"Amnesiac" deepens the mystery that Radiohead began with its curious, largely electronic 2000 release, "Kid A," and certainly won't satiate those awaiting the lauded band's supposed return to guitar-heavy epics.

Carpenter delivers a batch of reassuring songs -- about confidence in yourself and the world -- making you wish she'd check in a bit more often.

A typically bruised and beautiful collection of lovelorn ballads, Raymond Carveresque character studies and darkly romantic confessionals.

The electronics are intact, but rather than rely on monitors and keyboards to produce familiar sounds, Depeche Mode lifts its chin and puts vocals first for some surprisingly taut techno-balladry.... Still, old habits are hard to break, and "Exciter" carries a couple of ill-advised indulgences.

"Lateralus" is primarily a collection of puzzling time changes, haunting vocals and beyond-intricate percussive patterns that create a theme rooted more in Eastern philosophy than in rock and roll.

Deeply original? No. A rollicking, sing-along good time? Yes.

Clever rhythms, tricky harmonies and diverse musical reference points -- including the opening riff from Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen" -- frequently distract from the lyrical shortcomings.

The album's meticulous attention to detail never overshadows Jackson's frisky good mood.

But with gems like “Keep From Moving” and the country-tinged "Under the Tracks,” and even the vaguely disturbing, second-hand Bowie of “Lover’s Leap," the Creepers rein in their messier instincts, paring the proceedings down to smart, singalong and ultimately giddy jangle-pop.

Much of the Painters’ power stems from Kozelek’s arresting voice, which meets its deep, moody match in the band’s exquisite renderings of rootsy gothic grace.

A sweet and sometimes bitter pack of world-weary bubblegum pop.

While nothing else on "Play" quite matches the slinky intimacy of its Top 10 single, "Jaded," every song has something to root for, whether it's the title track's inventive genre-shuffle, Tyler's spontaneous yodeling or the way "Under My Skin" continues the band's love of gender-bending.

Teetering between darkness and light, Hersh's somersaults have never been more compelling.

Something of a mixed bag, "Production" teeters between grating aimlessness and uniquely dark, claustrophobically compressed runs through the Vocoder-happy lands of French house music.

Spoon is the best British band to come out of Austin, Texas.

An accessible, if far from revolutionary, work.

As unhurried and sonically majestic a slab as Low has ever produced.

Having traded in affected spooky vocals and idiosyncratic song structures for straight-ahead rock, however, Black seems to suffer a crisis of confidence on "Dog in the Sand."

The band neither succeeds wildly nor fails. There are only a few reminders of the lackluster dance sounds in its recent work... Otherwise, what dominates are the straight-ahead rhythms that drove the early days.

There are moments on this album when you remember Nirvana used to open for J Mascis' old band, Dinosaur Jr. There are many such moments, gloriously ragged snatches of rock.

Burnside's singing is the strongest it's been in years, hitting aching falsettos in "Bad Luck City" and then, on the title track, letting his voice get as dark and gritty as the silt of the Mississippi River.

Rarity collections can often times be largely unsatisfying to anyone but die-hard fans, but not so with ASTH. Songs such as "Bring Your Lovin' Back Here," "78 Stone Shuffle" and "Steve McCroski" stand up against the best of anything the band has recorded.

Fans will be happy to find Jakob more upfront, and keyboardist Rami Jaffe utilized, but differently than past straightforward organ parts.

Their third release has no apparent monster single like "The Way," but the recording as a whole contains a higher number of strong songs. It rocks harder, and the band's previously overpowering influences--most notably Elvis Costello--are now beautifully integrated into a more developed and identifiable sound.

The real standouts here, though, are the ballads. With "I Deserve It" and "Gone," the legacy of the corporeal and spiritual Madonna lays down amid the simplicity of basic percussive beats and acoustic guitar.

In contrast to the 6ths' blissed-out "Wasps Nests," which included indie credibles Lou Barlow and Georgia Hubley, "Hyacinths" mines cabaret territory.

A maniacal slab of DIY punk rock ?

His loving treatment of these 16 tunes (counting one hidden track) is testament to both the rich legacy of American music and Alvin's own reverence for things past.