Custom template for different post types

I’d recommend Custom Post Types : http://codex.wordpress.org/Post_Types#Custom_Post_Types

You can add appropriate meta boxes to each post type : http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/add_meta_box

You can define specific front end templates for each post type : http://codex.wordpress.org/Post_Types#Custom_Post_Type_Templates

Instead of a dropdown, you would have distinct menu items for each “thing” ( Review, Albums, etc ).