For die-hard Built to Spill [ tickets ] fans, it seems almost an eternity since the band's last full-length, 2001's "Ancient Melodies from the Future," was released. And in the world of accelerated pop-culture, in some ways, an eternity it has been.

The band's sixth proper LP--and its fourth for Warner Bros.--marks a new direction. Gone is longtime producer Phil Ek, and in his place stands a band pushing forward in both sound and texture. The album's looser, more organic nature should allow the songs the freedom to open up in a live setting.

Unlike its predecessor, "You in Reverse" wastes no time kicking things off from its first track, "Goin' Against Your Mind." An accelerated, driving listen, "Goin' Against" sets the pace for the rest of the LP with its eight-and-a-half minutes of Crazy Horse-like rave-ups. Also not unlike Crazy Horse, the band changes things up by the next track, landing in bouncy, near-oop territory with the excellent "Liars."

Brass tacks: Is this album on the same plane as the band's critically lauded earlier work? No. Is it a welcome return to form from where they left off in 2001 with the scripted and sterile "Ancient Melodies From The Future"? Absolutely. For this reviewer, it's getting better with every listen, and that's about all one can ask for in a record.