BACK IN ACTION:

You can soon strike three names from Pop Eye’s list of Missing in Action--those artists who’ve let years go by between album releases.

* Linda Ronstadt’s “Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind,” the veteran singer’s first pop/rock album since 1982, is due next month. The album features two duets with Aaron Neville and a remake of the Sam & Dave oldie “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby.” Ronstadt is backed on the album by a rock ‘n’ roll rhythm section and a 50-piece orchestra. Since the singer’s last pop-rock album, “Get Closer,” she has released three albums of traditional standards with Nelson Riddle, a bluegrass collaboration with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, and an album of traditional Mexican songs.

* Tears for Fears’ “The Seeds of Love” is due Sept. 26. It’s the British group’s first album since “Songs From the Big Chair” hit No. 1 in 1985 and generated back-to-back No. 1 singles. The duo is now a trio, with the addition of Olita Adams, a black female singer whom group mainstays Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith discovered singing in a Kansas City bar while on their last U.S. tour. First single from the new album: “Sowing the Seeds of Love.”

* Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” is due Sept. 19, one month after the leadoff single, “Miss You Much.” The album was produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, who also did the honors on Jackson’s chart-topping 1986 album, “Control.” But it differs from its predecessor, which sold nearly 5 million copies in the United States and yielded five Top 5 singles, in that it explores such social issues as prejudice, illiteracy and drugs.