Norah Jones, 'The Fall' (Blue Note)
Thanks to the involvement of folks like Ryan Adams (who cowrote one song) and Kings of Leon producer Jacquire King, The Fall has been billed as Norah Jones' rock album. In fact, it's something even more surprising: a hot-blooded soul record from the queen of the even keel.
SHARE THIS:
Them Crooked Vultures, 'Them Crooked Vultures' (DGC/Interscope)
"Just me and my dead-end friends again," sings Josh Homme on the debut album by Them Crooked Vultures. Homme's pals here aren't exactly of the dead-end variety: In addition to the Queens of the Stone Age frontman, Vultures comprises Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters on drums and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones on bass and keyboards.
SHARE THIS:
Dashboard Confessional, 'Alter the Ending' (Vagrant/Interscope)
All Chris Carrabba’s albums as heartthrob-in-chief of Dashboard Confessional have been about tension, primarily romantic: He can't help comparing his current love to the idealized version in his pretty little head. But an aesthetic battle also rages within Carrabba, one pitting Dashboard's solo-acoustic roots against the frontman's desire to move arenas with the intensity of his emotion.
SHARE THIS:
Shakira, 'She Wolf' (Epic)
"I want us thinking outside the box," Shakira tells a lover on her third English-language studio disc.
SHARE THIS:
Robbie Williams, 'Reality Killed the Video Star' (Virgin)
Robbie Williams insists in "Bodies" that "All we've ever wanted is to look good naked," which is a very Robbie Williams thing to insist. Truth be told, though, this A-list Englishman desires more -- namely, the American breakthrough that's eluded him since "Angels" threatened to build a following here in 1999.
SHARE THIS:
Jack Johnson, 'En Concert' (Brushfire)
Think you know all there is to know about Jack Johnson?




