Michelle Branch “Hotel Paper” (Warner Bros.)

Compare to: Sheryl Crow, Vanessa Carlton, Lisa Loeb

Rating: 7

In an age where appearance is just as important as the music an artist produces, few good musicians have sought to rebel against cornering themselves in a set image.

Michelle Branch’s newest album, “Hotel Paper” is a testament to retaining true personality. An album uniquely her, it’s earthy and soul-filled, her voice and sound being far from over-produced.

From the energetic and orchestral “Empty Handed” to the nearly acoustic “One of These Days,” this album offers more of the sound Branch offered us in her previous CD, “The Spirit Room.”

Achieving the same sound is both a fault and a success for this album. Although her sound is one of the most appealing parts of Branch, she’s walking the border when it comes to sounding exactly the same no matter what song you’re listening to.

“Breathe” sounds achingly like 95 percent of the songs on her previous album. With the talent Branch obviously possesses, I would think she could be a little more original.

A victim of reading the album jacket before listening to the CD, I was awaiting “Hotel Paper” because of the lyrics. This song might be one of the more heart-felt songs, speaking about the classic scenario of loving a man who has another woman.

To speak of it, Branch doesn’t really hit very many topics besides the pain and joy of being in love, making this album prime for wedding dances and break-up woes for years to come. Save “Love me Like That” with its sweet, happy sound for the wedding, and “‘Til I Get Over You” with its retrospective pain for the snotty tissues and chocolate.

It’s a decent album, really, but be wary of listening to roughly the same song 13 times.

— P. Kim Bui

Thicke “A Beautiful World”(Interscope)

Compare to: Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Destiny’s Child

Rating: 5

Robin Thicke’s debut album, titled “A Beautiful World,” has nothing to offer those looking for a new sound.

Thicke is a look-alike to Creed’s Scott Strapp and the son of Alan Thicke, TV dad of the show “Growing Pains.” Thicke doesn’t use his dad’s name to reach stardom. He decided not to go into the TV business — instead, he delved into the music world to be yet another artist who has no individuality.

Most of the CD isn’t soulful rock. It sounds more like an R&B hidden track that has a lot of pop influence from Destiny’s Child or Britney Spears.

One of Thicke’s songs, called “When I Get You Alone,” is featured on new Sprite commercials. A smart move by Thicke, but he will probably be in the genre of commercializing his music to make a quick buck forever.

This song also sounds similar to the Backstreet Boys. Despite the fact he is the only one singing in the song, the rhythm and the backup singers make his voice sound childish and with no sensibility.

The disc starts out with the song “Oh Shooter,” a slow and unexciting song about the violence he has seen in the past. This is kind of hard to imagine, especially with such a famous dad who was so loving toward his TV family.

Next is the title track “A Beautiful World.” This song sounds like a two-year-old singing with the chorus repeating constantly, “All the birds, all the babies, all the trees in the spring.” There is no rhythm to this track — it lulls me to sleep.

“A Beautiful World” is just another basic album with multiple shameless influences. If you are looking for something outside of today’s generic sound, this is definitely not it.

— Xiomara Levsen

Yeah Yeah Yeah “Fever to Tell” (Interscope)

Compare to: The Pretenders, PJ Harvey, The Sex Pistols

Rating: 8

“Fever to Tell” had a lot of hype surrounding it due to the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s release of last year’s self-titled EP, which was the talk of the punk music scene. The New York trio had a lot to live up to, and did so quite beautifully with this recently released album.

Karen O. has an earthy voice that is full of lust. It’s sharp, fresh and extremely sexy. Combined with the seemingly effortless power chords and pleasing drums it makes for a band worthy of such hype. It seems there is hope for the future of garage punk.

Beginning with “Rich,” the album is raw, sharp, loud and quite danceable, progressing and transforming throughout.

Later in the album, Karen O.’s distant and soothing voice encompasses “Maps,” a power ballad with such innocent lyrics as, “Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.”

This is quite a change in comparison to an earlier song called “Cold Light,” in which the music is sharp and highlighted by her loud purrs.

The album closes with a beautifully secret song, in which her voice is dazed and tender.

The last line captures the ways of today’s “cooler than cool” youth.

Karen O. sweetly says, “Though I may be just a fool/ You’re just as cool/ And cool kids,” a pause, and then softly spoken, “They belong together.”

So it seems the high standards set by songs such as “Bang” on last year’s EP were met on their much awaited “Fever to Tell.”

This is an album that makes one want to throw on some rad clothes, grow blindingly long bangs and dance like a maniac.

Because deep down, we all just want to be Karen O.

— Ramona Muse

Sir Mix-A-Lot “Daddy’s Home”(BMG/Rhyme Cartel Records)

Compare to: Hammer, Tone Loc, 2 Live Crew

Rating: 5

The rapper who brought us the classic 1992 Grammy-winning song, “Baby Got Back,” is back with a brand new album that, if nothing else, has made me laugh.

After listening to the 15 tracks of the album, I have come to the conclusion either this guy has a seriously crude sense of humor, or he is completely perverted.

The song that most effectively illustrates this point is entitled “Big Johnson.”

In this lovely tune, female back-up singers consistently repeat the phrase, “We like a great big johnson,” while Sir Mix-A-Lot raps in an extremely risqu‚ manner.

Another song with similar raciness is the fifth track, titled “Till the Sun Cums Up.” Its not quite as funny as “Big Johnson,” but I think the name of this tune says it all.

Some songs on “Daddy’s Home” are not quite as suggestive as the aforementioned songs are.

“Game Don’t Get Old” is one of these songs. It contains melodic catchiness I found to be somewhat appealing. This is the best song on the album.

“Nasty Girl” is undoubtedly a good example of an unnecessary song — it’s completely unpleasant to listen to. “Big Ho” and “Candy” also prove to be quite objectionable.

With sleazy-sounding lyrics like, “I got 20-inch rims your girl paid for,” in “Big Ho,” the lyrics to these tunes seem inferior to the rest of the record.

The main problem with “Daddy’s Home” is that it’s an album that is hard to take seriously.

Sir Mix-A-Lot seems to have a gift for creating racy, sexually-oriented lyrics that come out sounding rather comical.

— Annie Krumhardt