A less produced, totally honest and much more sparse collection than what fans were dancing to with Omnipop.

'N Sync reminds us why boy bands were put on this earth in the first place: to have a good time.

It's mostly funny, but it also gets kind of same-y as these average Joes embrace their marching-band backgrounds and revel in self-deprecating humor.

Oddly enough, he not only makes it work, he makes it a whopping success.

It delivers the ultimate knockout--sticky R&B grooves and a heavenly falsetto that point to greats like Marvin Gaye ("Soul Sista") and Stevie Wonder ("Queen Sanity").

Though not as immediate as some of her past mainstream work, Aaliyah's latest has the smoky temptress slowly working her way through R&B, hip-hop and even slightly techno beats...

The overall psychedelic mood works wonders for any self-respecting fan of the Beach Boys and David Bowie.

Armed with a summer anthem and all ("Lucy Doesn't Love You"), it shouldn't be long before Ivy's popularity grows.

With their intensely layered harmonies, pounding rhythms and Martsch's own nasal drawl, songs like "Alarmed" and "You Are" are sublimely hummable pop gems.

A solid pop-rock album filled with brutally honest lyrics.

The worst part of Tricky's comeback disc is, well, Tricky himself.

Teeters on '80s synth cheese every now and again.

A balanced effort that mainly recalls his smooth soul-man Dru Hill days but doesn't forget the power of rump-shaking party jams.

Cleverly mixes soft-focus hip-hop, trippy space rock and Ennio Morricone-style melodrama with Albarn's unwavering pop melodies.

And while it might be difficult to swallow yet another dose of hip-hop-lite and poor-me acoustic pop songs from chick-magnet lead singer Mark McGrath and gang, these Southern California boys make the everyman breeziness work for them.

Overflowing with sparkling riffs and rhythms punched up with the kind of self-deprecating, angst-lite lyrics the boys craft so well.

This feather-light affair simply lacks any real memorable tunes.

Fusing R&B, pop, jazz, blues, throwback soul--hell, you name it--Keys delivers grandstand ballads (like the single "Fallin' "), midtempo music, diary-worthy lyrics and feminist funk as if they were all as uncomplicated as scales.

The best stuff here eschews tradition for sonic rebellion...

The rest of the disc glides along on that same smooth, if lightweight style, with Tyrese serving as little more than a hot conduit for top-notch producers and writers like Babyface, Jermaine Dupree and Diane Warren. Luckily, Tyrese can sing.

Elliott keeps her sharp raps relatively slow-moving over the space-age production and allows room for the long list of guests like Ludacris, Busta Rhymes and Da Brat to shine.

Lateralus takes the L.A. band over the edge with elongated musical movements that simmer under heavy-duty distortion, Middle Eastern percussion and freakish guitar-and-drum time signatures that will make musical mathematicians (i.e., prog-rock dorks) as excited as the kids in the mosh pit.

Set to a backdrop that brings to mind Creed, Pearl Jam and Tool but still uniquely stands on its own, the album tackles subjects of suicide and basic alienation with relative control and directness.

It gets somewhat spotty when naughty numbers like "Bootylicious" and "Nasty Girl" swing against a praise-the-lord melody, and "DC-3" is little more than a self-referential pat on the back to friendship and success.

A packed 73-minute disc with breathy vocals, smooth R&B jams and seductive sentiments.

Deeper Bruce fans will go ga-ga over the dearth of hits on this collection and twists like "Born in the U.S.A." getting a Nebraska-esque treatment and a great version of "Jungleland." Everyone else will simply love it.

These five regular San Francisco joes know a thing or two about the kind of midtempo, acoustic-based rock that makes for a smooth, radio-ready ride.

Los fans--as well as those who just love great, spicy rhythms--will quickly learn that they Canto live without this disc.