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To hear Snoop Dogg tell it, this was supposed to be a return to the gritty sound of his early Death Row records. But the closest he gets here is lead single "Vato," a Neptunes-produced burner that almost makes him sound menacing again. Everywhere else, though, he's just retracing past missteps.

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Three-fifths of Americans don't support the war in Iraq, but the pop landscape has been stunningly bereft of timely protest songs like the ones that emerged in the '60s and '70s.

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Like teenagers discovering the munchies, My Chemical Romance and the Killers have realized the power of the classic-rock anthem, with its grandiose swagger and bulging chord progressions.

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On his 2004 debut, former R&B session guy John Legend admitted he didn't have the paper to woo a lady who was in the market for a big baller like Diddy or Jay-Z. Two years later Legend still feels inadequate about the ring of his bling.

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Joanna Newsom is the musical equivalent of a Disneyland employee or a server at a goofy theme restaurant. Her out-there shtick -- plucking delicate arpeggios on a full-size harp while warbling naturalist verse in a precocious-toddler voice -- is the kind of thing that only works if she commits herself to it wholeheartedly.

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For a young band that the English press has prematurely anointed as the next Arctic Monkeys, the Kooks actually boast an ingenious pop-rock sound: lovably gauche subject matter blended with pure Britpop melodies, a touch of classic-rock swagger, and eager guitar solos with a satirical edge.