An old-school alternative rock album full of oversized riffs and open-hearted hooks.

An unexpected but dazzling return to the top form of the later Beach Boys years.

Throughout, Berg never loses his appeal.

Mobb Deep often sounds like a guest at its own party.

There's plenty here for old and even new fans to enjoy.

This album is calm and relaxing almost to a fault. [26 Nov 2005]

Taut musicianship, well-crafted songs and potent vocals make this a landmark album in an already multiplatinum career.

"Life in Cartoon Motion" is like Scissor Sisters-lite: Retro disco with heavy doses of rollicking piano and funk. [31 Mar 2007]

While the electronic flourishes and arrogant bombast that respectively marred the band's last two efforts are thankfully gone, there's nothing on Heathen Chemistry to suggest that the "Wonderwall" commercial glory days of the mid-'90s are coming back.

Powter firmly establishes himself as a singer/songwriter who sits somewhere between James Blunt and early recordings by Elton John—albeit one who also knows the power of blue-eyed soul. [15 Apr 2006]

I-Empire is a sweeping conceptual piece with a message as big as its sound and just a bit more enigmatic.

Even the few noteworthy moments are lost in the banality of the music. [15 Oct 2005]

Of course, straying from emo's typical lyrical terrain is less risky when it's accompanied by music that fulfills the genre's stylistic requirements as completely (and as satisfyingly) as the hooky, fuzz-encrusted tunes on Lonely Road do.

His hooks can be rock-solid ('Ack Like You Know') and his interest in gleaming synthesizerism (opener 'American Superstar' comes into 'Tubular Bells' territory, really) helps set him off from the legions of rappers clawing over each other to break out of the South.

Some of these songs about life, love, family, friends, and the world seem subtly laced with lyrics inspired by the terrorist attacks, which helps make Are You Passionate? seem not only like a great next step in Young's career but also the best album he could have issued right now.

Overall, Sugar Ray sticks to what it does best: helping audiences realize that there's no better alternative to a California fun-in-the sun day at the beach.

Jem's Dido-like vocals are consistently a soothing treat, but on the whole there's a sultriness and spark missing from the material.

It deftly balances sweet ballads, outer-space jazz, acid-rock, and firecracker funk superior to almost anything he has offered since perhaps "Sign O' the Times."

While superbly recorded and at times a hoot to crank (largely for the shameless rips of Kiss, Joan Jett and Def Leppard), Bitchin' is too light on hooks.

While not every song is a winner, the title track and sleaze anthem 'This Ain't a Love Song' are standouts.

Often falters distressingly.

The 11-track set is unlikely to slow the group's momentum, since it's as polished as a diner countertop.

At 22 tracks, "Damita Jo" has its fair share of hits and misses.

The band takes its proven peppy rock sound to new heights.

The title of Staind's sixth album is a bit of a misnomer, but there are a few new stylistic directions here.

An ambitious, aurally rich suite of storytelling songs.

A fine return to form.

But if t.A.T.u. represents the tippy-top of the marketing universe, it also represents the bottom third of pop songwriting.

Things hover uneasily somewhere between wholesale reinvention and mere superstar vanity project. [28 Oct 2006]

Many of Angel's midtempo tracks, while well-intentioned, fail to reach the lofty heights to which they aspire.

There's nothing really spectacular about any track, although in a strange way the entire album does have the ability to grow on you.

He shows the abandon and confidence of a long-term artist, not just a one-hit wonder.

Nearly every cut shoots for maximum radio mileage, and the album's lack of stimulation makes such pandering harder to overlook. [20 May 2006]

Halfway between a fraternity kegger and a housewarming party.

May not be as postcard-perfect as I Am Shelby Lynne, but it comes pretty close.

A guilty pleasure.

This London-based crooner emerged in the early '00s as the face of Britain's 2-step scene, but on his fourth full-length Craig David doesn't sound tethered to any one sound in particular.

As was the case with John Legend, who beamed into the club on his latest, the initial effect is jarring, even in its star's capable hands. But it also settles in nicely.

Boomslang is the album Marr fans have been waiting a lifetime for.

Appears and sounds more like a work-in-progress than a finished disc.

Packing an emotional wallop, Chances should quash critics who insist that Dion's voice is stainless steel.

Amid all the pomp and circumstance, Loaf delivers an album fans are going to love. [4 Nov 2006]

[Ashcroft] possesses one of the definitive rock voices and has an undeniable gift for melody, but he pairs those talents here with truly insipid lyrics and uninspired MOR arrangements.

As a singer, J.Lo sounds more confident, as she takes more chances with a voice that is technically limited but well-suited to the material she handles.

Far more '70s-style easy rock than rap/rock bombast.

Even naysayers will have to serve props to Lopez for the considerable growth she reveals as both a performer and tunesmith.

An uneven and ultimately unsatisfying return.

The album is another market-smart collection of radio fodder, rather than Lopez's artistic breakout. That said, no one does classy pop quite like she does.

Duran Duran has a new lease on life, sounding more vibrant and exciting than it has in eons.

On the synthy, Darkchild-produced 'So Over You,' Ashanti croons about getting past a former relationship, while the Jermaine Dupri-mixed 'Good Good,' featuring elements of Michael Jackson's 'The Girl Is Mine,' finds her confidently belting about her abilities to please in bed.

There are potent moments like the rise-and-fall ballad 'Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?' and the fierce 'Nothingtown,' but 'Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace' sounds more like a tentative step in the Offspring's new direction.

While he is certainly an innovative producer, that originality fails to translate on "In My Mind."

A delightfully breezy and refreshingly hopeful chill-out solo disc. [24 Feb 2007]

Aside from grand moments like "All Hands on Deck - Part 1: Raise the Sail" and the orchestral wall that builds on "The Sweetest Wave," you don't get the feeling that a continuous story binds the album together.

Tenacious D insists it is the greatest band in the world, and on a couple occasions during this soundtrack to the duo's upcoming film of the same name, you kinda believe it. [18 Nov 2006]

Most of The Block is a reasonable enough approximation of faceless club pop, complete with standard-issue guest stars (the Pussycat Dolls, Timbaland) and out-of-left-field rap bridges.

It simply isn't his best work.

Street Dreams is a little too padded for its own good, and a handful of tracks suffer from all-too-familiar samples that have been used in recent hits by other artists.

Simple Plan is a shameless little heatseeker, which isn't much of a musical problem. Provided you're after a good time, several cuts make excellent use of keyboard bleeps and drum-machine beats.

Teamed with new producer Chris Lindsey and with more time to create than she did in the rush following her run on "American Idol," Kellie Pickler's second album is another solid step toward country stardom.

Korn is one step closer to crafting an album built for arenas and headphones alike.

If you dug the sweaty rowdiness of Mooney's last records, you'll find that the Matrix scrub-job has removed most of their traces of grit, grime and rock.

The album doesn't really push the creative envelope and relies too heavily on guests at the expense of the principal artist. [15 Apr 2006]

A pleasing collection of midtempo songs and ballads brushed with, but not obscured by, a contemporary sheen. [30 Jul 2005]

She remains a monster vocalist just getting started.

Things start out strong... [But] the rest of the material is basically an easy-listening version of the band, with vocals weak enough to be distracting and an over-reliance on multilayered, kitchen sink production. [20 Aug 2005]

Emo kids will flock to German class when they hear the original version of 'Monsoon,' the band's biggest hit, which closes this strangely fascinating Euro-glam effort.

The Dolls' bark is as big as their bite.

[It] works best when he's rapping alongside guests.

Lions is indeed a truer expression of the Crowes' potential: adventurous songwriting ensconced in a blues- and funk-inspired swagger.

A diverse and highly enjoyable ride.

If Foreigner was still an active, young band, it would sound a lot like Matchbox Twenty.

Live has settled too comfortably into the skin of a middle-of-the-road rock act. [17 Jun 2006]

Some of the fierce headbanging that is Mudvayne's stock in trade can still be found in 'The Hate in Me,' 'We the People' and 'Dull Boy,' but the bulk of the record finds the group playing its New Game with hard-hitting exuberance.

As Fiction Family, the two San Diego musicians find plenty of sonic common ground and, most important, a dozen richly crafted and intriguingly rendered songs.

A postcard-perfect summer pop jam, "Don't Give Up" is one of many delights on Chicane's much-anticipated sophomore album, "Behind The Sun."

Despite meticulous production, "The Re-Up" retains some of the spare, raw feel of an underground release. [16 Dec 2006]

Its growth feels genuine and, unlike Sum 41's punk peers, its musical maturation doesn't come at the expense of that all-important snotty 'tude.

The bulletproof Nickelback provides affordable fun that promises good returns in hard times.

Deliciously decadent, Take It to the Limit has even more melodic power than its predecessor, delivering tons of guilty pleasures that sound fresh and familiar and strangely exciting.

It's about average for albums from Prince proteges.

Renaissance finds Richie in an oh-so-contemporary setting, encompassing uptempo dance, Latin-hued and funky pop, and power ballads. It also finds him working with such hitmaking producers as Rodney Jerkins, Walter Afanasieff, and Brian Rawling and Mark Taylor. While this may sound like a farfetched concept on paper, it works surprisingly well on disc -- albeit without breaking any new ground.

Power ballad 'What If' reveals that Tisdale can deliver the radio-ready goods, and 'Tell Me Lies' is convincingly spunky. But the rest of the material, as racy as it sometimes is, doesn't give the singer room to comfortably let loose.

Beyond a few faster songs ("Paper Jesus," "Falling"), the album gets lost in its own blandness. [13 Aug 2005]

The band's first new set since 2002 is full of these well-intentioned attempts to recapture some of that '80s pyromania (or in the case of the absurdly large power ballad 'Love,' herculean '70s prog-rock balladry), but without producer Robert "Mutt" Lange, who left for the much more profitable world of country years ago, the results are solid if unspectacular.

Different from the touching--but too sleepy--"America Town," "Battle" impressively tackles new territory.

Engineered for short attention spans at just 44 minutes, One of the Boys is still more than enough to make this one long, hot summer for Perry.

The album is hampered by needless skits and, at times, too slick production.

Overall, the album plays too stiffly for these experts of synth-hewn dance/pop.

The lyrics seem ripped from a teenager's journal, and his regular-guy vocals can't make them compelling.

Metamorphosis, which follows 2006's commercially stillborn "The Paramour Sessions," is the most polished and wide-ranging of Papa Roach's six releases.

The album is, while not terrible, not very memorable, either.

The set is somewhat of a shambolic affair, wherein kernels of good ideas get blown out, jumbled up or lost in execution.

Like its predecessor, the equally undercooked "The New Danger," there is a sense that a deadline crawled up before the music was cemented. [13 Jan 2007]

The set oozes with timely funk beats and the kind of well-crafted songs that No. 1 hits are made of.

Ultimately, G-Unit has returned to its aggressive roots, but it would've been wonderful to hear it rap over a more varied assortment of beats.

Too often Santana sounds like a guest on his own show.

Dovetailing with her choice of sound and arrangements that straddle convention and invention, Lopez mines new emotional depths. [31 Mar 2007]