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.

Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired is just completely enthralling.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is exactly as advertised: it's a journey through West's deepest thoughts, showcasing all the facets to his persona (from his bravado to his insecurities) over a pristine collection of all his signature sounds.

One Wing is equal parts raw, deranged, beautiful, and immense--it's a very primal and exhausting release; something you can feel pouring out of your speakers.

This is something that has no expiration date.

It's bold, intelligent, and demanding--taking all your emotions and senses and beating them to a pulp while going to a place sonically that’s essentially been untouched by its peers.

With From Parts Unknown, Every Time I Die have hit the Ultimate Splash on its competition, absolutely cementing its legacy as one of the greatest heavy bands of our generation.

The combination of his idiosyncratic creative mind with his highly personal and conflicted lyrics has resulted in something spectacular.

It's officially a biennial tradition that The Wonder Years release a new record that happens to be their best record to date.

Carrie & Lowell leaves everything on the table, and as a result it's the most open, transparent and heartfelt record Stevens has made in his career. Sometimes, that's all you need in order to make a masterpiece.

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.

True to its name, this record is one of the finest debut pop-punk records of the last five years and easily among the top tier for the genre this year.

This is Clark's most daring, uncompromising, infectious, and adventurous release yet, as St. Vicent features a musician challenging the very idea of what it means to be an artist in 2014.

Run The Jewels 2 is the logical follow up to Run The Jewels; it's bigger, bolder, and feels like a punch to the gut that you'll be feeling for weeks.

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

From front to back, Holy Vacants is a visceral, fist-pumping cornucopia of rage, terror, disappointment and instability.

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.

Although The Greatest Story Never Told almost never saw the light of day, Saigon is an artist that needs to be on every hip-hop head's radar if he isn't already.

Memorial is arguably Russian Circles' best work to date. It's certainly debatable, but this is undeniably an staggeringly strong output for a band on their fifth release.

Absent Sounds is one of those records where favorite songs change by the hour. And it’s also a record that understands your perceived meaning is the most important one.

So sit back and grab a bag of popcorn, because Vacation is chock-full of aural acrobatics rolled up into its withered plaid sleeves. You just have to be daring enough to push that button.

Overall, Tame Impala have created a steady sophomore album.

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.

White Noise stands to be one of the most promising and impressive debut album of the year, but more than just deserving that title, it stands to be one of the best albums of the year.

As daring as it is confident and poignant in its execution, this album captures both the Converge we know and love and a Converge we're not quite accustomed to--leaving us with an album arguably as striking and challenging as anything the band has done before.

Art Angels is us listening to personal triumph. Grimes has found her voice literally through the music.

No Devolucion is inventive, remarkable, and the first true masterpiece of 2011.

Rooms Of The House is an album that refuses to be pigeonholed or boxed in by someone's standards of "what post-hardcore should be." Instead, La Dispute span multiple genres, tempos, and inspirations over the course of LP3, resulting in an album that's equally exhausting as it is enchanting.

Cadillactica very rarely falls short of its goals, and the few throwaway tracks are unobtrusive enough to not take anything away from the record.

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.

Isbell isn't your average songwriter, and on Something More Than Free, there's a pretty strong argument to be made that he's outplaying anyone else in the game right now.

The perfect album, albums with no filler, albums that when over, leave you breathless and don't inspire you to want more music from the band, but make you want to listen to the album from the start, all over again; m b v is that album.

With Painted, Narrows sophomore release isn't just a bunch of vets attempting a comeback, they're showing listeners why their names are already synonymous within the scene to begin with.

There’s a real dynamic arc here, not just for the album as a whole, but also within each and every individual song, and whether or not you’ve gravitated toward county music in the past, that unrivaled depth of passion makes this record an absolute essential.

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.

Not only does Flies In All Directions combine the best elements of American Art and The Cosmic Drama, it exceeds them, resulting in what's bound to a genre-defining staple for years to come.

It's a record full of beauty and heartache, confidence and fear, and these ends pull at each other for one of the most captivating records to come out this year.

Make Do And Mend has released the best album of their young career and one of the essential, must-have albums of 2012.

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

Its a testament to the fact that Tim Hecker is one of the best artists making music today, constantly pushing his sound to new heights while keep his signature style at the core of it all.

Random Access Memories is teeming with life, and the multitude of genres presented as well as the production choices of the duo help the album deliver on its promise.

Is Survived By is a genuine, life-affirming piece of art that’ll move even the blackest of souls.

Though it is lengthy and a lot to sit through--more than 70 minutes of music--there seems little reason to think this won't catapult Arcade Fire to even greater heights.

In Colour is neither a faithful regurgitation nor a distasteful bastardization of the past, but is instead a charming, effective attempt at bridging the gap between the two.

While overall House of Balloons carries a chilling vibe, it proceeds to rock the listener with exciting tempos and relaxing melodies that intertwine to form a beautiful piece of art.

Bon Iver, Bon Iver is Vernon's triumphant re-emergence from those lonely woods back into the world.

Given the proper attention and respect, Letlive's The Blackest Beautiful will reveal itself as a masterpiece--a record that will redefine your musical preconceptions and tastes for the better,

Place A Wilhelm Scream into whatever brand of punk genre there is, it doesn't matter. It is unquestionably the best album released this year in whatever genre you choose

Prawn have shaped themselves into a band who offer more than lyrics, but counseling. And Kingfisher is catharsis created not through grit, but melody.

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.

Upon repeat listens, there's not one point of Halcyon Digest that feels like it was overly thought out.

At the end of the day, I don't know exactly where I'd rank Koi No Yokan--somewhere in the top three, but really it's not important. What's important is that this is a f***ing great album.

Shields not only matches its predecessor in Grizzly Bear's back catalogue, but it exceeds it.

A tangle of influences and contemporaries; yet she manages to keep space in which her frail breath of a singing voice can survive.

There's a determination in the undertone of the album. That determination in crafting of a band's best record to date, only covered by the confidence it lets off as well.

While he may not hit the mark every time, he hits far more often than his misses. And when he hits, he hits hard, as some of the best songs on this mixtape are among the best rap tracks so far this year.

What sets Fucked Up's new album aside from their previous records though is the accessibility and bright tone throughout.

One man’s suffering becomes our communal celebration, so to speak. It's a fine role for one of the year's best albums to play.

Timez Are Weird These Days is the perfect example of what London is capable of, snatching elements of popular music from across the decades to create a sound that's both nostalgic and refreshing.

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

It's clear that they've tapped into something special with this new lineup and that from the tragic events they suffered through they've been able to reemerge bigger and badder than ever. Purple is their finest hour yet

Kozelek’s rich, detailed lyrics here are revelatory, and the way he delivers them, in his sad, low, heartrending baritone, is nothing short of entrancing.

During the 30 odd minutes of Avalanche United, you hear a revitalized band that's eager to take over the country and at the top of their game.

In a genre that seems to be heading downhill in quality and popularity, Norma Jean pump enough blood into it with Wrongdoers to keep it going.

What a remarkable debut it is: artists rarely arrive this fully formed, this self-assured, or this seasoned in their craft.

Annie Clark stands out with her work because she is one of the few artists that can take something mournful and make it jarring yet angelic all at once.

Taking their sound into a much darker (and riffier) realm comes as a bit of a surprise, but the band pulls it off with such excellence and grace that the shift isn't even jarring.

All the band's elements coalesce in a remarkably cohesive way to elicit the desired moods.

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.

A multitude of outrageous pieces that form a solid whole.

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

As loud as What You Don''t See seems at first blush, it's really quite thoughtful.

With their third full-length, The Wonder Years have made a record that's as timeless as they come.

While mewithoutYou is still as ambiguous as ever with their music, they've never been as creative and daring as they are on Ten Stories.

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.

Forceful is just what is capturing about Treats. It is what makes it so hardcore to the bone. Miller puts together gritty guitar licks and hammering beats worthy of an opening slot with Ghengis Tron in my eyes and matches it to the beautiful, yet aggressive sound of Krauss' mouth.

With strong songwriting, restrained arrangements, potent vocal work, and terrific production from Jay Joyce, Mr. Misunderstood is a deep, nuanced album that will appeal to fans of folk, country, or rock and roll in equal measure.

While the lyrics are what everyone will talk about, it’s Hall’s voice that makes them work. That insistent yelp, straining to create melody without being beholden to it.

Long Live offers few surprises, but that really isn't an issue when what is offered this time around is really something great. If you're a fan of the band's discography through 2007's Lead Sails Paper Anchors, chances are you're going to really like this record.

This album is going to be important for a number of reasons, but above all, it's going to be important because it is a great album. Very few people in the realm of pop music, if anyone, take risks like this.

With Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird EP, he does more than just add to his collection of tunes--he reaffirms his commitment to expressing the human spirit. And as identifiers with that spirit, we lean forward, eager to hear more.

You’ll sing along because it’s catchy, but you’ll push repeat because the lyrics are so personal.

It has all of the right things going for it to make anyone even slightly interested in metal sit up and take notice.

The themes present on Killing Time aren't too in-depth or out of the norm for what you might expect from Bayside, but this band has steadily improved on the lyrical front as it has released more music and Killing Time is no exemption from that rule.

As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth doesn't just sound good, it grabs hold of every intricate audible sense in your nervous system for the entire journey of the album.

Ditching the psychedelic rock for an album that mines from disco, synth-pop and R&B in equal measure is a move that is sure to alienate some of the Tame Impala fan base, but the fact that Kevin was able to stretch himself into this kind of new territory is undeniably a feat in its own right. It's just icing on the cake that Currents also happens to rival Lonerism as Tame Impala's masterpiece.

Harmlessness is a perfect record and it’s the best one we’ll hear in 2015 and nothing will come close. The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die have created their magnum opus and the most transcendent and challenging piece of music to emerge from modern rock in a long, long time.

There's much to like about Office of Future Plans, though I suspect its appeal beyond being a throwback to the golden age of angst-ridden but pop-sensible rock music may be rather limited.

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.

This is a truly magnificent record, and I think it’s going to end up being the album for which we remember Vampire Weekend.

Oh, Common Life offers up more layers than any past Fireworks release to dig through, but it does so in a way that can be gratifying at face value as well. It’s a record that gives a little at first, but can continue giving.

Animals as Leaders have proven that they can rise above the trends that Tosin had a hand in creating, but have not done so perfectly.

[The lyrics] carry a meaning that doesn't stop when the song does.

[Harmonicraft] finds Torche further indulging their pop muse. The result is a set of songs that retains most of the heaviness we've come to expect at this point, but with even more single-ready ear candy than ever before.

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

Pleasant Living is anything but a happy album, but that doesn’t mean it can’t point us in the direction of better times.

Danny Brown is taking the route everyone wants an artist to take: putting out forward thinking, self-expressing art that is setting the bar rather than merely attempting to reach it.

The songwriting on Pawn Shop is solid and varied, ranging from big road trip anthems like "American Crazy" to swampy groovers like "Dirt Rich." But it's the musicianship that really sets these guys apart.