Where When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes was safe at times and perhaps slightly predictable, Southern Air keeps listeners intrigued and invested throughout. This is the best pop-punk album of 2012.

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

The elements of the band complement each other instead of over-powering, thus making Ø (Disambiguation) brutally beautiful and instantly memorable.

What draws me most to Lisbon is the exciting reinventions on the band's own formula.

The title track kicks things off with a familiar formula, with ghostly vocal samples and static noise building into a beat that kicks off, and from there things start to feel a little less familiar than they have in the past.

While State Champs is not necessarily reinventing the idea of what it means to be a pop punk band, they’ve sure as hell perfected it.

The Hunter is another polarizing yet captivating (and incredibly fun) effort from one of the most talented bands in modern metal.

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

Their latest is yet another gem that you could spin for a room full of the most down-on-their-luck sad-sacks and get them all high-fiving.

Trash Talk have stepped up with their new album. While many are still getting turned on by the word of mouth of the band's live outlet of aggressive showmanship, Eyes and Nines also shows that heart shouldn't be lost on the idea of moving forward as an artist.

Nikki-Nack is an outstanding successor to W h o k i l l and the year’s most memorable pop album yet.

There's certainly enough passion in Blue Sky Noise to show the masses where rock and roll and great songwriting can meet in a traditional compromise that everyone can enjoy.

While Four Year Strong will never be the band that wrote Rise Or Die Trying again, they prove on their new self-titled record that they have bigger steps ahead than the ones they left behind.

Mind-blowing and catchy, Black Up is an album too progressive to pass up. Get on this as soon as possible.

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.

It’s easily his most exhilarating and challenging record to date, keeping you on your toes throughout by juxtaposing subdued verses with huge, soaring choruses.

Transgender Dysphoria Blues has an universal appeal that will resonate with anyone.

2008's critically lauded "Devotion" set the band on a new path, landing them an opening spot for buzz band Grizzly Bear and winning the hearts of hipsters the world over. Teen Dream, however, takes things to a whole new level.

Light, more than anything I've heard lately, sounds complete and self-contained, and like most of the TV on the Radio catalog, it largely transcends genre. No other context is necessary. Nine Types of Light simply is what it is.

It's a take it or leave it, and for arguably the most consistent band in the scene over the last decade, Major/Minor is a triumph. What else and to whom do they need to prove anything anymore anyway?

If she maintains this faith in her abilities, her albums will continue to awe, inspire and provide tough competition for the rest of the world.

The band has continued to expand and refine their ADD-riddle pop-punk into something more substantial and LP3 chronicles the growth in songwriting while maintaining the spastic charm of the band's earlier releases.

There is a lot to like on This Is How The Wind Shifts, as Silverstein accomplishes the tricky balancing act of progressing your craft while retaining that sound that made the band into what it is today.

The heart and intent behind the lyrics and music, the effort so clearly put forth is what is supposed to translate and it does. Most of the growth on this record comes in the form of more textured and dynamic instrumentals, and glossy, but not necessarily overtly “made for radio” production.

It's one of the most organic and genuine albums of 2011.

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.

With this record, the band not only rose up to the bar set by their contemporaries, they raised it to a new level-- which is a good thing, because if this record is the new standard for the metalcore genre, then the future is looking incredibly bright.

Exmilitary is an abrasive and traumatic ordeal, rife with production that's on-point but completely jarring at the same time.

When listening to Doris, you're going to want to have lyrics nearby or else you're going to miss well over half of what's being said. It makes for an album that's hard to listen to without putting in some effort, but the results speak for themselves as Doris proves to be both a rewarding and engrossing listen, even if there are still a few kinks to be worked out.

Parallax is one of the best albums I've had the pleasure of hearing all year.

This album is more than just an album-of-the-year candidate, this is a disc that is far-reaching, endlessly appealing and as strong as anything that's been released in the Americana genre in the last half-decade.

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

The production from song to song remains strong, but many of the tracks tend to blur together on repeated listens.

While there is some filler, some of the best Cancer Bats songs can be found here and that alone makes this worth checking out, even if it isn’t a gigantic departure.

Truth be told, it never feels completely on-target, however it's hardly inept - just a touch disjointed. For every minor imperfection, listeners are rewarded with boosts of adrenaline from the bludgeoning opening track "Deafening" and breakneck "Dear Enemy."

Saves The Day is another feather in the cap known as the band's illustrious career, marking the return of the band we all fell in love with many years ago while successfully beginning the next phase of the band’s career.

The Room’s Too Cold may have the memories, The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path may have the ambition, In Currents may have the excitement, but Imbue is the best album that The Early November have ever released.

There aren't many artists recording today who make songwriting seem more natural and effortless than Kurt Vile.

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.

The duo shows an uncanny ability to write engaging pop nuggets.

Sempiternal is one of the most breathtaking and engaging albums of the year.

The beauty of a record like I’ll Be The Tornado, which spends so much time in the devastating minutiae of heartbreak and pain, is its realization that the bad can still do lots and lots of good. It’s a fairy tale thought to think that life won’t get in a gut punch or two, and Dads have made a record that revels in failure for truly triumphant results.

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

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.

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.

Like its predecessor Indestructible Machine, the album belies her age and finds the singer churning out songs that are wise beyond her years.

Shad's most recent album, 2010's TSOL, builds right where The Old Prince left off, and is even more impressive.

AM is a tight and focused record that sounds huge and retains Turner’s personality and charm in a way previous releases haven’t always done.

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.

Easily digestible, wholeheartedly inoffensive and very much DIY, this is an album that makes the forty minutes more than worth the investment. If only every disc could be this much fun.

Morning Phase actually matches Sea Change in melodic beauty, and it might even surpass it in production quality, but the cryptic, repetitious lyrics of songs like “Blackbird Chain” and “Heart is a Drum” fall so far short of the devastating heartbreak that Beck wove on songs like “Guess I’m Doing Fine” and “Lost Cause” that it’s impossible to see this record ever achieving the classic status of its predecessor.

On They Want My Soul, Spoon’s most wide-ranging and eclectic album of its career, this isn’t a band who are settling in to their collective stride, but searching for new places entirely.

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.

To call it a triumph is putting it mildly. Lucky is a clarion call to contemporary country music, a beacon of hope that proves just how much can be accomplished with just a voice and a vision.

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

If you're willing to take the time and patience required to give this album the attention it really deserves, you'll find the rewards will exist long after you turn off the album.

Kinsella has, yet again, created music as an art form and has provided us with a soundtrack to all of those moments between the events.

Lese Majesty is an entirely different beast than Black Up, and the group manages to continue sticking out in the hip-hop world for their incomparable creativity.

As a full record, Paramore certainly isn't for everyone--but there's certainly something for everyone. If you're not having fun at some point of the album, you're probably not trying.

While it’s certainly not what anyone thought a new Deerhunter album would sound like three years removed from the world of Halcyon Digest, the band certainly succeeds in their goal of crafting “nocturnal garage, and the album’s high points--namely “Monomania,” “Punk,” “The Missing” and “T.H.M.”--are some of the best songs the group has ever recorded.

Shed is the right album for those who don't want their pop-punk bands opting for breakdowns.

This album is perfect for those days when you just want to keep to yourself, when you feel like no one can be trusted. It's for anyone who has ever had the desire to forget their responsibilities and just make some damn music.

For any other group purveying hardcore-influenced post-rock (or vice versa), Recitation would be a career-defining moment; but for the band that created All the Footprints and A Dead Sinking Story (releases introducing a new language in aggressive independent music), and to a lesser extent Insomniac Doze, Envy's latest is a bit too middling.

With Archambault’s vocal performance stronger than ever before, the band sounding fresh and the lyrics seemingly closing out this chapter in their career, Letters Home is one of the most thrilling albums they could have created.

If you have the patience to wait and persevere until Paradise fully blossoms with you into something spectacular, rest assured, it will be a record that won't stop giving when it finally does.

Full of tenderness and vulnerability yet also razor-sharp and raucous moments, it makes the record even more charming due to the relatable nature of the constant battle with internal monologues.

Found In Far Away Places shows the band exploring brand new territories both instrumentally and lyrically. A clear ‘Album of the Year’ contender for 2015.

Bad Books' II is the band finally discovering its sweet spot, as the album's eleven tracks are firing on all cylinders.

One of the most unique, reflective, darkly humorous, and brilliant records to grace ears in a while.

When Future gets into the sweet spot with a trusty producer behind the boards there's nothing stopping him, and Beast Mode only further solidifies that with some of his strongest tracks to date.

Cult unleashes some of the band's tastiest riffs and strongest songs yet while broadening Bayside's musical palate.

Give In is as strong an effort as any and the grand introduction of a first-rate new outfit.

Yours Truly is more tempered and less likely to put you in a beaming state of catatonia.

Best of 2015? Maybe not, as Cloakroom could do well to add just a bit more variety to their sound. Nonetheless, they’re off to a rather auspicious start, as Further Out refines positive aspects of their debut EP and ups the production value immensely.

My Name Is My Name is one of the best debut albums of the year, but since Pusha T is far from a new artist, he's got a leg-up on many of the newcomers to the genre.

It’s an enchanting odyssey that is steeped in the tantalizing mysticism of the unknown.

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.

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.

Musically and lyrically, The Age of Adz is exhilarating, challenging, and thought-provoking.

Even if this isn't your preferred genre, there is no denying that Life Cycles is one of the most personal and genuine albums of 2012. There's nothing manufactured here.

With Common Courtesy...love it or hate it as you will...A Day To Remember is getting started all over again. And the album ensures that this band hasn't yet seen the peak of its popularity.

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.

Walker has truly outdone himself with an album that captures all the nuances that made "Letters And Meadows" shine, and extracts them bit by bit to give every individual track its own breath.

Though You Get What You Give is not their strongest offering to date, it certainly points to a most promising future. And that in and of itself is probably all the music world really needs.

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.

In the end, Plant sounds more comfortable in this genre than he has on any of his past solo albums.

While less varied in the style department than its predecessor, Thursday is another intimate look at the Tesfaye and the life he lives as The Weeknd.

The album is, on face value, yet another rap record about the artists success in overcoming the hobbling obstacles of the drug industry. Stale as the concept is, Future breathes life into it by twisting it into his own image and owning it fully.

American Slang takes the best of what the band has shown they can do, and moves it into early '60's Motown, combining it with a rich Springsteen/Strummer sound (which is just how Fallon will always be; it works for him, get over it) over a soulful rhythm section, with sprinkles of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Smokey Robinson in there for good measure.

With serenity so hard to come by, an album like Down the Way is all the more satisfying.

Fullbright’s first record, From the Ground Up, scored a surprise Grammy nomination in the Americana category two years ago, but don’t be surprised when Songs starts topping EOTY lists in December.

Even if The Damnwells feels a bit anticlimactic as a big reunion album, even if it isn't quite as good as either One Last Century or No One Listens to the Band Anymore, and even if it could have been improved substantially through the addition of a few more EP songs (particularly "Along the Way," a bittersweet Boyhood parallel that stands as arguably the best song Alex Dezen has ever written), it still largely succeeds on its own terms.

No, this is not his strongest work to date, but it certainly keeps him in the conversation.

It's doing more with less, on a level that simply demands attention. That, ladies and gentlemen, just might make Dawes something you'll pass on to your children.

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.

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.

The sonic evolution of the group is remarkable, and the dark, introspective lyrics of Sykes will not only be cathartic for him, but for many.

They’ve re-affirmed their place as one of the best bands in the world and have created an album that is insightful, emotional, fun and just damn amazing.