A pretty good modern rock record that will make Weezer fans happy.

Califone takes familiar elements and often combines them in unfamiliar ways without sounding unfamiliar or ever losing sight of the song.

A decent but not spectacular album that, not for the first time, finds DiFranco on her way to somewhere else.

A necessary addition to the collection of Belle & Sebastian fans, indie pop fans, and music lovers.

Startling, tirelessly powerful, and full of unlimited dimensions.

An album that breaks little new ground, but further entrenches the Method as America's finest producers of dance music made for rock & roll people.

This willfully noisy, messy album is ultimately just as contrived as the band's glossier sound was, and the shift from The Guest's winsome pop -- which was also a shift from their debut's heavily Weezer-influenced sound -- makes it difficult to get a grip on the band.

Unfortunately, the orchestral work for the film is hastily assembled as if it were an afterthought.

Despite all the new assistance, Tasty is formatted much like Kaleidoscope and Wanderland, constantly swinging back and forth between bouncy pop and laid-back (not throwback) soul.

Crams every last piece of the Offspring puzzle -- slickly produced rock racket, hints of anti-establishment rabble-rousing, and reams of relationship and strip mall culture gaggery -- into its brief half-hour run time.

With Atlas, Latin rock quintet Kinky move closer to actual rock than the electronic pop of their 2001 debut allowed.

Those expecting another album where Keys sounds wise beyond her years will bound to be disappointed by The Diary of Alicia Keys, since her writing reveals her age in a way it never did on the debut.

Although she remains by far the most interesting figure in hip-hop, This Is Not a Test! has more filler than Elliott's allowed on a record since 1999's Da Real World.

They skated by the first time through, due to a couple of fluke catchy songs, but they have no hooks or full-fledged songs this time around, and suffer dramatically because of it.

While there are some interesting musical moments on Folklore -- enough to make it worth a listen -- the dogged seriousness and didactic worldview become a bit overbearing not long before the album is a quarter of the way finished, particularly since the fusion of worldbeat and adult alternative pop often seems heavy-handed.

Because of the emphasis on brevity and variety (and especially quality), the album's over before you know it and you're left feeling hungry for more Korn.

A well-made, funky, fun record that proves two things -- the Hi sound lives and Al Green still has it.

If Once in a Lifetime does run out of steam toward the end, it has to be said that it doesn't outstay its welcome, and apart from a track or two at the very end, this is a compelling, entertaining listen from start to finish.

An unexpected and welcome maturation.

She may be older now, but she still sounds like a little girl, which undercuts both the glistening, sensual midtempo grooves that dominate the album and the big, booming uptempo cuts that offer a change of pace.

Though it is still faithful to much of the feel of Let It Be, the presentation of Naked, including the slight bits of modern-day editing, reveals that it is revisionist history, not the final word. Which doesn't hurt it as a record -- these are great songs, after all -- but it is a bit disappointing that this long-awaited project wasn't executed with a little more care and respect for the historical record.

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

Impresses on the same level as the best of his career.

Song for song, this is better-written and harder-rocking than Cocky.

While Pink's peers take incremental, cautious artistic steps forward, she's slyly fearless, choosing the right collaborators that help her create pop music that has both style and substance to spare.

Nearly all of this territory has already been plotted with more detail and flair on Handley and Turner's first three records.

It's pointedly brief (the entire album occurs in under 27 minutes), but Merritt showers each moment of April with ridiculously perfect raindrops.

The Dirtbombs are a rock & roll band pure and simple, and if you like pure and simple rock & roll with a dash of soul, you will flip over Dangerous Magical Noise.