Rihanna may have been a good girl gone bad on her 2007 album, but on her new one, she's a good girl gone bad-ass.

Taking a page from the George Strait playbook, country music newcomer Easton Corbin displays excellent song sense while offering an easygoing vocal style on his finely crafted self-titled debut album.

The brothers have tapped into the amorphous joy at the heart of dance music, and have peppered Settle's masterfully executed tracks with that feeling.

Two years and an overabundance of hype later, producer Ethan Kath and singer Alice Glass return with another self-titled set that corrects all of their debut's miscues and remains eye-popping from beginning to end.

The long-awaited Blueprint 3 doesn't disappoint. In fact, the album may just be the blueprint for hip-hop music to come.

Even those who felt lukewarm to Tegan and Sara's past few efforts should fully embrace their dazzling pop rebirth on Heartthrob, one of the best LPs of this young year.

Kaputt continues Bejar's winning streak and is an early contender for indie-rock album of the year.

On The Boy Who Knew Too Much, this Beirut-born singer comes back strong with another set of over-the-top anthems that proves no one's more entitled to inherit Freddie Mercury's glam-god crown.

"Sun" isn't as cuddly as "The Greatest," but it finds Marshall continuing to evolve as an artist in intriguing and unexpected ways.

Stronger, Sara Evans' first studio album in six years, is proof that some things are worth waiting for.

This Reading appearance-released for the first time on the CD/DVD package "Live at Reading"-captured the trio's skill at turning simple power chords into some of the most memorable rock anthems of the '90s.

A dense yet buoyant mixture of hip-hop beats, reggae grooves, African-pop riffs and future-soul vocals, "Concrete Jungle" (which culls tracks from Nneka's previous European releases) does, in fact, echo "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."

On the disc, co-produced by McGraw and longtime collaborator Byron Gallimore, the singer stretches a little more than usual--and takes a few musical chances.

It's an album that seemingly could have come out in 1996 just as easily as today. Even the song titles feel familiar: "Only Tomorrow," "Is This and Yes," "Nothing Is." Having said that, it's lovely.

One of the year's most anticipated pop releases is also one of the genre's weirdest--and most fully realized--efforts in ages.

The result is a 12-song collection of washed-out summer tunes perfect for beach outings and late-night house parties.

Drawing from a skillful fusion of R&B/hip-hop/pop, Usher addresses the trappings of fame on the uptempo "Monstar," shifts into sexy overdrive on "Lil Freak" (featuring Nicki Minaj) and "Pro Lover," pumps up the beat on the infectious club anthem "OMG" (featuring Will.i.am) and turns introspective on the ballad "Foolin' Around."

Perhaps that's a story for another set, however, and newcomers and fans alike will find this one remarkably satisfying

Displaying impressive vocal polish from outspoken frontman Scott Weiland; blazing guitar solos over tight, crunch-laden instrumentation; and grungy takes on Lennon/McCartney melodicism, STP asserts its place among seminal hard-rock chameleons.

Those looking for vintage soul sounds or even full-on raps from start to finish will be thrown several curves here. It’s an album with numerous emotional layers as well.

Get ready for a set of convincing, honest music, on which the Colombian star often unabashedly professes her love for boyfriend Gerard Pique.

The uplifting set includes takes on lost gospel and blues numbers as well as reworkings of Bob Dylan's "Shot of Love," John Lennon's "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama" (featuring guitarist Doyle Bramhall II) and Prince's "Walk Don't Walk."

Vampire Weekend's most cohesive and musically accomplished album to date.

Clocking in at an hour and twenty-five minutes, Reflektor drags in parts, though it contains plenty of moments (most often in its uptempo, dynamic first half) that sound ready to breathe life into the middling state of commercial rock in 2013.

Bluesier and less electronic than its predecessor, "Blood Pressures" is by far the Kills' most accomplished and diverse set yet.

A playful effort that comes from an ease with pop hooks and power-pop chords, a knowledge of how to employ a steady beat.

His Bob Dylan-esque voice combined with the hauntingly beautiful arrangement of the classical guitar throughout Admiral Fell Promises is hypnotic, trapping listeners in a melancholy spell of wonder.

There's a musical and rhythmic uniformity among these 13 tracks that might lose ears beyond the album's brisk 29 minutes, but it reflects a consistent summer ambivalence to which most anyone can relate.