Be forewarned: There's not much along the lines of "Island in the Sun" here.... Still, there are plenty of smart hooks and catchy vocals throughout.

[It's] quintessential Shania, light as vapor, sweet as sugar, rendered with personality and undeniable charisma.

Being sampled by Lemon Jelly on this astonishing new album is nothing less than an honor.

An adventurous change of pace that stretches Raitt beyond her previous recordings. [17 Sep 2005]

One of the year's best. [29 Oct 2005]

On Free at Last, he demonstrates that being forced to cool his heels since 2003 hasn't dulled the rough edges of his appealingly hectic flow.

As if almost effortlessly, Travis proves track after track the difference between bravado and stone-cold brilliance.

It's a pleasingly indulgent collection of songs, stories and detours that will be something of a treasure for longtime fans and packs at least a dozen treats for relative newbies.

Aside from a few unique moments ("The Return," "Take Me Away"), there's not much new to report here.

While King's songs often hew closer to contemporary classical than pop, the patient listener will discern new colors in these lovely painted-desert landscapes with each listen.

Musically, the band works up a handsome country rock sound with shades of the Rolling Stones and Wilco throughout, making room for swagger ('Fix It,' 'Magick') and sentimentality ('Natural Ghost,' 'Evergreen') in equal measure.

"Hardest Way" is good, but perhaps not good enough to win him any new fans.

The set is best taken as a hardcore thrash scrapbook that immortalizes how Grohl spent some of his downtime from Foo Fighters: It has captured the memory and fierce emotion instead of being concerned with structure.

Though the final third of the album drags a touch as Wainwright lets up on the heart-pounding melodrama, the highs here are exceptional. [19 May 2007]

Digesting the blend takes some time, but the best moments offer that immediacy, as on the opening punch of the groovy title track and the chiming "Magnificent."

Fans will note a lack of Bruceness here: big-sounding proclamations about faith and dreams are few and far between, replaced by sneakily complex love stories all washed down with sudsy pop.

Young Jeezy balances commercial/ pop aspirations with core hip-hop sounds on The Recession, getting a lift from DJ Toomp, Drumma Boy, Midnight Black and longtime collaborator Shawty Redd on this sonically enjoyable follow-up to 2006's "The Inspiration."

The Oklahoman delivers in spades on her sophomore effort, on which she was much more involved in the creative process.

A rock-fused, hook-friendly set that ably distances the Philly native from her pop/R&B origins.

Starsailor is one of those wonderfully rare bands that manages to be gentle and sensitive while also rocking admirably.

As she evolves, Spears is wisely sticking with age-appropriate material that her teen constituency can bond with.

The end result is what Ride's "Nowhere" would've sounded like had it been produced by Frank Zappa in 1972.

While some tunes, like the Columbo-background-music-ready title track, suffer for their weightlessness ('Metronomic Underground,' we miss you), the Motown-meets-Esquivel 'Self Portrait With Electric Brain' and beat-oriented electro of 'Valley Hi!' and 'Pop Molecule' read as exquisitely wrought.

The rest is closer to the Coldplay we know: a competent blend of heavily orchestrated redemption songs ('Viva La Vida,' already the biggest hit of the band's career), swirly arena rock ('Lovers in Japan') and life-stinks-without-you ballads ('Strawberry Swing')likely to resonate despite the new bells and whistles.

A good old-fashioned mod-punk'n'roll record--nothing more, certainly nothing less.

Producer Bjorn Yttling, who brings in his Peter Bjorn & John bandmate John Eriksson and, on many of these 12 tracks, a full string section to add a kind of lush power to the group's melodic drone.

Although "Parachutes" brings nothing new to the table, Coldplay seems talented enough to transcend this early identity crisis.

Thoughtfully added complexities and musicality, like the horns and honky-tonk pianos that accent 'Army of Ancients,' bring Dr. Dog's now-familiar style to a new level of maturity and prove it's not just destiny bringing the band its success