| Sinead O'Connor The Lion And The Cobra | 5.0 |
| Christina Aguilera Bionic | 4.0 |
| Jeri Silverman Leaflike | 4.5 |
| Alice Smith For Lovers, Dreamers & Me | 2.0 |
| Hoku Hoku | 3.5 |
| Not exactly Shakespeare, but it's a fun, innocent pop album that's far superior to anything Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera has ever done. |
| Cascada Original Me | 3.0 |
| Cascada Everytime We Touch | 3.5 |
| Cascada Perfect Day | 3.0 |
| Cascada Evacuate The Dancefloor | 3.5 |
| Not exactly the Holy Grail of dance tunes, but there are some great songs here: "Evacuate the Dancefloor" and "Fever" are charming, if unoriginal, dance tracks, while "Everytime I Hear Your Name" is the sort of shiny, heartfelt electro-ballad that only Cascada could pull off. |
| Dirty Vegas Dirty Vegas | 3.0 |
| Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton Choir of the Mind | 3.5 |
| The Veronicas Hook Me Up | 3.5 |
| Feist Open Season | 3.5 |
| Feist The Reminder | 4.5 |
| Folk-tinged indie pop with something to say and great rhythms. "1234" and "My Moon, My Man" rank among the best pop songs of the year, and the whole album proves remarkably cohesive. |
| Pussycat Dolls Doll Domination | 3.0 |
| Madison Park Boutique | 4.0 |
| A sleek, sophisticated collection of electropop. Perfect for cocktail parties, romantic evenings, and days at the beach alike. |
| Pet Shop Boys Actually | 4.0 |
| Alanis Morissette Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie | 3.0 |
| Alanis Morissette Under Rug Swept | 4.0 |
| Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill | 4.0 |
| Julia Michaels Nervous System | 4.0 |
| Telepopmusik Genetic World | 4.0 |
| Telepopmusik Angel Milk | 3.0 |
| Telepopmusik's second LP is fair, but it frequently tries too hard on puzzling experimental tracks that are mostly silent. They're best om songs like "Into Everything," a Deborah Anderson collab that sounds like "Breathe"'s more-complex cousin. |
| Nivea Nivea | 2.5 |
| The Shangri-Las Leader of the Pack | 5.0 |
| Kate Nash Agenda | 3.5 |
| Paramore After Laughter | 4.0 |
| Vitamin C Vitamin C | 3.0 |
| Vitamin C More | 1.5 |
| A mushy collection on painfully dated pop; most of the album sounds like it was influenced by "Genie in a Bottle" and Britney Spears. Each track sounds Radio Disney-ready, but the lyrics would have parents changing the channel ASAP - just look at "Sex Has Come Between Us." The worst track? Her cover of "I Know What Boys Like." It has 0 self-awareness and her voice sounds like a chipmunk on helium. Her first record was at least bearable, but this album is another story... |
| Madonna American Life | 3.5 |
| A fun effort full of sparse electronica and lyrics that ream modern American life and ideals. Her criticism of beauty-obsessed culture would sound a lot more convincing if her career hadn't hinged on sensationalist showing of skin since Record No. 2, but most of her complaints are valid. At times, the record sounds like a precursor to M.I.A.; elsewhere, it sounds like a stripped-down "Music." It's not perfect, but it's more of a risk than her prior few albums, and that is worth applauding. At least it's different, another color Madonna the Chameleon effortlessly morphs into. |
| Lorde Melodrama | 2.0 |
| Kendrick Lamar DAMN. | 2.5 |
| Phases For Life | 4.0 |
| Diane Renay Navy Blue | 3.5 |
| Emblematic of early 60s girl-pop. Though it's clear that she wants to be Lesley Gore, Diane Renay avoids sounding like a copycat. Highlights include "Watch Out, Sally," an exciting tale of a girl who falls for a bad boy only to be dumped for another girl, and the title track, a top 10 hit in the US. |
| Beck Odelay | 5.0 |
| Fiona Apple When the Pawn... | 4.5 |
| Melanie Martinez Cry Baby's Extra Clutter | 3.5 |
This EP offers listeners the bonus tracks from the deluxe version of "Cry Baby," plus her
holiday song "Gingerbread Man." The tracks are sure to please those who are already fans of
her warped-music-box sound and reuse of children's items as symbols of heartbreak and pain,
though it's unlikely that the EP will earn her any new fans.
The highlights, "Cake" and "Play Date," sound more dancefloor-ready than most of her tunes,
while "Teddy Bear," whose lyrics appear to tell the tale of a stalker, comes off more
sinister and demented than interesting. A must-have for Martinez fans; best ignored by
everyone else. |
| Fiona Apple Tidal | 4.0 |
| Cherish Unappreciated | 2.0 |
| A tepid and utterly faceless foray into mid-2000s R&B. Though hit single "Do It To It" is fun and "That Boi" boasts a good beat, the rest sounds like something a Destiny's Child cover band would record. The worst offender? "Taken," where they shamelessly attempt to emulate Beyonce and end up sounding like a second-rate Kelly Rowland. |
| The Chainsmokers Memories...Do Not Open | 1.0 |
| Michelle Branch Everything Comes and Goes | 3.5 |
| Michelle Branch Broken Bracelet | 3.5 |
| Michelle Branch The Spirit Room | 4.0 |
| Michelle Branch Hotel Paper | 4.0 |
| Michelle Branch Hopeless Romantic | 4.0 |
| Grace Jones Nightclubbing | 5.0 |
| Collective Soul Dosage | 4.0 |
| Korn Untitled | 1.5 |
| The Chainsmokers Collage | 1.0 |
| Yeah Yeah Yeahs Fever To Tell | 4.5 |
| Perfume Genius Too Bright | 4.0 |
| Tinashe Aquarius | 4.5 |
| Taylor Swift 1989 | 3.0 |
| Marina Froot | 4.0 |
| Charli XCX Sucker | 3.5 |
| Courtney Barnett sometimes i sit and think, and sometimes i just sit | 5.0 |
| Florence and the Machine How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful | 3.5 |
| Joanna Newsom Divers | 3.5 |
| Grimes Art Angels | 5.0 |
| Rihanna ANTI | 3.0 |
| Ariana Grande Dangerous Woman | 2.5 |
| Banks The Altar | 4.5 |
| Skye Sweetnam Sound Soldier | 4.0 |
| Frank Ocean Blonde | 3.0 |
| Skye Sweetnam Noise From The Basement | 2.5 |
| Morrissey World Peace Is None of Your Business | 2.5 |
| The B-52s Whammy! | 4.5 |
| Robert Palmer Clues | 4.5 |
| Robert Palmer Drive | 4.5 |
| M.I.A. AIM | 3.0 |
| Snake River Conspiracy Sonic Jihad | 3.0 |
| Carly Rae Jepsen Emotion | 4.0 |
| Esthero Everything is Expensive | 2.5 |
| Grace FMA (Forgive My Attitude) | 3.0 |
| An entertaining debut LP from a promising Australian songstress. She has a sweet tooth for the retro (check out her cover of Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me"), but that doesn't stop her from composing modern pop tunes. |
| Melanie Martinez Cry Baby | 4.5 |
| Sleigh Bells Treats | 5.0 |
| Robyn Robyn | 4.5 |
| Toni Basil Toni Basil | 4.0 |
| Toni Basil's second LP feels a little dated, but the songs are so much fun that that hardly matters. "Space Walkin' the Dog," which sounds eerily similar to Madonna's "Material Girl," is a must-hear (Toni's came first), and the MTV hit "Over My Head" has the new wave sound perfected. |
| Kate Nash My Best Friend Is You | 3.0 |
| Toni Basil Word of Mouth | 3.5 |
| Weird Al Yankovic Poodle Hat | 3.5 |
| Bush Black and White Rainbows | 2.5 |
| Zara Larsson So Good | 2.5 |
| Suzanne Vega Tales From The Realm Of The Queen Of Pentacles | 3.5 |
| Suzanne Vega Lover Beloved | 4.0 |
| Alice Russell Pot of Gold | 4.0 |
| Alice Russell To Dust | 4.0 |
| Kelly Rowland Ms. Kelly | 3.0 |
| Kelly Rowland Simply Deep | 2.5 |
| For a while, it looked as if Kelly Rowland was going to be the Destiny's Child member with the big solo career. First, she helped Nelly with "Dilemma," then hit the charts solo with "Stole," a touching song that tells the story of a school shooting and the lives of those involved; a simple but haunting arrangement completes the package, making it one of the best singles of 2002. Unfortunately, the rest of the album is a disappointment. "Train on a Track" is a cool, laid-back tune about falling in love helplessly, and "Love/Hate" and "Can't Nobody" are good as far as dance-R&B goes, but too much of the rest sounds like dated filler.r |
| Kelis Flesh Tone | 4.0 |
| Kelis Kelis Was Here | 4.0 |
| Kelis Tasty | 4.5 |
| Imani Coppola The Black And White Album | 4.0 |
| Imani Coppola Chupacabra | 4.0 |
| A lesson in clever lyrics and interesting sampling. |
| Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly | 2.0 |
| Sorority Noise You're Not As ____ As You Think | 2.0 |
| Liz Phair Exile In Guyville | 1.5 |
| Liz Phair Whitechocolatespaceegg | 4.0 |
| Liz Phair Whip-Smart | 3.5 |
| Liz Phair Liz Phair | 3.0 |
| Liz Phair Funstyle | 3.0 |
| Garbage Garbage | 4.5 |
| Little Jackie The Stoop | 4.5 |
| Charlotte Sometimes Waves And The Both Of Us | 4.0 |
| Joanna Newsom Ys | 4.5 |
| Air Moon Safari | 5.0 |
| Amy Winehouse Back to Black | 3.5 |
| Pet Shop Boys Very | 4.5 |
| Though this record has lots of dancefloor-ready tunes ("A Different Point of View," "One and One Make Five"), there are some weighty lyrics - "Dreaming of the Queen" deals with AIDS, while "Can You Forgive Her" examines a relationship in which the woman is unsatisfied and close to learning the truth about her partner. A dance classic. |
| Pet Shop Boys Nightlife | 2.0 |
| Though the album has some good songs, like the disco-inspired "New York City Boy" and the toned-down Kylie Minogue duet "In Denial," much of the album feels nondescript and lacks the wit on the Boys' earlier work. |
| Pet Shop Boys Super | 4.0 |
| A pleasantly clever record, with tongue-in-cheek guilty pleasures like "Groovy" alongside interesting electronic arrangements and well-written lyrics ("The Pop Kids," "Happiness"). |
| Chumbawamba Tubthumper | 4.5 |
| Macy Gray The Sellout | 4.0 |
"The Sellout" is one of her best albums. It's more poppy than its predecessors, but that doesn't
spell out disaster in her case. "The Sellout" is surprisingly deep, discussing her hunger for fame
and her desire to stay true to herself, while songs like "Lately" provide an opportunity to dance.
The Velvet Revolver team-up "Kissed It" brings to mind Black Keys, and though its lyrics aren't
phenomenal, it's still refreshing on an album of confessionals, apologies, and love songs. Even
the balladry here is impressive - "Let You Win" could be sung by Adele, but it really pops with
Gray's vocals. There's only one big misstep on the album: "Beauty in the World," a "the world is
wonderful" song whose lyrics ("shake your booty, boys and girls, so much beauty in the world")
leave much to be desired.
The album is a testament to her range and talent; she wrote almost everything on it, and gives it
a unique spin with her raspy voice, which sounds jagged but authentic, especially in a time when
auto-tune is making 99% of the pop sound as if it came from a sterile factory in Hollywood. Though
her vocals and eclecticism may be a turn-off for some, this record shows that Macy Gray is back,
and with good reason. |
| Kehlani Sweet Sexy Savage | 4.5 |
| Kehlani's debut studio album is excellent. She samples Aaliyah on the clever "Too Much" (sample lyric: "too much of a woman, three much of a woman, four much of a woman, too much of a bad bad b*tch"), and edges close to the dancefloor on tunes like "I Wanna Be" and "CRZY" (no, that's not a typo). Comparisons to Janet Jackson aren't unwarranted, but throughout the album, Kehlani demonstrates a sassy personality and cleverness that has been missing from hip-hop for quite some time. |
| TM Juke Forward | 3.5 |
| Esthero Wikked Lil Grrrls | 4.0 |
