artist: Jennifer Lopez function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); album: Rebirth format: DualDisc label: Sony release year: 2005 performance: 2 sound 3 reviewed by: Charles Andrews Rebirth. A fairly momentous title, wouldn’t you say? Fraught with implications and portent. Throwing down the silver lame gauntlet. I’m back. I’m reborn.

artist: AC/DC function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); album: Back In Black format: DualDisc (stereo only) label: Epic release year: 2005 original release year: 1980 performance: 9 sound: 6.5 reviewed by: Jerry Del Colliano It is a rare feat to successfully replace a frontman in rock and roll. Only a few bands have been able to accomplish it without going down in a ball of flames. Genesis and Van Halen come to mind, although Diamond David Lee Roth fans will cringe at the idea that Van Haggar is somehow related to real Van Halen. Upon the death of its original screamer Bon Scott, AC/DC made one of the all-time comebacks in rock and roll history in 1980 with their album Back in Black. As this was designed to be something of a tribute, new vocalist and frontman Brian Johnson sounds almost indistinguishable from Bon Scott, leaving the band poised to return to their three chord glory. Musically, Back in Black is topnotch, hard-hitting rock and roll that keeps the melodies ...

RCA Performance: 8 Sound: 7 released: 2005 If you’re expecting Avril Lavigne to be all grown up by this, her second album, you’ll likely be disappointed. Nevertheless, Under My Skin does reveal at least a few signs of a budding artistic maturity. And even though this album doesn’t contain any odes to sk8er bois, it continues to chronicle Lavigne’s relatively complicated teen celebrity life.

artist: Velvet Revolver function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); album: Contraband format: DualDisc label: RCA/BMG release year: 2005 1st release: 2004 performance: 9.5 sound: 7.5 reviewed by: Jerry Del Colliano In the post-Classic Rock era, super-band Velvet Revolver has risen from the ashes of Guns N’ Roses and Stone Temple Pilots to form what many consider to be the best band in rock and roll today. Led by the tormented former Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland, and powered by the stellar yet sleazy guitar work of Slash from Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver is an all-star team of rock and rollers and "Contraband" contains 13 songs that prove their point.

artist: Various Artists function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); album: Is It Rolling Bob? A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan format: DualDisc label: Silverline Records release year: 2005 performance: 9 sound 8 reviewed by: Charles Andrews What’s this, another gimmick album? A way to invoke Bob Dylan’s iconic name and grab his fans, without having Bob on the recording, or even involving him? And by using the shared name Bob in the title, it is a cheap shot to suck in the Bob Marley fans, yet another commercial disinterment of the reggae prophet?