While the slower, gentler moments are not without charm, large sections of the album land on the wrong side of the drowsy-dreamy divide.

The production is lush, the songs are well-written and Lewis can certainly sing. It’s just a boring record that hews too closely to the modern album template with a couple of hits and a bunch of filler.

An uneven album with some tremendous bright spots.

As a spirited reintroduction, the album is by no means too little, but given the time the band has been away, it may be too late.

The album as a whole is a tad precious, but the songs are pretty and Campbell's voice is subtly captivating.

The current reigning male vocalist of the year for both major country music organizations sticks to that blueprint for Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates, taking no chances on a collection full of slick, predictable hooks and an easygoing manner.

The drum machine hallmark of his 1980s heyday is a staple of MPLSound, a disc that hauls that sound into the present with mixed results.

The preponderance of slow jams makes sense, given the introspection on display, yet none of them stands out enough to remind you that Brandy is more than just human.

No Age is certainly an adventurous band, but its sound here suffers from too much repetition.

An atmospheric downer.

While that darkness gives the album its semblance of originality, it may prove incompatible with the group's mass-market ambitions.

A pop album that, for all the lightness and joy that come with humming synthesizers, punchy horns and sing-along melodies, requires listeners to do some pretty heavy lifting.

'Ringleader Man,' remind you that whatever his vocal limitations, T-Pain has reintroduced the idea of melody to urban music, which is no small feat. However, predictable overkill of both the signature AutoTune warble and guest stars (Ludacris, Ciara, Akon, et al) obscures that accomplishment.

Despite his penchant for experimentation, much of his material remains accessible to casual listeners, even when he turns toward the self-indulgent.

He doesn't quite succeed, though in the process of failing, he turns in his most restrained and focused recordings to date.

Despite the catchy moments, The Orchard is not a distinctive record. In fact, aside from showcasing Duquette's inventive, propulsive drum work, the only chance the album takes is that it doesn't really take any chances.

"The Mix-Up" is all about groove and texture, sometimes at the expense of hooks.

High points are overshadowed by the abundance of filler on Intoxication.

Barnes and company's ninth studio album isn't as catchy or cohesive as the past few, hitting upon sublime moments--like when he quietly asks "Why I am so damaged?"--that are frustratingly few and far between.

Tracks like "Press Play" feature booming-enough backings, but even in the record's funkiest moments, like the left-field Prince homage "Cool," Snoop holds back.

While he's a fine creator of moods and verse-long vignettes, Malin often has trouble stretching a cohesive narrative for the length of an entire song.

Deacon is hampered by his boundless creativity. In his mad dash to leave no pathway unexplored, he neglects to chart a course toward anyplace in particular.

The songs are lively and well put together, but sometimes they could be a little more fun.

Much of "Turn the Lights Off" is inspired by '80s artists who wanted to sound like they were from the '60s.

The ballads that apparently deal with Rowland's ex-fiance, Roy Williams, are the broken heart of the album: They also eschew subtlety (lyrically, at least), yet the results show Rowland has artistic depths that keeping up with the Knowleses doesn't inspire.

'Like You'll Never See Me Again' is a reminder, amidst the clutter of many cooks on As I Am, that perhaps Keys was best as she was, after all.

Folds is clearly having fun, but is he laughing with us or at us? Sometimes it's hard to tell. But it's even harder not to smile.

Despite any pretensions otherwise, their second album sounds a lot like the Day-Glo disco and retro house being pushed by every other hip indie-dance act right now.