Those who enjoy seeking out the layers of composition and the finest of details will no doubt appreciate and gravitate towards a record as expertly crafted as this.

Almost two decades later, and they prove why everyone continues to keep tabs and standards for not only the band, but everyone around trying to live up to the influence.

On The King is Dead, The Decemberists decided to fully immerse themselves in a style they've flirted with for years.

The decision not to focus on immediate pop hooks is really a blessing, though, as this album showcases Spoon at their loosest and most diverse.

What's fascinating about The Color Spectrum (and easily comparable to a contemporary like The Alchemy Index) is how expansive the quality of the records are in their execution.

The genius of Lights Out is that it packs a punch without any gimmicks.

Frank Turner definitely does whatever he wants, and he's a lot better at it than I am at pretty much everything.

Overall, Dormarion is one of the most eclectic, fun records of the year.

It’s an intelligent, creative, and engaging album. It’s a blast to listen to, too.

What Antonoff has accomplished with Bleachers that he hasn’t yet with fun. or never did with Steel Train is create an album that inspires as much as it transports. It’s so sure and precise in its vision that it almost feels like a concept album without a concept.

Run The Jewels is its own beast, and the combination of Killer Mike and El-P creating rap music together is one of, if not the most exciting thing happening in hip-hop right now.

It should be viewed as a major step-up from Reach For The Sun.

Issues' debut album is not only a more cohesive effort, but it's the immediate answer to naysayers who say claim the band will immediately fade away into irrelevancy.

Despite displaying their love of hardcore through certain parts of the album, Dinosaur Jr have created the most accessible heavy album of this year, with every track being suitable for any radio station or soundtrack.

For all of the baggage that comes included with Helplessness Blues, it is still a relaxing, folk-y Fleet Foxes record.

Branan is a supremely confident songwriter who is not too proud to poke fun at both his craft and his profession. That sense of levity makes The No-Hit Wonder worth many repeated listens. Easily one of the best country albums of 2014.

In place of Pluto and Honest’s love songs are emissions from the depths of Future’s psyche where light is unable to penetrate and whose denizens are twisted and ferocious.

When all is said and done, New Multitudes is a staggering work and a crowning achievement.

Loom is just the band's first full-length, even though it sounds like a band's third or fourth album--a testament to the band's ambition and skill, which will ultimately place Frameworks in the same room with genre-pillars Touché Amoré, Pianos Become The Teeth, and La Dispute.

It's a very satisfying record, and it's the type of album where every song will probably be your favorite at some point, and you'll almost certainly have each of them stuck in your head at some point in the next week.

The album is something of a rollercoaster of musical styles, songwriting approaches and emotions. But most importantly, transcending it all, is Ritter's astounding power to make us hang on every word.

Omni is accessible yet not watered down; complex and engaging all at once. Its catchy and progressive elements will surely dig its way into your cerebellum.

Put simply, Mount Moriah is a compelling debut full of candidness, thoughtfully well crafted and relatable lyrics, beautiful vocals with the ability to mesmerizing, and dare I say it, already an aura and element of timelessness destined to surround it.

It is that constant desire to create new music that makes Heaven so deeply rewarding and so worth the time.

Typically the band can be found tiptoeing the edge of shameless, binge-drinking punk rock ("Titus Andronicus Forever"). It's better when they're loud, I think, because it makes Stickles' doubt seem more immediate, like there's a time limit to his sanity.

This record is bold, uncompromising, and one of the best and most important in its genre to come out in an already exceptional year.

This is plainly Beyoncé’s most personal album yet, one forged in the fires of public miscarriages, a wrenching journey that does as much to combat this years Yeezus-led political misogyny as it complements with its own version of black empowerment and self-love, one that is staunchly, inclusively, womanist.

John is still going strong and better than ever. A few listens to The Diving Board proves exactly that.

Easily one of his strongest releases to date, if not his best, The Happiness Waltz is the very reason why musical history should have a small chapter for this criminally overlooked songwriter.

Whatever genre you’re into, whatever your favourite publication has said about these guys; Iceage are here to stay and You’re Nothing is one of the best albums of its time.

Truth be told, finding a clunker on the second half is a tall order and that simple fact is what makes History of Modern so rewarding.

Henry Tremain does a fine job replacing the ever-inventive Stuart Smith on vocals. His lyrics aren't that much fun to sing, but they're nice to read.

Sympathy isn't all cartwheels and picnics. But even in the face of death, there is optimism in Eiseland's songwriting that makes you want to listen regardless of mood.

Youth Lagoon will never reproduce anything like The Year of Hibernation. I think in 2011, this is called The Bon Iver Effect. The result of fame is that Powers will never be in this place again. But maybe that's best.

Plastic Beach is a full blown hip-hop/trip-hop album and a prime example of how to stray away from one genre to dominate another. If Albarn has done anything with this project, he has shown his knowledge of flawless production and the ability to create aesthetically pleasing tunes.

Eighties punk enthusiasts with a taste for hip modern bands like Japandroids, Tapes 'n Tapes and (the late) Jay Reatard, or hell, anyone who can appreciate spirited rock music delivered with verve, should find The Soft Pack to be a delightful and exciting listen.

Just like the three-eyed beast that graces the cover, Wolverines is a mean and lean punk rock record that sets the bar once again.

This is The Get Up Kids years later folks. The familiar nuances have been rearranged and built into something stronger, but the attitude and depth is all the same, if not more adhesive and much more endearing than before.

At the end of the day, when you look at this album, everything just fires on all cylinders--lyrically, vocally, instrumentally.

By teaming up with some of the best producers in the r&b/hip-hop genre right now, including frequent Drake collaborators T-Minus and Boi-1da, Kelly Rowland has managed to make one of the best sounding r&b albums of the year.

Largely, (III) is an excellent album. Crystal Castles have not just recreated their first two records, they have developed as a band and their sound has morphed greatly.

The anxiety-ridden sound of Kveikur is the best the band has produced since their breakthrough album, and seems promising to yield only more rewarding results in the future.

Very much a step forward from last year’s The Coming Tide, Everlasting Arms is a sterling effort from an artist who fully understands who he is and what he is and is absolutely loving every minute of it.

Echoing themes that bubble beneath the surface of all his work both with TSMZ and Godspeed, Menuck spins vitriol and tenderness, desperation and hope into a narrative that is both vivid and somewhat frightening.

The band has sprinted forward and earned an Olympic title of the "P" word. I Was Trying to Describe You To Someone is going to turn heads and only gain more respect and fans in the process.

Foundations of Burden is the sound of an already excellent band reaching their potential, and in the process setting a new standard for the genre.

Almost Everything is a triumphant, forward-thinking and near perfect effort. With a disc this good, the piano-pop genre just might have its new hero.

Sure she's unconventional, a bit puzzling but in the end she is undeniably rewarding and compelling. Hell, come to think of it, Hunting My Dress might be one of 2010's most pleasant surprises.

The album has the feel of a stopping-off point of sorts for a band an evolutionary path, headed toward an even higher level of greatness.

Not only is The Powerless Rise As I Lay Dying’s heaviest album to date, it also features a splendor not heard on past releases.

Aside from some quirky song titles, there's little about Land of Talk that's abnormal. In the end, they're just solid all the way around.

Helplessness Blues is one of the few things reminding me that behind the liquor stores and condominiums is a little freedom and a lot of hope.

In a word, Pablo is fun, and it’s fun in a way that a Kanye album hasn’t been in nearly a decade, since Graduation’s pop-rap coup marked his commercial peak.

Burst Apart retains all the band's compositional prowess and aural splendor, but it's also a record we can truly celebrate.

Hebrews isn't the return to form listeners may have been expecting from Say Anything; instead it's something entirely better.

Few rap albums are this smart, this detailed, and this concerned with its culture. It's the kind of record that could easily collapse under its own weight, but is repeatedly hoisted up by the impenetrable musical foundations.

Marriages created a ride not worth getting off until it ends.

Contra is still a Vampire Weekend album and it's certainly one that past fans will presently like. It may be less vigorous, but only if you're searching the surface.

John Legend and The Roots have followed the most important rules when covering material from other artists: you need to keep that signature sound that made the original important, while also adding that something special to make it your own.

Top to bottom this album feels like a classic; a show stopper. No thrills, no cheap tricks and gimmicks.

In and Out of Youth and Lightness is not going to be an album for the impatient. A few listens are needed to soak in every layer this album has to offer.

Hands Of Glory is yet another right step in a discography which is yet to falter or fail. This is as essential as a bits and bobs album comes.

For near-perfectly executed indie-pop, we the lucky listeners don't have to wait for a "next time." Cults have struck gold the first time out.

Without a doubt, this is all a lot to swallow, especially for long time fans of the band. Pure pop escapism this isn't, but as proof-positive that a band can evolve into legitimate artists without resorting to navel-gazing, it's wholly triumphant.

Human Hearts, their new fourth album and first release in almost four years, is no exception, and in fact may be their best work to date.

Garden Window shows how a band can be just as destructive without cranking ones volumes up.

The Whole Love is much more encompassing of everything vital in the Wilco catalog, the twangy, the noisy, and yes, a little of the leisurely.

Make no mistake, Indestructible Machine is the sound of promise, the sound of hope and ultimately the sound of something truly special unfolding.

A genre-bending, head-turning collection that vaults ZBB to the top of the roots-rock pedestal.

Young Guns are vastly talented and laden with armfuls of potential. One listen to Bones proves that.

To put it simply, Eminem is back. There are some truly essential songs on Recovery, and even the weak tracks are an improvement from the debacle that was Relapse.

Brothers is a rock and roll takeover, as The Black Keys flex their muscles and make their presence known towards all imitators. The variety between tempos, melodies, and genres will keep you coming back to this record.

As a whole, Life Fantastic is the band's most accessible album yet, full of memorable hooks while retaining the eccentricity and theatricality that have become synonymous with the band.

Known as much for their rambunctiousness as their literate ways, Steel Train have managed to take all the hallmarks of their sound but pushed them even farther. And yet never once is their sound compromised.

Chaplin, Rice-Oxley and drummer Richard Hughes, chased down something different while still remaining true to their former records. Not only does it work, it provides a valuable lesson for bands that are far too afraid of taking risks.

Waking Season is the most dynamic and affecting record of this year and probably last year (too lazy to look).

Wreckorder is the sound of a songwriter firmly embodying the spirit of Britpop and testing himself. "Sing Me To Sleep," and "As It Comes," also point towards signs of maturation that were never seen in the Travis back catalog.

The way I see Torches, it's not so much music as a vehicle to convey their message, but more so just fun music for the sake of fun music, and well, you have to have lyrics, don't you?

This is Winterpills at their finest, this is Winterpills with a direction and a clear focus.

It's good to listen to a record like The People's Key, if for no other reason, just to appreciate a songwriter who knew exactly what he wanted to do and executed it perfectly.

Gallows will arguably divide the fanbase between a hint of less grit at times and a vocalist not quite harnessing the same volatile nature as before--therefore yielding what is arguably the band's most diverse record in terms of execution.

They have taken what they knew they were at good first time round, shed some of the cliche post rock elements and pressed on in a direction which at this stage in their career was perhaps a safer bet as opposed to trying something completely new, but it was the right bet.

Angles is the best Strokes album since their 2001 debut, and they still sound just as fresh and youthful as they did when they released that record.

Gutter Rainbows may be the most accessible and varied album in his discography.

After we leave the forebodingly beautiful place of Little Hell one thing is certain--this is City and Colour's finest, most creative work to date.

The honesty behind Hello Sadness is remarkable and incredibly appealing.

The instrumentation is luscious and variable, the harmonies are wonderful, the lyrics are solid and compelling for the most part, and with such a lovely blend of slower and up-tempo tracks to choose from, Overlook is something you definitely don't want to do in regards to what might just be considered Maria Taylor's finest solo effort to date.

The quintet has a real pulse on how to be memorable, melodic and magnificent without sacrificing their defined visions.

Certainly, this is the band's greatest overall work since Recipe For Hate. It's tightly condensed, compellingly charming and whipsmart storytelling.

The end result is this expertly-crafted, inoffensive, hook-laden pop. Though it gets a bit silly in places, the core of this disc is far too good to pass up.

So it is in just nine short songs, Kinsella has crafted something deeply resonant, deeply impacting and most importantly, timeless.

Mirror Traffic, Malkmus's fifth post-Pavement album, is proof that the singer, now 45, hasn't lost an ounce of what made him an iconic figure in the '90s.

Their ventures paid off supremely, as One Life Stand is an enjoyable and captivating listen on every level.

Tripper sounds like Hill and Seim naturally hashed some tunes out--just with some better years of experience behind them to reflect back on.

All told, Positive Songs for Negative People is Frank Turner's most complete album since Love, Ire & Song, and perhaps his best as well.

The point is, there's nothing not to like about Shame, Shame unless you're looking for some inscrutable puzzle to solve. However, if you want something you can just sit back and soak up, well, missing this album would be the real shame.

Taylor's original 1989 is made even more interesting and worthy of discussion by Ryan's overtly classic rock-ified version, while Ryan's version is intriguing as both a personal expression and a reaction to one of the biggest albums we're likely to see come along in our lifetimes.

The album never gets stagnant and avoids the pitfalls of sticking to the same sound or mellowing out with age and ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead have quite a few albums in them yet.