Given time, Isbell could be roots rock's Flannery O'Connor. [Aug 2007, p.102]

Simply enjoy the band's increasingly deep groove, its rich crosscutting of violin and accordion melodies and its mastery of both Gypsycore trash and lilting Euro-reggae. [Aug 2007, p.106]

Vig both sweetens and strengthens Against Me!'s attack without sacrificing the band's innate Raggedy Andy appeal.

The tagets haven't changed much, and Bad Religion still hits them hard. [Aug 2007, p.98]

Libertad does improve slightly on the mostly hookless choogling of the band's 2004 debut, "Contraband," with songs that are punchier and a bit more memorable.

By Act III, T.I. faces down T.I.P. in the mirror during a bizarre skit, yelling, "Why can't you just talk about what's wrong with you? Why can't you just let everything out?" The same could be said for the ambitious but uneven T.I. vs. T.I.P.

Easy Tiger plays like a tightly focused best-of compilation from Adams' past six or seven efforts. [Jul 2007, p.96]

It's slight and, even at its liveliest, inconsequential. [Jul 2007, p.92]

Build a Nation roars and throbs with vintage fire. [Jul 2007, p.92]

A soul-drenched, horn-inflected labor of lust. [Jul 2007, p.100]

The second record falters with a clunky combo of Celtic rock and leaden hip-hop rhythms that squashes the fragile, hook-free tunes. [Jul 2007, p.100]

She cements her place as the pop figurehead for the overlooked and underappreciated teenage girl in all of us. [Jul 2007, p.94]

Ferry embraces these Dylan classics... with undiluted sincerity, gently remodeling the barbed lyrics into graceful modern art. [Jul 2007, p.96]

Seldom do aural hallucinations feel this triumphant--or this real. [Jul 2007, p.92]

The Fragile Army trades the cluttered arrangements... of their first two albums for tightly focused orchestral pop with big Technicolor hooks. [Jul 2007, p.102]

A noisy, cranky piece of work. [Jul 2007, p.91]

[It] focuses on Rolex-precise riffs to offset a battery of beats, rattles, and ringing bells. [Jul 2007, p.96]

Lush, slo-mo, and mildly psychedelic. [Jul 2007, p.102]

Soul-free, thirdhand melodies housed in songs that any halfway decent bar band would reject without a second pass. [Feb 2007, p.85]

Complicated shows a real grasp of musical history. [Jul 2007, p.99]

Idealism shows off plenty of blaring synth riffs. [Jun 2007, p.92]

It sounds awesome. [Jul 2007, p.102]

A stylishly sweaty summer party. [Jul 2007, p.102]

Their biggest asset, though, is singer Hayley Williams, an 18-year-old siren with a killer fashion sense and an undeniable knack for writing contemplative love songs.

Ridiculously entertaining. [Jul 2007, p.98]

[It] should have been the new Fall album. [Jun 2007, p.96]

Maybe this is what living in France does to you. [Jun 2007, p.92]

[It] scales back the Weimar guignol of 2003's The Golden Age of Grotesque in favor of classic industrial and glam. [Jul 2007, p.98]