As someone whose success has come mostly as a singles artist, Jay Sean fails to deliver anything quite as charismatic as any of his greatest hits on Neon, leaving the album feeling largely flat.

The Best Little Secrets Are Kept is loaded with a raft of inspired songs that burst out of your speakers like they were on fire, mixing the sparkle of the best glam rock, the low-down crunch of the best of classic rock bands like the Stones, and the direct lyrical approach of poets like David Lee Roth or... Bon Scott.

So while Free Somehow can't quite rival the energy of a Widespread show, it still offers something that those concerts cannot, making the album a worthwhile purchase for most dedicated fans.

Seapony is one of the best pop bands of 2011.

Definitely track down 'Meet Me in the Garden' as it stands head and shoulders above the rest of the album, but give the rest a chance too.

The overall mood is casual, laidback, and relaxed.

For all the sludge and fuzz on the album, Do Rabbits Wonder? never becomes muddy; the grit and gristle of Whirlwind Heat's abrasive repertoire of sounds remains clearly defined even at its most crazed.

Slicker Than Your Average is stronger than the average sophomore effort, and it proves that Craig David's abilities are innate.

Alternately too predictable and too quirky, Panic Movement reveals the Hiss as an ambitious band that can't always deliver on its goals.

Nickelback can now afford a little more time in the studio and a little more time to indulge themselves, and they turn out the same record, only slicker, which only highlights just how oppressively and needlessly sullen this group is.

Beg for Mercy doesn't measure up to Get Rich or Die Tryin', but then, how many rap albums do?

Oh Land's international debut is an eclectic, nocturnal mix of club music, dance, and electro-pop.

The Bravery are an easy target -- after all, they were often seen as also-rans even when their kind of music was the hot new thing -- but, unfortunately, The Sun and the Moon's hesitant, unfocused feel doesn't do much to dissuade that notion.

Most won't have the skills to follow his playbook, either on or off the field, but Cube's utterly unique I Am the West shows the younger generation how to cross 40 while retaining their freedom and baller status.

Tomorrow proves Kingston can provide a whole album's worth of pool-side entertainment even without the 'Beautiful Girls'-sized single.

Those speedy songs ["You and Me" and "Go Away My Lover"] are the exception on this album, not the rule, but they're still the highlight, balancing Ziman's ruminations on a love gone wrong with something much brighter.

Yes! is not a record fueled by the heady rush of love at first sight; it's an album designed to soundtrack a long getaway weekend for a couple already in love.

Surfer Blood have regained their freedom with 1000 Palms; next time, they need to do something interesting with it.

Blame It on Baby is pretty evenly divided between strong songs and duds.

Draw the Line is essentially another cog in the folksy wheel he's been spinning since "New Day at Midnight."

Kravitz knows how to sculpt not just sounds but a cohesive LP, and that kind of pro assurance when combined with his earnest hippie beliefs, make Raise Vibration a sunny, affirming listen.

Do Things is a cool treat of a record, filled with catchy and sweet songs that have a relaxed and easygoing happiness that is impossible to resist.

Set aside this inclination toward sneering solipsism, which not only characterizes but enlivens nearly every song, and I Am Not a Dog on a Chain is one of the better latter-day Morrissey records: the sense of musical daring reveals how placid and complacent he's been for the better part of a decade.

Hieroglyphic Being's unrecognizable, incongruously mechanical mix of "Satellite Sniper" is the only real misstep (albeit a minor one), and all told this is one of the most rewarding remix albums in recent memory.

While it may be a bit of a pre-2013 tour advert/cash grab, like all Folds-related products, it's certainly not without its charms.

As the first offering of a new stage in her career, Love + Fear not only reveals its creator as newly hopeful, but it also gives hope that future efforts might be carved in a similar fashion. Marina's Electra heart still beats, it's just pumping smoother and with a confidence born from a renewed and mature perspective.

These are not songs for the parents, nor are these tunes meant to educate or even entertain: these are the kinds of songs that kids chant in the backseat when they mean to annoy their parents.

Though the focus on range and experimentation is fascinating for those who've already heard Squarepusher doing the standard drill'n'bass rigamarole, the randomness evident on productions like "Kill Robok" makes the LP about as infectious as a surgical bandage.