Radio stations will still probably ignore the old-school, stylish singles like "Proper Propaganda" and "Heavy Rotation" that make Expansion Team a winner.

Their movement toward non-nooky maturity continues here with tunes like the melodic and soaring "Wish You Were Here" and the dramatic "Warning"--each showing a more reflective and poetic side than before.

A warm serving of elegant late-night ballads that infuse acoustic and pedal-steel guitars with back-porch rhythms and arrangements.

The long-standing ambient-techno pioneer uses everything from heart-attack-paced jungle to classically minded electronic minimalism to remind us why bands like Radiohead cite him as an influence

The lyrics are as trite and cheesy as ever, but age and playing house with No Doubt's Gwen Stefani have mellowed model-esque frontman Rossdale.

Backed by 22-year-old grandson Cedric Burnside on drums and longtime slide-guitar partner Kenny Brown, the trio locks into a groove almost instinctually on tracks like "Skinny Woman" and "Goin' Down South."

Mellencamp's crackling, gorgeous Heartland pop resonates more now than ever--even if, at times, he sounds like he's ripping off his best guitar moves.

The best tracks--"Crystal" and "Turn My Way"--sound like they were recorded in 1987.

It's a welcome change to the current hard-rock juggernaut.

The treasures in this latest pile of Garbage may not be as apparent as they were in the past, but the goodies are still there.

The hip-hopper's gravelly vocal style benefits greatly from the many collaborations here.

Per usual, the content is clouded in misery--the kind of soft, sad and touching tracks that'll have Dido fans rediscovering this Greenwich Village adult-alternative pioneer

The electric mood of Adams' sophomore disc definitely reflects his good fortunes and knack for solid songcraft.

Clever? Yes. Stupid? Possibly. Essential? Absolutely.

Musically, the album bounces from a full-on urban polka ("Oblivion") to tracks with plenty of Apollo Showtime-style organs, horns and disco and funk elements that keep the wacky tales from sounding wack.

But by not lyrically responding to the originals--like Liz Phair did for Exile in Guyville, for instance--Tori stops short of high concept and more than once slips from being revolutionary to simply pretentious.

[Dylan's] most cohesive work in over a decade...

Casual fans of modern rock may drown here (and probably won't get it), but admirers of like-minded artists such as the Flaming Lips and Built to Spill will certainly get Rev-ved up.

This hand-clapping, disco-ball-driven journey sounds like all the other stuff in [Jay Kay's] catalog.

The Bed-Stuy boy musters up enough of his own charisma, charm and wit to build another solid release.

Where the debut sometimes resembled a psycho-ward jam session, System serve up some surprising melodies on "Chop Suey!" "Forest" and the haunting "Aerials."

Anchored in the surreal goofball art rock, club beats and bubblegum punk that made anomaly hits like 1996's "Pepper" so cool, frontman Gibby Haines and gang sugarcoat their standardized tales of decay and hallucinogens but keep some delicious bitterness intact.

Is a welcoming entrance for new fans as much as it is another fine chapter for the diehards.

Injecting the album with plenty of soul, gospel and throwbacks to that old-school Motown sound, producers like the Neptunes, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and guests like Eve help round out what's possibly the best R&B album this year.

Björk's latest is as delightfully eccentric as her choice in outfits, blending scratchy electronic programming with tinkling music boxes and squeezing her formidable voice into ancient-sounding harmonies or futuristic whispers.

The odd combination of Coomes' rinky-dink keyboards and Weiss' booming beat is scrappy, stripped-down and still charmingly unlike anything else out there.

Krauss is blessed with one of the most coolly beautiful voices on record, and she's often better than her material, which is once again the case here.

Maxwell's latest finds the steady and seductive soul-provider drawing more from the class of Marvin Gaye than the trash of R. Kelly--with a touch of spirituality thrown in.