UPDATE:

I have since the first message(yes, that was me) downloaded some of the tracks one by one, because some of the tracks on the "full album" mp3 were corrupted.

I do have wave editing software(CoolEdit PRO 1.2a), and always load them up there 'cause I can usually remove the odd gap in there, or remove background noise if I have to (but that often introduces some other artifacts/noises in the background, so...).

When I download something, I never do anything else on the comp, so it's not multitasking on my side which is the problem.

More likely the guy/girl who encoded the mp3 did a lot of stuff while encoding, and therefore the file is "ruined".

Would be nice if people could check the files before they share them, but I guess most people aren't perfectionists like me.

Oh - the point I was coming to(but never did), was that even when I downloaded the songs separately, and chose mp3's encoded at 320 and 256Kbps, they still had gaps in them!!

But I think the theory about multitasking while encoding is probably the answer.

I've finally managed to get rid of them using the wave editor, so now I can listen to it on my stereo with no more frustrations.
I guess when you get something for free, you can't really complain, though...