On Kings of Leon's latest album, Come Around Sundown, the family Followill makes a strong bid to please longtime fans as well as the recently converted.

As a result, My Everything is a less cohesive project than Yours Truly, although its best moments eclipse the highs of Grande's 2013 debut.

While old-school rap nods and blunt lyricism add to the set's allure, its fluidity suffers.

The end result may not be enough to convince America it's missing out, but expect this album to bring the already-converted back onboard in droves.

Rock act We Are Scientists typically has a good sense of what hits, but on its latest album, Barbara, the band begins to figure out what misses.

In this age of frivolity, Duran Duran is straight-up thriving.

Los Angeles rock revivalists Buckcherry waste no time getting down to business on their latest album.

The Auto-Tuned vocals and cluttered background instrumentation on the title track represents a low point of the album. Luckily, the second half of "Permalight" moves away from electronics and finds Rogue Wave returning to its guitar-based, head-nodding roots.

On Cheek to Cheek, Gaga justifies his [Tony Bennett's] faith--sometimes a bit too forcibly. Whereas Bennett is a master of restraint--a guy whose best performances play like melodic chat sessions--Gaga thrives on spectacle.

On its fifth studio album, "Fire Away," Ozomatli shows a remarkable ability to innovate with its most expansive and energetic set in years.

As on True, the nondance tracks are more or less power ballads, albeit with fairly pallid vocals.... The dance tracks are actually where most of this album’s pleasant surprises lie.

If fans felt like they got to know the real Blake on the hit NBC show, they'll get another close look with this batch of songs.

Gucci shifts focus on songs like "Making Love to the Money" and "Dollar Sign"; the songs don't express his love for the illegal lifestyle but rather recount the financial benefits of taking that path. In usual hip-hop fashion, "The Appeal" also offers something for the ladies ("Remember When," featuring Ray J) and the club-goers (the Swizz Beatz-produced "Gucci Time").

Clipse fans are no doubt still listening, but they'll need a more cohesive vision next time around.

While the artist has raised some eyebrows by asking, "Who says I can't get stoned?" (on the album's first single, 'Who Says'), the rest of the collection certainly has the goods to eclipse that overblown controversy.

Despite its countless co-writers and producers, chief among them Bieber’s bestie Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd, the album boasts a consistent palette of lush, low-key electro-dance sounds: sun-warped synths, chipmunk accent vocals, rattling trap hi-hats, and loads of bass.... It’s in this Spotify-age blend of dance, hip-hop, R&B and classic smooth-dude vocalizing that Bieber truly shows his growth.

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals' new self-titled release finds frontwoman Potter and her band in full bloom, hammering out hook-heavy rock tracks with a confident, natural sound.

At times, their subgenre-flipping can be ungainly--the cheerleading chant "Impossible" is awkwardly glued together, and Hervey's dissonant harmonies sometimes obscure her hooks. More often, though, the cracks in their songwriting and sonics come off as welcome decoration, and their why-the-hell-not bravado is hugely refreshing.

Picture Show should end up as one the year's most tuneful rock releases.

The result is an album that comes on a bit strong, but has the pop pedigree to avoid any major missteps.

On Dahlia's debut, My Garden, she transcends the sum of her seemingly disparate influences, proving herself to be a relatively distinct artist, even if her risks don't always pay off.

Her 10th studio album, "The Age of Miracles" (and second on Rounder following a run with Columbia that yielded five Grammy Awards), adds a familiar yet essential new chapter to her rich catalog.

The result is a collection rich in fan favorites, but lacking in momentum.

Leave it to Em to continue confounding expectations this late in the game.

Once gratuitous fillers are skipped, gems appear, especially on the closing half, where Brown is lucid about his tabloid love life.

Cuts like the mournful "Forgiveness" and the mello "U Want Me 2" (the latter previously featured on MCLachlan's 2008 hits collection) cook at a decidely lower temperature that long time fans will find plenty hot. However, their quieter pace might leave others a little cold.

The nearly 68-minute length of Immersion works against it at times, but the aforementioned "The Fountain" and the '80s-referencing "Encoder" make it well worth reaching the end.

The new set-Lady A's follow-up to its self-titled debut in 2008-showcases the group's ability to combine its own contemporary country sound and folk-rock flair with a familiar formula, making it a refreshing addition to the ever-expanding country genre.