Ludacris, the ever-underrated Atlanta MC, offers another good-humored album, this one aimed at the vexing relationships between men and women.

It's casual and compelling, the work of a musician who simply wanted to record some songs on her own terms.

Unexpected offers more musical variety than previous discs, from the lively and fun “I Ain’t Hearing You’’ - about a man who can’t possibly be cheating - to the more formulaic “Tell Me,’’ where synthetic beats and the dreaded Auto-Tune take away from the warmth of Stone’s spirit and voice.

Goodbye Lullaby seems as much about the singer-songwriter's self-examination - she co-wrote all the tracks and is the sole author on many - as about any outward relationships.

Even though the album produces only a handful of great moments--Earl Sweatshirt's presence is still sorely missed--there's relief in knowing that everything remains raw.

Fleet Foxes mostly seem content to plug away at the atmosphere established on their debut. The big question on "Helplessness Blues'' isn't where the songs will go, but how much distanced reverb will be featured on any given cut.

Fifth album In Our Heads features its share of cerebral hip-shakers but the group has enough other moves to keep things varied.

Twenty-five years into her career, Sarah McLachlan does what she does and you’re either out or in when it comes to the Canadian songbird’s pleasant, gorgeously sung, but perhaps not always exciting, adult contemporary pop.

The album is ambitious and brimming with all sorts of stray ideas, but it's also suited to Gonzalez's expansive gifts.

Like many contemporary R&B albums, the cameos sometimes crowd the main attraction, but Foxx is wise enough to intuit when it suits him best to share the spotlight.

With Breakout, Cyrus has clearly made a choice to break from the shiny, happy "Hannah Montana" character, but she hasn't scuffed her sound up so much that her fans won't recognize that she's just being Miley.

While her sonic template, modern and spare yet lush, works wonders for “Don’t Go,” it’s otherwise isolated moments — the discordant saxophone blats pulling her toward St. Vincent in the danceable and lopsided “Waste”; the chewy synth bassline of “Crazy [Expletive]”; and the line “When you left me, I was ready for you to leave” in “Walls”--that suggest an excitement the songs can’t quite sustain.

Synthetica affirms what fans have loved about Metric: If the formula isn't broken, don't fix it.

As sequels go, E=MC2 is better than most, boasting a higher, and more consistent, quotient of slinky, dance-floor charm and stronger ballads than "Mimi."

There’s a tremendous amount of preserved intimacy on these unearthed first studio recordings.

On his debut for Sub Pop Records, Gibson comes off as a sound collage artist feverishly darting from one idea to the next.

It's well crafted, but some of T.I.'s best lines obscure the tracks' fuzzy thinking.

Where the debut flaunted relentless production and Waka's defiant word associations, this has more spacious and savvier tracks.

While not as electrifying as "Teflon Don," this 70-minute set deftly mixes grandiose gestures and ominous bravado.

If ‘‘Traffic and Weather,’’ doesn’t as frequently pack the knock-out punch of 2003’s superb ‘‘Welcome Interstate Managers,’’ it still more than holds its own in the fight for pop music that is both catchy and canny.

It’s an appealing snapshot of how Lambert has grown, and how he’s still willing to surprise his listeners and himself.

Although he still goes on a bit long in places, with help from producer buddies like Timbaland, Timberlake--channeling his usual suspects from Michael Jackson to Prince--nails a more cohesive vibe on this follow-up.

A good half of Love & Politics begins to wilt upon closer examination as Arie's blissed-out self-help affirmations posing as lyrics start to penetrate....But whether she's singing clunky therapy metaphors or spinning out more elegant turns of phrase, Arie's raspy voice is always in top form.

Jigsaw is ultimately another mash-up of big electro-dance beats and hip-hop swagger.

Forget about considering the album as a whole and figure out which of the 19 translators here appeal to you. The originals will always be there waiting.

There’s nothing as immediately grabbing here as the irresistible “When I’m Small” from “Eyelid,” and dancefloor imperatives are in lesser supply, but it’s a deficit made up for by deceptively sanguine, slowly evolving tracks like “Bill Murray,” which borrows some of the actor’s sage knowingness for its tenor.

This is a very solid set that places its emphasis on the vocalist’s smooth, rich tone and effortless phrasing.

Tracks like the punk-lite “You Are Waking’’ collapse under the weight of their ambitions, but on the whole Lidell should be admired for his adventurous musical fusions.