Though their words suggest such weighty topics, the album remains sonically airy. It might get tense, but it's never dense.

Earle's polemics are much stronger than the work of your typical "protest" songwriter, and this is a better focused and more passionate work than Jerusalem.

The Drive-By Truckers are the best, smartest, and most soulful hard rock band to emerge in a very long time.

The young hell-raiser has grown to be one of modern country's most compelling and multidimensional artists.

Tambourine is a remarkably mature, confident, and commanding release that defines then rides its groove with no low points.

It all holds together in a way the Olivia Tremor Control often didn't.

That Rilo Kiley jump around so much stylistically could slow down More Adventurous' heat-seeker status.

Panders to unimaginative industry and genre posturing.

We Fight Til Death gets distracted easily; all of its ideas are great, but they don't always come to fruition.

This is the most enjoyable album of Warren's and Nate's careers to date, by a long shot, and it's among Snoop's most enjoyable as well.

There are occasional lapses in the lyrics department.

The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads is not only a vital document of an important, groundbreaking band on their way up, it's one of their best albums, easily surpassing Stop Making Sense.

They've sounded stuck and overconfident before, but this old-school-styled, true hip-hop album finds the Mobb hungry again.

Few will ever refer to this as a classic, though even fewer will ever think of this as a poor showing.

The attention to detail in the production, the punchy melodies, and the sympathetic performances by the group -- along with Kasher's writing that is nothing less than gripping and often head-shakingly brilliant -- make this record an indispensable artifact for anyone who likes indie rock with a real emotional punch.

The dank emotional caverns of Bubblegum offer some territory well worth exploring for the strong-willed.

Despite its flaws, Forget Tomorrow has enough beauty and creativity to suggest that Macha's best music may still be ahead of the band.

Too much roam and wander for some, but Doom-heads looking for the perfect downer couldn't ask for much more.

Perhaps they should stick to singles.

[A] mesmerizing debut.

Of course, if you really care for Topley-Bird, you're going to want the full-length U.K. album. But if you just want a great album, Anything will not disappoint.

There are times when One Plus One Is One is simply too much, and the fresh spin that Gough brought to the British singer/songwriter tradition in his earlier work is missed, but he's still a fine addition to it.

With 33 tracks in 42 minutes (each averages around one minute), the four-piece is anarchic and weird, yet -- best of all -- still strangely maintains a certain charm.

This album just may signal the beginning of an exciting new era in rock music.

While they may have traded in some of their youthful punk rock spastic enthusiasm, they've replaced it with a world-wise wit and a smart approach to how a rock & roll record should be made in 2004.

While siblings Morgan and Mercedes Lander's songwriting has improved since 2001's Oracle, there's still an air of mediocrity to later tracks like "Loveless" and "Burning Bridges" that shows an adherence to formulaic modern metal clichés, and a lack of confidence on some of the vocal takes that makes some of the songs sound like demos.

Kiss & Tell comes off a bit contrived and lackluster in the beginning, but after a few spins you'll grasp (and thirst) for its sonic goodness.

Seems oddly lacking in passion.