A smoldering rock and roll record that rivals John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band and Nirvana’s In Utero in terms of unexpectedness.

This destined-to-be-classic release will please a wide variety of his fans.

Spoon's loosest, most eclectic effort yet.

Live at the Fillmore showcases her raw wound of a voice and the rough edges of her band in all their unvarnished glory, as the music cuts across conventional categories of country, blues, folk, rock (and rap) to strike a distinctly personal chord.

While [Finn's] odd and humorous rants are essentially compelling, they wouldn't be half as engrossing if his backing group... didn't smack up such a glorious din, scabrous punk rock swagger dolled up with classic hard rock power chords.

These are heartfelt songs: sometimes cheeky and occasionally heartbreaking.

You might think that an album about child abuse would be hard to listen to, but as always, hearing Darnielle's lyrics is an honor and a privilege.

Emancipation works the kind of pure-pop magic that sets us all free.

Meltdown is easily Ash's best album since 1977; this is the sound of a band becoming interesting again. [Amazon UK]

The drifting chords and soft voice are still in place, only now Johnson's instinct for melody has sharpened alongside his ability to self-edit.

Over the course of the album, too much of the midtempo material sounds too much the same, more inspired lyrically than musically, failing to sustain the momentum of the opening tracks.

The Beekeeper returns the quirky singer to the same whimsical terrain of 1992's Little Earthquakes, but with much stronger storylines, and a much more assured and nuanced voice.

Woman King subtly opens the sonic palette up to include more percussion, piano, and wait is that an electric guitar?

The production seems a bit slick, as if the group was going for some Interpol-type success, while the songs would perhaps be better served at a studio like Easley in Memphis.

It’s an unpredictably bipolar record with plenty of mood swings and emotional shifts that will ultimately leave listeners with feelings of euphoria.

The drawback is a lack of diversity which keeps those sunny, delicious moments from having the impact they should.

Happiness in Magazines is riddled with glorious pop songs, and in a sane world would yield several hit singles. [Amazon UK]

Frayed, fuzzy and undeniably excellent.

Trouble is, Chesney, who wrote or cowrote all 13 tracks, ended up with enough material for only half a record, and then repeated many of his ideas.

Whether you’re a newcomer to Chasny’s sublime psychedelic folk or were a fan from the get-go and own all the limited editon vinyl, no one could possibly be disappointed with this album.

It doesn't even matter much that he's a B minus rhyme spitter, or that he spends way too much studio time name dropping.

The disc is truly beautiful on the ears, filled with gorgeous dynamics, crisp, discordant playing and impressive production to boot.

Red Light District has its share of filler, but, track for track, Ludacris still delivers satisfaction.

Few bands in bluegrass can match the virtuosity of Union Station's interplay, but the artistry of Alison Krauss transcends genre.

Those who are intrigued by electronica but find it's too chilly for their tastes would be wise to check out Psapp.

At once new and old, familiar and fresh.

Hope of the States pull off the commendable trick of twisting avant-garde apocalyptica into bona fide pop songs. [Amazon UK]

Turns out those hypothetical comparisons to Sgt. Pepper's weren't so far off the mark.

The wide array of musical reference points show rap's sonic possibilities.

A denim-clad, riff-heavy beast of a rock album. [Amazon UK]

Tears for Fears skirts the has-been trap impressively, translating years of experience into play-it-again, sophisticated modern pop worth paying attention to.

An album that should appeal to fans of Weller and the original legends alike.

As a whole, the album stands as a benediction to an artist whose integrity and success has prevailed in the face of endless trends and fads that have swept away many lesser talents.

Without a doubt the most challenging collection of music she has ever released.

There's an emerging depth and pensiveness to their songwriting, a growing sense of spirituality and drama.

[Dulli] treats them all with the same ravenous intensity.

As an album, it probably won't spawn any MTV-hogging video classics--certainly, that was never the intention--but Finn fans in search of a mellow listen should find Everyone Is Here hits all the right buttons.

While McGraw may not be the greatest of warblers, nobody in country can touch him at conveying emotions too deep to express in words.

Tambourine may not quite live up to the Dusty in Memphis comparisons, but it may very well wind up the album of Tift Merritt's career.

Ignore it at your peril. [Amazon UK]

This album is bursting with quality. [Amazon UK]

Corralling such a large cast into anything like a coherent vision is no easy task, but it's one that the Concretes manage with some aplomb on a consistently spectacular album. [Amazon UK]

Beneath this band's graceful posturing lies a deep discontent and anger, but band lyricist Michael Timmins manages to once again turn that gentle simmering fury into poetic grandeur.

An impressive album in the best tradition of the Clan... Had this album come out in 1998, people might have hailed it as another Wu classic.

Musically, it's simply awesome, sounding not completely unlike early PJ Harvey... It's a shame, then, that the lyrics frequently don't cut it. [Amazon UK]

Persson, the finest pop lyricist working today, is on peak form while the band's back-to-roots grand piano and grander acoustic guitars provide an appropriately magnificent backing.

Flitting between fraught ballads and up-tempo adult pop (the misguided sample-laden singles "Freeek!" and "Shoot the Dog" being the unnecessary exceptions), George here returns to the structure and mood of 1990s Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1. [Amazon UK]

It's this lumpy consistency that ultimately lets them down, but this is a laudable effort from a band on a decade-long roll. [Amazon UK]

It's difficult to think of a more compelling sophomore record by a young singer-songwriter, Norah included.

Carpenter reestablishes herself not only as a world-class poet, but as an artist of the first order.

Van Lear Rose exceeds all expectations, a bold collaboration in which artists from two different musical universes forge a memorable work that neither could have created alone.

The Purple One has reconnected with that deep vein of funk after experimenting with his splendid and messy excesses since the cusp of the nineties, and turned out his best album since 1987's "Sign of the Times."

An arrestingly epic and assured debut. [Amazon UK review]

As with all great country music, exquisite execution, splendid sound, and depth of feeling combine to create a cathartic, redemptive result.

The quintet moves easily from straight ahead, if slightly-fractured rockers, to fine slices of cerebral sonics.

Intelligent, interesting, honest, diverse and ever so slightly screwed up--what more could you want from a rock 'n' roll record? [Amazon UK review]

[He] attacks these songs with passion, intelligence, and a refreshing lack of blues-rock pretense.

Despite his dirty mind, Chasez has proven to be an adventurous auteur, taking his music to places where NSNYC would never venture.

If the tasteful, lissome country-folk backing of steel guitar, fiddle, piano, drums, and harmony vocals from Cindy Wasserman is a tad shy of adventurous, the sound suits the ripe, romantic, and dreamy mood of Phillips's songs.

Their irritating habits remain as intractable as ever: must every romantic spat be framed against saving the whales (okay, the shrinking water supply) and the fight for clean air?

Arrangements begin with folk-friendly guitar, mandolin, and violin, only to rise into soundscapes worthy of Lambchop, if not Tricky.

West magically sledgehammers home his opinions on taboo topics over beats that are equally daring.

Dark, dusty, and ever bittersweet, Burnett's musical archaeology here is something considerably more than merely "O Brother Redux."

I Can’t Stop blows away the dust and finds more life and gutbucket flash in a seemingly inexhaustible vein.

One of 2003's best releases.

While it probably won't be remembered as his best album, The Black Album is his most personal to date and features some of his most compelling writing.

As unlikely as the collaboration [with Tim Armstrong] looked on paper, it works perfectly because the Pennsylvania native has always brandished a punk sneer beneath the corsets, gaudy hair color, and naughty girl demeanor.

Merritt's lyrics remain as sharp and funny ("We belong together/Like sex and violence," he croons on "Heather Heather"), but it's the ever-inventive arrangements--like the offbeat blend of ukulele and harmonium on "One April Day"--that make these gems especially memorable.

Committed Ja Rule fans looking for those signature hip-pop collaborations he's taken to the bank before won’t find them here.

It’s hard to remember that he once wrote well-crafted ballads of romantic infatuation.

Westerberg's not making sensitive statements or trying to write a pop song as good as "Alex Chilton" here. As such, it's the best music he's made in years.

On every tune, Mercer packs more hooks and melodic invention than most bands do on one album. As a whole, it's an even better record than Inverted World.

Amorino sounds like a lost soundtrack to some cool French film from the 1960s.

Moments of playful mixing magic are at times followed by baffling inanity.

Out of Season creates a dreamily sinister otherworld that's both vintage and timeless. [Amazon UK review]

Seven's Travels features some of Ant's most adventurous and assured production.

She is still in the forefront of genre-transcending artistry.

It’s just a shame that the lack of soul in his rotating rap deliveries tends to undermine his masterful storytelling capabilities.

For fans of Silver Side Up, Nickelback have delivered the goods once more.

More D12 than 50 Cent in terms of quality, Cheers should have been way more than simply the sum of its notable parts.

Less immediately ear-grabbing than the previous disc, this self-titled record nonetheless sinks in deeply after a mere handful of plays.

Worthy of more than novelty status.

Seal never goes all out in any direction and this coolness, combined with Trevor Horn’s perfectionist production, plants the album inescapably in the realm of adult contemporary (although this is as good as adult contemporary gets).

It may still sound beautiful, but too often Amazing Grace comes off as mere formula.

An album that's smart at every level.

If the lyrics generally lack the literary precision of Zevon’s best work, the songs take on greater weight given the circumstance under which they were recorded.

By marrying ambitious rhymes to a series of increasingly hot beats, Nappy Roots have effectively avoided the sophomore jinx.

Gil Norton's production has taken the band to new heights, allowing the music to have as much grit, substance, and dynamics as the lyrics.

There's something here for everyone, to be sure--but closer to Ween's antic hearts, something to annoy everyone as well.

Sure, it's a jumble, but, like the Beatles' White Album, it hangs together.

It's All In Your Head reveals the band that is very much on top of things.

Everything about this album moves the duo up a level.

Some of the dreamiest pop to emerge on the U.S. side of the pond in recent years.

While such willingness to experiment is admirable, in this case the attempt comes off as slightly desperate and too diffuse.

Twice is a sweet, mercurial foray into lip-quivering American indie-rock infused with the blissful aroma of Creation-style ambience and the woody scent of paisley-clad cosmic country.

The album boasts a handful of crowd-pleasing, party-starting cuts.... Yet more common are moments of startling beauty... and heavy doses of recrimination and regret.

A stylish tour de force.

Like all of the band’s best work, Thief requires more than a few listens to fully appreciate, but those who stick around will be richly rewarded.