of g

runge , `` Shine '' is a pop gem , the sort of single you hear once in the morni

ng and end up humming all day . But there 's more to the album than that . `` Lo

ve Lifted Me '' shows what the band learned from the Beatles songbook , `` Heave

n 's Already Here '' is a pleasant throwback to the singer/songwriter era , and 

`` Goodnight , Good Guy '' roars in with a powerhouse chorus and an instantly me

morable guitar hook . Granted , the rest is mostly filler , but on the whole , i

t 's a better beginning than most .

 Chrissie Hynde is afraid some people might have the wrong idea about her . She 

's worried that they might have heard stories about her being a hard-nosed , dom

ineering control freak or , worse , taken them as fact . They 're not . The lead

er of the Pretenders may be a lot of things feisty , plain-spoken , irreverent ,

 even politically incorrect but a control freak ? Not hardly . `` I don't want t

o control my life , I want my life to control me , '' she says , over the phone 

from the New York offices of her record company . `` I 've always believed that 

if I allow my life to control me , then I can experience a great deal more than 

if I think that I 'm on top of it and I set my own agenda from year to year . ''

 That agenda doesn't always have to do with the usual rock 'n' roll priorities ,

 either . At the moment , Hynde is in full road-mode , happily promoting her ban

d 's new album and eager to start playing gigs again . But `` Last of the Indepe

ndents '' is only the Pretenders ' second new album since 1987 , while this curr

ent outing marks the band 's first tour in eight years . `` I 've had other thin

gs to do for that eight years , '' she says , a mite defensively . `` It hasn't 

even been an option . '' She doesn't elaborate at least not right away . But as 

the conversation ambles on , she eventually admits that her chief priority for m

uch of that time was to stay home and be a good mother to her two daughters . ``

 The last time I was on tour , I had two infants in baskets , '' she says . `` T

here was the coach with the band , and then there was the coach with me and the 

kids . I can't sleep in a coach , over night , but the kids could . So that woul

d mean that by 8 o' clock in the morning , I 'd already be totally irritable , j

arred , jangled from driving and having done a show and not sleeping . And then 

Mary Poppins would come on . You know ? Not my idea of a rock tour . '' So Hynde

 just `` chilled out altogether , and attended to my first consideration , which

 was looking after my children . But now I 'm freed up . I can kind of do it a l

ittle bit . So I 'm delighted . `` I mean , I adore my children above all else .

 Of course I do . But I 've got to rock . '' She pauses a second , and then adds

 , ominously , `` But ( the children ) have nothing to do with it . You willn't 

see them or hear from them . Nobody gets to meet them . Nobody has to know their

 name and who they are . And if anyone tries to .. . ' ' Hynde stops , trying to

 think up an appropriate threat . `` Well , I suggest just don't . '' Advice tak

en . Hynde admits that it 's a ticklish situation for her to be in . `` It 's a 

package , '' she says . `` They come with me , in many ways . But they 're , you

 know .. . ' ' Of course , nobody ever said being a rock 'n' roll grown-up would

 be easy . There are times , Hynde says , when she worries that others might fin

d her enthusiasm for the music a tad unseemly for someone her age . But she 's c

ertainly not going to let that stop her . `` I 'm in my 40s , and I love it more

 than ever , '' she enthuses . `` So I will enjoy it . I 'll still go out and bu

y pop papers . No one can stop me , it 's not illegal . If I want to say I love 

Urge Overkill and everyone turns around and says , ` Well , you 're retarded , '

 fine . So be it . Allow me to be a rock 'n' roll retard for the rest of my life

 . `` Bear in mind that , after all , I am just a girl from Akron , Ohio . Like 

, I 'm nobody . And I can now stay in hotels in New York and stuff ? '' She laug

hs , clearly delighted . `` I mean , my friends in Akron can't go and stay in a 

hotel in New York and just hang out and do the things that I do . They have to l

ike , get to work in the morning and stuff . I caught the gold ring , man . '' (

 Optional add end ) That 's one reason she doesn't mind many of the impositions 

that come with rock stardom . `` When I 'm asked to sign autographs and people s

ay , ` isn't that a pain ? ' I say , ` No . ' When I write my name down on that 

piece of paper , I 'm signing a contract in my own mind that says , ` You do not

 have to go to work tomorrow . Sign here . ' `` I love this stuff , '' she conti

nues . `` And I 've learned the art of pulling back and getting out of it as soo

n as it starts seeming a little bit monotonous , as soon as it starts feeling li

ke a career . I don't want to make it sound that I 'm so superficial that I can 

say that it 's all just good fun , don't take it seriously , because I 've never

 met a musician who doesn't take it very seriously . `` But it is entertainment 

, after all . And I 've decided that if I 'm going to be in entertainment , then

 I want to be entertained , too . ''

 Back when the Beastie Boys first bum-rushed the popular consciousness , their d

etractors wanted to write them off as loudmouths with a lot of attitude but litt

le real talent . Most figured the trio would be forgotten as soon as `` Fight fo

r Your Right ( To Party ) '' fell off the charts . Guess again . Eight years lat

er , the Beasties remain a force to be reckoned with , having expanded their hor

izons to include everything from a genre-jumping live show to a burgeoning media

 empire . Start with the musical end . Although a growing number of rap acts now

 work with a live band , the Beasties are among the few that actually are a band

 , an approach the Beasties used heavily on the 1992 album `` Check Your Head . 

'' `` When we made ` Check Your Head , ' we were just coming off having not play

ed our instruments for a while , '' explains bassist Adam `` MCA '' Yauch , over

 the phone from a tour stop in Toronto . `` So it was all real new . But after w

e toured a lot , we got a lot more comfortable playing together as a band , with

 our percussion player and our keyboard player and everything . Things started j

elling a little bit more . `` So when we went back into the studio to record the

 new album , it came a lot more naturally . It just happens a little easier when

 you 're playing together more . '' That album , `` Ill Communication '' ( which

 arrives in stores Tuesday ) , doesn't just benefit from a tighter band ; it als

o boasts the sort of stylistic prowess that allows the Beasties to move easily f

rom rock to punk to old-school funk . Making music isn't the only thing the Beas

ties do these days , however . Among other things , the trio has launched its ow

n magazine , Grand Royal . Although much of its content is music-oriented , the 

magazine is hardly as narrowly focused as mainstream periodicals , such as Spin 

or Vibe , as stories on George Clinton and the Pharcyde sit cheek by jowl with i

tems on Bruce Lee , Joey Buttafuoco and Kiss . ( Optional add end ) `` I 'm surp

rised at how homogenized mainstream press is , '' says Yauch . `` It 's really d

irected at this one , watered-down thing that they think everyone 's interested 

in . I think that you need a little bit more of a personal touch on a lot of the

 stuff that 's going out these days . '' Part of that personal touch for Yauch i

s coverage of the political and cultural situation in Tibet . `` My personal fee

ling about it is that their approach to life and their way of understanding real

ity is well in advance of most Western understanding , '' he says . `` And one o

f the main reasons I think it 's such an important issue is ' cause , if we don'

t get our approach to technology in check pretty soon , we 're going to destroy 

the planet . I see Westerners as really immature , with a lot of dangerous toys 

. If we don't get our minds and thinking in check , we 'll basically blow up the

 planet . `` So it seems like a good time to turn to the Tibetans . ''

 It was a decade ago , in the early days of America 's love affair with the mini

van , that General Motors launched the Astro to compete against Chrysler Corp. '

s then nearly new Voyager and Caravan . Like the Ford Aerostar that arrived abou

t the same time , the Astro is bigger than the Chrysler but never was serious co

mpetition for it . The success of the Chryslers , you see , was based not just o

n their ability to carry everything including the kitchen sink , but to do that 

and still ride comfortably and handle well enough to please people who don't muc

h like driving trucks . The extended Astro , which is about 10 inches longer tha

n the standard version , can carry about 20 cubic feet more stuff than the stand

ard Astro , and 30 cubic feet more stuff than a stretched Chrysler , assuming al

l three vehicles have their second and third rows of seating removed . An Astro 

can tow a 5,500-pound trailer , 2,000 pounds heavier than any Chrysler will pull

 . So the Astro and nearly identical GMC Safari offer impressive advantages for 

a very reasonable price ; our tester , packed with comfort and convenience optio

ns , listed for $ 24,289 , with freight . The price one pays , unfortunately , f

or the Astro 's more trucklike capabilities is a jouncier ride and clumsier hand

ling than is provided by the Chryslers or GM 's own Lumina/TransSport/Silhouette

 line , for that matter despite chassis refinements for '94 . Although we 'd rat

e the handling superior to that of any full-sized van , there 's more sway in co

rnering , more body shake and more rear axle hop on bumps than in the smaller mi

nivans adding up to a sense of being less in control than you 'd like when traff

ic and road conditions are challenging . Back on the plus side , the all-wheel d

rive , costing $ 2,300 , is a modern , full-time system . No complaints about th

e engine , either ; even with a four-passenger load , hundreds of pounds of carg

o , and the air conditioner going , it did an impressive job of maintaining spee

d on long interstate upgrades and of keeping itself cool . The automatic transmi

ssion works smoothly . Our tester 's four , extra-cost bucket seats proved comfo

rtable even after several hours of driving . Controls and displays are well-desi

gned , although sun glare sometimes makes the gauges difficult to read . Our tes

ter 's `` dutch door '' tailgate , also at extra cost , is handy for loading in 

close quarters . The window hinges up , then the rest of the gate opens to the l

eft and right in two sections . Standard-length Astros with rear-wheel drive beg

in at about $ 17,000 with a 165-horsepower V-6 . Distributed by the Los Angeles 

Times-Washington Post News Service .

 Nissan makes au fait sedans for younger families and naughtier coupes for the h

igher spirited who take their driving seriously . Bouncing between both demands 

, capable of romping or simply strolling through life , has been Nissan 's Maxim

a . Visually .. . it 's a four-door sedan . Physically .. . it 's a high-ceiling

ed sports car with a performance legacy that began in 1980 with an engine borrow

ed from the 240Z sports car . Realistically .. . well , more than 90 percent of 

Nissan 's car sales are of socially acceptable sedans : Altima , Maxima and Sent

ra . The company 's sporty coupes , the 240SX and the 300ZX , remain toys for a 

gymnastic minority . And as the high energies and fine handling of 130-mph four-

doors such as Toyota Camry , Ford Taurus , Honda Accord and Chrysler 's first fa

mily of LH cars become silky norms , the demand for sedans that snarl is no more

 . So the 1995 Maxima was built to paddle steadily toward the mainstream of mid-

size . The legacy of every car in the new Maxima lineup remains hearty handling 

and V-6 athleticism . But they move with a quieter step while handling the irrit

ations of traffic and road surfaces with higher sophistication . There 's even a

 maxi Maxima , all wood-trimmed elegance , lustered upper crust and puffy-leathe

r softness very suggestive of Infiniti luxury . It takes , however , more than b

etter mechanicals and Ritz-Carlton interiors to buck the best of today 's market

 . So Maxima , depending on the model , is priced between $ 700 and $ 2,500 lowe

r than last year . More significant of the tussle ahead , they cost $ 900 to $ 2

,000 less than the intended target : the V-6 Toyota Camry . Honda 's Accord stil

l has the edge on price but even 1995 versions do not offer a V-6 engine . Ford 

Taurus underprices Maxima but its V-6 is skinnier by 50 horsepower . From two tr

im levels of last year , Maxima has advanced to three with the addition being th

at kinder , gentler , plushier sedan with a price tickling the velvet tootsies o

f Mercedes C-Class . From a choice of two V-6s , Maxima has mellowed its power s

ource to one lighter , more compact , double cam , 3.0-liter engine . It still p

roduces 190 horsepower but runs cleaner , more economically and produces heftier

 torque . If bargain basements are your lifestyle , the Maxima GXE with manual t

ransmission is your car and costs $ 19,999 . Those nines , of course , fool no o

ne because base prices conveniently exclude unavoidable taxes , registration and

 destination charges . So get real and figure on more than $ 21,000 with an addi

tional $ 999 or $ 1,000 to be on the safe side for a four-speed automatic . Ampl

e goodies are standard on the GXE and include dual air bags , air conditioning ,

 cruise control , power windows and steering , rear window defroster , cut pile 

carpets , dual mirrors and courtesy lighting from trunk to ashtray . Next in lin

e at $ 20,999 or $ 22,000 with all the hidden bits is the manual-transmission Ma

xima SE . This is a chariot for the warmer of blood who understand the real bene

fits of stiffened shocks , firmer struts and stickier tires . Also for those who

 believe that a leather-wrapped steering wheel , body-colored door handles , rea

r-deck spoiler , polished wheels and driving gloves are synonymous with speedy p

rogress . Then there 's the Maxima GLE , our test car , which , if not the lap o

f lady luxury , certainly lounges at her feet . The sticker of $ 24,199 c' mon ,

 work out the true price among yourselves includes needless , therefore desirabl

e , luxuries that are native customs on European cars . Such as leather seats , 

bun warmers , heated mirrors and a Bose compact disc sound system that will rupt

ure eardrums two cars over . There is key-less entry , a thinking climate contro

l , an automatic security system and other programs aimed at one day rendering t

he human touch obsolete . Anti-lock brakes are a $ 995 option throughout the lin

e . Strangely , Maxima styling , sketched by Nissan Design International in San 

Diego , is a flop . Head-on , the three-lip grille with blacked-out mesh is a da

rk smirk from Morticia Addams . The car stands a little high , almost perching .

 The rear shrieks of Toyota Corolla . Heads do not turn at Maxima 's passage sim

ply because in silhouette it makes only one positive statement : This is just an

other Japanese car . The GLE 's interior has much more to say and , again , Infi

niti is the language being spoken . Leather-faced seats are soft quality with a 

magnificent , eight-way driver 's chair that would adjust to Gumby . Walnut trim

 on the dashboard , center console and arm rests is deep and rich , albeit fake 

. And the switch gear works in deep whispers , not harsh clicks . These are comf

ortable , friendly accommodations with understated touches to prevent luxury fro

m becoming intimidating . Spaciousness , as Casey Stengel might have allowed , i

s everywhere . Thanks to a longer wheelbase and compact suspension , cabin heigh

t has been improved until front-seat occupants no longer need open the sun roof 

for additional headroom . There 's more leg , knee and shoulder space in the bac

k seats . But a hand brake set to the right of the driver 's seat and barely thr

ee inches from the face of the console is an exercise in clumsiness . It needs r

elocating , at least shortening to keep from rasping and gouging a driver 's kne

e . Alarm and central locking controls including remote-control opening of front

 windows to release solar-basted summer air work flawlessly . Also silently . A 

clearly audible chirp or kerchunk would be a better way of advising a departing 

owner that the Maxima is armed and secure . Performance remains Maxima 's might 

. It is not improved radically but has certainly been burnished carefully into a

 smoother , tighter , less strenuous package .

 Engine : 4.3-liter V-6 , 200 horsepower . Transmission : Four-speed automatic ,

 all-wheel drive . Safety : Driver air bag , four-wheel antilock brakes . Weight

 : 4,241 pounds . Maximum Cargo Room : 170.4 cubic feet ( with second and third 

seats removed ) . Base Price : $ 19,701 , including destination charge . EPA Mil

eage : 15 mpg city , 19 mpg highway .

 Cost : As tested , $ 26,633 ( includes automatic transmission , anti-lock brake

s , two air bags , automatic climate control , cruise control , central locking 

and alarm , Bose compact disc sound system , sun roof , leather-faced seats and 

faux walnut trim . ) Engine : 3.0-liter , 24-valve , V-6 developing 190 horsepow

er . Type : Front-engine , front-drive , sports sedan . Performance : 0-60 mph ,

 with four-speed automatic , 9.2 seconds . Top speed , estimated , 130 mph . Fue

l consumption , EPA city and highway , 21 and 28 mpg . Curb Weight : 3,097 pound

s .

 WASHINGTON A Washington Post article may have left the impression that Federal 

Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt chose the 7:30 a.m. time for a spe

ech he delivered at a conference of the National Cable Television Association . 

It was the association that scheduled him for that time .

 LOS ANGELES Like surfers waiting for the next wave , booksellers are an anxious

 bunch these days . They know a big one is coming , they just don't know where o

r when . From coast to coast , the book biz is abuzz with talk of a brave new co

mputerized world . In the future , some experts predict , a tsunami-force wave o

f CD-ROM technology and other innovations will wash through U.S. bookstores , dr

amatically transforming the way texts are written , packaged , sold and read . W

ithin years , they suggest , books will be more than hard-bound bestsellers or m

ass-market paperbacks . They 'll be three-dimensional , sensory experiences on h

ome computer screens that usher in a new era of literary information . You 'll j

ust pop in a compact disk , turn on the laptop .. . and read . Few are predictin

g the demise of books as we know them , because it 's hard to imagine your Power

Book at the beach , or bedtime stories with the kids in front of an impersonal c

omputer . But in a nation where 32 percent of all homes have PCs , the demand fo

r electronic book products could become insatiable . `` There 's a change coming

 and we have to stake our claim to this new market , '' says Doug Dutton , owner

 of a Dutton 's Books in Los Angeles . `` Yet that 's all we know . We bookselle

rs have a lot of questions about where we 're headed . '' They 'll be seeking an

swers starting Saturday , when more than 30,000 publishers , authors , bookselle

rs , agents and other vendors gather in Los Angeles for the annual American Book

sellers Association convention . The four-day event is the largest book conferen

ce in the English-speaking world . Much of the informal buzz is expected to focu

s on electronic publishing , a relatively new branch of the book business that '

s gathering more force each year . For the first time , the ABA will be devoting

 a sizable chunk of convention floor space to computer book products . The marke

t has clearly grabbed sellers ' attention but will they be able to ride the new 

wave ? `` That 's the $ 64,000 question , '' says Elisa Zachary , publisher of S

imon & Schuster 's interactive division , which is less than a year old . `` You

 have to train people to sell these products , and consumers have to become more

 aware . Maybe they 've heard about electronic books . But they don't know much 

more . '' On the surface , it looks simple : CD-ROM technology records the text 

of a book on compact disk to be read on a computer screen . The experience is of

ten enhanced with sound , graphics and material not found in the original book .

 The most dramatic feature of the new product , however , is interactive : It en

ables people to `` talk back '' to the text with the mere click of a computer sw

itch . From a creative standpoint , the possibilities are endless . In a future 

CD-ROM book , for example , readers could step into a novel , invent characters 

and change plots . The technology already exists for kids to watch Velociraptors

 crossing a Mongolian plain , as they click their way through a book about dinos

aurs . History has been enhanced for many college students , who now can look up

 Hitler , Lenin or Stalin in an on-line encyclopedia and see grainy films of the

m delivering speeches on home computer screens . Publishers are calling it the u

ltimate marriage of reading and entertainment . But they caution that electronic

 books and their ilk are like many other futuristic products rolling down the ne

w information superhighway . `` Right now it 's all talk and speculation , '' sa