The Rising is a tiresome battle between the sheer spirit that Bruce and his sidekicks invest in their work and the material itself, which is underwritten and overproduced.

Even at its worst, Don't Give Up On Me is never anything less than elegant.

As usual, Public Enemy's lyrics are relevant, intelligent, unyielding, and punctuated with skillfully crafted accompaniment.

Where The Soft Bulletin was an intricate assessment of rock's potential, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is merely a rough sketch of a new musical direction.

Epitomizes everything bad about the already questionable garage rock revival.

For the first time in their careers, Sonic Youth are willing to stand for something and give it to you, no frills. No more hiding behind black shades and pretending you're Lou Reed, no more “let's try to make the scariest noises possible from our guitars” sessions, no more poses. Sonic Youth have grown up.

In the moments when Shaddix's voice and lyrics don't detract from the band's remarkable bluster, Papa Roach soars.

The whole album is as musically stirring and creative as anything TMBG have ever done, and that’s saying a lot.

God Loves Ugly ends up as the worst kind of inconsistent album--inconsistent not because of any lack of knowledge, creativity or heart on the part of the artists, but because they can't decide whether they want to use that knowledge to showcase their own voice or mimic someone else's.

Untouchables ends up heavy on stadium rock bluster, with precious little of the musical texture and intricacy that made Follow the Leader one of the few transcendent albums of its genre.

A tremendous waste of time for everyone involved.

Most of it is pretty middle-of-the-road female singer-songwriter tripe.

With each successive album Eminem finds new depth and excitement within the same themes and structures he used way back on The Slim Shady LP, so even if new songs contain earmarks of Eminem classics, they still feel reinvigorated.

The same studio experimentation that makes much of Ugly Casanova's music interesting also results in a handful of throwaway tracks enough to prevent Sharpen Your Teeth from becoming a wholly cohesive album.

Frankly, this is total yuppie shit--competent and unobtrusive.

The experimentation of tracks like "Off You" and "Put on a Side" show that Kim Deal and co. aren't concerned with reproducing past success, but also shows that they are entirely capable of producing the same interesting song structures and pop pleasures that we have come to expect.

It still wouldn’t come off so badly if Moby took his old sounds and improved them, but he doesn’t.

If 2001’s Weezer was a second-rate Blink-182, almost every composition on Maladroit is more strongly developed, whether it is the tight drumming to the point of showboating on the album’s first single, “Dope Nose,” the surprisingly successful intricate guitar work on the crunchy “Take Control,” or the band’s return to form, producing some of the best pop songs since their 1994 debut.

While there is nothing new on Alice, the songs he develops are well-structured, elegant and as bawl-worthy as ever.

If the young, brooding Waits had done this score it would have been too much--too miserable--but our older, wiser Waits possesses the perfect combination of cynicism and idealism to pull it off.

The tracks included in Dust are thoughtful, introspective canticles that are best enjoyed under the fog of your favorite incense and the glow of a candle or two.

Somewhere within the radio-friendly, xylophone-banging tracks, Badly Drawn Boy finds space for artistic experimentation and growth.

It’s a confectionary delight, from start to finish: sometimes intelligent, sometimes emotional, always likeable.

Rarely has a record balanced such quality lyrics with such pretty music; it is also a rare occasion when a record can be both deeply sad and uplifting at the same time.

Having covered so much territory, the album leaves you completely fulfilled--like any nightclub act--but ready to do it all over again the next night.

Not entirely the soul baring effort that one would have expected, nor exactly the breezy Summer album that critics are saying it is, what Sheryl has cooked up here is a highly pleasing stew that is one third smart Pop, one third touching love songs, and one third “look at all my famous friends” posturing.

The real problem with Gutterflower is that it doesn't really add anything new to the Goo Goo Dolls repertoire.

Burn and Shiver shows Azure Ray maturing and improving the quality of their craft while settling into their familiar, pleasant formula.