Before the Poison is poetic and unnerving; it stands alone in her catalog in the same way that Broken English did -- but this time, on the other side of the mirror.

Worlds Apart might be a noble failure, but it would probably be worse if it just revisited previous successes.

It's a mature, accomplished statement for one of indie rock's most reliably miserable men.

Ultimately, it's hard not to feel that this album is little more than a blatant attempt to ape the Postal Service's Give Up.

Far from being the second coming of Dylan, Oberst is as precious as Paul Simon, but without any sense of rhyme or meter or gift for imagery, puking out lines filled with cheap metaphors and clumsy words that don't scan.

While there aren't as many heart-stopping productions as on 2002's unjustly neglected Come With Us, Push the Button proves the Chemical Brothers have retained the innate curiosity necessary to keep them blazing trails for years to come.

It ranks as the artist's most concise and accessible release to date.

Smart, moving, approachable, and well constructed, Nightbird is Erasure's mature masterpiece.

Fridmann's detailed sound is a far cry from either Kramer or Albini's minimalist tendencies, but his work here shows that Low can sound as good in elaborate settings as they do in simple ones.

Before the Dawn Heals Us is ambitious for sure, an emphatic step forward from the linger of Dead Cities.

Wilderness is another absolute gem.

It's breathtaking and essential listening for all fans of electronic music.

Buck isn't a talented rapper, but he has a gift for expressive storytelling and evokes a range of emotions with his limited, mumbling vocals.

With Sweeney on hand, Oldham has kept some of his less appealing musical eccentricities in check -- this is one of his strongest and best-focused works in years.

To Chesney's credit, he's as appealing on this set of relaxed tunes as he was on its gleaming, ultra-modern predecessor, and taken together, they are strong proof that he's one of best singers and songwriters working in contemporary country music in the mid-'00s.

As familiar as the psychedelic reference points may be, Jennifer Gentle are able to distill them into something contemporary, or at least make listeners feel like contemporaries of a psychedelic era, both past and present.

The themes of isolation, solitude and general soul-crushing existence makes it their most blatantly honest work and helps further reinforce the notion that this is their most fully realized and beautiful release to date.

As the accompaniment to game play, Chaos Theory is a standout in its field; just don't expect it to be as memorable as the typical Amon Tobin effort.

Since her voice is clear and lovely, the songs are tuneful without being flashy, and the production is quiet, subtly layered, George makes All Rise seem easy, and it's only when the record is over that it dawns on you what a rich, rewarding album it is.

A big part of what makes A Question of Temperature so engaging is that, like Travels in the South, it's the work of a musician who isn't rejecting his past experiences but making something new of them.

It is full of emotion yet never sophomoric, it is full of aural poetry and never pretentious, and it is full of that certain mercurial grace that makes each new offering from Six Organs of Admittance something wholly other and an essential listen.

Do the Bambi isn't a radical change from Stereo Total's previous work, but it is completely enjoyable from start to finish.

Early Day Miners do a wonderful job of working off of their influences and creating an indie rock that sounds familiar, which may seem tiring to some, but is great for others who feel that someone needs to continue and expand that sound.

The only shortfall that could be noted is that Trials & Errors is a touch long, clocking in at 72 minutes, but fans of Molina, along with the audience, who you can tell had a wonderful time at this show, will feel that this is a bonus.

The most remarkable aspect of the Game is how he can be such a blatant product of gangsta rap (okay, let's say fanboy) and leave a mark so fast.

Busts open half-lidded Velvet Underground fetishisms with squalls of Blue Cheer guitar, and further channels the heady sounds of the late '60s with a moodily dwelling organ.

What saves the record are the handful of songs that break out of the constraints of even-keeled melancholy and take (small) chances.

It's no better or worse than her 2002 debut or 2003's Chapter II, with the standout singles, decent album cuts, and filler fluff provided in equal doses.

Luda hasn't slipped into the complacent lap of luxury as deeply as some of his fellow platinum contemporaries, but it's evident that he's not as hungry as he once was.

Evenly divided between strong and weak tracks.

While it's just as fun as the Ocean's Eleven soundtrack was, Ocean's Twelve manages to be subtler and more distinctive in its mix of old and new sounds.

One fulfills all of the "faceless" criticisms thrown at them in the past, while alienating whatever fan base they had before.

Styrofoam represents the part of the Morr Music roster where the first three letters of the label's name might as well stand for "middle of the road."

It's not a perfect album -- it's far too indulgent for that -- and would have been stronger as a single disc, but its ambitious sprawl makes for a powerful statement that Nas disciples will surely savor.

The pure beauty and craftsmanship of Alison Krauss & Union Station's more commercial sound is undeniable, and somehow they manage to avoid sounding slick and formulaic, still retaining the spark of honesty that seems to be missing from the recordings of so many of their contemporaries.

The record does sound good when it's playing, but [its] conservatism is what keeps HTDAAB earthbound and prevents it from standing alongside War, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby as one of the group's finest efforts.

It's too club-centric, too fashion-obsessed, too willfully weird to be a No Doubt album... a glitzy, wild ride that's stranger and often more entertaining than nearly any other mainstream pop album of 2004.

While there is much good music here, there isn't much that adds to Nirvana's legacy, nor is there much that's revelatory.

Jackpot is superior in every aspect.

The album winds up sounding too reserved and heavy-handed, which makes it a disappointment not only compared to what the group has done before, but also to what the girls have achieved outside the group.

Fans looking for his next big statement might be let down at first listen, but MM..Food? is as vital as anything he's done before and entirely untouched or stymied by the hype.

It's more focused than Want One and as such packs more of wallop both musically and emotionally.

Rhythm and Gangster is right up there with his best while being riskier than anything before it.

Encore never resonates the way his first three endlessly fascinating albums do.

Peachtree Road proves that he's back to making good, solid records focused on songs, not hits, the way he did at the outset of his career.

Stuck trying to re-create the daring excitement, Handsome Boy Modeling School turn in an album that's half as interesting as their debut, and half as interesting as their guest list.

If it's a relatively minor effort, it still sounds like the work of a major artist, and there's lots of pleasure to be found in it.

Harmonium is confident and somber, a conscious attempt to be serious and mature that nevertheless still sounds adolescent, largely due to her earnest lyrics and overly ambitious music.

Driving music with an edge that you can get lost in.

Underscores that the band still has more vitality and ideas than most other artists associated with that [electroclash] trend ever did.

Unfortunately though, Return to V isn't a back-to-basics record, and there isn't a single landmark to pick out from its 18 tracks.

Emotive falls flat and fails to raise the bar set so high by the quality of their previous two releases.

Lifeblood is a pleasant listen, but once you peel away the keyboards, sensitively strummed guitars and tasteful harmonies and concentrate on Bradfield's nakedly open voice and Wire's terminally collegiate lyrics, it's hard to escape the unintentional pathos that winds up defining the album and, conceivably, the band's latter-day career.

If this is indeed his final offering as a songwriter, it is a fine, decent, and moving way to close this chapter of the book of his life.

This is an example of an innovator sounding only slightly better than his legions of lesser followers.

Pulses with a steady, sweaty energy that's punctuated with arena-sized hooks.

An aesthetic watermark for Cave, a true high point in a long career that is ever looking forward.

A work of intense drama but little importance.

A string of songs that, like Luna, hints at greatness but never seems to choose the fork in the road that might take them there.

While this release shows real growth, one questions if that's what Donnaholics are looking for.

While a little more depth in their songwriting would make them unstoppable, the Futureheads' first full-length is an undeniably exciting debut that just gets better with repeated listens.

The shift to a more dynamically rich sound suits Simple Plan just fine.

Based on pure sound, Von is just as much of a treat as the acclaimed follow-up.

Using only guitars and drums, the Pharmacists whip up a powerful mix of wild abandon and subtlety that is a perfect backing for Leo's vocal dexterity and clanging guitar heroics.

Futures will most likely not be the sensation that Bleed American was -- it is too dark and inwardly focused for that -- but it shows a progression of sound and emotion that fans of the band should embrace.

An album that's going to have the purists sighing with relief and have new converts checking out their back catalog for more.

Nothing scrambles the brain like Tomorrow Right Now's "Hot Venom," and no track has lyrics that hit as hard as Now, Soon, Someday's "Win or Lose You Lose," but the album maintains a consistency that neither of those releases can claim.

Welcome to the North finds the Music's ambitious blend of post-grunge and space rock much hungrier and angrier than its predecessor.

While it's likely that From a Basement is cleaner than what Smith... intended, it is much sparer than Figure 8, and it feels at once more adventurous, confident, and warmer than its predecessor.

This sounds like a lost Coral album down to every last detail, which means that it seems silly to venture here unless you've at least bought one Coral album already.

Even with a handful of forgettable songs... the album is easily the best one credited to the Duran Duran name since 1993's Wedding Album.

The astute and eclectic programming makes for a better listen than other attempts that have been made to compile '80s alternative rock.

Crimes keeps a tight lid on the nervous energy that's always defined the group, channeling it into aggressive songs that often suggest the damaged, exciting grooves of vintage Brainiac.

Arthur is in a class of his own and Our Shadows Will Remain is a monstrous, memorable outing, his finest moment in a career that is thus far full of them.

A case of too little, too late, nothing on Moving Units' full-length debut Dangerous Dreams does anything to disprove the feeling that the dance-punk scene is at best overcrowded and at worst approaching rigor mortis any day now.

There's a newfound sense of poignancy that overrides much of Mississauga's patchwork nihilism.

Those who really love Frank Black and Black Francis' songs, as opposed to just their sound, will enjoy eavesdropping on him playing around with his work.

Love Songs for Patriots isn't an American Music Club masterpiece in the manner of Everclear or Mercury, but it's certainly a stronger and more coherent effort than the group's last set.

Mos Def's second solo album is not disastrous, but it's a sprawling, overambitious mess.

Camper Van Beethoven have pulled off the difficult trick of not only reuniting, but picking up exactly where they had left off.

Summer in Abaddon is an album of small, but hardly insignificant pleasures, and it may be Pinback's finest work yet.

From its aggressive metal and hardcore overtones to lyrics that rail against societal ignorance and a world gone wrong, Chuck is a few steps ahead of the smirking, jocular anthems that populated Sum 41's previous output.

At its best sounds like a suicidal combination of Blur and the Divine Comedy.

These brittle, next-wave-of-new-wave productions plow no new ground and barely serve the lyrics to which they're chained.

This is the folky, bluesy, jangly-guitar-slinging sound of somebody who has made a practice of walking in boots three sizes too big for so long that they finally fit, and it delivers enough promise to inspire big ideas about what could happen when he outgrows them.

Palookaville could stand one more trimming pass, but it gives Cook's canon the needed depth.

R.E.M. have never seemed as directionless.

By far the most engaging album yet from Mono, Walking Cloud proves that the band is an entity unto itself.

Adopts a fuller, more polished sound than her earlier work, but her songwriting is just as innocent and heartfelt-sounding as ever.

References to fungus and food abound, but wrapped in the wooly blankets of Rawlings' signature picking and Welch's winsome harmonies, they take on a fireplace warmth that renders them amiably nostalgic rather than blatantly surreal.

It isn't necessarily memorable, but as an exercise in measured, even artistic rage, it's classic Hamilton.

Real Gone is another provocative moment for Waits, one that has problems, but then, all his records do.

It may not be an album that's as funny or timeless as The Transformed Man, but Has Been is every bit as bizarre.

[A] majestic soundscape.

Ray Ray occasionally loses focus, slipping into moments that are either undercooked or worthy of the cutting room, but it's enjoyable enough to keep his followers happy and will certainly act as a remedy for those who don't like the gold-bricked path being taken by mainstream R&B.

Without a concept to tout, The Grind Date doesn't gel like AOI: Bionix, but it does show De La Soul keeping everything together more than 15 years after their debut.

Even when there are plenty of other bands working in a similar style, Q and Not U remain more distinctive and harder to classify than many of their peers, which makes Power an exciting album and proof that the band has variety and vitality to spare.

For all their well-crafted ambition on Chronicles, "I Just Wanna Live" feels like Good Charlotte's centerpiece, since it's spiked with rock power, but gets its soul from the pop life they lead.