Ken Tucker

A review of the debut album Alright Still, by the 21-year-old British singer Lily Allen.

The new season of TV's American Idol starts on Tuesday, but four previous Idol stars — Taylor Hicks, Fantasia Barrino, Kellie Pickler and Chris Daughtry — have all put out albums within weeks of each other. Rock critic Ken Tucker says their styles vary widely, but that quality-control is a common problem.

Never Hear the End of It is the new double album by Sloan. The quartet from Nova Scotia was formed in 1991, and has spent most of the time since then as one of Canada's most popular rock bands. Their new album consists of 30 songs, which is an unusually large amount of new material.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews his picks for the best music of 2006. While CD sales figures are down from last year, Tucker says that music is increasingly being distributed in new formats.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews The Black Parade, the third album by the New Jersey quintet My Chemical Romance. Their dark musical approach has gotten them labeled as an "emo" band.

The Beatles' original producer George Martin worked on a Fab Four soundtrack to a Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas show, which remixed and combined various Beatle songs. Now, Martin and his son Giles have released a modified soundtrack of that production, an album called Love.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the debut album by country singer Bradley Walker, Highway of Dreams.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your A**, the new CD from the band Yo La Tengo.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews The Captain and the Kid, Elton John's new album.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews White Bread Black Beer, the first album in eight years by the post-punk band Scritti Politti — which is now down to its sole founding member, Welshman Green Gartside.