HONORABLE MENTIONS

Akon
"Freedom" (Konvict/Upfront/SRC/Universal)
Loads of hits on his love album, but they're so similar in sound and structure they don't add up to anything bigger ("Right Now [Na Na Na]," "Keep You Much Longer").

Darius Rucker
"Learn to Live" (Capitol)
Not-actually-Hootie was made for country, where cornballism comes with the form ("All I Want," "While I Still Got the Time").

Group Doueh
"Guitar Music From the Western Sahara" (Sublime Frequencies)
World-traveling Sahrawi Hendrix fan preserves his music on homemade cassettes a mite too crude for the international market ("Eid For Dakhla," "Cheyla Ya Haiuune").

The Empire/Lil Wayne
"The Drought Is Over Part Six" (The Empire)
Beats, rhymes and cameos classier than your average Wayne mixtape, drops ridiculous ("Best Thing Yet," "Put Me in the Game," "Shootout").

The Apples in Stereo
"Electronic Projects for Musicians" (Yep Roc)
Spiffed up a bit, their odds and sods beat most theoretical pop bands' theoretical keepers ("Hold on to This Day," "Man You Gotta Get Up").

Randy Travis
"Around the Bend" (Warner Bros.)
Filling their shoes and standing that tall ("Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "You Didn't Have a Good Time").

Jazmine Sullivan
"Fearless" (J)
Acerbically, vulnerably, neo-soul ingénue faces the world ("Bust Your Windows," "Fear").

Various artists
"Delmark: 55 Years of Blues" (Delmark)
Near-geniuses and mere journeypeople feel the strength of their sweet home genre (Speckled Red, "The Right String but the Wrong Yo-Yo"; Jimmy Dawkins, "Feel So Bad").

Solange
"Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams" (Music World/Geffen)
Frothily, defiantly, privilege's child runs through her options ("Would've Been the One," "I Decided,Pt. 1").

Robin Thicke
"Something Else" (Star Trak/Interscope)
He's got the falsetto thing down and the beat thing down, so if Weezy thinks he's Justin Timberlake, why not you? ("Hard on My Love," "Magic").

Britney Spears
"Circus" (Jive)
As in "media circus," but still fun more often than not, which is more than she could manage from on top of the world ("Womanizer," "Blur").

Ne-Yo
"Year of the Gentleman" (Def Jam)
Any love man who even considers doing the dishes has learned a little something, whether he's lying or not ("Why Does She Stay," "Mad").

Common
"Universal Mind Control" (Geffen)
Conscious rappers have afterparties too ("Gladiator," "Universal Mind Control [UMC]").

Kings of Leon
"Only by the Night" (RCA)
Catchier riffage than last time, and that's all they'll ever write ("Closer," "Be Somebody").

The Dirty Hearts
"Pigs" (Socyermom)
She likes tofu, he prefers T-bone, and they work it out in a punk-n-blues garage that doubles as a barbecue joint ("Record Store," "Pigs").

Ashton Shepherd
"Sounds So Good" (Mercury Nashville)
Strong-drawlin' gal freshens up themes that ain't dead yet ("I Ain't Dead Yet," "Regular Joe").

Japanese Motors
"Japanese Motors" (Vice)
O.C. surfers who sound kinda like ... what was the name of that old band? ... the Strokes! ("Spendin' Days," "Single Fins & Safety Pins").

Etran Finatawa
"Desert Crossroads" (Riverboat)
World-traveling Sahara band learned what it means to long for home, and so their music became more sere ("Saghmar N Nanna," "Gaynaako").

CHOICE CUTS

Sugarland
"Take Me as I Am"
"Steve Earle"
("Love on the Inside" [Mercury Nashville])

Cold War Kids
"Golden Gate Jumpers"
"Every Valley Is Not a Lake"
"Something Is Not Right With Me"
("Loyalty to Loyalty" [Downtown])

Pink
"So What"
("Funhouse" [LaFace])

Labelle
"Roll Out"
("Back to Now" [Verve Forecast])

Kellie Pickler
"Rocks Instead of Rice"
("Kellie Pickler" [BNA])

More: Reviews | Dud of the Month/More Duds