After years of puzzling releases, Nas has finally delivered a collection worthy of his landmark 1994 debut.

Can Our Love... finds the band still mining a quirky romantic sensibility, but with more honest soul than ever.

Newcomers will be shocked by his natural ability and old-time fans will just nod the same knowing appreciation and file the album next to the ever-growing mass of excellent if unspectacular releases.

His latest rocks, boogies, swings and croons with a comfortable feel that's low on BS and high on integrity.

You'd be hard-pressed to ask much more from a record.

A very clear sounding Sexsmith singing in his Tim Hardin-quaver about the art of song, the loss of love and other intense philosophical insights that only a softspoken guy would concern himself with.

Occasionally, things are dumbed down by the naive politics you’d expect from any teenager.

Though its methods reek of gimmickry, and are not as interesting as similar but more musical travelers like Plaid, Autechre, or Mouse On Mars, Matmos does construct a daring two-cans-and-a-string party album.

PJ Harvey's frequent collaborator John Parish produces, and he brings a dark, melodramatic, and very theatrical sensibility to the songs that is much more interesting--and a much more flattering setting for Carol Van Dyk's expressive but limited vocals--than the straightforward guitar churn that dominated the last couple of albums.

The production, lyrics, and hooks make this an impressive sophomore effort from Ms. Badu.

Gorgeous melancholy is what these folks do best, and on tunes such as "The Mirror Phase," "Judah And The Maccabees," and a lullaby-like cover of "Blue Moon" from Big Star III, they outdo themselves, producing produce their finest collection since More Sad Hits in 1997.

Built To Spill relies on old-school verses/ choruses that demand humming just like that old-time rock 'n' roll...

A very tastefully crafted, tuneful, and affecting piece of work with a band that is still just beginning to tap its enormous potential.

If Prince had ever successfully come to grips with hip hop, this is what the result might have sounded like.

It's always great to find a new zone-out-leaving-the-planet disc, even better when it retains some edginess. This is probably the best modern psychedelia since Spiritualized let Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space slip out.

Built To Spill have made a concise, pop-smart record.

This is beautiful music set in minor keys.

In the end, the disc is less odd than it is charming with more than enough twists and turns to keep it interesting.

This is one striking album from start to finish.

While he's an adept moodist (but not a great singer), most often, the tunes are more artifice than art and he fails to make his misery convincing.

An album that sounds vital and immediate.

It's unquestionably one of the best rock albums of 2002.

Zwan is Billy Corgan's triumph, an unrepentant glam-rock/prog-pop bacchanalia, an album of stadium happy singles and up-with-people wonder anthems.

There's absolutely nothing revolutionary about what these guys are pulling, but they synthesize a gritty staccato new wave attack with the arrogant, swaying machismo of old school boogie with an authority far beyond their few years.

This Is Not A Test isn't perfect.... But it's plenty close enough.

If there's a downside, it's that 13 may sound more like a sampler of ideas than a single-minded effort.

Few other contemporary electronic acts are quite so savvy in their subtle manipulation of traditional song elements within a cybernetic context.

Features a more worldly sound and outlook.