The EP is five songs of huge, intricate, explosive guitar work, thumping drums that refuse to take a rest, Day and O'Connor's signature call-and-return vocals, the occasional necessary breakdown and gang vocal portion, and the catchiest choruses FYS has ever penned.

Ultimately, though, regardless of whether Hansard is cribbing moves from his own country's heritage, or from one of the biggest rock stars in American history, he manages to make it all his own thanks to the quality of his songwriting and the passion behind his performances.

Lyrically and musically (guitarists Luke Kilpatrick and Jeff Ling showcase impressive tapping and riffing throughout), this is Parkway Drive at its best--combining the best elements from its previous albums and expanding on them to create an album that encompasses all your senses.

For this record, Lana Del Rey went all out with her ambition, bringing her vision to life in a way that only she could. She's making music that only she could make, that possess a unique sound no one else is bringing to the table right now.

With A U R O R A, Ben Frost has crafted an unimpeachable story of weathering the most abrasive elements of existence and emerging stronger for the trials endured.

Most importantly, the album extends the reaches of their previous effort and makes an even bigger dent.

The only time the record comes across as flawed is the manner in which certain tracks happen to run into each other, however largely, this is easy to ignore when the rest of the record is so great. Local Business is certainly the business.

What we end up with on Cope is not only an album that’s worth the wait, but one that seems to be pretty distinctly illuminating a path: soft-to-loud, simplicity over complexity and emotional release through power chords.

Tapestry of Webs makes the band's debut EP seem like forgotten practice demos. Across the board, the album displays acts of jazz, salsa and anti-post-pop (if that's a word), and it all leaves the listener coming back for more.

It's evident from the musicianship, from the instrumentation, from the lyrics, and from the vocal delivery that Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me is a record of progression and refinement; released halfway through 2011, it will go down among the best of the heavy hitters this year.

Overall, the EP works wonders, given largely to the fact that it contains unreleased tracks from sessions of the band's greatest, most straightforward work to date.

Taylor still crams an awful lot of herself into these verses and choruses, to the point where most of these songs hit a new sound, but are still unmistakably her.

Tarot Classics so efficiently sets to buoyant, energetic music a viewpoint that is not only discontent but increasingly disinterested. And it's all somewhat hidden, because party tunes these can still be.

As long as they keep crafting albums as fresh, loose and fun as Remedy, chances are they’ll keep this truck roaring for another two decades.

On the whole, American Beauty/American Psycho is Fall Out Boy's most consistent and bottom-line best album ever.

Whether Murder by Death ever gets the credit they so richly deserve still remains to be seen. But more albums as dominant, complete and enriching as Big Dark Love probably won’t hurt their cause. In an era dominated by singles and ample amounts of filler, it is a delight to hear an album as engrossing as this.

EVOL is one of if not the best project Future has under his name, and while it may not feel as grandiose and capital I Important as DS2 in his legacy, it pushes his sound forward while he continues to stretch himself as an MC, songwriter, and lyricist.

It's the sound of a veteran band coming back to the game without missing a beat, and churning out some of their best, liveliest, and catchiest material in the process.

The regression in complexity seems to underscore the band's endorsement of arrested development as the secret to eternal youth. Their perpetual glee suggests that maybe they're onto something.

At the end of the day, Rise of The Lion was the record that Miss May I needed to make in order to continue as a band.02

There are moments of despair, but on the whole, Lift a Sail rings as an uplifting testament to love and human resilience.

It's the ambiguity of styles, the insistence on bringing the listener along for a journey, that makes Total Life Forever such an endlessly interesting statement.

Our Home is a Deathbed is not only a vulnerable record lyrically, but also for its time and place in the current hardcore scene as well.

It’s been too long since we’ve heard a great acoustic album where the vocals, lyrics, and guitar work all work to complement the other parts perfectly. On Clouded, This Wild Life achieve just that, resulting in what will end up being one of the most impressive debut albums of the year.

Easily their most consistent release yet, it’s unquestionably one of the best albums of the year.

This is necessary listening for the carefree weeks before school picks up again in the fall, and it's a record you'll end up holding near throughout the entire semester and then some.

Its not as bare bones as NLDW, but it's every bit as in-your-face and aggressive as you would expect from a Death Grips record.

Title Fight isn't trying to reshape the sound of punk--they just want you to listen to better music. Floral Green accomplishes that and more.