Tempting as it may be to assume that beefing up their sound would have automatically made the Decemberists markedly better, the truth is that these strides may have at least partially come at the expense of the things that always made the band so singularly compelling.

His effort to make the most tense, uncomfortable record in the world has resulted in something that actually feels pretty straightforward, uncomplicated, and digestible.

Despite [some] fine moments, occasionally Van Occupanther can feel a little too slick and one-note.

Standing out might be the biggest obstacle facing the bulk of Right About Now's 12 tracks. It's significantly shorter than Kweli's best album, Train of Thought, but has far fewer shifts in sound or mood to keep it interesting.

Challengers certainly gets tastier after you’ve chewed on it for a bit.

The ridiculous in-the-red ruckus keeps you from noticing how hokey and contradictory the lyrics are.

Like every East River Pipe album it’s blemished by imperfections, but Cornog’s lonely, home-recorded drabness goes beyond the "sun, sun, sun" of other retro-oriented musicians to remind us that sunlight reflecting off slabs of urban concrete remains as bleak in 2006 as it was in 1974.

They’re good at what they do, but what they’re doing is painting-by-numbers from someone else’s book.

Only half of these tracks provide truly valuable alternatives to Guero songs.

Ultimate Victory may find Chamillionaire a little confused about his strengths, but in terms of establishing him as someone whose heart's in the right place, it does its title proud.

Anyone expecting a pared down, contented Sufjan can bugger off. If anything, The Avalanche chases his caprice and whimsy further down the rabbit hole.

Axis is an easygoing, engaging listen, an album whose relative triviality easily forgives its flaws.

Meaty and encompassing, Future Crayon rarely misses, even if it fails to measure up to the band’s sublime full-lengths.

Its unity keeps it solid, but it also keeps Dents and Shells free of surprises.

A Blessing and a Curse easily qualifies as the Truckers’ most straightforward album.

Release Therapy may not be the mature Ludacris record it purports itself to be, but that isn’t to say it doesn’t have some jaw-dropping confessional moments.

It doesn’t try to scrape the lofty heights of the two or three masterpieces in Heasley’s catalogue, but by not making the effort, it doesn’t sink as low as his least impressive stuff.

While the music remains modest, there are a few moments of gratifying lyrical incision and indecision befitting this being Jones’ first album bereft of covers.

As always, McGraw’s music primarily falters when the songs themselves lack sufficient emotional content for even his considerable conjuring powers to salvage.... Luckily, there are still moments when songwriting prowess and vocal mastery meet halfway.

It is when Adams veers from the hook-orientated path that the record suffers.

I’m definitely recommending Unplugged--with reservations, but it’s still a recommendation--but damn, I just wish the fun Keys seems to have on stage would translate more clearly to record.

This may be far too soon, more reflex than action, for the band to properly capitalize on their start.

Fur and Gold is admittedly not as strong and cohesive a record as "Wind in the Wires." At its finest, though, it does show off a rare talent for haunting and evocative songwriting.

Mostly, the band sticks to their strengths, making music for a party that ended sometime in the 90s, with the occasional reggae inflection to differentiate it from previous albums.

Era Vulgaris gets better with each listen, and that’s mostly due to the fact that the melodies take time to sink in.

While Ancient Melodies worked boring, repetitive structures into Martsch’s typically simple song structures, Now You Know brings new life to them. Unfortunately, this album is nowhere near as good as Built to Spill’s previous works.

Wu diehards will see it as a 35-minute core of classic Method Man, while critics should view it as a 60-minute behemoth that's a marked improvement over Tical O and Judgment Day, but still padded with pointless skits and Charmin-soft rap & bullshit.

It’s an easy and mostly enjoyable listen.