Alkaline Trio, 'This Addiction' (Heart & Skull/Epitaph)
These goth-leaning pop punks went major label in 2008 with Agony & Irony, which, despite a Twilight-friendly vibe, didn't earn them an AFI-style breakthrough.
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Massive Attack, 'Heligoland' (Virgin)
With one tune called "Girl I Love You" and another on which Damon Albarn wonders, "Do you love me?", Massive Attack's first studio album since 2003 might appear to herald a move away from the English trip-hop outfit's future-shock fatalism.
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Allison Moorer, 'Crows' (Rykodisc)
Like sister Shelby Lynne (and husband Steve Earle), Moorer takes an encouragingly wide view of roots music; she's made records over the past decade-plus that have honored Nina Simone and the Troggs as much as Patsy Cline and Townes Van Zandt.
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Salvador Santana, 'Keyboard City' (Various Music/Quannum)
Salvador Santana's solo debut is called Keyboard City, and as the son of Hall of Famer Carlos Santana, he probably figured that was a safer destination than, say, Guitar World.
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Corinne Bailey Rae, 'The Sea' (Capitol)
This English folk-soul chanteuse broke out four years ago with a breezy self-titled debut that made Norah Jones sound like a deep thinker. In 2008, though, Rae's husband died unexpectedly, and on The Sea you can hear her grief. It's a darker, grittier effort suffused with a kind of shell-shocked melancholy.
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Motion City Soundtrack, 'My Dinosaur Life' (Columbia)
"I've been a good little worker bee," sings Justin Pierre on Motion City Soundtrack's major-label debut, and he's not kidding: These affable Minneapolitans have spent the past decade steadily climbing the ranks of the emo-rock underground; My Dinosaur Life, on which the band strikes a radio-ready balance between mayhem and melody, may well trigger their long-awaited breakthrough.




