Rhino's top-quality compilations and Tori Amos' unique artistic vision combine to make 'A Piano: The Collection' a delight for Tori-philes. 'Noise Floor' is a nice collection for non-super fans: it pulls together Oberst's best B-sides and vinyl-only tracks from the time after that aforementioned set was released, allowing those super fans to still feel special. Gwen Stefani favors style over substance on her second solo album, The Sweet Escape.
Incubus has grown into that rarest of modern rock bands - one that continues to challenge themselves and evolve without sacrificing massive appeal. Four years ago it was hard to foresee that the Virginia duo called Clipse would ever make a record as hard, as cold, as good as Hell Hath No Fury.<.
/i> Everyone from Aimee Mann and Rachael Ray to Dee Snider has something to ho-ho-ho about. After more than a decade making rap records and gaining mainstream success by pairing up with R B stars, Fat Joe returns with a harder sound on "Me, Myself and I." His sophomore CD is uneven at its best, boring at its worst.
With an elfin appearance, a voice that veers from childlike to psychotic, harp as a lead instrument, inscrutable lyrics and stunning orchestrations from Laurel Canyon eccentric Van Dyke Parks (the Beach Boys), Newsom has risen to the forefront of the "psych-folk" movement. Unfortunately the disc doesn't sound like a true collaboration, it is more like two superstars trading songs onstage. Check out the new CD by J.
J. Cale and Eric Clapton, The Road to Escondido. Unlike previous 'American Idol' contestants, Kellie Pickler had a hand in writing five songs on her frisky debut album and it yields the most honest and personal 'Idol' souvenir to date.
Miami Cuban hip-hop hero Pitbull has big ambitions and passion, it's just hard to tell for what - besides success. All jokes aside about his climb to fame, Kevin Federline's album "Playing With Fire" is a credible, entertaining debut. Sit back, pour yourself a cup and let Craig Morgan continue to spin tales of "A Little Bit of Life" in his sleepy Southern style.
Resisting, for the most part, the impulse to use programmed drums and samples, the ambitious 27-year-old protege of Kanye West evokes the traditional r b of Motown and Sam Cooke, but with a slightly grittier edge in places. A Chicago institution that celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, OTSOFM preserves and teaches all the classic forms of American folk. Deftones have conjured the ghost of Smashing Pumpkins on its first release since 2003.
And Billy Corgan had nothing to do with it. With his latest adventure, vibraphonist Harris finds inspiration in Duke Ellington and comes up with one of the great albums of his career. If Mandy Moore took a wrong turn down an alley and got in a dust up with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, the resulting melee might sound an awful lot like Brooke Hogan's debut album.
Would-be world dominator Sean Combs' occasional forays into music have seemed more and more like forced family outings led by a distracted father. Early response to the Killers' sophomore album, 'Sam's Town,' has been a collective shriek of betrayal. Twisted Sister will put a cap on its reunion with the Oct.
17 release of "A Twisted Christmas." While they're popular in their native Chile, and hugely respected among knowing Latin-alt fans, Los Tres remains one of the most overlooked bands in rock en espanol. You could figure the title of Waylon Jennings' boxed set, Nashville Rebel, as a reference to the Harlan Howard song he cut in 1966 or the film of the same name that hit drive-ins the following year with Jennings in the title role.
For all the hype that John's 'Peachtree Road' was a return to his organic roots (it wasn't), if only the label had waited until now. Following up a solid debut like 'Beautiful Soul' is no easy feat, so Jesse McCartney's sophomore set, 'Right Where You Want Me,' has a lot riding on it. Thanks to buddy bands Peachcake and Less Pain Forever, who just released their split-LP, Now We Have Something to Celebrate, bubblegum is becoming as prevalent as cacti.
Justin Timberlake is horny. This is the primary conclusion we can reach after listening to his new album which features titles like 'Sexy Ladies' and 'Damn Girl' and lyrics that leave little to the imagination. Really, we didn't need another Beyonce album this soon.
The fiercest diva on the planet dominated 2003 with her Grammy-winning, multi-platinum solo debut, 'Dangerously in Love,' then continued her reign by reuniting with the Destiny's Child gals in 2005. And didn't she JUST have a smash with 'Check On It' earlier this year? Following a promising self-titled debut in 2002 and the 2005 follow-up 'Out of Exile,' Audioslave's latest outing shows the band has confidently hit its stride.
Over time, Australian singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers has evolved from a teen who performed American country music with her family to a crunchy rocker who writes self-searching songs exploring life's biggest dilemmas with a poetic bent. Tony Joe White turns his latest album, 'Uncovered,' into a summit of gruff-voiced old men who mine the blues with a simmering mix of sensuality and menace. Like the best lyrical interpreters, Madeleine Peyroux takes standards like 'Everybody's Talkin',' 'The Summer Wind' and Charlie Chaplin's 'Smile' and nudges a listener into hearing hear new nuances and meanings in familiar lyrics.
Quintet TV on the Radio has earned a reputation as an unpretentious band whose sound is difficult to define. The Mars Volta's third album, 'Amputechture,' follows in the dark complicated vein of the band's first two releases, with eight songs that veer wildly in sound - even on the same track. And one tune, 'Tetragrammation,' is just over 16 minutes.
If you're voting for 'Most Likely To Succeed,' Kimball seems the obvious choice among her peers. But her day hasn't come quite yet.
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