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.

This new set fills in the spaces with sweeter, fuller arrangements, but the songs are hit and miss.

There are only a couple of songs with enough impact to avoid boring people who catch the band on tour this summer. [9 Jun 2007]

It's defiant like a bad drunk, uncomfortably oversexed and more at home in a seedy after-hours club than a celebrity ultra-lounge.

Songs like "Do You Remember" and "Wasting My Time" are tolerable but don't require repeated listening.

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

While by no means disastrous musically, it's a pale imitation of much better Stereolab albums, and in the end altogether dispensable.

Despite having nowhere to go lyrically, he remains a remarkably potent presence.

It's still hard to tell if he's a bluesman in a soft-rocker's body or vice versa, and "Continuum" is the sound of him trying to figure it out too.

An erratic mix of messy ambition and indifferent sloppiness that sounds like it's falling apart even before it really has a chance to get it together. [11 Feb 2006]

It's a shame that the end result, the first under the Queen name in 13 years, is not very memorable.

The constant talk of expensive cars, gyrating women and endless parties quickly becomes redundant--and boring.

Volume and snappy nods to '70s arena rock cannot obscure empty angst and lazy rhymes.

A largely frustrating set of Saturday morning cartoon electronics.

An uneven and ultimately unsatisfying return.

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

Yet for all the headphone-worthy sounds, the pace seldom rises above a back-porch feel and, at times, the stickers meant for customizing the cover seem like more fun than the music.

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.

These songs simply don't stack up to their predecessors.

The group has abruptly cashed in a good deal of its personality for an unflattering, generic modern-rock sound.

The band tries to stretch but trips over its own convictions.

"The Good, the Bad and the Queen" seems to be waiting for a payoff that never materializes.

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]

It is hard to hear much difference between each cut. [24 Sep 2005]

It simply isn't his best work.

The music fails to gain any momentum until track seven, and by then, Train's lucky the listener's still spinning the CD.

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

Aside from a few catchy club tracks, there is nothing all that exciting about Chingy's third album.