"Graduation," last in a trilogy begun three years ago with "The College Dropout" and "Late Registration," contains similar crossover elements: the agile wordplay, a strong melodic sense and a judicious use of tuneful samples hop-scotching across genres. Gone are the James Bond and Ray Charles samples of "Late Registration" and in come recognizable sound bites from Steely Dan, Daft Punk, Michael Jackson and Elton John, plus a guest vocal from Coldplay's Chris Martin.

The Daft Punk electro rhythm layered into the current single, "Stronger," may be West's best example yet of stitching samples together with live keyboards, strings and percussion. Even better than his much-loved "Gold Digger" hit, "Stronger" rides its knotty synth clatter into fresh territory.

Gloria Estefan, "90 Millas" ★★

With "90 Millas," Gloria Estefan returns to her Latin and Cuban roots, but she doesn't seem to know where they are anymore. This CD is not bad - it's far too expertly done - but it's mechanical and uninspired, and all its illustrious guest stars, from Santana to Arturo Sandoval, can't bring it to life.

The weakest link is Gloria's singing, which is weirdly tight for someone who's sung dance music her whole career, with no swing, no rhythmic energy and surprisingly little emotion. Every time a song starts to cook, her voice holds it back, and the music never takes off.