Like many, OutKast's 'Idlewild' gave me my introduction to Janelle, for which her great voice took over the songs and was one of the more memorable things about that album. So her debut major album was always going to be a must-listen. While I don't love everything here, after a few listens I enjoy most, and it's definitely different to a lot of the other mainstream R&B/pop out there. No song sounds the same - there are many different themes present; some funk, hip hop, R&B, rock, pop and soul. The beginning of 'Oh Maker' sounds like something from the '60s and there is even what sounds like something from the 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' soundtrack on the intro of 'Neon Valley Street' and 'Suite III Overture'. What's also great is that some songs just effortlessly flow on to the next like 'Dance or Die' to 'Faster' to 'Locked Inside' - I always like that in an album. Of the few negatives, some of tracks are skippable. For example, lyrically 'Neon Gumbo' sounds like things Borat says in Kazakh and could have probably been left out. Also 'Make The Bus' is easily my least favourite here - it's punk-influenced and does little for me, and is often skipped along with some of the short 'instrumental interlude' type of tunes. Overall, from a unique artist you have a different, fairly ambitious, multi-layered album in which could have possibly lost a track or two, but more than most of it works very well. Best Tracks: Faster, Cold War, Tightrope, Mushrooms & Roses, Neon Valley Street, Wondaland, Say You'll Go, BaBopByeYa

This lacks the consistency of his last album with a portion of this album a tad uneventful but there are still enough nice tracks on offer to be satisfied with. The production is all done by Brian McKnight himself which is a first, however, he did do a large majority of his previous studio album so the overall sound isn't a huge amount different. Like 'Ten', and unlike many other mainstream R&B artists, Brian doesn't go for any hip hop influenced production - apart from 'Next2U' that features a rap. Overall, if you enjoy Brian's previous work you'll like what's on offer here. It does drop off a bit throughout the last few tracks but overall it's a good 3 out of 5. Best Tracks: WhatI'vebeenwaiting4, Neversaygoodbye, Next2U, Imissu

With Brian continuing to self-produce his albums, the beats do lack something special at times, but his crooning is still excellent. It's an enjoyable, comfortable listen, albeit lacking a lot of great moments. Best Tracks: 4th of July, She Doesn't Know, Made for Love

A very consistent album, one of the best R&B albums of 2006 and the good thing is Brian stays true to the genre and doesn't go for the hip hop sounding R&B tracks that many others do. I'm a hip hop fan, but I just think it's good for artists to stick to what they do best and not try to crossover. I've heard a few of his other albums and I'd rank this as his best so far. Tim & Bob do the job once again with the production that they provide. Best Tracks: Used to Be My Girl, What's My Name, Unhappy Without You, A Little Too Late, Holdin' On (Missin' You), Again, Can't Leave You Alone, The Rest of My Life Red White & Blue

At its core, this is one of the better King Geedorah, or MFDOOM, or whatever he wants to call himself today, albums that I've heard. However, it could be so much better. All of the sampled dialogue across the 'songs' bring it down for me a lot, stopping the flow of the album. About halfway through 'Monster Zero' someone says, 'You call that music?' which is so apt. When it's just beats and rapping, it's overall really strong with 'I Wonder' being the pick from the album. I don't mind a lot of features as I've never been infatuated with Daniel Dumile's rapping. I think most are good as well. Gigan is probably the one who stands out as a bit bland on 'Krazy World' and doesn't elevate the beat. Best Tracks: Fazers, Fastlane, Next Levels, Anti-Matter, I Wonder