This successor represents a further evolution of her talent as both creator and interpreter.

It veers wildly among mechanized garage rock, ’80s-era soft pop, atmospheric dance music and lush acoustic balladry; one song strongly recalls Justin Bieber’s “Sorry,” while another looks back to the Great American Songbook. ... Excellent, often thrilling album.

Nothing ever quite feels certain on Star Wars, an album in which one of pop-culture’s most recognizable phrases--and a 20-year-old band--is flipped into something wholly unpredictable.

At his best he spins these tales with a mix of literary craft and jazzman's cool, animating his narratives with vivid and colorful language. [5 Mar 2006]

Following a pair of brilliant EPs, Shabazz attacks with Black Up.

Frequently mining a trebly, contemplative territory, the album can initially feel somewhat monochromatic, but unexpected pleasures lie below the surface.

With deft, powerful strokes, the singer-songwriter chisels emotions, impressions, yearnings and regrets, giving these 13 songs exactly as much room as they need and no more.

The result on The Whole Love is a work by a group of exceptional musicians who, four years into their collaboration, have melded into one.

Any TVOTR fans hoping for a return to the band's heavier early days might have trouble with Nine Types of Light, an album full of such a brilliant clarity that the title could be referencing its track listing.

This Is Country Music still has a lot of what keeps Paisley at the head of the contemporary country class, but with several of the 15 songs merely competent, it could have been 30% stronger with a 30% edit.

If the force-of-nature power of his prime is often missing, in its place is an undeniable resolve and faith in his mission. [25 Jun 2006]

The result, by definition, breathes, which leads your ear initially to hear Björk’s voice as just another wind instrument; her lyrics don’t jump out the way they did in early stuff like “Hyperballad” or “Possibly Maybe.” But the words on “Utopia,” once they permeate your consciousness, are actually among her most intimate and affecting.

Brick Body Kids Still Daydream is Eagle’s seventh solo album, and builds on his hot 2014 work, “Dark Comedy.” The difference? Scope. Like the composer Stew did in his 2006 rock musical “Passing Strange,” Eagle makes grand narrative connections across “Brick Body Kids ...” and does so through his skills as a storyteller and rapper with a sublimely confident flow.

Crack the Skye is Mastodon's most involved album to date, relying on hyper-intricate guitar arrangements and production nuance in service of its freaky inter-dimensional mythology.

The album's impenetrable surfaces grow haunting after numerous listens: Stetson may never garner mainstream recognition like his Arcade Fire pals, but he proves undeniably compelling in his uncompromising musicality.

Though long and featuring a bounty of ideas, The Electric Lady is surprisingly slight.

Homme is one of the few singers and lyricists today who know that rock 'n' roll is built on a mix of menace and dark humor, and almost every track on ...Like Clockwork has a moment that makes you want to drive to Joshua Tree, pound some beers and start fires in the shape of pentagrams.

[A] lovely but searing new album that weaves 2016 racial, sexual and political tension into an album of immaculate, Prince-inspired funk and R&B.

A ten song rock record that draws on Segall’s strength as a catchy songwriter and riff manipulator.

Produced with his usual team of Mitchell Froom, Lenny Waronker and David Boucher, it’s a masterful collection so rich with sonic detail that you almost hope he never gets around to making “The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 4.”

Despite its undercurrent of outrage, Branches--which expands Pedro's folksy sound with creamy keyboards, processed drum beats and the occasional spritz of glam-rock guitar.

It's Albarn's evocative words, compelling if understated melodic sense and subdued vocals that are the emotional center, transcending the gimmick even more than on the first Gorillaz album. [22 May 2005]

Though America is an explosive document, half the time it's a lot of smoke and bang, and it treads on territory that others have explored more thoughtfully.

The most significant change is in Swift’s singing voice, a once-brittle instrument that of course has gotten deeper, huskier and more flexible since the late ’00s. But she only really takes advantage of that shift a couple of times. ... As for the lightweight bonus material, which she cut in the studio with her “Folklore” and “Evermore” collaborators Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff, none of it argues that it deserved a place on “Fearless,” though “Mr. Perfectly Fine” comes close.

If "Nightmare" misses some of the poetry and exhilaration of "Whatever," it has something more important: authenticity and integrity.

Hamilton neither chases trends nor makes fetish of retro sounds and influences. Instead, he finds powerful common ground between vintage influences and modern production.

The album washes near the end with a series of spacey slow jams, but then Bilal clears away the atmospheric clutter for "Butterfly," a stark ballad built around his soaring falsetto and rippling piano by recent Grammy winner Robert Glasper.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, a truly marvelous album title if ever there was one, is danceable but only a little disco, synth-driven but clubland averse, an easy record to like but a more difficult one to love.