The fifth album from Staind sees this Fred Durst-sponsored New England post-grunge quartet continue to delve the depths of their tortured psyche with Biblical seriousness: quite literally, in fact, in the case of "Paper Jesus", "Cross To Bear", and "Devil" - a suite of songs which suggest that, for vocalist Aaron Lewis, working through his issues is something of a gruelling spiritual struggle. To date, it's a formula that hasn't always washed with UK audiences, who tend to prefer their angst expressed with slightly less scab-picking seriousness. Chapter V, however, tones down the acoustic edge in favour of a few more robust rockers: the opening "Run Away" balances its rather mordant verses with dynamic moments of clanging hard-rock reminiscent of Papa Roach, while the aforementioned "Paper Jesus" showcases a band not afraid to lay on the chug now and again. It's true that Pearl Jam fans may well get off on the brooding grunge soul of "Schizophrenic Conversations" and "Please", but in general Chapter V is the sort of solid but conventional fare that should only really trouble fans of the genre -Louis Pattison.

Dreamland is Robert Plant's first solo album-in name at least-for nigh on a decade. Plant's latest backing band-who toil under the slightly naff cabaret-circuit moniker of Strange Sensation-have a lithe and serpentine approach to fusing American revivalist folk with the blues and modernist alt-rock (Plant even namechecks the Flaming Lips as an influence)-all this in spite of the fact that they are drawn from such non-Kerrang!-subscribing musicians as Porl Thompson (The Cure), Justin Adams (Jah Wobble), Clive Deamer (Portishead) and John Baggott (Portishead, Massive Attack). Occasionally, this spontaneity finds them following their investigative noses down a blind alley-"Hey Joe", for all its free-form psychedelia, has "jam session" written all over it-but these trifling shortcomings are eclipsed by the hauntingly meditative "Morning Dew" (Bonnie Dobson's flicker of light in the darkness of 1960's nuclear war neurosis) and terrifically reinterpretative versions of familiar standards and neglected jewels, particularly Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" (with warm Arabian strings) and an Anglicised-roots-via-heavy-rock shuffle through Bukka White's "Fixin' To Die". Often, covers albums are rot-stopping attempts to stall for time issued by dried-up "has-beens" but Dreamland exudes devil-may-care, barrier-smashing self-belief. -Kevin Maidment.

The Reason, the second album from clean-cut Californian mall-rockers Hoobastank, is a massive improvement on the band's eponymous 2002 debut. It's a thoughtful and passionate alt-rock set that consigns many of the band's more obvious influences to the dustbin and proves that even rock's most transparent copyists deserve a second chance to make a first impression. Frontman Doug Robb has shaken off his rather Brandon Boyd-esque vocal affectations and now sounds very much like his own man, riding bruising rockers such as "Just One" and "Let It Out" with a flexible emotional range and sharp ear for a scream-along chorus. The band, meanwhile, have grown into an altogether different beast, guitarist Dan Estrin coaxing his fretboard from deft, nostalgia-pricked melodicism to complex metal riffing with evident skill, and the powerhouse rhythm section of bassist Markku Lappalainen and drummer Chris Hesse firing off virtuostic dynamic flourishes right through to the last climactic lap of the closing "Disappear". It's true, Hoobastank's rather bland, cookie-cutter image probably won't do them any favours in today's cooler-than-thou alternative marketplace, but you overlook this album at your peril. -Louis Pattison.