Pedestrian? Sure. But in '01, it's doubtful you'll find a more apt soundtrack to a summer of skyrocketing gas prices and stock market tumblings.

Really, it's not as bad as it sounds.

But for all these guests and all of Silkk's versatility, My World, My Way still suffers from the same formulaic production -- all bleating synths and skittering drum programs -- that makes all No Limit productions seem indistinguishable.

Faces and Names' new sonic explorations are a welcome change from the early '90s alt-rock sound Soul Asylum had bludgeoned into the ground, though the lyrics here don't approach Pirner's best.

Highly Evolved is clunkiest on long, drawn-out stuff like "Homesick" and "Country Yard," but singer Craig Nicholls has most of Kurt Cobain's shrieking mannerisms down, and, like most grunge, the band's simple three-chord rock is most exciting when played extremely fast.

There are a few winners here among the brick-and-mortar alt-flak -- which the band is wholeheartedly capable of as well...

But the Dave Matthews Band retains one essential ingredient that transcends Everyday's calculated pop: Dave Matthews. With his sassy, unassuming swagger, unique vocal delivery, and blatant sexual urgency, Matthews carries the load amply...

The Tight Connection's unfussiness would be the perfect playground soundtrack.

On Atomic, the band unveils a sharper pop-rock sound, one that's so infectiously catchy that you'll feel like an inoculation is in order.

The Guest, for all its flaws, is wise beyond the years of the musicians who made it.

Simon aims his melodies outside the box this time around, incorporating world-beat rhythms and working his sublimely dour mood to best advantage.

The album as a whole isn't quite as brilliant as it ought to be, given the ideas at play.

Certainly a talented guitar-playing songstress, she also takes her lyrical cues from Hallmark cards, a mix at once comfortable and off-putting -- and difficult to put one's finger on.

While Dreamland is a dignified, pleasant album, you can't help but give the edge to 1975.

The best results are in the vein of Low-era Bowie. The duds turn up, surprisingly, in the area that Blur is strongest -- songwriting.

As works of art go, it isn't exactly Blood on the Tracks, and it isn't as blissfully fine as Millennium, but Black & Blue is unquestionably the most seamless boy band release of the year.

As the disc progresses, her caustic diatribes against men get harder to take.

For the most part Bloodsport is carried by a snaking seductive beat and slow-burning, almost sinister melodies that would make Dave Gahan proud.

Listener-friendly, surprisingly short songs that walk a thinner line than usual between tired and inspired.

Although devoted fans will welcome this straight-down-the-middle approach with open arms, those on the fringes who were intrigued by their tinkering will find it lacks some of the vibrancy of their recent artistic adventurousness.

Occasionally, Yang's sugary, torchy vocals are too heavy-handed for this ethereal drone pop.

Know Your Enemy is a fine -- if slightly long and somewhat fractured -- primer to the moods of one of Britain's most (self) important bands

Electric Mile is good, just not earth-shattering, and coming from someone with Dutton's creativity, it would be nice to hear something a bit more, well, electric.

Fortunately, the energy and enthusiasm with which the seven tunes are hashed out here makes them compelling enough to render the miserly production inconsequential...

Most of Girl is sprightly and entertaining, despite Josie's fondness for thunderingly obvious, high-school-yearbook-type sentiments...

Keeping things light is both the band's strongest asset and its greatest weakness.

Sheik... seems uncomfortable with the slicker presentation.

Her message, so powerful when unadorned, tends to get diluted by the awkward arrangements that accompany it.