The duo's collaboration on Van Lear Rose is unexpectedly gripping, a raucous slice of vintage Nashville fuelled by Lynn's down-home wisdom, twangy gee-tars and White's inspired hand at production.

Even if you think you've heard it all before, West is a winner.

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

It's as gripping as N.W.A.'s groundbreaking Straight Outta Compton.

It's a massive success.

Double the pleasure, double the fun? Definitely, definitely.

Okay, so it's not the most revolutionary concept album, but the raw energy and mad buzz make it one that's easy to get hooked on.

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

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

Throughout the disc, his attention to detail and melody stretch well beyond his 22 years.

Some tracks are as disconnected as a David Lynch film, but no one does misery like this neo-blues hollerer.

An emotionally wracked masterpiece, drawing on immaculate influences like the Pixies and Talking Heads while sounding distinctly original.

Z seems like just the beginning of a whole new phase.

Good luck trying to keep your head from spinning around like Linda Blair.

The veteran singer-songwriter has opted to retreat into old-timey blues, rattling off clichés about blind horses and hog-eyed towns while laying down a halfhearted soundtrack of brushed drums, plucked guitars and woozy strings.

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.

Say hello to your new metal gods.

Any music snob who has ever fantasized about grafting Belle & Sebastian's deceptively sweet melodies onto Modest Mouse's angular rhythms and riffs needs look no further than the Shins.

There are plenty of throwaway tunes, and the sound quality is decidedly lo-fi, but what's most surprising about this three-CD collection is the number of good songs.

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.

Exquisite, angry, sad and personal, basement is a beautiful swan song of one of this generation's best.

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

The Woods seems like a retreat into the '90s, playing up the grunge and angst of the band's Northwestern stomping grounds.

He gets all beautiful on your ass for the Orpheus portion of this double-disc set, then explodes with a pounding intensity on Abattoir Blues that'll knock your socks off.

Like the Streets or Dizzee Rascal, Arulpragasam's beats are minimal, but tracks such as "Pull Up the People" make use of every ounce of groove as tight, crisp synth lines backing her catchy raga delivery.

The Jaxx prove they can make this old house music exciting and new.

Even though the production is slicker, The Dirty South is still packed with painful, well-illustrated southern gothic sagas.

Williams' captivating lyrics are gut-wrenchingly intimate.