Lines, Vines and Trying Times

From the opening salvo, "World War III," an intense little prog-funk number written by Nick Jonas, it is clear that the Jonas Brothers' fourth studio album is not a bid for more 'tween stardom, but rather a step towards creative daring and maturity. But those who've been watching the band since the start have noticed that the talented Brothers are anything but a pre-fab studio trick.
Strong instrumental and writing chops abound here on synth-rockers like "What Did I Do to Your Heart" and melodic power-pop anthems "Paranoid," "Poison Ivy," "Much Better," and "Don't Speak." Not everything works completely; the metallic pseudo-hip-hop track "Don't Charge me for the Crime," featuring rapper Common, seems like a bit of a reach, and some treacly ballads have been allowed to leak in, but the good outweighs the bad, and makes the future for this band seem limitless.