I'm assuming the problems began when Rubin presented Cash with a cache of songs to choose from. From there, Rubin's production only makes a bad situation worse, putting Cash's dusty, reverbless voice -- which is beginning to show its frailties -- unnaturally in your face.... But if you can wade through the chaff, it's Cash's originals that save the disc.

Wyclef seems to reinvent himself for the worse on his sophomore effort. In place of his trademark iconoclasm, he delivers some good old-fashioned conformity in a bid to renew his street-credibility card... Thankfully, 'Clef strikes a balance with some outstanding selections, starting with the acoustically driven ballads "Diallo," "911" and "Something About Mary", which show that Wyclef armed with a guitar is still more powerful than an army of producers strapped with drum machines.... It's enough to make The Ecleftic a good but not grand album, one that finds Wyclef's vision falling short of his abilities.

The group's lack of growth has begun to make their well-established talents wear thin.

Now, it’s the chilled tracks that seem limited and generic... The fortunate tradeoff is that the album’s three strobe-lit tracks definitely bring it on.

A 12-song mess that veers unsteadily between the fuzztone freak-outs of his original concept and panicked-sounding rewrites of older Monster Magnet material.

You yearn for raw guitars, gritty beats or at least a broader dynamic range.

The new set lacks Kingdom's cathartic exuberance, not to mention the myriad bouncy sing-along hits that made Gwen Stefani to the '90s what Madonna was to the '80s.

Chambers' voice is a birdie chirp. She's sexy, but has less edge than the tiniest bleached-blond in the Dixie Chicks and half the sass of Dolly Parton.