The prolific singer/songwriter has reacted to the licensing feast surrounding "Speak for Yourself" ("The OC," "So You Think You Can Dance," Verizon advertisements) with a stronger focus on song structure and melody on Ellipse.

After 28 years, you'd think it would be tough coming up with new twists to captivate audiences. But apparently not for King George, whose latest album, Twang, is among the finest collections of songs he's released.

Power ballad 'What If' reveals that Tisdale can deliver the radio-ready goods, and 'Tell Me Lies' is convincingly spunky. But the rest of the material, as racy as it sometimes is, doesn't give the singer room to comfortably let loose.

Lyrical themes get a bit murkier on her appropriately titled sophomore effort, Battlefield.

The new album's lyrical plotlines feel more organized than on past efforts, and musical twists are easier to follow, with Matthew's piano grounding the recording.

Backed by a fine team of multi-instrumentalists, Molina delivers a harrowing set of songs with short running times and minimalist arrangements.

while the first single, 'All You Did Was Save My Life,' provides some much-needed bite, "Burn Burn" is ultimately ballad-heavy and one-dimensional.

The Satanic Satanist constructs an exquisite medium between indie music and hard rock.

Overall, Sugar Ray sticks to what it does best: helping audiences realize that there's no better alternative to a California fun-in-the sun day at the beach.

The propulsive 11-track Horehound finds the White Stripes and Raconteurs frontman every bit as able on the drums as he is on guitar.

Daughtry and his band return with similar aggression on their sophomore album, Leave This Town. Daughtry's ferocious growl is still the centerpiece of the new songs, but the band has also taken a few creative risks.

"Monkey House" was the band's experiment in '80s synth-rock, and with Elavedo's touch, the razor-sharp, reflective edges of the album's space-age cogs are smoothed and rounded, with the bright-hot electro-pop brought closer to loungey funk.

Son Volt may be playing it too safe on American Central Dust, but the songs are still woven together with a feeling of comfort and familiarity.

BLACKsummer'snight is a testament that Maxwell hasn't lost a beat.

Fish Outta Water may lack the demographic-tripping vibe that even a Jurassic 5 in turmoil could whip up, but it's a mostly winning debut that makes up in vocal prowess for what it lacks in hooks.

DJ/rappers Redfoo and Sky Blu (the son and grandson, respectively, of Motown founder Berry Gordy) fulfill all the lyrical requirements for a summer anthem--sunny locale, sexual tension and a liquor-assisted nonstop party.

It's driven by Helm's warm, amazingly rich moonshine vocals and decorated with bluesy guitar sprinkles, angelic violins and lovely harmonies by his daughter Amy of the folk-rock outfit Ollabelle.

This is Moby without his usual bag of tricks; the material rings truer than any of his previous work.

Thomas returns with a soaring collection of infectious pop songs that are destined for heavy rotation in 2009 and beyond.

Paisley hits all the right notes, literally and figuratively, weighing in on skinny dippin', beer, fishing, technology, children and women, among other all-American topics.

Aside from a few unique moments ("The Return," "Take Me Away"), there's not much new to report here.

'Social Development Dance' is an accurate representative of Back and Fourth as a whole--an introspective, guitar-driven effort that's worthy of praise, despite some minor missteps.

The appearance of Hood's dad, legendary session man David, gives parts of Murdering Oscar--even within the Southern-rock storm and Hood's charcoal vocals--a sweet, possibly unprecedented sense of tranquility.

Nonsensical lyrics about butterflies and name-changing lovers on tracks like 'You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)' and 'Apollo And The Buffalo And Anna Anna Anna Oh!,' could serve as a distraction, but the songs are saved by beautifully frantic instrumentals.

The musical doesn't begin production until 2010. The time lapse is confusing for listeners of the narrative, which focuses on a young woman named Eve. But Murdoch, who lends his vocals to two of the album's 14 tracks, plays his strengths as the man behind the music.

Though a floundering economy, bombed-out GOP and a season or two of corporate bailouts have provided them with a fat barrel of fish to shoot, this rap-rock hybrid simmers instead of seethes, never quite mustering the blood-boiling rage of its principals' previous material.

While it's commendable for the trio to try to break out of its teen dream box, it's on songs like 'Before the Storm'--featuring Miley Cyrus--where the brothers prove they're still among the best at putting the fizz in pop culture.

Holly Williams, the daughter of Hank Williams Jr. and granddaughter of Hank Williams, follows her own musical path to deliver one of the best singer/songwriter albums to come out of Nashville in the last year.

Hitting a second stride with "Murray Street" in 2002, the band maintains its leadership position among melodic noise-makers with The Eternal, which is so chock-full of hummable pop hooks you'd think a hit doctor lent a hand.

The back half is all over the place, prone to the sort of detours that seem designed solely to show off Mos' scope, like the all-Spanish throwaway 'No Hay Nada Mas.' Still, when's he's on, which is more than not, Mos is refocused and seemingly rededicated.

The acronym that forms the title of their latest stands for "The Energy Never Dies," and they more than make good on that promise, blasting through 15 high-powered rave-rap jams that rarely lack for melodic hooks or rhythmic thrust.

On this fine self-titled set (produced, as was the most recent 97's album, by Dallas-based Salim Nourallah) Miller works his familiar mixture of '60s-pop jangle and alt-country twang, singing about the highs and lows of love like someone who just experienced them for the first time.

Todd Snider relates his hilariously heartbreaking hard-luck tales with a deadpan sing-speak delivery while superproducer Don Was gives the scrappy bar-band arrangements a glimmer of studio-pro warmth.

Jhelli Beam finds this prominent member of the West Coast underground hip-hop coalition Project Blowed challenging his unique flow and uncanny wordplay at every roundabout turn, rhyming against a tsunami of samples crafted by such L.A.-based production wizards as Daedelus and Nobody, among others.

As on many valiant attempts by electronic artists to cross over, there's too much going on. But Cope succeeds in creating an overall sense of unrest and some moments of electro-transcendence.

Co-produced by Andy Johns (Van Halen), the set captures the fun energy of a mind-blowing all-star jam: Satriani's fretwork is surprisingly raw, loose and gritty, while Smith channels John Bonham more than once.

Pop's understated delivery draws even the most skeptical of listeners in, bathing his hushed voice in beds of stark piano and tremolo-washed guitar.

Burnett's settings are much more stripped-down than his work on Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' "Raising Sand" but no less precise: 'My All Time Doll,' one of the strongest cuts, Jeff Taylor's accordion shades the desperation in Costello's lyric with just the right amount of sarcasm.

This eulogy is a celebration, and Big Whiskey is a dense, humid album that, befitting its New Orleans origins, shrewdly cuts its melancholy with exuberance and vice versa.

The group may still rely on catchy vocal refrains, but the growth of Lazzara's songwriting has made its fourth effort a brisk, enjoyable outing.

Seven albums in, not much has changed for Rancid, and that's a good thing.

Lofty comparisons, sure. But Bingham's not a "new" anything: He's his own man, and a singular talent at that.

At times, there's a lack of consistency with too many ideas thrown onto the table, but it's that diversity heard throughout Nutini's sophomore effort that gives this AC singer/songwriter a leg up.

All three discs come together with fun, scrapbook-like packaging to pull off that rare reissue home run--when a boxed set functions as a perfect introduction for newcomers and a worthy addition to any devotee's collection.

The Brooklyn quartet Grizzly Bear has earned a reputation for dense sonic buildups and gorgeous harmonies, and the group's third album "Veckatimest" excels on both accounts.

The group has polished its '60s-rock-revivalist sound to near perfection, but keeps expanding its aural palette, experimenting with layered rhythms and sonic textures.

The performances are so strong throughout that one can only pray this collaboration turns out to be more than a dalliance.

English songbird Polly Scattergood entrances, disturbs and impresses with her debut self-titled album.

Now in his 30s, he doesn't surf the beat so much as box with it, with both brutality and no small degree of grace. That a rapper of this much verbal gymnastic ability is still making Perez Hilton cracks is too bad, but the bigger problem is that Eminem's recipe of gore and gay jokes sounds like the past.

White Rabbits recruited Spoon frontman Britt Daniel to produce It's Frightening, an appealingly audacious move that reveals just how tightly these guys define their sound. That self-awareness is apparent in the band's music as well--nothing seems out of place in these tidily arranged soul-punk tunes, most of which revolve around piano and bass rather than guitar.

Manners, the debut album from the Boston-based electro-pop outfit Passion Pit, is a charming combination of danceable synth grooves, falsetto shouts and infectious vocal hooks.

Her 12th studio release, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, finds her in full command of her expanded arsenal, creating an overall sound that's as psychedelic as it is classic.

Although this two-CD manifesto isn't completely immune to the current bar-lowering--disc one is heavy on wispy, lo-fi throwaways (one exception: an intimate acoustic version of the Flaming Lips' "Waitin' for a Superman")--there's more wheat than chaff.

This second solo album is so strong that a listening moves from why to why-not territory rather quickly.

This dynamic duo comes off as vital as it has in a decade on the highly anticipated sequel to the pair's 1999 collaborative debut, "Blackout!"

What there is not quite enough of is Rhymes himself--the deft MC is a bit crowded out by collaborators' mic turns and auto-tuned refrains.

Thanks to Richie's confidently grown-up vocals and his consistently mature subject matter--here's a guy whose romantic timeline stretches past tonight to 'Forever and a Day,' as one track puts it--Just Go never sounds calculated or desperate.

Beyond merely blowing with avant-tinged, Coltrane-inspired tenor gusto, Lovano employs multiple strategies on several reeds, setting up melodic motifs, rhythmic start-and-stop phrases and playful dance-like romps.

The uptempo tracks are invigorating with their harder guitars and drums, and Lewis' humor abounds, but his slower, softer, acoustic songs are the standouts.

The effect is never derivative, nor is it catered to the commercial hip-hop landscape, but it's always memorable.

The album is a call to arms for the digital age, and 20 years into its career, Green Day's ambition continues to dazzle.

Every one of these 15 tunes is a living, breathing creature, from the haunting, modal-tinged blues-waltz (with cello) of 'Rake' to the jaunty fingerpicking and mouthy dialogue of 'Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold' (a duet featuring son Justin Townes Earle) to the eternally elegant Tex-Mex anthem 'Pancho and Lefty.'

Electronic music duo the Crystal Method hasn't lost its flair for funk and style as found on the act's debut release, "Vegas."

It's the detail and charm listeners have come to expect mixed with these welcome surprises that keep Actor exciting.

Whatever their inspiration, new cuts like the oddly pretty 'Lose You' and 'Billionaire,' the latter of which features a fiery cameo from Shunda K of Yo Majesty, throb with unexpected vitality.

Outer South is a decently stocked serving of rambling, saloon-joint alt-country, but one that finds the freewheeling Oberst and band in need of a little focus.

The group stays true to its avant-garde musical roots with Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free, the noisier, louder follow-up to 2007's "Love Is Simple."

Ben Harper is that rare talent able to not only vacation in the worlds of gospel, soul, folk and even reggae, but meld them gracefully together on both album and stage. But sometimes you just want him to rock, like he did on 1995's "Ground on Down." And at long last, he's assembled a new band that seems dedicated to just that, and it's a beautiful thing.

On 'High Price,' where she takes her vocals to an opera-like pitch, and her collaboration with the-Dream, 'Lover's Things,' whose faint tenor would seem like an ideal match, Ciara seems to go almost unnoticed. Thankfully, 'Work,' featuring Missy Elliott, has Ciara showing fly-girl antics over a house-like, clap-laden production, and the breakup song 'Never Ever,' featuring Young Jeezy, which samples 'If You Don't Know Me by Now,' pick up the slack.

The unlikely resurrection of the New York Dolls is solidified by this second recent album, an output that now matches in quantity and mirrors in quality their epic early-'70s sprint.

While Yusuf (formerly known as Cat Stevens) officially returned to the pop world in 2006 with the welcomed "An Other Cup," his re-entry has only now been fully realized with the thoroughly engaging Roadsinger (To Warm You Through the Night).

She continues to lay down the law on 'Porcelain Doll' and 'Another One,' both of which find her claiming she is a "grown woman" over a choir-like production and acoustic guitars, respectively. But not all is heartbreak on the mature-sounding set.

There are clunkers, like the half-there torch song "Life Is Hard." But the great thing about 67-year-old Dylan is that even when it's not working, it's working.

With Tony Iommi on guitar, Geezer Butler on bass and Vinny Appice on drums, the lyrically macabre and demonically alluring music sounds more like a band backing Ronnie James Dio than it does an act trying to distinguish itself as an entity apart from Sabbath's and Dio's solo endeavors. Yet The Devil You Know has a great sound in its own right.

Her hushed, velvet-smooth vocals evoke a noir yearning and forlornness, her slow-burn delivery enraptures with a torch sentimentality, and her support team shines.

Parts of this remarkable debut make for decidedly uneasy listening: The drugged-out, claustrophobic glam slam that's 'Flash of Light' may be the year's most terrifying moment.

Although the roster of the newly formed act Tinted Windows is a bit of a head-scratcher--middle Hanson brother Taylor Hanson, Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger, former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha and Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos--it all seems to make sense after one listen to the supergroup's self-titled debut.

After nearly 30 years, the trio--now comprising Gore, Dave Gahan and Andrew Fletcher--still imbue every aspect of its 12th studio album, Sounds of the Universe, with imagery and sonic flourishes that make its music fresh and familiar.

Francis' production has noticeably tightened the band's sound, as Freddy Feedback's bass bounces crisply alongside dueling riffs. Art Brut may never shed its screwball charisma, but Satan is a successful step in a mature direction.

the guests' reverence for Booker T. is clear--the Truckers, as they did when they recently backed Bettye LaVette, know when to muscle up (on 'Pound It Out') and how to hang back (on moving, B3-powered track 'She Breaks,' a sweet, shimmering number filled with references to Booker T.'s awesome past).

After being the first white guy to grace the cover of a Gangsta Grillz underground mixtape ("The Greenhouse Affect" with Don Cannon & DJ Drama), this buzzed-about MC proves that suburban rap has finally arrived.

The result is a flawless blend of sunny pop, Motown, blues and jazz with the cleanest production in Camera Obscura's catalog.

The inspiring combination lifts the album far beyond tribute material into sonic territory all its own.

The Miami-bred MC Rick Ross has faced a number of career obstacles in recent months--from damaged street credibility to a multi-episodic beef--so it's all the more impressive that on his third album, Deeper Than Rap, he presents his most cohesive work yet.

The group's self-titled debut shows that it has more than one flashy single to offer.

The Canadian quartet continues to polish its spacey, new wave-colored sound that's heavy with buzzing synths and echoed vocals.

Though answers don't come easily, the process of getting to know them is fascinating nonetheless.

The repetitive opener 'Let's Be Mates' gets the album off to a rocky start, but Lady Sov quickly redeems herself with 'So Human.'

Like so many Young albums, there are the tracks that rise to another level (the 'Ragged Glory'-like 'Just Singing a Song' included) and there are those destined to be forgotten. True to himself, though, Young is inspired throughout.

This much more polished follow-up goes down smoother but still packs plenty of fire.

Elliott brings a seen-it-all authenticity to this repertoire while Joe Henry's sympathetic production (aided by guest appearances by Los Lobos' David Hidalgo and Van Dyke Parks) is pitch perfect.

The 11-track set is unlikely to slow the group's momentum, since it's as polished as a diner countertop.

Populating that lyrical forest are knights, goblins, talking animals and ticking (shades of Peter Pan crocodiles), Costas spinning her offbeat tales like a young Suzanne Vega setting Brothers Grimm fables to music. It's all melodically accessible.

In its entirety the album is a great debut, toe-tapping and catchy with just the right blend of familiarity and individuality, and it should send a message to new bands: Simplicity is key.

The Hold Steady's first live disc (and documentary DVD), recorded in 2008 at Chicago's Metro, is a raucous 17-track scorcher that finds Finn's speedily spat monologues working surprisingly well onstage.

Such a musical mind-meld, so expressive of both artists' perspective, is rare.

From the hipster head-bobber 'Nothing to Worry About' to the melancholy closer 'Last Night,' the trio takes a minimalist approach to creating beats and accompaniments, making its simple voices more affecting and the subtle production all the more charming.

Gomez ups the musical ante with A New Tide, a brilliant 11-song collection of lyrical jewels embellished by colorful and unusual textural arrangements that a dynamics-loving jazz band could admire.