The breadth of new realms both singers explore is one of many highlights of a collection that is nothing short of remarkable.

Ray Raposa's creepy folk explorations as Castanets remain intimate affairs writ in miniature, despite a backing band with up to seven members and a choir of 10.

The hooks are less immediate as well. Songs like 'Carry You' and 'Here it Goes' retain the compact force of past band gems, but too much of Chase is afflicted with a degenerate case of sameness.

He remains a singular performer, one who can't be overwhelmed by the usual Neptunes production. Williams' typically sparse 'Loose Wires' sounds simultaneously like Kenna's surefire smash--how could that Michael Jackson-inspired hook miss?--and the proof, thanks to its android-crooning verses, that the world will only see Kenna's face on his own, refreshingly distinctive, terms.

In Rainbows, the band's seventh studio album and first since 2003's "Hail to the Thief," is dense and thorny, complex and beautiful.

Harry remains a creative force, and it's clear she needs to continue making music, but her new songs lack the cohesive spark needed to make anyone but diehard fans take notice.

Credit Condon with a vivid imagination to go with his intuitive songwriting ability, and embrace The Flying Club Cup as one of the best albums of 2007.

No one does puzzle-pop quite like the Fiery Furnaces, and despite the multi-genre pileups and lofty literary pretension, when they get it right it's enough to forgive them for when they get it wrong.

A carefully manicured, but still lively assortment that highlights her substantial vocal strengths.

The Swedish indie-pop singer shows a remarkably keen eye for detail, finding surprising moments of sweetness, poignancy, and humor in a variety of situations.

Band leaders Justin Warfield and Adam Bravin write songs that are well-constructed and generally catchy. Then again, that's not such a marvel when so much of it--the drums on 'True Romance,' the stinging guitar riff on 'Pretend the World Has Ended,' the synth-heavy hooks of 'She Will Always Be a Broken Girl'--comes from a template some other band crafted

Those nostalgic for a '70s arena-rock past they were too young to experience can live it with this album.

You could say the closing, piano-and-strings showcase 'Heaven and Alchemy' borrows from some of them. But as a whole. Mantaray proves it's much more the other way 'round.

Springsteen's latest is very good, and a handful of tunes approach the level of urgency and raw desperation that made his earlier music so compelling.

Songs of Mass Destruction is a crop of solid, occasionally over-refined songs in which she consistently delivers lyrics with grand flourishes even as she lends them powerful intimacy.

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.

Its all-too-mechanical new album fails to meet the band's genre-melting potential.

Jones’ powerful voice grows more compelling each time through, and every full, round bass note, horn blast and guitar fill the Dap-Kings play is, well, perfect.

Grohl often shows off his sky-high vocal range, award-winning ear for bridges and choruses and penchant for ending opuses with dark, pitch-perfect shrieks.

The prettiest moments here come on less characteristic musings, such as the shifting perspective of 'Down Here Below.'

Gonzalez's debut disc, 2005's "Veneer," won over fans with its straightforward lack of production, and his sophomore effort, In Our Nature, does not stray far from the path.

A late-album glut of so-so, mid-to-slow-tempo material like the Anthony Hamilton duet 'Losing You' and 'Work It Out' leaves you with a lesser impression than the disc probably deserves.

Sparse arrangements enhance the material's mood and texture, which range from the chipper instrumental splashes that color a revision of her iconic 'Big Yellow Taxi' to the supple pulse that lends a meandering flow to the hopeful, grounded meditation of the title track.

The band's latest, Reunion Tour, appeals directly to your brain.

The Scottish singer builds on the promise of her first album with Drastic Fantastic.

It's more of the same on his second album, a collection so bland, it makes hardtack seem sumptuous.

All the fuss last week over Kanye West and 50 Cent was misplaced: Chamillionaire bests them both while neatly sidestepping the sophomore slump on his second major-label album.

Proof of Youth can be awfully fun and should go over like gangbusters live, but listeners seeking depth or clarity in this hyperactive pastiche will come away disappointed