On Again into Eyes, they take listeners down a fairly well-traveled musical road, but it's still an enjoyable journey.

The album has the kind of off-the-cuff, palpable sense of fun that happens when two old friends lay down tracks together.

Belladonna was welcomed back into the fold, and all the vocals were re-recorded. But to Anthrax's credit, it all fits together seamlessly, resulting in arguably their finest studio album since, well, the last one that Belladonna sang on!

Nick would benefit from getting his feathers a little ruffled -- just a smidgeon of the lean country-rock of The Impossible Bird would go a long way -- yet there's still plenty of charm in the old crooner.

The album stays firmly planted in the post-punk/synth pop wheelhouse, which means that it's incredibly consistent, but not necessarily surprising, which could be a good or bad thing for fans, depending on whether they prefer their debut or their sophomore album.

Daybreak is successful on two levels: in the way it touches on the best elements of Saves the Day's past works, it's a welcome entry point for new listeners; and with its freshness, it assures established fans that the band is still invigorated after going at it for over a decade.

For the Devil Wears Prada's fourth album, Dead Throne, the Christian metalcore six-piece is at its most technical and most brutal.

There's a soft-spoken power to Metals, even if its songs are more liquid and atmospheric than the title suggests.

If The World Is Just a Shape to Fill the Night came out in a year when it seemed like there were even more sensitive folkie records than ever before, it also succeeds more than most of its contemporaries by virtue of its differing reference points.

In addition to proving once and for all that Hughes can stand on his own as a rock & roller, Honkey Kong meets the main requirement of all of the previous albums Hughes has appeared on. It's a rockin' good time.

Sweeter benefits from greater textures in his surroundings, stronger hooks in the melodies, and, for once, a sensibility that doesn't sacrifice the present for the sake of paying respect to the past.

Major/Minor will go down as another solid, if unspectacular, Thrice release.

Celebrity musical pairings rarely lead to innovation or excitement, but Duets II is an enjoyable celebration of what Tony Bennett has meant to pop music, and what he can bring out in any star vocalist he steps up to the microphone with.

Throughout it all, Rimes hits her marks with ease, and the new version of her breakthrough hit "Blue" illustrates just how far she's come--how she's become a stronger, more nuanced singer over the years.

A hypnotic, wickedly sexy bit of folk-funk delivered at the tempo of a rambling, acid-soaked desert caravan, the track--as with the rest of Minnesota--leaves you pondering Jennings' poetic intent like a dark mirage spied in the late summer sun.

The end effect is ultimately liberating, letting Nurses explore something more than the late-2000s indie cul-de-sac they'd found themselves in previously.

Seasons on Earth is a poetic, thoroughly engaging set from a now-mature songwriter, whose confidence in her musical language is as poetic as it is authoritative.

As with their other work, In Heaven is intriguing but not completely satisfying, but that intrigue is tantalizing enough to keep listeners guessing.

Dee Dee had to change, the change was good, and it led to a fine, grown-up guitar pop record.

They've managed an interesting blend of that style with the free-form structures of film soundtracking, the results of which are intriguing although rarely crucial.

Sweetheart of the Sun is a remarkably good record that comes long after anyone may have expected the Bangles to do anything much at all.

So judge not, indie rockers and other self-satisfied musical tribes: any way you slice it, the aging rock audience is hungry and, flawed as they may be, Chickenfoot are just the guys to feed them.

Zig Zaj sounds more like a rehash than the entirely new recipe that music fans are undoubtedly looking for.

Since he's operating on a small scale, none of this soars or rocks--the way In Reverse or Girlfriend did, respectively--yet the charm of Modern Art is its intimacy.

If summery and slick, no-frills pop-punk is what you crave, look no further.

Despite having many strong songs and a more focused approach, the Duke Spirit's third album is also their most uneven.

The only downside to the album is that the songs begin to blend together a little by the end, but in a comfortably warm way instead of a boring, take-the-record-off-now kind of way.

The melodies remain fuzzily in focus, so Ashes & Fire winds up as ever-shifting mood music, sustaining an appealingly lazy haze residing somewhere south of melancholy.