The more expansive arrangements suit McMahon's hyper-expressive singing, especially on a handful of cuts ("My Racing Thoughts," "Platform Fire") with keyboards by veteran session player Patrick Warren. But occasionally they make McMahon's songwriting feel less distinct than it has in the past.

Clearly you can take McBride--who co-wrote six of these tracks--anywhere and she'll sound just fine.

Mostly, though, the surprisingly warm-blooded Audio, Video, Disco reveals Justice to be human after all.

With Father, Son, Holy Ghost, the band has vaulted the equivalent of three albums ahead, taking the conciseness of the EP and confounding expectations.

Most of these strummy feel-good ditties-aw-shucks song titles include "Gotta Be Wrong Sometimes" and "Taking On the World Today"-make Jason Mraz sound like some kind of avant-garde noisemaker.

As always, though, Streisand sings the material like it was written expressly for her, elongating phrases at will and slowing most of the tempos to a luxurious Old Hollywood crawl. What matters most? Babs' bliss.

There are certainly smiles to be had as the group grouses its way through some of the most ambitiously arranged and melodically polished tunes it has released to date.

The tilting scales of light and dark give the collection a definite creep factor and a clever complexity.

Cali Swag District's surviving members memorialize M-Bone in the artwork of The Kickback, the group's debut full-length, which was originally set for release last year through Capitol before arriving in stores independently through a distribution deal with Sony RED. That dedication is a rare glimmer of gravity on a set filled with buzzy, lightweight odes to whips ("Burn Out [Drive Fast]"), women ("I'm Freaking You") and weed ("I Don't Need Your Money").

With a career clearly on the ascent, Neon lights the way for Young's next move up.

Word to Greyson: Hold on to 13 as long as you can.

This Atlanta-based R&B crooner has utilized the extraordinary sweetness of his voice to get away with plenty of lines that would sound irredeemably sleazy coming from other singers.

Among the many Odd Future efforts already circulating on the Internet, BlackenedWhite was a wise choice for an attempted mainstream incursion: It's got enough of the outfit's deranged humor to titillate tourists (see tracks "Gunsounds" and "Deaddeputy"), but softens the edginess with a pronounced pop sensibility.

Red Hot + Rio 2 takes some time to absorb, but it's sure to tide you over until the next Red Hot compilation is released.

Gold Cobra reminds us of how much fun a tight, no-holds-barred rap-metal record can be in the right hands.

The appealingly schizoid approach isn't unlike that of America's Melvins, whose 1991 song "Boris" provided the band with its name. On the new Heavy Rocks, Boris makes no effort to hem in that sound.

Heavy Rocks arrives in the marketplace along with Attention Please, a lower-key companion album that showcases the coolly resigned singing of lead guitarist Wata. Surprised? Don't be.

It's not the challenging listening experience that such recent albums as "Orchestrion" (2010) and "The Way Up" (2005) provided, but "What's It All About" is Metheny at his most genteel.

The album is quieter and torchier than its predecessors, with the singer delivering uniformly stellar vocal performances.

The nine tracks Ronson produced on Arabia Mountain (Deerhunter's Lockett Pundt helmed two; Black Lips produced five) show he's equally adept at plundering the garage, psych and punk treasure troves.

It's a worthwhile reinvention, but a little more noise wouldn't have hurt, either.

The duo and an assortment of guests-including Will.i.am, Busta Rhymes, GoonRock and Calvin Harris-extol the virtues of late nights, trendy tequilas, hard bodies and vibey DJs.

It's similar to Pitbull's newest album, Planet Pit, which blends everything but the kitchen sink in a frenetic jumble that's facile yet unadulterated fun.

Battles still sound determined here to inject their precision-geared prog-pop with the kind of humor and adventure one rarely encounters among bands that possess chops like these.

As the title of a song on new album "All of You" suggests, Colbie Caillat isn't afraid to sing about a world where we "Think Good Thoughts" - most of which are about her falling in love.

The album's dozen story songs-11 penned solely by Parton-are filled with uplifting sentiment and words of encouragement set against a variety of backdrops, most of them deeply rooted in country traditions rather than acquiescing to radio demands.

Rawlings' guitar work is an engaging mix of the decorative and functional, marvelously recorded and a perfect balance to the warmth of Welch's vocals.

The dozen tracks of effervescent, shimmering, faith-based synth pop blend Young's adenoidal, Warped tour-ready vocals with a decidedly '80s new wave flavor.