Sheezus is Allen's most uneven record yet, but it's also her most mature.

Smoke + Mirrors may seem too recycled and belabored to entice the unconverted, but the hints of hidden depths are a pleasant surprise.

Jackie feels like a missed opportunity for a talented artist to connect with fans in a new way.

Although Chandra and Leigh Watson don't employ their entire vocal range on the bluesy "Devil in You," they make up for it with lyrical maturity.

Lil Wayne is back with the equally confounding Dedication 4, a messy rehashing of this year's respective rap bangers.

Full of contradictions, the album is primitive and ultra-modern, dark and enchanting, tranquil and energetic.

More than any previous Coldplay release, A Head Full of Dreams sounds like a pop record; the band has never been catchier.

Produced with plenty of rock-radio muscle by her original guitarist, John Shanks, the 12-song set comes packed with the kind of room-rousing choruses Etheridge specialized in during her early-'90s commercial heyday

55 Cadillac offers a fun, technically exciting journey that paints Andrew W.K. as an artist unafraid of risks.

What's left, then, is a collection of 11 shinily produced pop songs that find Gomez trying on a series of different personalities with her slight-yet-capable vocals.

The rage gives American Capitalist a fierce potency.

The set has a fullness and energy-not to mention an arsenal of layered guitars-that give it the kind of muscle we haven't heard from the band in quite some time.

The saying goes: If it isn't broken, don't fix it. That seems to be the strategy Jay Sean and his team employed.

The 11-song set draws from some of the Big Apple's more established rock outfits, but still keeps the DIY feel of the Whigs' previous albums.

Bennington and his Dead by Sunrise bandmates (who hail from the electronic rock band Julien-K) also display a deft touch with atmospherics and textures on tracks like "Too Late," "Give Me Your Name" and the goth-tinged "Let Down," among others

"Born Villain" finds a seemingly refreshed and clear-minded Manson and his band poring through a diverse set of moods and styles in songs that cut a little deeper than the deliberate provocation of many of his previous works.

Produced by Matt Serletic, the album is a sonic delight, refreshingly different from what often dominates country radio airwaves. But the 13-song collection is still accessible enough to whet programmers' appetites.

Jollett and company do it one more time, most definitely with feeling.

Where “Sleep” excels as a quality addition to his catalog’s stellar collection of panty-dropping and baby-making songs (see: “Take You Down,” “No BS”), others fall and lean towards prosaic.

Ingram may be good on his own, but Patty Griffin's sweet harmonies on the enchanting 'Seeing Stars' and Dierks Bentley's growls on Ingram's live classic 'Barbie Doll' are welcome additions.

Overall, the God MC can still carry the throne as one of the greatest rappers of all time, but he'll need stronger production the next time around.

The music on Yeah Ghost is still Zero 7-but after a few cans of musical Red Bull.

St. Lucia's splendid synth-pop allure has instant pop catchiness, but Grobler's willingness to wear his lyrics' romantic motivations like a badge of honor gives Matter a thrilling extra jolt.

Midnight Memories, the third full-length from the "X Factor"-formed quintet, follows up on what worked best on last year's "Take Me Home," and tosses in some proficient new ideas to keep listeners eager for the band's continued evolution.

It's hard not to see Editors' third album, In This Light and on This Evening, as its New Ordering-a marked shift away from guitars to synthesizers and a cleaner, dance-friendly vibe that still maintains much of the emotional heft. But the transition can seem a bit self-conscious.

As haunting as Lewis' ballads are, perhaps fewer of them would do her some good.

I Love You is guiltless fun, just like any proper quickie.

Aside from an understandable naivete, Trainor's weaknesses are her stylistic cherry-picking and her compulsion to appear adorably relatable and socially correct all at once.