5 Captivating New Albums For -- and By -- All Ages

By Josh Tyrangiel

GAME THEORY THE ROOTS FOR A DECADE, the Roots has been hip-hop's most innovative and politically engaged band--another way of saying it hasn't been the least bit fun. The group is no barrel of yuks here either, but Katrina and Iraq have stoked its outrage into an album of compelling ferocity. Lead voice Black Thought delivers focused and occasionally paranoid rants about a crumbling society ("Watch who you put all your trust in/ Worldwide we coincide with who's suffering") while producer, drummer and resident genius ?uestlove samples dystopian anthems (Radiohead's You and Whose Army?) to create a sound track to indignation that rivals vintage Public Enemy.

OUTSIDER DJ SHADOW IN THE SMALL pond of sampled instrumental electronic music, DJ Shadow (Josh Davis) isn't just the big fish; he's the only fish. Perhaps recognizing that the water is getting a little brackish, Shadow varies the formula on his latest with a folk ballad, a soul jam and a delicate guitar symphony as emotional as a telenovela. (!Que dramatico!) His more conventional hip-hop tracks pose no threat to commercial radio, but they're perfect platforms for Bay Area rappers Keak Da Sneak and Lateef the Truth Speaker to say the things Shadow's samples can't.

FUTURESEX/ LOVESOUNDS JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE ON HIS SECOND solo album, Timberlake has declared it his mission to bring sexy back. Never mind that this presumes sexy left--or that an adjective can be rescued. What matters is that he goes about his task with the energy, hooks and heavy breathing expected of someone aiming to be pop's seducer in chief. SexyBack is a grinding, stuttering classic that nods at Prince without ripping him off, while Lovestoned/ I Think She Knows (Interlude) and What Goes Around .../ ... Comes Around (Interlude) are the rare ballads that achieve emotional tension without key-changing histrionics.

THE CAPTAIN & THE KID ELTON JOHN THIS 31-YEARS-later sequel to Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is not exactly evidence that John is pursuing new vistas of songwriting. But in the comfortable setting of his AM-radio salad days, he bangs out several irresistible tunes (Tinderbox, Blues Never Fade Away), and Bernie Taupin produces a typically serviceable string of lyrics. The most interesting element here is John's voice; it's a lot scruffier than you might remember. At 59, he stretches to hit the high notes he used to kill, yet the strain gives his glossiest songs something they have never had before: a little grit.

FREE TO STAY SMOOSH THE AGES OF Seattle-based sisters Asya and Chloe--that would be 14 and 12--make Smoosh seem like a joke band. But the songs, written mostly on keyboards and drums, are 100% for real. Find a Way, Free to Stay and Gold deliver instant sunshine without being mannered or juvenile. The lyrics hew to the pop tradition of saying everything and nothing, except that in Asya's high tremolo, phrases like "I don't know why I do these things/ I always regret them/ In the end" sound deeply sincere and possibly even meaningful. Listen to this very good album now and expect even better things from Smoosh down the road.