Both daring and down right difficult to turn away, consider this among the band's finest work of their career thus far.

Though it can be long and drags at times (namely "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair") Pour Une Ame Souveraine is a compelling album and another notch on the belt of an artist who continues to pursue her own agenda.

Though he's reluctant to vary his sound, the end results are far too magnetic, far too majestic and far too masterful to even allow a twinge of disappointment.

As a whole, Born and Raised is contrite, earnest and warm.

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.

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

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

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.

The Brutalist Bricks sounds nothing like that at all. Ted Leo is still very much in his prime, and Bricks is as relevant (and as great) a record as you'll hear in 2010.

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.

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.

Paperboy has done it. I mean, I don't really know what he's done. He's made this album, Come and Get It, that truly stands in its own category in 2010.

Blak and Blu is the very definition of a bellwether, and the resounding answer to all of the many who have predicted such greatness.

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.

This is as good as any album post-punk/garage rock has produced in quite some time.

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.

It was obvious the writing for this album was at its earlier stages when Camu passed away, but the production does a very good job of making up for the low quality of the vocals. Fortunately, Camu's fantastic voice still breaks through. I love distorted, uneven recordings, but fans of cleaner audio work may be put off by the album's overall quality.

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.

It’s the sound of a young band coming into their own unique musical niche and making the record they’ve been reaching for since they first hit the scene in 2009.

The quintet have honed in on their strengths and produced their most concise and assured release to date.

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.

Whether it was "the right way" or not, all of the days that we have waited for Neighborhoods have been well worth it.

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

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.

Showcasing the very best of Archambault’s lyrics and the band’s musicianship while channeling more post-rock-esque breaks along with diverse shifts in pacing and tone into their brand of hardcore, Abandoned is undoubtedly the essential Defeater release and gold-standard for hardcore in 2015.

It's fairly apparent throughout the album that Anberlin was definitely in their element, as Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place is exactly what mainstream music needed: a challenging and engaging rock and roll album anyone can relate to. Their songwriting and musicianship have never been better.

While Migrant is Casey Crescenzo’s most accessible record ever, it’s also his most honest and real Dear Hunter LP yet.

The combination of Vigil's honest, yet relatable lyricism and the powerful instrumentation make for the band's most powerful statement to date.