The experiments sometimes work, but the album is mainly weighted down by cryptic religious ramblings that sap the pop life right out of it.

Though perfect for hipster English-lit teachers, ravenous Reed fans will find themselves saying "nevermore."

Sure, the waifish white girl slips up plenty by trying too hard to be cool, but it feels like they're having a good time, as the duo scratch and shout their way through head-swaying slow songs, soul-funk Jamiroquai-ish joints, some pop quickies and an array of other styles.

The Philadelphia quartet continues to believe that barbershop harmonies, sugary ballads and New Jack Swing beats are where it's at. It ain't.

Strong and sensual.

Pulling off the tricky balancing act of aiming for mainstream success while keeping one's street cred intact, songs like "Ghost of You" and "Predictable" abandon the band's mall-rat roots in exchange for more mature influences like U2 and Muse.

[Starsailor] sounds more confident than ever.

Listening to all this Edge-y guitar doodling and whiny wailing, the question remains: Why mess with a fun, 20-million-album-selling formula for this ponderous prog project?

It doesn't help that the best song here, "Feel," sounds like a bad Richard Ashcroft B-side; the worst is a seven-minute mariachi stomp about traveling to Las Vegas with a monkey, called "Me and My Monkey."

Hoobastank balances heavy riffs with dark existentialism and hooks that closely imitate that of its breakthrough hit.

Palookaville will surprise you.

Finds the sexy singer too often wading in the oversimplified pop influence of heavyweight producer Glen Ballard, her country sass and personality replaced by hackneyed and bland musical doodles.

Most of Future/Present dabbles in drab mainstream pop, with songs ranging from fairy-tale cute to charmless good tunes that are weighed down by overwrought production.

A disc that sounds like it's... 1998.

The lyrics aren't "How Soon Is Now?"-type genius, but they go down easily enough.

She doesn't quite act her age on teen beat-driven single "Whatchulookinat," but she makes up for it with a series of R&B standards and diva-worthy ballads that hit most of the right notes.

You can hear them struggling on Make Believe to keep fans bouncing along to the power-pop anthems but also keep it interesting for themselves so frontman Rivers Cuomo won't put the whole thing on hiatus again.

She's little more than an ex-Fly Girl with a bunch of studio tricks to help kick off the party.

Seventy Two & Sunny breezes by with the worst kinds of countrified clichés... sung by a guy who was never meant to carry a harmony.

A couple of indiscretions taint the disc, but hey, nobody's perfect.

Predictably packed with hip-hoppy dance numbers and chiming ballads that don't dare push her vocal range, J.Lo vibelessly goes through a series of songs about love, fidelity and how real she is.

Shows the SoCal outfit mining the same bright pop-rock riffs that are being done better by the younger kids today.

Astronaut takes a few songs to warm up, but by the time the band hits naughty dance-floor fillers like "Bedroom Toys" and "Taste the Summer," it feels like 1983 all over again.

Whether he makes it all work via his musical skills or chameleonic acting ability, we don't know, but it does work.

Dated songs like "So Excited" and "Do It 2 Me" end up sounding like they're, well, 20 years old.

There's nothing as instantly likable as "Frontin'," and even with the presence of some bigwig collaborators the disc sounds strangely inspiration-free.

The first word that comes to mind while listening to Destiny Fulfilled is: boring!

Nothing here is gonna rock your world.