His fifth album puts the Dutchman in the company of the Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx and Paul Oakenfold: those rare dance producers who have the artistic fortitude to create a fully realized, addictive long-player.

Songs like "Do You Remember" and "Wasting My Time" are tolerable but don't require repeated listening.

It doesn't always make for an enjoyable listening experience, on or off the dancefloor.

"Born" loses its focus amid unabashed nods to Burt Bacharach and songs that are just not done yet, despite smart tempo changes and pretty melodies.

On "Mad Season" the band serves up another slick collection of R.E.M. and Pearl Jam-influenced post-grunge classic rock tailor-made for ubiquitous radio play.

Has its moments, but it comes across as a baby step forward.

The repetitive opener 'Let's Be Mates' gets the album off to a rocky start, but Lady Sov quickly redeems herself with 'So Human.'

An enjoyable pop romp.

Predictable, perhaps, but such aural connections rarely fail as a crowd pleaser.

Tailor-made for post-club chill-out sessions, as well as weekend brunches at hip cafés, Details delights with warm electronic beats, organic guitars, and multi-tiered strings.

It may be his poppiest and slickest work to date, but Golden Delicious is more proof that Mike Doughty still knows where to make the melodies twist and turn to find the sweet spot among the ridiculous, the sublime and the sad.

Although the roster of the newly formed act Tinted Windows is a bit of a head-scratcher--middle Hanson brother Taylor Hanson, Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger, former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha and Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos--it all seems to make sense after one listen to the supergroup's self-titled debut.

The group backs it up with a forceful sonic fusillade that recalls Disturbed's 2000 debut, "The Sickness," while doing away with some of the melodic niceties that crept into "Ten Thousand Fists" and 2002's "Believe," right down to Draiman's jungle animal vocals.

In all, a fine effort...

Indeed, "Awake" is Lee's strongest album in years; so good that you can even forgive the Har Mar Superstar cameo.

The extremes offer up a portrait of a man far more complex than what we get from many of Banner's peers, and the inventive beats (by Banner, Cool & Dre, Akon and others) add vital life to his gruff flow. But you have to wonder if some of these tracks simply reflect the rapper's desire to be all things to all consumers.

Hill lets her vocal gifts soar on an outstanding group of songs. [7 Aug 2005]

If Hawthorne Heights stopped trying to please several different audiences and decided whether it wanted to be a pop band or a post-hardcore group, it could make a more definitive musical statement. [4 Mar 2006]

While more musically complex than previous set "Under Rug Swept," "Chaos" has less experimentation and fewer vocal intricacies.

This is some of Cornell's most uncomplicated and accessible music to date. [9 Jun 2007]

A mostly mainstream pop album with Latin inflections.

Has more melody and memorable riffs than the band's previous two albums.

The Memphis five-piece sometimes lacks a definitive sound... Yet the band excels at its straightforward, meat-and-potatoes sound.

Such tracks as 'Critical Acclaim,' 'Almost Easy' and 'Lost' keep the crank factor high--but as part of a bolder, broader and more engaging soundscape.

Though a floundering economy, bombed-out GOP and a season or two of corporate bailouts have provided them with a fat barrel of fish to shoot, this rap-rock hybrid simmers instead of seethes, never quite mustering the blood-boiling rage of its principals' previous material.

An erratic mix of messy ambition and indifferent sloppiness that sounds like it's falling apart even before it really has a chance to get it together. [11 Feb 2006]

While it's commendable for the trio to try to break out of its teen dream box, it's on songs like 'Before the Storm'--featuring Miley Cyrus--where the brothers prove they're still among the best at putting the fizz in pop culture.

Electronic music duo the Crystal Method hasn't lost its flair for funk and style as found on the act's debut release, "Vegas."