New from The Strokes and Chris Brown

THE STROKES "Angles" Grade: B

The Strokes' fourth album, "Angles" (RCA), could have been a return to breakthrough "Is This It" form. It could have been the long-awaited next step in their evolution, following the ambitious, underappreciated "First Impressions of Earth." Unfortunately, it's neither.







Instead, "Angles" is an exercise in band dynamics, an example of how compromise doesn't always work and why true rock-band democracies are few and far between. That becomes all the more maddening after such a promising start.

The dueling guitar styles of Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi on "Machu Picchu" — part Afro-pop, part British invasion — successfully suggest the more ambitious route. The shuffling minimalist rock groove and Julian Casablancas' enticing ache in "Under Cover of Darkness," the first single, plops us right back in 2001, when The Strokes led a bumper crop of "the" bands and a new fascination with the Lower East Side. And "Two Kinds of Happiness" offers something else entirely, moving from loping new wave a la The Cars' "Tonight She Comes" to a frenzied guitar battle.

It starts to unravel from there, though. Soon, we get only fragments of good ideas, flashes of brilliance surrounded by the half-heartedness that comes from trying to keep everyone happy.

"Angles" shows how hard it is to keep five talented, opinionated guys moving in the same direction, but it also shows how great The Strokes can be when they do.

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CHRIS BROWN "F.A.M.E." Grade: C

Even if Chris Brown gets his wish and no one remembers he punched Rihanna in the face, his new album, "F.A.M.E." (Jive), still sounds lost.

Brown needs a new persona. He can't pull off the street tough like his collaborators in "Deuces" or "Look at Me Now," especially after Busta Rhymes steals that one. He's not believable as the sweet innocent in the Michael Jackson-sampling "She Ain't You" or the forlorn "Should've Kissed You." That leaves him with anonymous dance artist, which he adequately plays in "Yeah 3x" and "Beautiful People." Maybe he can hide out there for a while.

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HOT SONG

Nelly and Kelly Rowland are certainly hoping lightning strikes twice with Nelly's new single, "Gone" (Universal Motown). Like their 2002 smash "Dilemma," "Gone" finds Nelly and Kelly in throwback-soul mode, with an R&B ballad that keeps the modern trappings to a minimum and focuses on the melody like they were the new-millennium Ashford and Simpson. Simple can be effective, and they have the balance right here. "Gone" is definitely going places.