Three albums into her wildly popular, multiplatinum and globally successful career, Taylor Swift is still settling scores. Read more

To paraphrase Public Enemy, Elvis might've been a hero to most, but he never meant much to me. Read more

Up until this point, Kings of Leon had been nothing short of a great young American band, buoyed by the success of its Grammy-winning hit Use Somebody. Now the Followill boys are maturing and owning up to their musical lot in life through smart lyrics and a signature s... Read more

The release of Bruno Mars' debut album finds the singer-songwriter-producer in the spotlight for both good and bad. Read more

Whether it is Steven Page venturing out alone, Ben Folds collaborating with author Nick Hornby or Neil Young reflecting on the past decade with only a guitar and producer Daniel Lanois by his side, here's a look at three albums that (occasionally) cast their creators in a radical new light. Read more

Maroon 5 doesn't have anything left to prove. Read more

On Sept. 14, the music business mustered up a mountain of new music, with more than a dozen high-profile releases hitting store shelves. Acts like Mavis Staples, Of Montreal, Brandon Flowers, the Walkmen and Weezer dropped new discs. Here's a look at two of the week's best: Read more

Loose, eclectic and deeply emotional, God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise, Ray LaMontagne's fourth studio album is a sturdy display of his peerless talent. That sandpaper-and-bourbon voice grabs hold from the shuffling opening track, Repo Man, and conveys oceans of pain and/or longin... Read more

Australia's the Cat Empire have become a buzz band with the Bonnaroo cognoscenti thanks to its lively mix of reggae, jazz and world-music influences. Read more

Sometimes, first impressions aren't exactly right. Read more

The past continues to make the present-day Toadies sound remarkably vital. Read more

When you consider what today's children contend with, it's hard not to shudder. Read more

Since grabbing the national spotlight about a decade ago, pedal-steel guitarist Robert Randolph has done a lot of his growing in public. Read more

Eminem's latest album is called Recovery, but a better title might have been Resurrection. Read more

The blues. Rock 'n' roll. Dallas. That's Steve Miller's DNA. Read more

Although you wouldn't know it from musical programming around here, 2010 marks the bicentenary of both Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann. Even the record industry hasn't paid much attention to Schumann this time, but there's been a miniflurry of new Chopin CDs, including two from gold... Read more

It's been a decade since Christina Aguilera first battled Britney Spears for pop supremacy. The age of multiplatinum album sales and cultural omnipresence has given way to guerrilla marketing and a fragmented audience. Read more

Janelle Monae's full-length debut, The ArchAndroid, is what it sounds like when imagination and pure willpower are turned loose in a studio. Her sprawling, loopy collection is brimming with confidence, smashing together sounds that seem at odds, but ultimately make Read more

If you've ever been fortunate to find yourself on a beach during some pleasantly sunny afternoon, a too-sweet margarita in your hand and your toes in the sand, you know exactly what a Jack Johnson album feels like. Read more

The energy being expended to remind everyone of Courtney Love's edginess and relevance should set off serious warning bells. Read more

Jonsi Read more

The energy being expended to remind everyone of Courtney Love's edginess and relevance should set off serious warning bells. Read more

Is it too late for the Burning Hotels to retitle their debut album? Read more

Reviews of new CDs from Jason Castro, Maldita Vecindad and Usher. Read more

The acid flashbacks arrive early and often on MGMT's eagerly awaited sophomore effort, Congratulations. Read more

Women and Country is Jakob Dylan's strongest showing since the Wallflowers' 1996 breakthrough, Bringing Down the Horse. Read more

Reviews of new CDs from David Byrne and Fatboy Slim; Sharon Jones; Alan Jackson. Read more

Women and Country is Jakob Dylan's strongest showing since the Wallflowers' 1996 breakthrough, Bringing Down the Horse. Read more

After 2008's tight, blunt New Amerykah, Part One (4th World War), singer-songwriter Erykah Badu's latest record feels like a deep breath. Read more

V.V. Brown, Peter Gabriel and Elvis Read more