While their willingness to experiment is admirable, despite the fact that they've gone overboard with their overdubs, the overabundance of studio polish leaves one to wonder if it's not because the songs just aren't as strong this time around.

The album is savvier still, crafted to evoke the spirit and feel of the Eagles' biggest hits.

Backstreet Boys don't have any songs that will lift them out of the adult contemporary world--but the audience who has turned from teens to adults with them will likely enjoy its easy sound, as there is nothing bad here. There's just nothing great, either.

Dirt Farmer is a hard-edged but compassionate and full-hearted set of roots music from a master of the form, and it's a welcome, inspiring return to form for Levon Helm after a long stretch of professional and personal setbacks.

It may take multiple spins for a few songs to really find their footing with fans, but those people will surely be rewarded handsomely in the end.

Teenager can stand as the group's crowning glory to date.

a few songs that lag a bit, this is easily Babyshambles' best work yet.

This doesn't make for an album that holds together thematically the way other latter-day Neil albums do, but its mess is endearing.

the album is simple ear candy for those who haven't studied the band's previous releases, and sweet resolution for those who can spot the references to older songs (specifically 'Blood Red Summer') and former riffs ('The Crowing').

Sound and feel do mean a lot, but country records really survive on the strength of their songs, and the remarkable thing about Carnival Ride is that it's stronger song for song than Some Hearts, some of this due to Carrie herself, who bears four songwriting credits here, often in conjunction with some permutation of Steve McEwan and Hillary Lindsey, who pen a bunch of other tunes here.

It's an ambitious egotistical solo release, and one with the chops to pull it all off. The well placed spaces and lithe textural moments of delicate instrumental engagement and interlude prevent Elect the Dead from going by in a blur.

La Cucaracha is the sound of Ween cutting loose, reveling in the lower budget and expectations an indie label brings, and playing music that simply sounds good.

A more electronic, better built, and altogether better deal than "Monsters," thanks mostly to the singer and-don't-you-forget-to-mention songwriter's better sense of self.

What seems to be an unlikely pairing in the duo of former -- and future apparently--Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant and bluegrass superstar Alison Krauss is actually one of the most effortless-sounding pairings in modern popular music.

Bemis may be seeking to defend the emo genre, but his album instead illustrates the difference between run-of-the-mill emo--which, indeed, comprises most of the genre's output--and the imaginative, skillful tunes that flourish here. The only major downside is the album's length.

Things are decidedly darker this time around; although his music has always been psychedelic, Raposa's In the Vines aligns itself more with a bad trip than lazy, woozy-eyed stoner fare.

Crucially, all these nods to Blanche's influences end up enhancing the band's uniqueness; rooted equally in the traditional and more experimental sides of Americana, country, and rock, Little Amber Bottles expands what a Blanche album can be, and it's a joy to hear.

Nice to listen to and vaguely uplifting, but ultimately empty on the inside.

Underworld never sound particularly tired on Oblivion with Bells. Granted, the music is less innovative than before, and also more quiet, which makes Hyde's vocals more critical than they've ever been.

Make Sure They See My Face, is a much more cohesive record, one that may have an easier time making it onto MTV and mainstream radio.

Examining classical elements is a novel concept, but spreading that concept throughout four EPs, two double-disc sets, and two record releases does little more than dilute an otherwise strong set of songs.

Fans of the frenzied early R.E.M. rock & roll will find this too anthemic--but this big, big sound on R.E.M. Live speaks to the band's core strengths in a way no post-Bill Berry studio album does.

In Rainbows will hopefully be remembered as Radiohead's most stimulating synthesis of accessible songs and abstract sounds, rather than their first pick-your-price download.

There are interesting moments here, but they're fleeting, crying out for a bit of the deliberate craft of Blondie's comeback albums, which may be predictable but at least they're focused, which makes for easier listening than this long 17-track slog of sound.

It's thoughtful and fun and sophisticated, utterly alluring, another fantastic success by Zach Condon.

It's nothing more than modest music for mellow good times, but it's lively enough to be fleeting fun, with enough good tunes for a mild party, preferably one that's held at home.

Widow City's major accomplishment is how it captures the band's live power and sheds some of their mannered studio sound. It rocks hard, and often.

Her voice is too sweet and girlish to command, her melodies mellifluous but not grabbing--but Heroes & Thieves flows easily, and it's a nice return to the strengths of her debut.