It's surprising how well the songs on White Pony absorb the band's disparate influences (Slayer, the Cure, Bad Brains) without compromising any of its destructive effect.

On Faith and Courage, she returns with the blend of Celtic mysticism, commercial pop, and mature themes that moved so many listeners (and units) on 1990's I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, while pulling out a few trip-hop stops to keep things current.

The pleasant surprise is that, after all the personnel changes, Duran Duran still has its characteristic sound and charisma...

But, due to poor track titling and a rather wishy-washy sound (first it's Rusted Root, and then the Pixies, then Frank Black and the Catholics), the album ultimately doesn't have much of a solid impact.

There are few big drum samples or disco beats on Sound of Water; as its title suggests, it's far more fluid and sensuous than any music the group has made before.

It is truly exciting stuff from a group that represents a sagging genre's vitally bright future.

Elephant Shoe recalls the somber tranquility of Velvet Underground at its most remote.

Many artists try their hand at varying stylistically within the same album, but often fail miserably. With Movement in Still Life, BT has turned out one of those rare albums that actually pulls it off.

Transcendental Blues measures up to the tough artistic standards Earle has set for himself since 1986's Guitar Town.

Still, the faithful wonder if it's the same Belle and Sebastian that gave them such fey, storied gems as Tigermilk and If You're Feeling Sinister. They can breathe easy now.

Getting through this album is a challenge. While Van Helden hits the mark on a few occasions, the bulk of Puritans irritates and frustrates as annoying samples create agonizingly long intros to otherwise solid tracks.

The album provides hard evidence that the dynamite punch of 1998's Devil Without a Cause album was no fluke.

As a result of Bragg and Wilco's increasing ease with Guthrie's enormous legacy, this album sees both more experimentation and a stronger contemporary feeling than its predecessor.

With Trickle, the group continues to carve out a private niche in the rather segregated world of electronica with another set of excellent tracks full of pop sensibility and a heaping dose of sensuality.

The most alluring aspect of The Platform is the array of finely-crafted beats assembled by Evidence and DJ Premier protégé The Alchemist, which are in turn juggled and sliced at will by the hands of DJ Babu, the oft-forgotten man in the hip-hop equation.

There's nothing lasting or substantive about the 12 tracks (plus one hidden one) that make up Mad Season.

The words are now injected with a new industrial strength venom that make the last album seem like Hanson's Christmas disc.

Dense with upbeat, guitar-based songs, Wasp Star brings to mind the best of mid-'60s pop (think the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Kinks).

Oddly, it's the faster songs -- once Pearl Jam's forte -- that detract from Binaural as a whole.

While a little too dense in spots, NYC Ghosts & Flowers is 42 minutes of the most neatly executed pop noir you'll hear.

A sweet-sounding album that's both melodious and multilayered.

Just because the Britney Spears Empire was not built on actual artistic merit doesn't mean the singer can't craft -- or have crafted for her -- a snappy and utterly enjoyable pop record.

This Time Around scores with more sophisticated harmonies and storytelling.

On the group's second release, the Geometrid, it experiments with various electronic sounds and alienated vocals that seem to float over the compositions, creating a sense of space, but not emotional disassociation.

All Hands on the Bad One may not be as spiritually cohesive or accomplished as the band's classic 1997 outing, Dig Me Out, but none of that matters when you turn it up and play it loud.

What dignifies her from the pack is her ability to blend accessible and likeable arrangements with messages that are simultaneously straightforward and enigmatic, jovial and pained.

This one finds him getting almost downright sappy. But it suits him well.

Their playing is loaded with the confidence of established veterans.