As it should, The Nextwave Sessions delivers on the mentality of quality over quantity. The EP offers five respectable new songs from the British indie rockers.

It is a young album that avoids certain risks (all the songs are in the three minute range), but there is a vitality and ambition to it that is rare and refreshing for pop music.

Each time she’s up to bat on Piece By Piece, she gets on base, sometimes even knocking it out of the park.

In general, though, when the Bullys have their sights set on the dancefloor, whether it be a drug fueled downer house anthem or a colossal electro groove, they seem most at home. Luckily, this is most of the time, and as a result Higher Than the Eiffel is thoroughly enjoyable as an alternative dance record.

As with nearly all of the Fall, this album does what it wants to do, forcing the listener to submit to its terms.

Much of the material on this album far surpasses anything he has done previously.

The best evidence of Ms. B's growth as an artist (and woman) is seen in the ballads and mid-tempo tracks.

Phase Two hangs together remarkably well as a cohesive listening experience that is as exhilarating as it is unexpected.

The end result is that The Weight's on the Wheels leaves you wanting to come back for more, to fully engage and parse through the heavy hip-hop beats and the dense wordplay.

This is captivatingly repetitive music that grabs the listener by the throat and drags him into a higher aural and indeed emotional plane.

With Get Lucky, however, Knopfler has created an enjoyable collection of blues shuffles, countrified ballads, and Celtic-influenced folk songs that deserves attention and, perhaps most important, deserves to stand on its own.

Coupled with the short films and the comic book that are companion pieces to the album, The Unforgiving is much more than just an excellent record. It is an all-encompassing audio-visual experience that will leave its audience breathless for a long time to come.

By the end, the album feels too long, with too many tunes trying and failing to make a unique impression.... At its best moments, though, Between the Senses is simply and unnervingly beautiful.

Unlike other, similar music, it stands up to close scrutiny and repeat listening. Pelo can be used as background music and it can be appreciated as high-concept progressive rock.

Skeletons is more developed and more assured than their debut, but the band predictably has room for growth.

An admittedly flawed but remarkably honest document of one person's struggle to believe in love.

Upon repeated listens, there are plenty of musical nuances to enjoy.

They’ve yet to match "Love Is Here" lyrically, and in that department, All the Plans might be their weakest yet. But with song structures so strong, and presentation so majestic, it’s well worth overlooking the few flaws for the sake of the intoxicating whole.

I suspect that it will be one of those albums that people might dismiss today but will go back to in six months or six years, in the process rediscovering a treasure trove of interesting music.

At this point it seems fair to say N*E*R*D may never deliver on their once-extraordinary potential, but if they can keep churning out statements as distinct as Nothing, both the band and their listeners should be more than satisfied.

Surely he has nothing left to prove at this stage of the game. But this disc suggests we are fortunate that he did. He still can kick butt.

Fawn Spots’ debut promises not only an homage to past masters of this intelligent music, but indicates a worthy heir to those passionate ‘80s punk bands.

With the release of What Lasts, it is more clear that they are not only settling into their place, but maturing as musicians as well.

Language is quite an impressive debut. Zulu Winter masterfully juxtapose adventurous and sexualized production with [mostly] touching, sorrowful songs. In other words, it's something you can dance to in public and reflect on in private. That's not an easy balance to maintain, but Zulu Winter does it well here.

Kamikaze is Slim Shady at his midlife best; slightly less deviant, not quite as funny--but revived, nonetheless.

The departure of two of its crew is noticeable, but Vices & Virtues remains a convincing, uplifting, and entertaining voyage.

Regardless of who is singing, or what they're singing, on Lowe Country Nick Lowe's wit, heart and humanity are always on display.

There is nary a weak link to be found. More than anything, Way to Normal is simply Folds’s way of showing us that, at 42, he’s still doing this piano-power-pop thing better than anyone else around.

For the most part, Calla has become an uncompromising version of themselves: melancholy, desperate, but above all, unable to break free.

The music has a peppy vitality, and a slightly cleaner sound than the Vivians, and is engagingly endearing on its own merits.

Monsoon is a quietly rewarding disc, if one is willing to accept it on its terms -- as an amiable, sunny (the rainstorm on the album's cover notwithstanding) California indie rock album.

Studio record No. 29, Ersatz G.B., delivers a heavy, ornery style of discontent. It's one of their best.

Karmacode does carry on for a few songs too many, and save for “Enjoy the Silence”, doesn’t take any bold steps forward, but it still shows just how good Lacuna Coil are at what they do, presented in a high-gloss, primed-for-stardom package that is bound to go over huge.

So, yes, Let's Bottle Bohemia is dizzyingly over-produced, but here it fits.

Christmas in the Heart is, in no particular order: delightful, silly, intimate in a somewhat phony way, gentle, cornball, crazy, dated, baffling and lovable.

The biggest complaint about From the Top of Willamette Mountain is that it could have been tightened up a bit more, it’s safe to say that James is an impressive songwriter, a considerable skill to have given how easy it is to churn out singer/songwriter folk these days.

If you want rock 'n' roll to be galvanizing rebellion or something, Underwater Sunshine isn't the place for you. But if you want your rock 'n' rollers to offer a feasible career option that sounds great, the Counting Crows do.

The songs in between are the exploration of the journey from that dark, quiet beginning to that beautifully indulgent conclusion, and boy are there some twists and turns along the way.

Overall, Justice is better when Bieber takes the listener to his own room than when he's reading the room. He shines in the most emotional songs ad is competent in making you dance too.

This is less a traditional retrospective of the band’s oeuvre than it is an impassioned and varied argument for a wider reconsideration of that oeuvre.

The occasional misstep aside, Eclipse is the sound of Lewis Jr. defying labels, flipping the bird at his detractors, and laughing all the way to the bank.

Honkey Kong is the kind of record they used to make––as it recalls the fabulously flawed records of the '70s, whether the New York Dolls, the better Stones records, the Stooges or Nilsson.

Where Smith will follow his muse next is anyone’s guess, but for now, his talent is a clear force to be reckoned with and his debut is ripe with promise.

Sure, we can still dance, sing along and tap our feet to anything Happiness Ltd. offers, but it’s the band’s mature tone and dive into gigantic Springsteen-like stadium rockers that set their latest release above any of their others.

With surprisingly little filler, renewed energy, and the unique glimpse Before I Self Destruct offers into the psyche of a public figure as intriguing as Curtis Jackson, 50 Cent has crafted easily his best album since "Get Rich or Die Trying."

The Dream is clearly a return to form, and a graceful one at that.

Water for Your Soul is Stone’s seventh album and reveals her willingness to experiment and try new things. She may not be always successful, but risking failure allows her to grow.

The combination of the two styles -- Gelb's newfound sense of stateliness and his traditional windburned sense of arrangement -- make for a new peak in his career.

50 Cent's star appeal and the other member's solid skills make Beg For Mercy a solid debut album.

The consistency of the record and The Beautiful New Born Children’s intensity is what sells this album.

Two is as nakedly honest and lush an album as either party involved has made.

Considering how DIY they are, it’s suiting that 'HFM' lets some raucous punk influence shine through their usually firm plastic façade. That combined with the nasty bassline to 'No Place For Me' makes this their most enjoyable album yet.

Much of Get the Picture? flows together as one long Farfisa-fueled symphony. This is good and bad; what they do, they do well, but it's still rather easy to suggest that each Smash Mouth album has, more or less, sounded like the last.

Amputechture is the most complete, most listenable, and most accomplished album from the band to date.

The understated quality shows off his talents in a positive light, but presumably, Espinoza helped out in this way.

The results may be shaggy--a feeling reinforced by the length of the songs--but he still has much to offer.

Ultimately, Emperor's Nightingale is, despite its inconsistencies, a vital Stereo MCs album, a phrase you wouldn't expect to utter in 2011.

This isn’t the album to convert the cognoscenti to the Texas cause, but those willing to listen without prejudice will find in these warm, well-crafted songs a perfectly seductive soundtrack to their summer.

At this point, Gucci Mane’s discography is certainly somewhat impenetrable, and Trap House III shines a spotlight on all the things that made him so exciting from beneath the stage these past five or six years.

It is a little ragged around the edges at times, but this is the sound of careworn experience, not of a performer too long in the tooth who ought to hang up the microphone.

Across the album, there are moments that underwhelm, yet there are others that really impress and draw you into Wästberg’s world. As debut albums go, it’s a strong mark of artistic intent and suggests there is more to come from a man who typifies the DIY-led and genre-defying output of modern music.

Duck is an album by a mature band aware of what they and their fans want.

It is the best of what Ashcroft does best: thoughtful incantations teeming with emotion, clarity, and vision.

The songs are well-written and produced, but overall the disc is lightweight compared to what the group used to be.

Only "Do It Anyway" and the title track sound at all like amenable pandering. All the rest feels totally organic.

A welcome and appropriate return from one of the best bands to emerge in the last decade.

Most of 18 is pleasant but unchallenging and unremarkable.

Zeus, the band, might not be as all powerful as the Greek God they reference, but Classic Zeus is still a very potent blend of the past, and is well worth your time and money.

Solarized finds Brown regaining the melodic sense that eluded him on most of [Music Of The Spheres].

Secrets Are Sinister is the kind of comeback album that a band like Longwave not only needs, but, surprisingly, actually deserves.

Har Mar won't dazzle anyone with his pipes or lyrical acumen (well, actually, he already has, but they should all know better), but he's got a deft touch with catchy dance hooks and infectious melodies.

Instead of breaking new ground or forging a new aspect of her persona, This Is Me…Now, through its title, capitalizes on what already exists.

Dirty Words' accomplishment lies in its superficiality: its pristine, immaculate finish.

Surrender just might be the album to catapult Hurts into the mainstream consciousness. If only Theo’s words were as riveting as his voice.

Its hardly a classic on par with 1995's Soul Food or 1998's underrated Still Standing, but it's a solid effort from a consistently interesting group.

This is a fine record and an overall cheery record that would be equally comfortable at a patio BBQ, in a dark post-party Grotto or bubbling pleasantly out of your headphones.

Whether it’s the jaunty beats, syncopated guitar rhythms, or dramatic drops, Blonde feels like the soundtrack to a neon-swathed beach house party, a joy ride on a cool summer night, or a nostalgia-fueled recreation of the original passion pits.

Like a lot of the material Claypool has released under his own name, Four Foot Shack is a mixed bag. But this time around the positives outweigh the negatives by quite a bit, and the album’s relaxed vibe is a nice change for Claypool.

The bottom line is that you walk away with a pretty solid collection and the realization that RiFF RaFF probably isn’t going to fade away.

They’re sticking to what they know, and here it feels not like a tired retread but a welcome visit from an old friend who hasn’t been around in a while.

Earnest and straightforward, as rock and roll should be.... The Last DJ is clearly an expression of what Tom Petty feels right now, and his honesty -- coupled with his talent -- is revitalizing.

Album-closer 'Sunset Gates' gives Ottewell the final word, one he shares with promenading stand-up bass, pulsing guitar counterpoints, and a climactic jam crescendo driven by Peacock’s eternal fills and blaring horns that sputter like wounded hawks plunging from the hardscrabble sky. And so ends another Gomez album, a very fine one.

As far as remix albums go, however, it's a very, very good one, and for London fans, that should be more than enough to warrant purchasing.

Ya Know?, assembled from a collection of demos, outtakes, and unreleased tracks, is by no means a "great album," and burdened by inexplicable timing, but it has enough fond memories to make it worth pursuing for true Ramones fans.

The album is musically in the vein of future island funk/disco meeting '80s synth-pop.

Young hits the equilibrium between songwriting and performance best when he brings his heart to the table through rebellion, and these nine tracks geared towards environmental ignorance at large do the trick.

T.I. overshadows any work he has previously done by keeping his Southern hip-hop roots intact while putting just enough attention on the hooks that one could easily find half of these songs that paint T.I. vs. T.I.P’s canvas on your favorite Hot 100 radio station.

Showcases the Orb back in peak form.

Surprisingly enough, however, The 20/20 Experience (2 of 2) is quite the step up from the first part. Even when it plunges into excess—which it does quite often—the basic pop structures underneath remain far more compelling than anything off of Part One.

There’s no mistaking this remains his ship, but from Boo Human in 2008 onward, after a prodigious if somewhat hit-or-miss early ‘00s, patience, and collaboration continue to focus and invigorate Joan of Arc.

It’s mostly Bad Religion just doing their bone-punks-n-harmony thing, allowing us to acknowledge the music behind “Angels We Have Heard on High” wouldn’t be all that out of place on New Maps of Hell.

No, the Electric Six haven’t crafted a masterpiece, but each new disc shows them evolving and developing into one of the most reliably consistent rock groups out there today.

Although these songs do run a bit short, Sixes and Sevens features 20 delectable pop songs, each unique in its own way.

A collection that manages to overcome the cobbled-together history of the material to become one of the band's most complete-sounding collections since Employment.

It largely succeeds.

With no delusions of grandeur attached to a debilitating hype machine, Good Shoes seem happy remaining cranky young men in their niche, keeping their less-than-stadium-sized but fervent crowd on their toes.

Even if it’s not an instant classic, Welcome to Goon Island is a lot of fun, with its big booming drum cadences and excitable, yelp-prone voices.

It’s hard to weigh out music so that it balances between intelligent and the danceable as the old Gang of Four did. Gill has made an excellent effort of it here but there’s some reapportioning that needs to be done.