Hardcore Will Never Die has a good amount of brawn to it but ultimately falls into the category of breathtaking music that isn't made too often.

This record takes everything the band has done in the past and gives it to us in a rather different, yet just as captivating way.

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.

It makes for a mixed bag of an album--occasionally the band sticks to their wheelhouse and sounds great, occasionally their normal stuff gets a bit stale; sometimes they experiment and it goes well, sometimes not.

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.

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.

You're going to need more than a few listens to truly sink your teeth into the meaty layers and themes, but once you get it, you'll find that this is one of the most rewarding albums of 2012.

From heartache and vulnerability through to acceptance and salvaging a friendship when all could have potentially been lost, who needs a plane to fly low when the detail and scenery on offer here in these forty minutes is already far more beautiful, dazzling, and effortlessly uplifting?

The album lives up to its title in every way and should prove essential for old and new fans alike.

Overall, Hummingbird is a wonderful album. Each song manifests itself in a truly attractive manner and it's a release that's very much focused in the aesthetic.

There will surely be those who really want to hate Pedals, and they won't have any difficulty finding justification for their scorn within the album's ten tracks. Nonetheless, it's a winning return, though perhaps not entirely worth the wait.

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.

It is a testament to Devine’s self-awareness of his ability as a songwriter that Bulldozer is not bloated to compensate for its lighter fare, and he sticks the landing with aplomb.

This is not disposable music--it’s exhausting and exhilarating and desolate and hopeful all at once--and there are layers both musically and lyrically that’ll reveal themselves with each subsequent spin. Pianos Become The Teeth’s third record is the most captivating and rewarding record of 2014--one that will be remembered as a classic within the genre and a gateway to those outside it.

A beautifully hazy indie pop record, perfectly suited to hot summer days.

t may take a few albums for him to perfect the new sound, and we should expect that, keeping in mind that when he does, the results may very well be awe-inspiring. At the moment, however, Kiss Each Other Clean just isn't there yet.

It's sexy, daring, and complete.

Emotion goes to great lengths to prove the advantages of being manufactured, with every piece interlocking with machine-like precision with its surroundings. It’s astonishingly effective, and like the best pop, demands to be listened to ad nauseum in order to gawk at the sheer audacity of the accomplishment.

This is an album that will hold up over time, keeping us more than satisfied as we wait for Chvrches to give us something even bigger.

England, Keep My Bones is Turner's most emphatic success and the best singer/songwriter album that will be released in 2011.

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

While his best songs may yet be scattered about the internet or buried in his friends DJ sets, Guilt Trips works better as a cohesive whole than anything which has come before, yet leaves you clamoring for more.

It is all-at-once beautiful, infectious, impressive and brilliant.

There are absolutely stunning passages on here to be sure, but as a whole the record fails to really take your breath away like one would hope.

They have dared to venture in the loud, the textured and the big sounds, instead of the more minimal, tangy and clean indie rock we are hearing far too much of these days.

Once you let it sink in that this isn't the same band from the early aughts, then you can start to appreciate Taking Back Sunday as a solid rock record – their best in 7 years.

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.

El Pintor is a well-produced album that proves Interpol are still a quality band, even without the extreme hype to back them.

Quite simply, there hasn’t been a Copeland album as complete as Ixora.

Jinx leaves the band with more paths to explore going forward; they may either continue to refine the warmly gothic sounds found here or may embrace a different facet of Sports. It seems apparent after Jinx that they will deftly execute whichever option they choose.

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.

The surprise is in just how much White Crosses succeeds at blurring the dividing line between punk rock ethos and boistrous radio rock.

Unbridled youthful vigor may now be but a distant speck in The Futureheads' rearview, but the joy of pop music still rings through in their every note.

Rather than dialling in the same record with a different twist every two years, Desaparecidos have crafted another mission statement.

The recorded calls between Ty and his brother that crop up repeatedly develop their characters while the story, for T.C. at least, remains stagnant. Free T.C. places an emphasis on the intimate, human relationship between these two men.

Much like The World Is A Beautiful Place... and their new record Harmlessness, Foxing have set a new standard with Dealer not just for emo, but for indie and alternative rock across the board.

We Don't Even Live Here is the weirdest, angriest, and best P.O.S album to date.

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.

Phantogram have put forth a collection of heady and stimulating songs primed for in-the-dark listening.

Unfortunately, the album delivers nothing remotely as snappy as Furr's more immediate sonic treats and there are only a scant few moments when it seems to aim at serving up anything more than your garden variety folk-rock songs.

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 record isn't bad, it's actually enjoyable. But the band has continued in its trend toward becoming more of a hard rock band and less of the punk icon it used to be.

Welcome to The Low Anthem's Smart Flesh, where folk music doesn't need to be reinvented for it to come alive – just performed. If you're looking for a solid folk spooker to open the year, your search ends here.

Take the time to listen to this album, front to back. Pick up on the subtleties and metaphors, because you don't hear this kind of poetry from a band every day.

While it may not always work out in his favor, the high points here far outweigh the lows, and the takeaway from At.Long.Last.A$AP should be that Rocky is on his way to something even better once he finds his footing.

It’s cheeky, groovy, and it always sounds as though it’s teetering on the edge of being a genuine irritant.

Instant Gratification is impressive and for the most part feels like a strong return to form for a band that's well adjusted in its own sound and aura, as Dance Gavin Dance continue to be an anomaly in a mostly tired and boring scene.

Once again, they have created an album that sounds very little like their past recordings and yet still sounds exactly like The Twilight Sad.

On New Moon they take a wide range of sounds and somehow make them all their own, and if you can keep up with all the "genre-hopping," this is certain to be one of the most unique and interesting records you'll hear this year.

Animal Joy represents a remarkable band in their prime of their career and is a stunning success on every level.

Rice hasn’t changed his sound much, but his writing is still every bit as visceral as it always has been, and his long-awaited third album, called My Favourite Faded Fantasy, absolutely lives up to the legacy of his previous work.

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

Tape Deck Heart may not be quite as good as the phenomenal England Keep My Bones, but it’s a quality release with excellent lasting value that will be a mainstay on album of the year lists in 2013.

For the most part, Ghost on Ghost is a good record that disappoints because we know its creator is capable of something more powerful.

There is a sense of urgency and maturity here that few in the genre will be able to replicate. So forget the throne, The Devil Wears Prada doesn't need it to prove that they've released the best metalcore album of the year.

The honesty behind Hello Sadness is remarkable and incredibly appealing.

Lyrically, Aesop Rock and Rob Sonic have never been stronger, and they play off each other with a unique composure that's rare nowadays. The production from track to track varies enough to keep things interesting, but it unfortunately begins to bleed together after multiple listens. Still, Are You Gonna Eat That? is an amazing return to the scene for both artists.

Much like his public persona, Kanye West's presence is hard to ignore on Watch the Throne. Every track is, without a doubt, his and his alone.

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.

These songs demand attention like they demand volume; they require the space of repeat listens and the privilege of high fidelity audio presentation.

Self-production is no small feat, but with years of experience, they made an impeccable sounding record.

For a record that trades heavily in production experiments foreign to both parties, Royksopp and Robyn by and large succeed at creating what they set out to--a monument.

This is the best record released so far this year, and there very likely will not be one that can top it.

With Heaven is Whenever, the most consistent band in rock and roll remains reliable, as The Hold Steady give their sound a fresh update while not straying too far from what makes them so endearing.

With tunes this infectious and an overarching aura of well-being, Forever Today is a favorite to be the feel-good album of the spring.

As one of the last big album releases to close out 2011, it's highly fitting that Ceremonials should be considered perhaps the most beautiful and absorbing of them all.

Despite the uncommon thread of the vocalists' raspy deliveries on each track, Be The Void never really settles into any sort of discernible pattern.

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

Whether or not it's as good as The Luca Brasi Story is irrelevant, though at this point the two are about even. The highs on Luca Brasi are higher and the lows are lower, but Stranger Than Fiction is a much more consistent listen.

Easily his best album to date, Till Midnight is a beacon of a record that will be looked at fondly come year’s end.

With so much going on in these songs, they could easily have become overstuffed, but Moulder balances everything perfectly, creating a swell of sound that surrounds you with its hugeness, but doesn't lose clarity in the process. Suffice to say, this is a record that demands to be listened to on a pair of good headphones.

When the band puts their best foot forward ("Monkey Riches," "Father Time," "Applesauce," "Mercury Man," and "Pulleys,") they sound like an outfit deserving of all the hype and praise bestowed upon them.

By broadening the themes, growing up a bit, and going deeper, 25 hits upon some truly transcendent moments—moments that deserve the millions of lives they'll soundtrack. It's just hard to fully praise an album that stops feeling like an album three-quarters of the way through.

It all adds up to a solid release that is suited better for the radio than it is among your hardcore collection.

"Summer Brings You Closer to Satan" would be an fair pick for the album’s best track, except that Runners in the Nerved World hardly falters in quality at any point.

FreeBase may not find 2 Chainz making any big leaps forward, but what it does offer is a refinement of some of the things people love from 2 Chainz. The beats are top shelf, his flow is versatile but never overly complex, and his lyrics are humorous, if a little unremarkable.

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.

While the record’s bloat does kind of compromise its overall consistency and cohesion, Lost on the River probably still has more of the year’s best songs in one place than almost any other album.

For those who are willing to go in without preconceived notions, this album is a masterpiece: a stunning feat of songwriting depth, emotional maturity, and melodic effortlessness that stands as one of the best albums to come out in years.

The album is 55 minutes of simplistic storytelling, Oberst’s ever recognizable vocals and a whole lot of heart. If you’ve been an Oberst fan at any point of his career before 2009, it’s a record that’s easy to fall in love with.

With its laid-back atmosphere and relevant lyricism, Thank Me Later is a hip-hop album that successfully balances commercialism with art.

The result is the most actualized version of Fall Out Boy we've ever heard, an undeniable portrait of who Fall Out Boy is today, in 2013

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.

Often misty eyed and always misty, the sophomore album from Blood Orange makes a compelling argument that a stroll on the beach can be as affecting alone as it is alongside a partner.

Nothin’ but Blood, the latest album from crass cowboy Scott H. Biram is a lopsided effort with some of the best songs Biram has ever written and some of the absolute worst.

Within its contents the album very much feels like the debut record from a solo artist trying to feel things out on his own as a songwriter.

Save Your Breath have released one of the best albums in the genre this year and one of the only ones I think can truly be called a throwback to its golden age.

Even though this isn't peak Chiodos (yet), Devil has the band on the right path to reclaiming the the top spot of the scene food chain sooner rather than later.

Hayden has arguably crafted his finest album to date.

Her melodies are always on point and her voice is as strong and confident as ever, a very large and noticeable step up from the teenage True Romance.

The album is a perfect mixture of the band's first two records, blended with an equal part of their rock swagger and part their post-electro swing.

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.

With Tracing Back Roots, We Came As Romans have shown just enough progress to make me believe that LP4 could be the game changer they’re looking for.

Everything here is well thought out and meticulously executed, it's just that Matsson makes it all seem so effortless.

When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes isn't Yellowcard's best work, as Paper Walls still retains that title in my mind, but it's exactly the album that fans should be hoping for.

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.

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.

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