Sonic sap threatens everything here, but Edmonds usually manages to stave off Hallmark ickiness with an ear-tickling detail or two.

Though the album is good, for an artist of 50 Cent's caliber, it's not great.

What is exploding, writhing and fermenting behind Avey Tare's erratic voice is what's most interesting about this poppy, though experimental, set.

An impressively creative hip-hop album that will hopefully inspire West's peers to try new sonic avenues.

Proof draws its energy from dizzyingly tight full-band interaction, indelible melodies and deft arrangements that find fresh inspiration in Ian Parton's favorite sounds

Erstwhile Pixies frontman/rock'n'roll lifer Charles Thompson is back for another round, this time reclaiming his "old" stage name Black Francis and rocking out harder on record than he has in years.

This is a damn good party--best not to miss out.

Hope & Glory"--which contains 11 covers and one original--is rich in pleasures, even if it plays more like a highlight reel than a thoroughly imagined work.

Chesney gets better with age. There are radio hits here: 'Never Wanted Nothing More' has already hit No. 1 and second single 'Don't Blink' is off to a fast start, but there's depth, too.

Several songs near the end go on too long, content to just keep repeating riffs over and over. Still, when Autumn is on point, it offers some of Pinback's best tunes yet.

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.

Henry's superb Civilians succeeds not only as a melodic collection of poignant short stories, but also as a potent picture book of America gone wrong.

With poetic melancholy, absurdist whimsy and direct shout-outs to a world no more just than it was on his last album, there's enough to carry fans until Chao's next one.

I Created Disco feels renegade, and that's what makes it more than irresistibly fun synth-pop.

Scialfa's third and most accomplished solo album.

It doesn't take anything away from his historical weirdness to say that None Shall Pass has some of his most understandable hip-hop to date, as long as you don't worry much about what he's trying to impart.

More satisfying than its predecessor, Lifeline is a classic-sounding album that reminds us of the power and beauty of simplicity.

Aside from moments where the wackiness gets too overwrought (kid song sound-alike 'Underwater,' the Muppets-y 'Like It or Not'), Places really struts when snarkless electro is in the fore, and a disco high-hat or sunny, guitar-led rock dominates.

Even more so than her arresting 2005 indie debut, "Arular," M.I.A. comes off as a globetrotting activist on sophomore effort Kala.

Challengers won't surprise anyone familiar with the New Pornographers' prior work, but it still manages to be refreshing and exultant.

Ultimately, the change in direction will likely raise a few eyebrows among some diehard fans, which isn't to say the songs here aren't noteworthy in their own right.

Consumed in a busy lounge or with a pair of headphones, this set is a safe bet for any listener.

There are enough different feels and flows to dazzle listeners with Kweli's dexterity, but some judicious editing could have produced something perhaps even more impressive.

Darren Hayes' double-disc This Delicate Thing We've Made is a momentous spiritual tour de force, an undressed lyrical exploration of a soul reborn, tucked into a labyrinth of sonic textures.

Corner is sort of like ["Ruckus'"] older cousin, as it finds Galactic enlisting a monster guest list of MCs to rock over its densest grooves to date. You'd think the results would vary more than they do.

The b-b-beat continues on Hey Hey My My Yo Yo. In fact, the songs here are more catchy, and yes, more fun.

The band retains a certain backwoods spookiness, meaning songs like 'Many Funerals' and sci-fi lead single 'Invasion' keep their edge amidst a clutch of tunes ('Come Clean,' 'Ten Cent Blues') that resemble nothing so much as mid-period Fleetwood Mac.

The cerebral lyrics take center stage, as it were, while the band rocks out much harder than it did on 2005's melancholy "Black Sheep Boy."