Chris Cornell -- Carry On (Suretone / Interscope) With the release of Carry On, Chris Cornell once again finds himself band-less. Judging by this most unremarkable solo effort, solo is not a comfortable place for the man who once fronted Soundgarden and Audioslave.

The album starts solidly enough with "No Such Thing," a track that throbs with the energy of early Soundgarden. But the next dozen songs are as forgettable as filler gets. Cornell often finds himself playing the balladeer, yet none of these tracks matches even half the earnestness of Audioslave's "Getaway Car." His darkened version of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" doesn't help, either: Nothing about the poppy lyrics mesh with Cornell's unsmiling delivery. The album closes with "You Know My Name," which appeared in last year's Bond flick Casino Royale. Carry On was plenty long without this inclusion, but the song gives listeners a point to skip to on an otherwise mediocre album.

Crowded House -- Time on Earth (ATO) In its heyday, Crowded House could do no wrong. Celebrated by record nerds and Top-40 audiences alike, the Australian band made sincere, Beatlesesque pop music anyone could enjoy. Roughly 10 years after breaking up the group and going solo, singer and guitarist Neil Finn has reunited with bassist Nick Seymour and revived the old brand name.

While only two original members play on Time on Earth - keyboardist Mark Hart joined in 1992, well into the band's career - Crowded House always has been Finn's baby. As such, the new material has all the effortless melody and earnest sentiment one might expect.

Of the 14 tracks, only three or four manage to break the delicate lull Finn attempts to stretch from start to finish. The best of these is "Even a Child," a lively tune that bears the unmistakable mark of its co-writer, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr.

Finn remains an undeniable pop master, but he's fallen short of recapturing the understated passion that made his earlier work so universally appealing.