In less than five minutes it's clear the group has a sad edge and sensitivity lacking from its cartoonishly arrogant peers.

Since barreling into parts unknown, the further advances made by Sean Booth and Rob Brown have been subtle at best, and the most intriguing sounding bits of their eighth album, "Untilted," usually arrive in the midst of something more familiar.

Sometimes this all-inclusive attitude falls flat, like on the trading male-female vocals of "Tiny Paintings" or the collective shouting that is littered throughout. Yet when everyone harmonizes together on "Maybe You Can Owe Me" and "Do the Whirlwind" it sounds unforced.

While her voice has lost some of its power through the years, "Mimi" deftly showcases her still-considerable pipes with strong lyrics and slick production.

Barnes' bright-eyed, bushy-tailed vocals are at times trying, but there is substance and craft behind the unrelentingly catchy ditties.

Though accenting the vulnerability her vocals naturally possess, she manages world-weary honesty and summoned strength rather than contrived sentimentality.

"Alligator" is easily the National's best effort and quite possibly one of this year's finest records.

Every so often an artist will release a debut record that has seemingly come from nowhere; you question where this person has been all your life, and how come it took so long for this to get out.

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

The more cohesive undercurrents of "Lost and Safe" might display a formidable sense of growth for the band, but hardcore fans of the band's past work might be a little taken aback by the album's more direct approach. Nevertheless, these guys remain at the bleeding edge of pop innovation, even if it is more hummable than you'd expect.

This isn't a perfect album, but it is a great pop leap for Fischerspooner.

Mix[es] the band's '80s influences with clever lyrics that lift it above the "garage band" tag it was initially saddled with.

By turns playful, sexy, soulful, funky and passionate, Evans showcases the full range of her talents on her most consistent effort yet.

Despite hitmaker Linda Perry co-writing half of the album's original tracks, something is missing.

"Guero" explores all of Beck's influences and revisits so many of his finer ideas. It's not the cheeky soul-funk orgy of "Midnite Vultures," but something more mature.

All the elements are deftly held together by the MC/songstress' ability to make each track her own.

Consider "Silent Alarm" to be one of the best debuts of 2005 so far.

An uneven and ultimately unsatisfying return.

"Picaresque" is by far the Decemberists' best work to date.

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

The album is diverse and slows up where it should.

The 2005 version of QOTSA finds the band more relaxed and loose than it has ever been on record.

Smacks of pure aggression, the kind which made household names out of such groundbreaking labels as SST and Amphetamine Reptile.

While her first effort overall carried a darker, somber tone, "It's Me Again" finds a more self-satisfied and confident Tweet embarking on a new chapter in her life, one where her brightened outlook overrides the bad and moves forward.

Greater than the sum of its parts.

Easily the most adventurous work in the Fog catalog yet.

"Yr Atal Genhedlaeth" is undoubtedly a charismatic prize for die-hard Rhys/Super Furries fans, but for drive-by listeners, it's just an interesting appendix to the band's body of work.

It doesn't always make for an enjoyable listening experience, on or off the dancefloor.