By JASON SILVERSTEIN Mention Slipknot to most anyone and it still evokes the same old image: Nine guys in jumpsuits and faux-scary masks, insistently banging out crude hate anthems that nobody done with puberty could actually relate to.

By JASON SILVERSTEIN "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" sounds like a "High Fidelity" for the iTunes generation, which also sounds like a hipster disaster waiting to happen.

By JASON SILVERSTEIN System of a Down never had a full-on, Beatlesesque creative meltdown, but any longtime fan probably could have guessed there was some tension rising in the band during its past few years.

By JASON SILVERSTEIN "Runaway," the opening song on Thriving Ivory's self-titled debut, lays out the blueprint for all the tricks the band fills the rest of the album with: Showy production, sky-high choruses, elegant keyboard fills, soaring melodies and maybe the occasional overbearing orchestra.

By JASON SILVERSTEIN Would anyone even care about "The Rocker" if Rainn Wilson wasn't in it? After all, it's your typical dime-a-dozen comedy where a simple trailer viewing tells you everything you need to know, including the fact that it's probably not the wisest choice at the multiplex.