There are plenty of worthwhile moments, such as the banging soul romp of the title track, but Weller surrounds them with exhausting filler cuts and showboating genre change-ups.

Although Donkey has a sleeker sound than its predecessor, CSS keeps its focus squarely on booty-shaking beats and pulsing bass on songs alternately about rocking your face off (opener 'Jager Yoga') and overcoming emotional turmoil.

The Philadelphia group's fifth full-length release has a musical richness and depth of songwriting that weren't fully present on Dr. Dog's somewhat less-focused earlier music, though there were hints on "Easy Beat" in 2005 and "We All Belong" in 2007.

While the slow-into-snappy single '7 Things' is an obvious attempt at a follow-up, and although much of the disc tends toward the same mildly punky pop (much of it co-written by Cyrus), there's an unwelcome familiarity to the hooks, a sense that Breakout is actually just a mash-up of moves tried and discarded by Lohan/Duff/fill-in-the-Disney-diva-of-your choice.

The Atlanta pair's third album, Love on the Inside, adheres to the musical method on which the act has feasted to date, and adds occasional fresh wrinkles to its buoyant, pop-laced country.

This is decidedly Muhly's vision, and though he plays only keyboards and a few other instruments here, he composed the entire album, which will go down in history as a cult classic for especially adventurous listeners.

Stay Positive is an optimistic record that continues Finn's search for a sense of place.

Those who care not only about hip-hop but the culture it reflects and shapes will find Nasir Jones' latest the most intriguing, provocative and ultimately troubling album released this year.

A moody, stark and hypnotically discomfiting assortment of ruminations.

A collection that finds the 49-year-old singer laudably unchanged on tunes that are comfortably quaint and rich with homespun charm.

Beck has shown an affinity for retro-leaning styles on his previous records, too, but he's never found a sound quite as consistent or compelling as the one Danger Mouse dials in here.

Hammond's lyrics and vocals aren't as distinctive as those favored by Strokes singer Julian Casablancas, but the guitarist's music breathes in ways Strokes songs don't.

Aside from standout individual performances, what makes this vibrant session click so naturally is the collaborative spirit bonding these two great American artists tapping into the rich, varied legacy of our popular music.

But at its core, the album is no great departure. It's the same seamless amalgam of pop, folk, country and R&B Sexsmith has perfected, like influences and admirers Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe, as poetic and thoughtful as it is tuneful.

The disenchanted Brits drag their romantic confusions onto the dance floor, where they hope sparkly synths and pulsing club beats will point them toward some much-needed answers. As might be expected, they make little headway, though their wheel-spinning isn't all for naught.

As a placeholder for Hudgens' future career, Identified serves its purpose, even if it's seldom identifiable as her own work.

On 'Sensitive Boys,' one of several standout ballads, he articulates the album's thematic truism: Done right, rock 'n' roll is a reason for living.

Lyrically and musically, the album is not a big departure from the band's classic sound, with all 13 tracks telling a glam-rock story of tattoos, drugs and strippers.

He delivers everything that makes Silver Jews records great, but he's fallen victim to his own past successes: the peaks and valleys that made "Tanglewood Numbers" such a dizzying listen have been smoothed down and filled in, leaving the faithful with an album that is merely good.

It's an improvement on the band's impressively dull 2005 album, "X&Y," but Coldplay's latest doesn't recapture the promise of the band's first two albums.

Although "Queen Mary" was a strong showing, At Mount Zoomer--named for the band's recording space--is an instant classic, distancing itself from indie rock's skin-deep quirks on the way to something grander and more enduring.

Pacific Ocean Blue makes a strong case for Wilson's skill as a songwriter and arranger.

His melodies are subtle, but don't confuse his restraint with detachment--these songs sound deeply felt.

This is grown-up rock, with an adult swagger, from one of today's most gifted songwriting bands.

Wainwright's songs are tight, cohesive and show real emotion.

With so many stylistic shifts, there's no easy description for the kind of album My Morning Jacket has created, so let's leave it at this: Evil Urges is the sound of a great band that's only getting better.

She has fresh relationship issues to work through on Flavors of Entanglement, her first set of new tunes since 2004, but she has difficulty striking a balance between soul-searching and dance grooves on a set that doesn't distinguish itself with either.

We should have known. If his raspy, cartoonish voice didn't mark him as different, his quick wit, offhanded wordplay and quirky subject matter should have in a genre populated largely by grim-faced imitators.

His singing is a string of raspy exhalations, a measured and folksy wrapper for the despondent musings on 'War Is Kind,' one of several tunes that assess the outside world through introspection.

Parallel Play finds the quartet in fine form.

Whether rollicking through "St. James Infirmary" or reflecting on "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," Wilson is in top-form, always sounding quite loverly.

As on past releases, he mostly celebrates the snap and polish of the sharkskin '60s. His songs crib so blatantly from that era that citing his influences--Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Van Morrison--is almost redundant.

There are a few clunkers, and the three songs sung by other band members don't add much, but the so-called "Red Album" is better for its unevenness.

This time, the strong songwriting and astute musical arrangements combine to make Mann's latest her best album so far.

Between the grounded sweetness of her singing and the quirky naturalism in her lyrics, songs like the throwback-style 'Anyone but You' develop a naturally appealing sophisticated country.

Pecknold and guitarist Skyler Skjelset have been writing teenage symphonies to God since they were actual teenagers, and that transcendent love of music shines through in their own songs.

If anything, the group's latest is another musical masterpiece from a band known for putting out musical masterpieces.

Modern touches aside, many of the songs fall somewhere between the Stones' "Exile on Main Street," minus the desperation, and the Kinks classics " Village Green Preservation Society" and "Muswell Hillbillies."

As it is, it merely stands him in good stead amongst the many contenders for his throne.

Pierce hasn't totally rejected quick tempos and piled-high productions, but in the context of the album, the livelier songs are actually the least effective.

Some of those changes have been for good, and some haven't, but the former wins out on Hiatt's 20th album.

At its core, though, Anywhere I Lay My Head is a curious project that never seems to light on any raison d'etre beyond indulging Johansson's love of Tom Waits.

Longtime fans may accuse the band of losing its edge with age, but The Lucky Ones is still an exciting and efficient bridge between the Stooges' growling ruckus and Nirvana's noisy pop anthems.

A long swim from the mainstream mainland, Islands has made an album that's slow to unravel and difficult to grasp. It's best enjoyed as it was most likely written: in small pieces.

Some of her tunes are more steady than sizzling, but when she taps into the likes of the soaring, synthesizer-driven 'I'm a Fire,' her smart combination of rich personality and kinetic energy invites a trip to the dance floor.

3 Doors Down--the band and the album--won't be breaking any records with this release, but they have produced a solid, if not spectacular, collection of a dozen tunes for their fans, who have been waiting two years for something new.

These 12 songs are beautiful in their bucolic simplicity, and elegant, too, in their tidy melodies and warm flickers of emotion.

Much of this album is leaden and lumbering, with the vocals mixed low (thanks, Albini) and gummy bass tugging at curtains of distortion, but there are shining exceptions.

The album is a credit to all involved; if merely pastiche, it's a marvelous one.

It's by no means a cheery album, but Narrow Stairs shows Death Cab for Cutie has overcome its major-label jitters and resumed making vital music.

These 13 tunes unfold at less of a breakneck pace than some of the band's earlier songs, but the musicians are as tight and the songwriting as strong as on anything the group has released.

The 30-year-old San Diegan makes another foray into sonic cross-pollination with heavy doses of polish and free-flowing energy on his third full-length studio album.

Had the album been inspired by any other play, that ambiguity would be a problem. Given the vagueness of the source material, however, Burnett's interpretation makes perfect sense.

This time, however, the subject matter is more mundane, and Jackson's flattened vocals are paired with less imaginative post-punk guitars and synths.

No Age is certainly an adventurous band, but its sound here suffers from too much repetition.

The album is loaded with arresting musical touches.

Like much of Diamond's canon, these songs are rich with melodramatic flare-ups.

Jumping from Sub Pop to Toronto-based Arts & Crafts, the band is as strong and endearing as ever on Kensington Heights.

This time, Madonna is just another singer drawing on the chart appeal of Timbaland, Timberlake and Pharrell, which makes this particular piece of candy taste like a sour ball: It's appealing to fans, but it's not for everyone.

White, a Wesleyan graduate, takes the best elements of punk, new wave, dub reggae and electronica and fuses them into an utterly arresting sonic pile-up different from anything else around.

It's a gruff, sometimes paranoid album with a decidedly subjective point of view, but Rising Down cuts no corners as its tells some hard truths to a society that is only too happy to stay in the dark.

Smile is one of the better heavy releases this year, and one of the best in the band's extensive catalog.

The songs are pleasant enough, but they ultimately feel a bit over-thought, and Bragg often makes his best points with nothing more than his voice and an acoustic guitar.

The only thing missing, really, is the visual context. That's a big piece of some of these songs--it is a TV show, after all--but even so, Flight of the Conchords the album is a thorough, and thoroughly entertaining, overview of Flight of the Conchords the band.

That leaves the expected collection of highly buffed beats, a dozen producers deep, which occasionally generates material that ranks with Mariah's best.

The production is lush, the songs are well-written and Lewis can certainly sing. It’s just a boring record that hews too closely to the modern album template with a couple of hits and a bunch of filler.

Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! is even more entertainingly disturbing, a rocking psycho-carnival ride (complete with swirling organ) that clearly nods to Cave's roots.

By and large, though, the players justify their flightiness.

However much Los Campesinos! need a good editor--both for its music and lyrics--a red pen would only ruin the fun.

With its varied sound and newly expansive songwriting, "Attack & Release" is a bold but entirely fitting way for the Black Keys to prove they know more than one way to make a statement.

Accelerate serves notice that R.E.M. intends to stay that way.

At its best, Keep It Simple is a comforting dispatch from the fairyland where folky soul Morrison masterpieces like 1971's "Tupelo Honey" were born.

The Sword has avoided the dreaded sophomore slump and delivered a CD that builds on its debut with heavier riffs and a better sense of dynamics.

The band reassembles its signature elements and evaporates concerns about age by showing some fresh spring-loaded party pop.

Adam Duritz and company haven’t sounded so committed, so determined, so tuneful, in years.

The Heavy shines best on stage, where the band is an overwhelming force, but Great Vengeance is an entrancing peek at crush-worthy musical raw power.

Midnight Boom" opens with its excellent first two singles, "U.R.A. Fever" and the danceable "Cheap And Cheerful," and from there things get pretty sleepy until the cheerfully blown-out "M.E.X.I.C.O.," a 97-second anthem so catchy that you'll get a callous on your thumb from skipping back to it.

The band's previous entry, 2006's "Destroyer's Rubies," was impressive enough, but Trouble In Dreams is even better.

Though these songs, like 'Feeling Better,' are the album's goofiest, they present the band at its most sincere, celebrating the vitality, if not the emotional immaturity, that precedes one's 20th birthday.

The duo’s modern take on a classic sound runs throughout the new record, a worthy 13-song sophomore effort.

Featuring 10 originals and three covers (including an unlisted version of 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'), the album is a showcase for Deschanel’s pipes and Ward’s clever musical arrangements.

Tracks like "Press Play" feature booming-enough backings, but even in the record's funkiest moments, like the left-field Prince homage "Cool," Snoop holds back.

It’s an earnest homage to lean guitar rock with bluesy underpinnings.

While the new material will hardly tarnish the band's legacy, it won't add much, either.

Robotique Majestique is compelling and eminently danceable, and it has as much visceral kick as cerebral appeal for the indie dance kids who demand both.

Some connect better than others, and the album feels a little front-loaded, but it's still a treat to hear Malkmus get in touch with his inner guitar hero.

The collection's 17-song canvas is sufficiently broad to hold the spirited, honky tonk-laced jaunt of the title track and the softly pulsating, organ-laced gospel of 'If Jesus Walked the World Today.'

Fans of Dulli and Lanegan should happily devour the Gutter Twins, but even better, newcomers are in for a smooth, memorable introduction to two of the darker characters in rock today.

Her third album, collects 11 new songs that document Edwards’ growth from singer who writes songs to bona fide songwriter who has embraced the art of subtlety.

Seventh Tree is the inevitable comedown, a pastoral holiday that trades glittery hedonism for quiet contemplation.

When juxtaposed with the album's bubble-gum bounce, the creepy parts just seem creepier.

Merritt dials back her soul-shouter instinct on her third album, a collection that finds her balancing restraint with the vivid emotionalism that has driven her music from the start.

American Music Club return with a quieter but no less excellent addition to a catalog that stretches back to 1985.

His double-tracked voice makes these songs truly mesmerizing.

If the lyrics occasionally seem first-draft rough, the melodies are sharper than on 2005's "Other People's Lives," and the varied musical settings--such as the rockabilly of opener 'Vietnam Cowboys' or the spooky New Orleans blues of 'The Voodoo Walk'--throw into sharper relief the classic Kinksian pop of songs like 'You're Asking Me' and the title track, which show Davies alternately snarling and sighing at the world as winningly as ever.

A wide-ranging sampler of female compositions on which Moorer mostly provides subtle touches and an abundance of cool presence.

Opener 'All in It,' a slow-building swell of voices and guitars, sets the tone for album that's unashamed of its epic accessibility.

Although Free Somehow doesn't reach the energy level of Widespread Panic's best live performances, with Herring in place, the band has certainly rediscovered its musical roots.