McCartney's music is appropriately romantic, sometimes to the extent that the moments intended to convey creeping tension or sadness bounce with a joyous gait.

It's hard not to walk away with the feeling he's capable of better than this.

This straight-faced, more serious version of the band still knows how to crank out some solid songs, but it would seem that, in maturing, Four Year Strong have lost their way.

Its sly, delicately textured rewards are ones to appreciate and ponder, not to cherish.

Generally the polished punch of Wood's work pushes Love Is the Great Rebellion into sunny positive pop, the kind of album that can double as motivation or pleasing background music for the office.

Vol. 2 sounds like the album one might slap on after the Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 1 party ends and everyone is ready to crash.

While they have many good ideas, sometimes they have too many good ideas at once and end up gilding the lily (or putting a blue fake fur mustache on it, as the case may be).

The huge guest list is also a plus since Ross would have a hard time carrying this album on his own, but when surrounded by talent he pushes a little harder and comes up with a handful of rhymes that aren't tired or clichéd.

An A.merican D.ream comes off like an updated version of the walking blues: heavy looks at heavy times, made all the heavier when the narrator is positioned somewhere between genius and mental breakdown.

The concentration on writing and arrangement is disciplined, with a strong set of dynamics, a terrific mix, and great production, and of course the lavish package lives up to the band's reputation as well.

It gets closer to the spirit and sound of what Hucknall loves.

Though Bullet for My Valentine still have just enough post-hardcore and screamo in their sound to keep metal purists from coming completely around to their way of thinking, Temper Temper feels like a gateway album into thrash.

A welcome surprise in all of this comes by way of White Lies' ability to break up the gloom with the occasional soaring moment.

The album is an adequate addition to one of the most impressive artist discographies within any genre, not great enough to overshadow the heavily scrutinized corporate alliance that assisted with its ascent.

V is among the band's most confident and inspired releases.

Full Moon is perched perfectly between the interesting and the mundane and is in equal parts either.

Arriving in 2008, Be OK furthers her Norah Jones-gone-pop approach with 11 tracks.

The band fares best on songs like "Narcissist," which, like the Vines' grunge love letters, are pretty fun even if they aren't shockingly original.

On Tha Carter IV, Wayne's world feels more like a dream than reality, but the loyal subjects of Young Money get a wild ride and the great feeling of flashing those ruby slippers one more time.

Lightning is no kind of departure, but the slight variations in sound and the slightly expanded emotional palette mean that it's an improvement over the last record or two.

Though few songs are second-rate, their similarities make them bleed into each other too much.

Boasting the best album-length production of the year, will.i.am's Songs About Girls is a tour de force of next-generation contemporary R&B.

For Carly Simon's fans, this will ultimately be a most welcome return to her songwriting form.

Listeners will hear the echoes of the better-known recordings of these songs, even if Souther's own performances of them sound like they may have set the template for Ronstadt or the Eagles to embroider on.

While this may not make instant fans out of their haters, This Means War will certainly give them something to consider.

Generation Freakshow is still an impressive return to form from a band whose members sound revitalized and determined to prove they're not a spent force.

Life in a Beautiful Light, at its essence, is the sound of an artist looking for her own voice amidst the deafening roar of her influences.

As a bridge between that album and whatever comes next, Wish Hotel works perfectly, hinting at only the slightest changes to the formula, but with differences enough to keep things from getting stale.