When Radiohead began to explore electronic textures on Kid A, it fell to upstart U.K. bands such as Coldplay, Travis, Starsailor and Muse to provide the world with disconsolate, Pink Floyd-worthy guitar rock. So give Muse, from the English town of Teignmouth, some credit for adopting Radiohead's bombastic Bends approach and adding prog-rock-style instrumental virtuosity. "Apocalypse Please," the turbulent opening cut, is stitched with almost Liberace-esque piano pounding and fluttering guitar arpeggios. It's too bad that vocalist Matt Bellamy doesn't bring as much ingenuity to his singing — on brooding, quiet tunes such as "Ruled by Secrecy," it's as if Thom Yorke and Jeff Buckley are the only singers he's ever heard.

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."