2. Artist: Coldplay
Album Title: Viva La Vida

Coldplay’s fourth release has been billed as their experimental record, as well as their political record. And it is both, relatively speaking. Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends opens with an anthemic riff played not on guitar but on a Persian santur — a hammered dulcimer common to the traditional music of Iraq and Iran. The album’s lead single, “Violet Hill,” describes a scene in which “priests clutched onto Bibles/Hollowed out to fit their rifles.” Half the album’s tracks float images of war, while others evoke God, religion or death.

3. Artist: Ne-yo
Album Title: Year of the Gentleman

All in all, Year of the Gentleman boasts some pretty good tracks and his a pretty cohesive effort. Ne-Yo is a writer first, so of course he isn’t going to give himself anything less that stellar as far as wordsmanship and content. The album is full of mid-tempos, which I’ve learned is pretty much home for Ne-Yo, it’s definitely his comfort zone. The album also has some nice ballads. Although it’s not one of those LP’s that I can listen to from start to finish, front to back, I am always impressed with Ne-Yo’s ability to craft a great R&B song. Stand-out tracks include, of course, “Closer,” “Single,” “Fade Into the Background,” and the Polow Da Don-assisted “Single.”

4. Artist: Rihanna
Album Title: Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded

Now, to add another million or so units to its sales tally, Good Girl Gone Bad is getting the reissue treatment. The “Reloaded” edition adds three new tracks to the original album, one of which, ‘Take A Bow’, has already been released as single. It’s only the second best of the new songs, superior to a flaccid Maroon 5 collaboration, but trumped by ‘Disturbia’, a wonky electropop tune that recalls the album’s thrilling opening.

5. Artist: Paramore
Album Title: The Final Riot!

‘The Final RIOT! ‘ is a Live CD/DVD that documents the band in their most intimate moments on tour, with exclusive interviews with the band, full access behind the scenes and on the bus, at soundcheck, at rehearsals and more. On top of all that extra footage is an entire 15 song live set that was filmed at the Chicago stop of The Final RIOT! Tour, for what the band has called their ‘Best Show ever! ‘ Join millions of fans around the world as they experience The Final RIOT!

6. Artist: Beyonce
Album Title: I Am … Sasha Fierce

Having transitioned into a more grown-up sound, Beyoncé has gotten conceptual on us: Her third album offers two discs, a collection of heartfelt ballads credited to Beyoncé and a danceable set credited to “Sasha Fierce,” the pop diva’s more brash, lady-empowering alter ego. Though some of the slow songs have thoroughly memorable tunes, the lyrics are full of bland self-affirmation and saggy lines like “You’re everything I thought you never were.” But the “Sasha” disc boasts Beyoncé’s most adventurous music yet: She rides frothy techno on “Radio,” turns out modal-sounding hooks over 808 bass on “Diva” and juices the eerie, Nine Inch Nails-style beats of “Video Phone” with lines like “Press ‘record’ and I’ll let you film me.” Another plus: The girl who blew up going all melismatic has never sung with more restraint than she does on Sasha.

7. Artist: Keri Hilson
Album Title: In a Perfect World

All that star power can leave little room in these futuristic R&B songs for Hilson, whose sturdy but unremarkable voice rarely transcends its role as a melody-delivery device. In impeccably arranged tracks like “Turnin Me On” and “Slow Dance” (the latter co-written by Justin Timberlake), Hilson describes the ecstasy of desire with all the warmth of an alien observing life on Planet Earth. And compared with Keyshia Cole’s and Trina’s typically fiery turns in “Get Your Money Up,” Hilson comes off like somebody Polow hired as an in-studio chaperon.

8. Artist: Britney Spears
Album Title: Circus

Britney may have left the psych ward, but on Circus, she proves she’s still a freak. The clubby, adventurous pop on her sixth album — her first since getting committed and losing custody of her kids — would have made a fine follow-up to 2003′s In the Zone. “Toxic” producers Bloodshy & Avant hit pay dirt again with the melodic, glowing “Unusual You.” The Max Martin-produced “If U Seek Amy” (say it fast) is a saucy, swinging standout, and the photographer-taunting stomper “Kill the Lights” recalls the synth crush of 2007′s Blackout.

9. Artist: Lil Wayne
Album Title: The Carter III

OK, it’s true: he really is the best rapper alive. Lil Wayne made that claim on his last official CD, in 2005, and since then, he’s unleashed an astonishing torrent of mixtapes, leaks and guest appearances to back up the boast. So his long-anticipated “legit” album follow-up feels a bit gratuitous. Still, Tha Carter III is useful as an exclamation point. It establishes beyond a doubt that the zeitgeist in 2008 belongs to one artist: a dreadlocked dadaist poet from New Orleans with a bad weed habit and a voice like a bullfrog. As Wayne croaks in the woozy “3Peat,” “Get on my level/You can’t get on my level/You will need a space shuttle/Or a ladder that’s forever.”

10. Artist: Secondhand Serenade
Album Title: A Twist in My History

John Vesely, the Northern California singer-songwriter who’s better known as Secondhand Serenade, has quickly gone from MySpace phenomenon to prospective Top Ten artist, with TRL airplay and a growing legion of teenage fans. Too bad he comes off like a cornier version of Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba: a tattooed love junkie who wears his heart on his sleeve, his chest and both pant legs. Vesely’s second album distills emo to its most heartbroken elements, dredging up huge, pained choruses and very little punk: Mostly, A Twist in My Story sticks to acoustic backing, with some shimmering Coldplay-esque grooves tossed in on tracks like “Fall for You.”

11. Artist: Taylor Swift
Album Title: Fearless

With her second album, Swift aims to extend her dominion beyond the country-music-loving red states. Songs like “Fearless” and “The Way I Loved You” are packed with loud, lean guitars and rousing choruses. The only overtly country-ish things about Fearless are Swift’s light drawl, the occasional reference to a “one-horse town” and a bit of fiddle and banjo tucked into the mix.

12. Artist: Panic at the Disco
Album Title: Pretty. Odd.

The album is a cohesive collection of classic hook-laden pop songs that does Panic at the Disco well. However, the countrified “Folkin’ Around” is weak and strays from the album’s purpose. Nevertheless, Urie’s vocals are impeccable and more mature in terms of range. Overall, Panic’s “Pretty. Odd.” is pretty. damn. good.

13. Artist: T.I.
Album Title: Paper Trail

“Facing all kinda time/But smile like I’m fine,” T.I. crows on “No Matter What.” The Atlanta rapper recorded his sixth album while under house arrest for weapons possessions charges, and he faces a year-long prison sentence beginning in 2009. But as the plodding “existential” concept album T.I. vs T.I.P. (2007) showed, he is a far better braggart than brooder — smiling like he’s fine is good for business. On Paper Trail, T.I. mostly dispenses with the Tupac-wannabe gangsta-confessor pretensions to deliver catchy, tight, bombastic pop-rap alongside a who’s-who of megastar guests (Rihanna, Usher, Lil Wayne). T.I. is still a bit too keen to remake his signature hit “What You Know,” but songs like the clever “I’m Illy” and the Just Blaze-produced stomper “Live Your Life” find T.I. reconciling himself to his lot in life: he’s a well-oiled hit machine who’s more fun than deep.

14. Artist: John Legend
Album Title: Evolver

Evolver opens with chirping birds and a woman’s contented sigh. It’s morning in the boudoir; a young lady is in post-coital repose; soon, a manservant will bring mimosas. Lots of R&B dudes promise opulent nights of ecstasy, but Legend is so classy that these fantasies seem like real journalism. With piano-flecked soul (“This Time”), lite funk (“Green Light”) and reggae (“No Other Love”), Evolver’s tunes and arrangements are as impeccable as the cut of Legend’s suits. (Even his taste in guest rappers — André 3000, Kanye West — is upscale.) And there are a few surprises: “I Love, You Love” (produced by Will.i.am) builds a lush ballad around a guitar lick lifted from a Dire Straits tune. Legend can be goody-goody, but aspirational babymaking music doesn’t get more skillful than this.

15. Artist: Katy Perry
Album Title: One of the Boys

Now 23, the L.A. singer bucks the WWJD’ers with a debut full of mall-punky, grrrl-power tunes produced by Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette) and Dr. Luke (Avril Lavigne). But her attention-grabbing doesn’t feel very rebellious: On the New Wave-y club single “I Kissed a Girl” — a vanilla recounting of her chick-on-chick exploits — she sounds like the type who makes out with her BFF just to get a dude’s attention. And when she’s not acting out, she’s a total snooze. “Mannequin,” a lament about a guy who’s too stoic (“You’re not a man, you’re just a mannequin!”), recalls Cher’s Eighties catalog. And the acoustic ode “Thinking of You,” which compares an unrequited lover to “an Indian summer in the middle of winter,” is generic Dawson’s Creek schlock.

16. Artist: The Killers
Album Title: Day & Age

Like their hometown of Las Vegas, the Killers have a flair for anything supersize, sparkly and over-the-top: soaring synth-pop operas, multipart arena-rock anthems, “Bohemian Rhapsody”-style choirs. So it makes sense that, after 2006′s massively ambitious Sam’s Town, their third studio album expands their scope even further, adding subtle world-music accents to their glittery New Wave anthems — fitting for a band bent on international megastardom. Produced by dance maven Stuart Price, Day & Age broadens the Killers’ sound with dub-inflected grooves (“Joyride”), Caribbean-style steel drums (“I Can’t Stay”) and a chanted intro that recalls South Africa’s Lady­smith Black Mambazo (“This Is Your Life”) — though it’s performed by the band itself.

17. Artist: Calle 13
Album Title: Los de Atras Vienen Conmigo

The rapping is in Spanish; the music is from Puerto Rico, Macedonia and Nigeria; the sensibility is from Mars. Grammy-winning duo Calle 13 have no analogue in U.S. hip-hop: They’re pop-savvy hitmakers with globe-trotting tastes and a riotous sense of humor. Here, they flaunt their cosmopolitanism, collaborating with Mexican rockers Café Tacuba (“No Hay Nadie Como Tu”) and spicing their songs with Afro beats, polka and, on “Fiesta de Locos,” Balkan brass. Spanish-speakers will love Residente’s witty raps, but you don’t need to know a word to grasp his message: a plea to bury geographic boundaries under an unstoppable groove.

18. Artist: Fall Out Boy
Album Title: Folie A Deux

Fall Out Boy have become the kings of emo — without actually showing much emotion. Sure, they make all the signature emo moves: Singer Patrick Stump bellows cries of hurt, catalogs of grievances and confessions of inadequacy over guitars that hurtle toward big choruses. The group’s fourth album, Folie à Deux, begins in high-angst mode, with him crooning “I’m coming apart at the seams” over a funereal organ.

19. Artist: Natasha Bedingfield
Album Title: Pocketful of Sunshine

England’s Natasha Bedingfield became a star overseas thanks partly to smitten songs like “These Words,” a bright dance-pop number in which the big-voiced Christian sang “I love you” thirty-three times. On Pocketful of Sunshine, her second U.S. release, Bedingfield is still love-struck: Judging by exuberant cuts like the lead single, “Love Like This,” she must be, like, the happiest person alive. Unfortunate as Bedingfield’s bubbliness can be, Pocketful of Sunshine is serviceable: long on catchy, professional-grade melodies and dance beats, annoying only in spots. Add some sad-eyed ballads and solid R&B — “Piece of Your Heart” is a dark, brassy thing in which Bedingfield makes demands of a prospective boyfriend over live funk — and you have an American Idol album with better hooks, more palatable cheese and less melisma. Bedingfield doesn’t have much to say. But the packaging in which she wraps her openhearted thoughts makes Sunshine a decent little pop record.

20. Artist: Leona Lewis
Album Title: Spirit

The “long-awaited” Spirit proves that Lewis, a stage-school veteran, certainly has Houston’s fondness for vocal curlicues, hitting notes so high that they can be heard only by divas. She has a powerful voice but on Spirit it seems to have paralysed her collaborators creatively. Instead of taking the opportunity to craft it into new and exciting shapes, it has been stuck in a big spotlit display case, revolving slowly and rather boringly on a velvet cushion of overstuffed balladry. Songs such as Footprints in the Sand, all crashing drums and gospel backing, or the crushingly earnest Yesterday, merge into each other, the kind of thing made to come out of the speakers in your local salon while you wait for the Saturday junior to shampoo your hair. You can almost smell the conditioner as she emotes through Angel or Take a Bow.

21. Artist: Adele
Album Title: 19

Like fellow crooners Amy Winehouse and Kate Nash, Adele Adkins polished her skills at the Brit School in south London — as good a finishing academy as American Idol. Her debut, which topped the British charts earlier this year, lacks the bad-girl brio of those grads, but it shows off a vocal instrument that smokes the competition. Check out “Cold Shoulder,” a lover’s blues, produced by Winehouse’s secret weapon, Mark Ronson: Over swirling strings and a snare pattern borrowed from James Brown’s “Funky Drummer,” Adele reads her man the riot act with a mix of Memphis-soul-mama swoops and cockney-street-punk stops. “Melt My Heart to Stone” and “Tired,” co-written with veteran U.K. hit-maker Eg White, are retro-modern R&B exercises with similar charm. On more sparsely arranged numbers, though — including a measured cover of Bob Dylan’s unlikely pop standard “Make You Feel My Love” — her marvelous technique can become cloying, and the boilerplate verses on her originals don’t help. Here’s hoping the girl’s storytelling will one day be as interesting as her phrasing.

22. Artist: Danity Kane
Album Title: Welcome to the Dollhouse

These five ladies — Aubrey, Aundrea, Dawn, Shannon and D. Woods — are the latest alumnae of MTV’s Making the Band. With producers like Timbaland (does this man ever pass on a gig?), Rodney Jerkins and Jim Jonson, Danity Kane are positioned to inherit the legacy of O-Town. “Show Stopper” is already one cool radio hit — every summer needs an R&B anthem about driving around and looking good and feeling mean. Over silky strings, the ladies chant, “Yeah, we’re divas, but we ride like big boys do.” Ride on, Danity Kane.

23. Artist: Gavin DeGraw
Album Title: Gavin DeGraw

Gavin DeGraw first hit it big with 2003′s “I Don’t Want to Be,” an anti-fronting anthem with the long-winded chorus “I don’t want to be anything other than what I’ve been tryin’ to be lately.” Five years later, dude’s still verbose. He packs bizarre metaphors into the faux-jazzy “Cop Stop”: “I won’t tell you lies/Or treat you like a rental car like other guys.” (Thankfully, there’s no mention of handling his stick shift.) And on “Medicate the Kids” — a power-chord-filled rant against ADD drugs — he issues free advice like a feckless Dr. Phil. Luckily, DeGraw’s stamped-on-your-brain melodies save him: “Next to Me” is a bouncy plea to an aloof love interest, and the piano-and-guitar-fueled “In Love With a Girl” is frat-boy soul at its most tuneful. It’s perfect mood music for teen girls and the sensitive guys who want to hold their purses.

24. Artist: Jason Mraz
Album Title: We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things

Songs like “Lucky” and “Butterfly” both are examples of these very pop feeling songs with “Lucky” landing on the bland side of the fence. “Butterfly” uses elaborate music as a foundation for what is essentially a long pick up line. These are not the only songs that just don’t cut it, others include “Coyotes”, “Love For A Child” and “Only Human”, all of which are just very lackluster and become boring.

25. Artist: Jesse McCartney
Album Title: Departure

McCartney also has the nouse to marry Departure’s pristine R&B beats to strong pop melodies – as the likes of ‘How Do You Sleep’, ‘It’s Over’ and lead single ‘Leavin’ demonstrate. Other notable moments include ‘Told You So’, which glides like a vintage Michael Jackson ballad, and ‘Relapse’, whose thrilling tempo change is one of the best pop hooks we’re likely to hear all year.

26. Artist: Miley Cyrus
Album Title: Breakout

Miley Cyrus is more self-possessed. With Breakout, Disney’s queen bee finally has a sophisticated pop record under her own name, and she’s venting the frustrations of a teen who’s too grown-up to submit to her parents, teachers or anyone else. On the title track, co-written by Go-Go’s drummer Gina Schock, she bellows that she’s “tired of bein’ told what to do.” Cyrus, who co-wrote most of these songs, has co-opted Avril Lavigne’s pop punk and sweet sneer. (The environmentalist anthem “Wake Up, America” finds Cyrus wagging her finger at the whole damn country.) But the songs feel genuine: What 15-year-old doesn’t have a list of “seven things I hate about you,” as Cyrus does? She’s acting her age.

27. Artist: Lady Gaga
Album Title: The Fame

‘Just Dance’ is the opening song on ‘The Fame’ and sets the blueprint for the remainder of this 16 track album. GaGa’s way straight to the top is by making flirty, dirty arrogant sleaze-pop that takes shape from a mixture of glam rock, R&B, disco, electro and even the occasional reggae moment. So for the majority listen, we hear hard club beats boom and bang over wirey synths and keyboards, pianos, infectious melody and GaGa’s semi-Aguilera vocal.

28. Artist: The Academy Is …
Album Title: Fast Times at Barrington High

In every emo band’s career, there comes a time for “growing up” — dealing with more serious subject matter and jettisoning pop punk for a broader sound. Fall Out Boy have gone that route, but their friends the Academy Is. . . are happy to stay young a little longer. On their third album, themed around the senior year of high school, frontman William Beckett captures the struggle of being 18: the feeling that these are “the best days of our lives,” as he sings on “After the Last Midtown Show,” but only because these days won’t last. Producers S*A*M and Sluggo reflect that transitional feeling in the tunes, which straddle the Blink-182 styles of yesteryear and the arena polish of current Warped Tour bands. (Members of Jack’s Mannequin and Cobra Starship make cameos.) And Beckett vividly renders what it’s like to be a kid facing real-world issues, dealing with adult relationships (“Beware! Cougar!”) and leaving home (“One More Weekend”). “Hit the highway/Pour some liquor out for this town,” he shouts on “Paper Chase.” It’s a bittersweet farewell to everything he’s come from, but armed with an eye for detail that his peers lack, he’s ready for what’s next.

29. Artist: Shwayze
Album Title: Shwayze

Adler’s no beat master, and the tracks on Shwayze all sound like variations on thumb-strummed Jack Johnson tunes, topped with Sugar Ray-style rhymes about weed and women. “Ain’t got no soul, like an old pair of Chucks,” Shwayze ventures on “James Brown Is Dead” while Adler croons like a hoarse Tom Petty in the background. The same formula applies on “Polaroid,” a song about snapping photos of girls so that Shwayze can remember who they are, and “Corona and Lime,” a blooper of a tune with a three-note riff and a regretful aftertaste. This pair could really benefit from a swig of some old-fashioned gin and juice.

30. Artist: Plain White T’s
Album Title: Big Bad World

It’s all over in only 35 minutes or so, but Plain White T’s have put together a charming, effortless sounding collection of 10 songs that will make any pop music loving fan’s heart beat fast. Every track is a keeper and will have you singing along the first time through. Emo and punk pop pretensions are tossed aside in favor of classic pop structure and instrumentation that works as perfect ear candy.

31. Artist: Pussycat Dolls
Album Title: Doll Domination

For a group that emphasizes style and sex symbolism above substance, Doll Domination is actually a better record than their last, where depth (although that’s still quite debatable) and sensuality is concerned. While Nicole’s vocals are nothing to shout about, it’s still supple and versatile enough to mix and match to a diverse range of genres. Throw in the magic of synthesizers, other mechanical filters, and the bare backing vocals of the other four band members, and there you have it – a quintet of the hottest, pin-up dolls/pop group of the moment.

32. Artist: Jack’s Mannequin
Album Title: The Glass Passenger

On the day Jack’s Mannequin finished mastering their 2005 debut, Everything in Transit, frontman Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with leukemia. Already known for his intimate lyrics — Transit aired the details of his breakup with a long-term girlfriend — he addresses his illness head-on. The Glass Passenger is a candid portrait of survival that reunites McMahon with the piano rock of his old band Something Corporate. Album highlight “Caves” begins with a quiet reflection — just falsetto vocals against a piano melody — before the singer erupts over a fury of guitars: “We’re not gonna lie/Son, you just might die/Get you on that morphine drip.” Elsewhere, lush orchestration adds depth to the ballad “Annie Use Your Telescope” and uplift to the midtempo “Crashin,” where McMahon imagines life after recovery. “Even if your voice comes back again,” he sings, “maybe there’ll be no one listening.” He shouldn’t worry: With plain-spoken songs like these, he’s already made a more honest album than many of his emo peers.

33. Artist: Jennifer Hudson
Album Title: Jennifer Hudson

Standout tracks upon first cursory listen of the album include the fantastic “We Gon’ Fight” which Jennifer comes out the gate pouncing, her voice locking into pocket immediately from jump. She sounds at home in this updated feel of an Aretha-themed offshoot in my opinion, and when it slides into a short “Gospel-ized stomp & clap” track, you see why it works. The funky “Pocketbook” from Jim Beanz and Timbaland should have been placed later in the album to breakup the monotony of the 2nd half, however, it is a funky, fun and welcome addition, taking Jennifer’s voice into a sassy, syncopated pattern which we haven’t (and don’t for the rest of the album) hear. It’s young, hip and yet not crass or corny.

34. Artist: Pink
Album Title: Funhouse

With songwriter Max Martin chipping in, the rock diva finds ways to make emotional rawness go pop on Funhouse, turning out silly, catchy funk and supercharged electro. She drinks in the afternoon, forgets to eat and shows off her feisty side on the arena-ready hit “So What,” where she disses Hart and looks to start a fight. Still, Pink has shown more personality before, and some cuts, including the goopy ballad “I Don’t Believe You,” make her sound like just another big-voiced chart-buster. Funhouse would be more fun if Pink went easier on the bad-love songs.

35. Artist: T-pain
Album Title: Thr33 Ringz

This self-proclaimed “rappa turnt sanga” invented the R&B robo-soul that’s been jacked by every sanga and rappa alive — and he calls out the biters on “Karaoke.” But Thr33 Ringz shows what sets T-Pain apart. He’s an inventive producer, enveloping radio-friendly hooks in Auto-Tune wackiness. (Check the dizzying crunk-rock “Ring Leader Man.”) And he’s a love machine, accentuating the urgency of his please-baby cooing with sci-fi effects. The plaintiveness reaches a hilarious climax with “Change,” as Pain and Akon offer their plan for fixing the country: “I’d change everyone into a Hershey’s Kiss/And we could eat away our fears.”

36. Artist: Nickelback
Album Title: Dark Horse

What’s a poor rock band to do when your last album sold 8 million copies at a time when nobody buys CDs anymore? You can hire a guy who produced AC/DC, Def Leppard and Shania Twain albums that sold even more. On Dark Horse, “Mutt” Lange lightens Nickelback’s dreary post-grunge plod, applying guitar shimmer to prom ballads and detonating big beats under frat-party shouts and raplike vocal parts. Lyrics revel in dorkitude, hair-metal style: “No class/No taste/No shirt/’N shitfaced.” The two liveliest songs celebrate getting wasted with the bros; the most melodramatic laments a friend’s overdose. Lange keeps things rolling — and to his credit, Chad Kroeger gratifyingly comes off as more of a regular guy than a rock star.

37. Artist: David Cook
Album Title: David Cook

When he reinvented Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby” as a dirge, David Cook became the most imaginative American Idol talent to date. But working with his heroes (Our Lady Peace’s Raine Maida, Chris Cornell) and Norwegian song doctors Espionage on his Rob Cavallo-produced debut, he leans on his husky howl rather than out-of-the-box songwriting. The Johnny Rzez­nik-assisted opener “Declaration” sets the tone — guitars, lots of ‘em — and “Light On” has its Soundgarden-like charms, but without the right hook, “Life on the Moon” and “I Did It for You” come off like assembly-line active rock.

38. Artist: Kayne West
Album Title: 808s and Heartbreak

Kanye West announced long ago that mere hip-hop superstardom was not enough for him — he wanted to be “the number one artist in the world.” So it’s no surprise that his untrammeled egotism has led him well beyond the usual limits of his genre. With Kanye largely abandoning rapping in favor of digitally altered crooning, his fourth album represents a cultural high-water mark for Auto-Tune, that now ubiquitous pitch-correction technology. But Auto-Tune isn’t totally to blame for 808s & Heartbreak. A bold, fascinating, foolhardy, occasionally unlistenable Kanye West record was inevitable, with or without the cyborg-soul software.

39. Artist: Keyshia Cole
Album Title: A Different Me

“I’d like to introduce a sexier side of me,” Keyshia Cole coos on the slinky intro to her third album. True to her word, the Atlanta singer sheds her street sass for some softer tunes. “Make Me Over” is a shimmying, string-pierced vamp — break out your jazz hands! — and “No Other” pumps Spanish guitar into a Mary J.-style monogamy ode. Not everything feels fresh: The lyrics are gooey (“Touch my soul, make me lose control”), and Tupac makes a posthumous cameo. Cole does better when she keeps an eye toward the future.

40. Artist: Jamie Foxx
Album Title: Intuition

“Just Like Me” is the lead single produced by Tricky Stewart & The-Dream from Jamie Foxx’s third studio album Intuition. The track features T.I. can very easily be compared to a male version of Mariah’s “Touch My Body”. It’s produced by the same people who worked with Mariah on Touch My Body. “Digital Girl” is another track produced by Tricky Stewart & The-Dream (features sample of “Can’t Believe It” by T-Pain.) The track features Kanye West & The-Dream. The track features Kanye who spits a few good lines and The-Dream who keeps the track interesting.

41. Artist: The All-American Rejects
Album Title: When the World Comes Down

The lyrics seem to flow from the heart to paper back to the fans on all the albums. GIVES YOU HELL is a great single for the album, but not my choice. WHEN THE WORLD COMES DOWN, their third album is somewhat depressing, but strong and powerful. It is a great album that those boys should be proud to say is their creation. Strong and impressive drumbeats, mellow and expressive guitar riffs, rhythmic bass guitar and powerful lyrics has always made up the guys of THE ALL AMERICAN REJECTS. We’re going to change it up a bit on how these reviews go. I WANNA the first track on the album is catchy and expressive and a great way to open the album

42. Artist: The Dream
Album Title: Love vs. Money

The combination of classicist songcraft, wild sound collage and a muse that partakes equally of the sensual and the silly makes Love vs. Money far more than just an accomplished genre piece.

43. Artist: Kelly Clarkson
Album Title: All I Ever Wanted

Clarkson’s voice remains one of the most powerful in pop, and on “Wanted” it flattens everything in its path, blasting through piano ballads, chirpy retrosoul and, on “Whyyawannabringmedown,” a kind of AM-radio punk. “I’m not your love monkey, so be takin’ back all of the lies you sold,” cries Clarkson over a pogo-ing beat.

44. Artist: Christina Aguilera
Album Title: Keeps Gettin’ Better

Christina Aguilera tosses out a stopgap single to preview this fall’s greatest hits collection. It all sounds a bit like that. Lyrically, it’s a late entry in a crowded field, and the catchy electro-pop vibe isn’t enough to make it one of her more memorable efforts.

45. Artist: Snoop Dogg
Album Title: Ego Trippin’

Cramming in more than twenty tracks, Ego Trippin’ grows weaker as it drifts away from head-spinning collages into generic slow jamz. But if Snoop had exercised more prudence in editing, we wouldn’t get to enjoy bizarre experiments such as “My Medicine,” a country-rock song dedicated to “real American gangsta” Johnny Cash, or “Cool,” where Snoop credibly sings (!) a cover of an old single by the Time.

46. Artist: Flo Rida
Album Title: R.O.O.T.S.

“Right Round,” Flo Rida’s record-shattering, double-platinum first single from “R.O.O.T.S.,” boasts production credits from Dr. Luke, the mastermind behind such smashes as Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” and Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl.” Interpolating Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record),” the song recasts rap as Hot Topic teen pop. It’s a smart move.

47. Artist: Day 26
Album Title: Day 26

Forever in a Day, the second album by vocal group Day26, which was released in the U.S. on April 14, 2009, is sort of like a cake; it’s topped by some sticky-sweet frosting, in this case radio-friendly pop songs that sit at the top of the album. But the real goodness isn’t in the empty, calorie-rich stuff at the top, but in the cake’s inner layers. To put it another way, the first handful of tracks on the album are disposable Auto Tune-heavy songs uptempo club that chase trends, while it’s some of the latter, mid-tempo tracks that properly showcase the group’s singing and rely less on studio gimmicks.

48. Artist: Mariah Carey
Album Title: E=MC^2

Mariah Carey embraces her extremes: She’s either grinding out R&B-hop or singing syrupy ballads, talking dirty or cuddling with a Hello Kitty. Her tenth studio album is no different: It starts in a club and ends in a church. Carey tries on reggae with Damian Marley’s scorching “Cruise Control” cameo, conjures a text-message title for Swizz Beatz’s flute-loopy “O.O.C.” (“out of control”) and dials cool Seventies soul with “I’m That Chick”. She sounds the freshest when she fires up her Tommy Mottola resentment on the bumpy, Young Jeezy-assisted “Side Effects” and lives the high life on Danja’s hard-hitting head-nodder, “Migrate,” which dabs her vocal with Auto-Tune. But nearly every song confines Carey to four-note verses, offering little room for her glorious range, and the six ballads are drenched in yearbook-quote lyrics that never quite work themselves into the froth of The Emancipation of Mimi. Yet 2008′s Mimi is also about redemption, and she brings it on the closer, “I Wish You Well,” proving all she needs is a piano and a few Bible verses to save somebody — most likely herself.

49. Artist: Ashlee Simpson
Album Title: Bittersweet World

It’s easy to see why teens embrace Ashlee Simpson. She’s lived a John Hughes fantasy, transforming herself from the prom queen’s ugly-duckling sister into the hottie main attraction (with a rock-star boyfriend!) worthy of collaborating with hip-hop’s powerhouse producers. On her third album, Simpson skillfully shifts her crunchy, guitar-driven pop to Eighties-influenced electro-rock with the help of Timbaland and the Neptunes’ Chad Hugo. With songwriting assistance from Santogold, Simpson channels Missing Persons on “Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)” and swipes Gwen Stefani’s formula on the reggae-bopping “Ragdoll.” The danceable beats haven’t obliterated Simpson’s affinity for chugging riffs, though they may have inspired some ill-advised lyrics: “I ain’t got no beef,” she boasts on “Rule Breaker.” But Simpson’s still her own favorite subject, and she’s got an excellent coming-of-age anthem in “What I’ve Become,” a paparazzi kiss-off with an appealingly honest chorus: “I’ve just begun to find my way.”

50. Artist: Usher
Album Title: Here I Stand

There comes a time in every R&B singer’s life when he stops catching panties and finds himself a wifey. Having married and fathered a son last year, Usher is back to velvety slow-jams, this time embracing domestic life’s freaky side. On “Trading Places,” which recalls Prince’s “The Beautiful Ones,” Usher role-plays June Cleaver to his lady’s Ward, brewing her coffee and offering to be “on the bottom.” And he spends two full songs begging for sex on the dance floor: The second, “Love in This Club Part II,” bites its melody from the Stylistics’ “You Are Everything” but packs the hilarity of an R. Kelly song, as Usher and Beyoncé argue the pros and cons of doing the deed. Judging by all the album’s innuendo — “I’ll bag you like some groceries,” “I can’t wait to deliver you like a FedEx box” — suburban chores even get him hot. But now that he’s got the American Dream, he sounds like he’s stopped trying. The original “Love in This Club,” produced by Polow Da Don, sounds like it’s built on stock samples from Apple’s GarageBand software. And “Love You Gently” issues the least subtle come-on — “How ’bout some foreplay?” — before rushing into “Best Thing,” where Usher and Jay-Z dream of populating the world with future players.