Rock majors

This is the season when new albums flood the digital retailers and brick-and-mortar stores. Here's a look at some new, noteworthy titles.

KT Tunstall, "Drastic Fantastic" (Virgin)

Here she is, the Scottish folkie-turned-reassured rocker. Tunstall, whose debut album sold a million copies in the U.S. alone, returns with mellower songs that avoid easy answers. There are pop songs with breakout choruses to fill sports stadiums ("I Don't Want You Now," "Little Favours") and other ragged popcraft like "Hold On" -- a natural bookend to her mega-hit "Cherry Tree" -- that keeps her inner hippie lit.

There is also the unexpected: Tunstall's more experimental side is channeled both through quiet but illuminating chamber pop ("Paper Aeroplane," "Beauty of Uncertainty") and dense, fuzz rockers ("Funnyman"). Three years ago, her brooding, tough vocals seemed like a strange match, but on these songs they sound perfectly aligned.

Steve Earle, "Washington Square Serenade" (New West)

Steve Earle recently relocated from Tennessee to New York City, which provides the title and backdrop for this new album. "Goodbye guitar town," he sings during its first moments. Whatever the location, these new songs sound homeless. The grit and unfettered eye that marked his best work is absent. Instead, this is a lightweight collection -- scruffy acoustics in the vein of Paul Simon's "Me and Julio" ("City of Immigrants"), what sounds to be a plug for his Sirius radio show ("Satellite Radio"), a self-important spoken word rant ("Down Here") and a love song with cringe-inducing lyrics like these: "sparks fly whenever we meet/breathless cause she's so cool."

Earle is cool deficient, mostly because everything he's relating is old news. While a backwoods drug narrative ("Oxycontin Blues") and some dusty, distorted blues ("Red is the Color") are flashes of this songwriter's early aces, here it's mostly rehashes and easy sentiment.

Eddie Vedder, "Into the Wild" (J Records)

Here is the inaugural Eddie Vedder solo record, a companion to a new Sean Penn film about real-life explorer Christopher McCandless. Think of it as a rage-free Pearl Jam album, instead a quieter Americana affair with Vedder handling all the instruments. He has the perfect voice of solitude in these songs, imagining life from the perspective of the film's lead character who forsakes modern life in favor of the Alaskan wild. With mandolin and banjo at the edges, the songs are pleasant enough, but, true to the assignment, are brief and lack dynamics, sounding more appropriate as screen filler than a solid album listen. One great reason for not walking away is Vedder's cover of "Hard Sun," the great forgotten single by one-album Canadian wonder Indio. With Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker on backing vocals, it's a tribute to a great song packed with soul.

Mark Knopfler, "Kill to Get Crimson" (Warner Bros.)

Long since he ended Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler has opted for quieter albums that capitalize on his low, reedy vocals and melting guitar. Each one had its moments, but this latest addition is more aimed to please. These snug and wry songs are self-assured ("True Love Will Never Fade") and inviting. Instead of heavy guitar flash, Knopfler excels at campfire folk tales ("Secondary Waltz," "Heart Full of Holes") that illuminate with accordion, mandolin and fiddle. Moments of guitar atmosphere and jagged riffs ("We Can Wild," "Punish the Monkey") show that while he's getting comfortable at this stage in the game, Knopfler has not lost his irrefutable wit.

Joni Mitchell, "Shine" (Hear Music)

A few years ago, Joni Mitchell announced her retirement from the recording industry, which she described as a "cesspool." That was in the "B.S." era, or "Before Starbucks." Now with the corporate coffee chain a major retailer for CDs, Mitchell is signed to their house label, resulting in this new album, her first in nine years. From the first piano chords, Mitchell's signature sound and stark moods are present. In case that's not enough, she also re-records "Big Yellow Taxi," her best-known song. That works against the rest of this album, a set of mostly tuneless exercises lacking ingenious wordplay. Mitchell's conversational vocals attach to nothing here; piano and strings underplay clunky lyrics ("men love war/is that what God is for … for shock and awe") that offer no poetry to her politic posture. Here are mostly rants -- during the seven minutes of "Shine," she complains about everything from the Catholic church to drivers who pass from the right lane. That's L.A. for you.

The Donnas, "Bitchin'" (Purple Feather)

The Donnas are now seven albums into their Ramones/Runaways imprint, which helped elevate them from a teenage novelty act to actual classic rock torchbearers. This latest will slide in nicely along with the Heart, Kiss, Motley Crue and Def Leppard albums in your collection. These four ladies are well-schooled in all the mullet rock cliches and play them with full ownership. ("What Do I Have to Do" features a cowbell solo, even!) This new album is short on new ideas and hooks and by now sounds like a recycling of even their own albums. That doesn't mean songs like "Wasted" or "Love You Til It Hurts" won't sound excellent at the next kegger you plan on hosting when the parents are out of town. Raise a beer high and sing along to sentiments like "the first time I saw your face I got wasted on your love." Ace Frehley couldn't have said it better.