The album has an undeniable flip-flop feel throughout; like the unplugged soul-chick hoedown Beyoncé tried to conjure at the end of the "Irreplaceable" video.

The strengths of "All Rise" are understatement and simplicity; while George may not shock you, it's because she never meant to.

12 tracks of fun, lighthearted rock tunes that are each instantly hummable.

As a singer, Kristofferson remains a hell of an actor, but there is a lot to love about this record. [11 Mar 2006]

'4 Minutes,' with Timberlake, is already a top three Billboard Hot 100 hit, and harmonious ballad 'Miles Away' might be some of her best work yet. But it feels familiar.

At times, there's a lack of consistency with too many ideas thrown onto the table, but it's that diversity heard throughout Nutini's sophomore effort that gives this AC singer/songwriter a leg up.

The act's most melodic and accessible album of its career.

Satisfying. [9 Jun 2007]

Rockferry splits its time between paying tribute to its source material and knocking it off, but its principal's vocals, and generally pleasing wall-of-sound treatment, make it a good move anyway.

Callahan's songs occasionally lapse into banal rhyming patterns, but more often than not he masters the metaphor.

"Surprise" falls shy of a masterpiece, but it is consistently engaging and offers some of Simon's most creative songs in two decades.

Fans will notice a more organic, rougher approach to the formula of jazz chords, pretty dissonance and summery melody lines. [12 May 2007]

With Steve Turner's guitar a buzzing hangover and Mark Arm snarling with irresistibly creepy restraint, Mudhoney's eighth studio album finds the band rocking like it's 1988 . . . or 2008.

Ultimately, "Moon" may frustrate because it really is a little bit of everything: spastic, Talking Heads-ish funk ("Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes"), campfire acoustic yarns ("3rd Planet," "Gravity Rides Everything"), and Sonic Youth-ish rock epics ("The Cold Part," "The Stars Are Projectors").

Though his singular identity doesn't translate necessarily into a singular sound, there's plenty in his road-tested formula for fans of soulful, organic hip-hop to like. [12 May 2007]

Last 2 Walk should satisfy longtime Three 6 fans.

"The Devil and God" plays its hurt with polish and panache, however, as Brand New's textured dynamics marry mood and an aggressive ebb-and-flow on nearly every track. [25 Nov 2006]

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

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

What the disc might lack in substance, it makes up for in some of the best sleazy, synthy, testosterone-fueled electronica since the Prodigy's 'Smack My Bitch Up.'

While "Three" itself is only occasionally lively, thanks to Prewitt's strong grasp of sun-bleached summer music and '60s psychedelia, the disc overflows with good ideas and pretty little melodies.

If this disc has a weakness, it's in the somewhat "samey" feel of a couple of the songs, but at just under 40 minutes it's no biggie.

[Franti's] ambitions pay off on this strapping, if sprawling, collection.

"Honey" is a commendable first effort from an artist whose lush vocals are a treat for the ears no matter the genre.

A song or two with a bit more oomph would have been nice. [28 Jan 2006]

A welcome exercise in versatility.

The 14 tracks find Thompson in typical tasteful form, playing with understated flash that straddles the trans-Atlantic divide to embrace Celtic soul and rootsy Americana, with bits of jazz and Jamaica ("Bad Monkey," "Francesca") thrown into the mix. [2 Jun 2007]

The material from '97 on offers many surprises, particularly a dreamy alternate take on "Someday Baby" from "Modern Times" and the strident "Dreaming of You," which wouldn't have fit at all on "Time Out of Mind. Less essential are the live cuts, which only reinforce how Dylan's unpredictable phrasing and enunciation can render a song transcendent one moment ("Lonesome Day Blues," which sounds sourced from a bootleg), then unrecognizable ("Things Have Changed") or ordinary the next ("Cocaine Blues").