With the exception of "Undertow," Long Distance falls short of perfection. But as no one else stateside is currently making pop quite this lush and lovely, Ivy continues to raise hopes.

Built To Spill relies on old-school verses/ choruses that demand humming just like that old-time rock 'n' roll...

Yet while the familiar spirits-soaked verses of J-Ro and Tash will reassure old fans, it's the music here that should encourage them to set down their cans and bottles and listen.

Can Our Love... finds the band still mining a quirky romantic sensibility, but with more honest soul than ever.

Tricky's most upbeat and accessible album ever, occasionally hinting at his noirish trip hop masterpiece, Maxinquaye.

Basement Jaxx do this so much better than anyone else, including Daft Punk, that you root for their mad programed sounds and unknown cast of determined singers. It's totally daft disco, sexy and sweaty, stupid and stupendous. This is pop.

Yet another bombshell of an album, blowing the lid off with majestic melodies, muscular pop-metal, and lyrics that detail singer Scott Weiland's battle with life and inner demons.

Unfortunately, Return Of Dragon, the follow-up to his debut Unleash The Dragon, comes in way under that bar, with a collection of half-realized lyrics and disappointing hooks.

When they go for the chill of classic Eminem cuts like "Kim," they come up short.

Albarn is the melodious voice of western pop tradition throughout; at first you might think his are the barmy brains behind this band, but it's just not so. His loose-kneed vocals are like pop tarts in this bumbling hip-hop parade, but it's the bumble that makes the rumble.

Surreal and disquieting, yet comforting, Drawn From Life chills your bones while it lulls you to sleep.

In listening to Sugar Ray, it's easy to forget this band began as heavy guitar funketeers--its sound today is tame by comparison.

Songs like the stirring "Side," the delicate "Dear Diary," and the glistening "Follow The Light" are among the best and most fully crafted of [Fran Healy's]short but accomplished writing career.

Deep Down And Dirty marks the MC's' glorious return to style. Old-school to the core, Deep Down And Dirty is like a blast from the past, a rumbling collage of hip-hop attitude and riotous sonic delirium.

With an elastic talent--lyrically witty, vocally gifted, compositionally unusual--and a vague hyperactivity that keeps all the beach balls in the air simultaneously, Wainwright likes nothing more than trying on playful exteriors to match his churning insides.

The mournful, blues-and-gospel-based "Fallin'"--a great song that was certainly no obvious choice as the first single--is the most notable declaration of independence, but Songs In A Minor is full of them.

A very clear sounding Sexsmith singing in his Tim Hardin-quaver about the art of song, the loss of love and other intense philosophical insights that only a softspoken guy would concern himself with.

Costa is a potent force with all the ballsy punch of a power rocker and the brazen belt of a sharp-tongued R&B survivor.

Keeping their collective heads above water here is a solid adherence to strong uncomplicated melodies and the kind of sugary harmonies you don't much hear these days.

Where the Robinson boys once seemed perpetually stuck in the butt-skankin', Faces-meets-Sticky Fingers pit, Lions draws more on communal southern boogie rock--slightly less on doofus monster guitar riffs. Not that Lions signals any reinvention, the Black Crowes are just masters at resaddling their one-trick pony.

Survivor is cute at best... The few good songs--the jittering, sing-along "Survivor," hypocritical "Nasty Girl," and a cappella "Gospel Medley"--leave 1997 Destiny's Child fans feeling cheated.

At times, it's clever and/or charming ("Penelope," "Mimi Merlot"), but almost always tedious.

The album, produced by her longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, doesn't drift from their if-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it formula that supplies Janet with dreamy, radio friendly R&B/pop to balance the record's angst and lust.

While the group's last two records have been majestic, pretentious, and overly polished, this one is more urgent and inviting, running the gamut from Beach Boys whimsy to Jesus And Mary Chain bluster.

With the exception of the swaggering "Vegas Two Times," Just Enough may not pack the same wallop as Cocktails, but tunes like "Lying In The Sun" and the soaring "Watch Them Fly Sundays" instantly stand out as some of the band's best to date.

Cole is a slick producer, dropping just the right sounds to impress fellow DJs and keep club kids doing the boogie fever.

Wade through a couple of outtake-sounding openers that consist mainly of mechanical strumming on an acoustic 12-string and Kozelek's duo-toned vocals and you'll be rewarded with some of the his most fully realized songs to date.

While he's an adept moodist (but not a great singer), most often, the tunes are more artifice than art and he fails to make his misery convincing.