For as combustible as they are, the songs are catchy and conducive to repeated listening.

It's a poignant record, but McCartney balances his recollections with reminders that life is still about what's happening here and now.

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.

The album may lack the emotional heft of the Cure's more patient, atmospheric recordings, but should it wind up being the group's last, it will be remembered as more than an unnecessary footnote.

Lanegan and Campbell are different creatures, but they have the same concept of cool.

Songs bleed into each other and meander all over, underscoring David Kesler's spidery writing with crackling, sample-laced arrangements.

It’s as entertaining and theatrical as the music is rough and compelling.

It's a strong album that rarely skimps on gut-churning guitars.

For all its sorrowful beauty, "West" is often excruciating to hear as Williams mourns the death of her mother and a stormy relationship that ended badly.

The result is a restless hybrid that never completely settles into the groove that has defined the singer and guitarist's best albums.

Anything that reduces Pink's in-your-face presence, and that includes a preponderance of slowed-down, tarted-up examinations of divorce, is probably an ill-advised move.

A more indulgent but less fun record [than its predecessor].

"Black Pompadour" suffers from split- personality disorder.

Even when the guys indulge in cheesy temptations, like the piano at the end of 'Lawless River,' it's usually in the service of making their catchy, extroverted anthems even more so.

Less conceptual and experimental than its predecessor, it's a moody album, loaded with dark imagery and moments of torturous self-doubt.

Libertad, is another riff-happy collection of big, juiced-up rock songs perfect for summertime thrashing.

SlipKnot's fifth album finds the nine-piece alternative metal band at an unquestionable creative peak--but the effort may only further alienate some of its diehard, shred-metal fans.

Doherty's second album with Babyshambles, is a fine effort and marked improvement on his first post-Libertines sally, but its explosiveness is held in check by an unfortunate air of self-awareness.

The moments where Lennon lays himself most bare... reveal there's still a gulf between his own pop and his father's universal sound.

These are full-band songs, with prominent piano, and it sounds more like guys playing in a room than the careful construct of a recording studio. That's a good thing.

Situation actually represents Terfry at his razor-sharp best; it's a disc that should appeal to any fan of good hip-hop, indie or otherwise.

Mostly, though, the album is noisy jumble of competing sounds and ideas, none of which ever develops fully enough to make MAYA into as cohesive a statement as her first two albums.

It's a smarmy affair, and there's a compelling interplay between his wild-eyed desperation and her cool, clean sheen of thumps and melodies.

Keith Urban's music and the themes that fill it rarely stray from predictable territory, but his pop-friendly country constructs are fueled by outsized charisma that keep them consistently above the pack.

Subtlety was a defining characteristic of her first two records, and it carries over onto "Not Too Late," where even the differences are understated and discreet.

The everyday-ness of the songs makes them easily relatable, but, like a commute where traffic and weather happen on the 10s, the album starts to feel routine by the end.

Much of "Turn the Lights Off" is inspired by '80s artists who wanted to sound like they were from the '60s.

The vocals come in a robotic monotone on 'I'm Losing My Mind,' and there's not much holding together all the rhythm on the opener, 'The Feeling.' It just shows that finding the right mix between melody and rhythm is a delicate balance, but these dozen tunes strike it more often than not.