Motown Memories : Jacksons carry on without Michael; Ross returns home : THE JACKSONS “2300 Jackson Street.” Epic ***: <i> Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five stars (a classic).</i>

No Michael? Whatever are Jermaine, Jackie, Randy and Tito to do? Come up with tunes that are infinitely more interesting than last time out on 1984’s “Victory”--which did feature the most famous Jackson prominently--as it turns out.

While the one-time Motown hitmakers have long been publicly adamant about wanting to produce for themselves and write their own material, the most appealing songs on this album are the ones that outside writers and producers worked on, notably L.A. Reid and Babyface’s “Nothin’ (That Compares 2 U).” Catchy and teasingly sweet, the singing siblings sound schoolboy tame on this track compared to such rowdier contemporaries as Bobby Brown and Al B. Sure!, although the polite and gentlemanly pop/funk approach here is equally attractive.

Of the eight (of 11) songs that the Jacksons themselves had a hand in writing, the most noteworthy is the title cut. Lyrically touching with a lightly jazzy, languid feel, it features the other siblings--Michael, Janet, LaToya, Marlon and Rebbie--along with 16 nieces and nephews. An ode to the house in Gary, Ind., that they grew up in, the cut is produced by Teddy Riley and Gene Griffith. The strongest cut on the album is “She,” another Riley-Griffith production. Randy Jackson handles lead vocals here in a raw, hard-core manner that both Brown and Sure put together would be hard-pressed to top.