Music

Lloyd
Lessons In Love

Lloyd has already established himself as a successful crooner: He's hopped on numerous hooks, teamed with Ashanti for a duet and had a major hit with Lil Wayne.

Lloyd makes a valiant effort to keep up the momentum as R&B's love doctor on his third release, Lessons In Love. But he lacks the magic found on his past albums, Southside and Street Love.

Lloyd rides solo for most of the album, except for his first single on which he reteams with Lil Wayne on "Girls Around The World" — a catchy record sampled from Eric B & Rakim classic "Paid In Full." It's is reminiscent of "You," a song that both made a huge success in 2006.

Lloyd tries to come into his own on smooth ballads like the Bryan-Michael Cox-produced song "Year of the Lover" and "I Can Change Your Life," a piano-driven song on which he aims to sway a lady from her unstable relationship. Yet, both tracks lack the infectious hit capability as past hits like "Get It Shawty."

Randy Newman
Harps and Angels

Randy Newman skewers the Supremes on his new album, and it's not Diana Ross he's singing about. Harps and Angels targets the Supreme Court troika of Scalia, Alito and Thomas in a verse sure to draw the ire of the PC police.

Newman's first album of new material in nine years also includes a blues song about his discovery of the afterlife, a peppy tune for immigrants, a Weill-style discordant take on the State of the Union, and two lovely ballads that Josh Groban could sing, and probably will.

Harps and Angels is typical Newman fare in that it's unlike anything else, and while he has ranked for decades among America's best songwriters, with these 10 songs he raises the bar still higher.

Jamey Johnson
That Lonesome Song

Jamey Johnson's That Lonesome Song delivers a salt-of-the-earth antidote for those who consider contemporary country music too slick and sentimental.

The album opens with a man fresh out of prison ("High Cost Of Living") and ends with a lyric that positions him, artistically and alphabetically, alongside two honky-tonk heroes ("Between Jennings and Jones"). Indeed, his music mirrors Waylon Jennings' thumping Texas rhythm and George Jones' expression of the concealed emotional turmoil of rowdy ramblers ("The Last Cowboy," "Sending An Angel To Hell").

Johnson shows a sensitivity behind his biker gaze, too. "In Color" traces a grandfather's history through black-and-white snapshots that don't fully communicate the turbulence of the life they capture. Similarly, "Mary Go Round" makes a heartfelt plea for a woman to turn from the harsh path she's chosen.

Keith Anderson
C'Mon!

The beefy, broad-shouldered Keith Anderson amps up his country-rock swagger on his second album, C'Mon! That won't likely surprise anyone; after all, he trumpeted his preferences with the title of his 2005 debut, Three Chord Country and American Rock & Roll.

What might surprise people is how convincing Anderson comes across on the sensitive ballads. "I Still Miss You" shows off Anderson's ability to infuse emotion into a conventional love song. He also reclaims the tender "Lost In This Moment," a hit for Big & Rich that he co-wrote.

Still, Anderson's reputation relies on chest-thumpers like the title track and the tongue-in-cheek "Somebody Needs A Hug," about a guy feigning sympathy to persuade a woman to let him wrap his arms around her.

That tension between Anderson's machismo and his sensitivity gives him depth.