Restless isn't about explicitly depicting the good, bad, and ugly of street life. It's more like a hip-hop carnival, with Xzibit acting as both ringmaster and main attraction.

Alison Krauss & Union Station has a voice like honey, raw and honest and sweet, and she wraps it lovingly around these achy ballads and American Gothic lamentations.

If a weak link exists it's only that the surprises are few, but in reality it's for that very reason that Cole's music is so comfortable.

The modern touches in particular - set in such sharp contrast to the rawness of the more human elements - make this an artistic statement worth hearing. If it can't quite match the cathartic experience of listening to some of the early masters, it still beats the increasingly slick face much blues music has taken on in recent times.

Bold forays into gospel, R&B and even a little soul (complete with ooh-oohing singers backing Burgess) display a far reaching confidence that rises as the album reveals itself to be not only something swimming in classic influences, but also a path-carving groove maker that falls in line with the likes of Stereo MCs and Jamiroquai.

Shortcomings like the aimless ambience of "Nightvision" don't seem like total failures simply because the duo's attitude remains intact even when their songs fall short.

The album is in some ways visionary, but it many ways it is just another Morphine album.

The addition of remixed or alternative versions of favorites like "78 Stone Shuffle," "We Haven't Turned Around" and the complete Gomez rendition of "Getting Better" (featured in the first wave of the Phillips ad campaign) makes this project something for the fanatic to salivate over. As for the casual listener, ASTH could possibly leave you wondering what all the fuss is about, but at the very least gives a slight glimpse into the future and of things to come.

Plays like a perfect meld of old school soul, modern day hip-hop and trance like hypnosis, with guest vocalists from all ends of the spectrum binding the event into a surprisingly cohesive whole.

What this album lacks in a standout track it makes up for in consistency.

The album lacks nothing in substance, but in edge it could use a jolt.

Frank Black has dug in deep for this one, and come up with an album that captures the essence of his roots while expanding the realm he's been entrenched in over the last few years.

The good thing with Mascis is that, even without straying in the least from his recognizable sound, he can maintain some degree of unpredictability in his songs.

Refreshing and ultimately brilliant premiere.

A flawless blend of acoustic-turns-into-fuzz guitar work and backbeat rhythms that create the aural equivalent of fog.

Holy Wood is strictly derivative, but done with enough skill to stay entertaining. Even when the borrowing is more blatant (the guitars of "The Fight Song," for example, sound like a cross between Hole's "Plump" and Blur's "Song 2"), the album doesn't suffer noticeably.... As hard rock albums go, this one's a keeper. The problem is, Marilyn Manson aspires to something greater than that. He's plenty articulate next to the competition, and plenty adept at selling his message with powerful imagery and catch phrases. But strip away those ornaments, and what he's saying seems a bit too obvious.

A Rollins in the Wry stands on its own two feet not so much as a spoken word album chock full of hyphenated poems about how "No one knows me; I am the enigma," but more as punk rock comedy, or hit-and-miss Bill Hicks with tattoos.

Taken only for what it is, Gorillaz is an engaging, if not entirely arresting, journey through sluggish mood rock and jazzy hip-hop. Taken for what it aspires to be, though, it's more disappointing than awe-inspiring...

What's most striking is simply that they are able to take such a drastically different tack with this album and still end up sounding like the same band.

Nowhere on Breach are the Wallflowers offensively bad like Matchbox 20, but the songs would be better described as lullabies than rockers.... It's pleasant stuff to keep in the background, but for all that pleasantness nothing stands out as especially beautiful or even memorable.

The compositions are sharp enough to cleanly burrow themselves into the subconscious; only to rise up at the most unexpected moments and potentially leave you wondering where you heard that funky little beat.

And the songs are catchy, yes. Just not so catchy that you're already singing along with them the first time you hear them.

Ultimately, there's a lot to be said about G Love's consistency and the way that amid a steadfast formula he never fails to feel fresh.

It's not a perfect album, and it's second half plays too openly with synth pop elements. The subtle beats and loops feel forced. But it has its moments of beauty, its songs worth listening to more than once.

Fans of the The Verve, or just plain fans of "Bittersweet Symphony," may feel a little let down as the record as a whole, though still steeped in a love of strings and complex arrangement, does not carry the same sonic weight of previous work.

For all its merits, though, Matriarch is enjoyable but not quite the transcendent experience its title would suggest.

Even as they approach epic length, the songs remain beautiful, dramatic, and above all else simple.

What it all boils down to is songs. Just as overproduction provides the perfect mask for some bands' mediocrity, the utter simplicity of this recording is the ideal way to reveal Semisonic's renewed inspiration.