CHIEF KEEF Finally Rich [Interscope] Taken out of context, the songs on Chief Keef’s big-league debut aren’t terribly remarkable. The Chicago rapper slurs his way through slang-heavy lines about liquor, drugs, money, guns, jewelry, foreign cars and occasionally the validation and security that come with success. He’s blunt and boastful, an unrepentant gangsta who found internet fame while under house arrest. The interesting thing: Keef is just... 

NO DOUBT Push and Shove  [Interscope] When Gwen Stefani sings, “Never, ever, ever gonna be the same,” the opening line on “Sparkle,” a standout track from No Doubt’s first new album in 10 years, she’s not kidding. With its brassy accents and fat-bottom, pop-reggae bounce, the tune recalls the 2002 hit “Underneath It All,” itself a reminder of No Doubt’s roots as the little SoCal ska band that could. But “Sparkle” is the exception... 

SNOW PATROL Fallen Empires [Interscope] Despite considerable success in the U.K. and Ireland, Snow Patrol’s popularity in America lags behind fellow Brit-rockers like Coldplay. But while Coldplay’s albums have come to feel increasingly hollow in their grandiosity, Snow Patrol’s latest continues to hone the cinematic, downhearted sound that has yielded a string of platinum albums abroad. The band experiments a little here with pounding drums... 

LADY GAGA Born This Way [Interscope] Maybe she should have saved “Just Dance” for this one: Lady Gaga’s new album is a high-energy collection of booming club beats and crazed synthesizers on 14 new songs stuffed full of pop hooks. Gaga (Stefani Germanotta to her mom) has a message this time, too: Be yourself. She hits the theme on the Madonna-esque title track, asserts herself with her ’do on “Hair” (featuring Clarence Clemons on saxophone)... 

JIMMY EAT WORLD Invented [Interscope] Since settling on its sound—the widescreen arena-emo of 2001’s Bleed American, one of the decade’s defining albums—Jimmy Eat World has been in a holding pattern. It can’t make music that’s bigger or more earnest without becoming U2, but pulling back would be a retreat. With its seventh full-length album, the Arizona quartet finds a subtle way to push things forward. Instead of churning out another... 

KELIS Flesh Tone [Interscope] In this post-Black Eyed Peas world, it’s not enough for R&B singers to make genre records. The key, as Rihanna and Christina Aguilera can attest, is to move the masses with futuristic dance pop. This is fine by Kelis, an artist who has long dabbled in hip-hop and minimalist funk, showing a willingness to color outside the lines. On her fifth album, the Harlem-born singer does the dance-makeover thing on her own...