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

A return to form in every way.

If you like the Strokes, you should be spending this week’s CD allowance on Elefant’s first full-length recording.

Overall, Corgan's captivating effort to mine both the spirit of these turbulent times and the soul of his defining band is a smashing success.

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

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.

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.

On their third album, a major-label debut with one of rock's great titles, the trio wears a newly polished sound proudly, while not coming close to straddling the sell-out ledge.

It's a more pensive presentation--dare I say it: more mature.

If it's an album that also argues that the band is working from formula, it's one they'd be wise to patent.

A return to their former glory days, Snakes and Arrows shows this seminal prog rock band reclaiming some of the sonic territory that they'd lost over the past few years.

The Sonic Youth ringleader goes at it acoustically, far from his customary cacophonic experimentation, forming a venturesome trio with the Fleeting Skies' Samara Lubelski (violin) and SY's Steve Shelly (drums) and giving his lyrical verve the latitude it deserves.

Finds Welch showing more warmth, ease, and openness as both singer and songwriter.

100 Days, 100 Nights makes for a very welcome addition to any avid listener's contemporary soul music library.

Few bands... make slowing down sound this risky.

Blige, never far from the thoughts of the lovelorn, didn't need a breakthrough, but anybody with an ear for artful confession will be glad she's given us The Breakthrough anyway.

By mixing sweet with sour, E's warm and fuzzy mope rock sounds great whether it's blasting out of a convertible on a sunny day or playing in the background on a rainy night.

This album is bursting with quality. [Amazon UK]

Another Day on Earth is a more personal album from the ambient avatar, a recording of rare and meticulous maturity.

Nocturama feel[s] messy, unpredictable, and even a little dangerous--qualities Cave's music hasn't had in far too long.

Traditionally, Kylie Minogue has been at her best attempting pure pop, not chasing credibility, but X--her tenth studio album, and the first since 2003's "Body Language"--somehow pulls off the trick of being both

Now this is more like it.

The contributions of that tag-team of hitmakers take nothing away from the tightness and characteristic chic of the band--that they enhance the hypnotic sheen of Duran Duran, rather than subjugate it--makes a certain sense.

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."

Simple Plan's plan--to get you bouncing, bobbing, and otherwise grooving--is still simple. And like all uncomplicated strategies, it's still remarkably effective.

The Con skillfully packs its instant hooks in so tight, virtually every line becomes the one you want to sing along to--and the twins' lyrics aren't your typical pop pabulum.

Both her most musically spare and artistically complex [album] to date.

No modern-day male artist beats him when it comes to single-minded self assurance or suavity.