Making a record that delivers satisfaction from start to finish is a rare and momentous thing. Making any record that sounds unlike anything else is a victory in itself. To bring the two in line as Yo La Tengo has done with And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out may as well be called perfection.

It's a sweeping, gorgeous masterwork that draws upon a collage of pop flavors from the last four decades, brightly burning the eternal singer/songwriter flame and touching down for a couple of power pop punches.

Moment for moment, there's not a more significant collection of songs to spend your life with...

A complex, heavily textured album that aims for the stars.

Transcendental Blues epitomizes musical craftsmanship; it simmers instead of sizzles, meaning it's solid throughout and has no shortage of good songs... [w]hat is missing in the mix here is Earle at his angriest...

Her latest, I Am Shelby Lynne, is not a country record, but rather a graceful hybrid of roots rock influences and Muscle Shoals soul that adds up to one of the most intimate, earthy and adult pop-rock records in recent memory.

There's a lot going on sonically with this album, but it feels cohesive -- all its disparate elements are beautifully brought together by O'Connor's overriding openness and passion.

the album shows that the group has the power to whip audiences into a frenzy with beats and loops that feel remarkably organic and spontaneous.... Everything should be required listening for those who question the validity of electronic in a live format.

On Naked Self, Johnson hasn't let up one bit. His tongue is as sharp as ever, and his songs show that updating one's style doesn't have to mean dressing in this year's airwave fashions.

Silver & Gold is as pretty an album as Young's created yet...

It's an album of textural terror, a musical abrasive applied to the slick multinational machinery, via hard beats and sonic density, angry politix and dance-floor decline.

Suicides offers music that's even softer and more blurred around the edges than the band's previous efforts (Moon Safari and Premiers Symptomes), deftly meshing Bacharach-influenced progressions with martini lounge instrumentation for a mix that's retro-futuristic and smooth as, well, air.

Songs don't get any better than this, and with the exception of Elliott Smith, no one plays a sad song sweeter than Tweedy & Co. -- it's always a thrill to hear a band maturing into its prime.

This extraordinarily gifted vocalist casts an unbreakable spell over each interpretation, turning it into something else entirely, and making one believe that it's impossible for the supposed original to be as significant.

Smith's latest CD, Gung Ho, is the most socially relevant album to come along in eons, pointing rock back towards its ambitious past when it once attempted to affect social change.

Brown has mixed the best elements of '60s British flower power rock, a la the Moody Blues, with a new century's technology to create a potent, dream-inducing electronica brew.

His latest release pops to life with the Beatlesque piano beat of "Humble Bee" and maintains a buoyant atmosphere throughout.

Fast, furious and full of wicked good fun...

Packed to the brim with all sorts of surprising twists and turns, Jean's Ecleftic plays like a cheeky earful of the multi-culti future of hip-hop.

Make no mistake, the vibe here is strange and quirky -- the band's affinity for the naïve sometimes makes for an odd listening experience. But once you've settled into it, Peasant reveals itself to be a thing of beauty -- its nakedness comes to seem like the most natural thing in the world.

The album still bounces and skips via the ska signature with which No Doubt have marked the world, as in "Staring Problem" and "Home Now," but their forum is much bigger now, encompassing artful guitars, lurking bass and more interesting drum patterns.

This is true hepcat music -- shaken rockabilly, stirred swing, chilled Big Band and it's finger-snappin' upbeat all the way through.

NYC Ghosts & Flowers yields no easy accessibility, as it becomes darker and more abstract by the minute.

The disc doesn't just contain one or two Top 40 hits, but rather a proliferation of truly excellent songs.

It's Like This finds Jones and her top-notch team of instrumentalists doing justice to the brilliant material she's selected, creating a musical wonderland where timeless songs meet spirited, lovely performances.

Summer's tunes have the sweetness and light of Burt Bacharach's finest.

Although it is a more orchestrated affair than the stripped down sound this band is known for, The Night is as impressive as any of their previous efforts.

The album is not without its flaws (some of the songs are less than memorable, and as always, the proceedings are dampened somewhat by Corgan's nasal drone of a voice), but it's a welcome return to form for one of music's original alt-rock heroes.