Jason Mraz - Mr. A-Z

Jason Mraz's breakthrough 2002 hit, "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)" established him as a funnier, funkier version of John Mayer, custom-built for The O.C. set. On Mr. A-Z, the Virginia singer-songwriter continues mixing up folk melodies and hip-hop beats. He also keeps making heroic stabs at humor that would have gone down like a storm in his coffeehouse days but typically backfire on record. Fortunately, producer Steve Lillywhite (U2, Dave Matthews Band, Peter Gabriel) is on hand to clean things up, giving even the most bumbling lyrical experiments, such as "Wordplay" and "Geek in the Pink," at least the illusion of a newfound maturity. --Aidin Vaziri