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.

Wide-ranging, engrossing and incredibly powerful it represents a new height for a band who has hinted at towering heights before.

It doesn't take a biological science major to realize that this album is very well worth listening to regardless of whether you're a seasoned veteran of The Amory Wars storyline or you've never even heard of Coheed & Cambria.

Whereas 2011's Want More felt uneven, Howl is dynamic, controlled and with few, if any holes.

Malin has always been a talent, but here, he parlays everything he does well into a single 45-minute burst, and he reaches his pinnacle as a result.

[Pageant Material] sounds effortless and fully formed from first note to last.

Though not nearly as strong as 2008’s Ganging Up On the Sun, Evermotion is stronger than 2010’s Easy Wonderful and will continue to keep the band relevant in 2015 and beyond.

The sincerity displayed by Green throughout just makes it very easy for any listener to be fully transfixed by Beautiful Things.

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

The most amazing part about Foolish Blood is that it sounds effortless, almost as if the band could write a sequel to this in their sleep.

Skyer is one piece of art, obviously. But it’s not going to do the same thing to you as it has done to me. And that’s a special thing.

In short, a few stray hiccups only gives a listener more reason to be excited for the next release.

Grace and Lies is a terrific disc and the signal of a strong new talent, but far too often the entire effort feels like a solo album and a vessel to showcase Krans' alto voice.

Mechanical Bull is the sound of real life. It’s the sound of Kings of Leon realizing that sometimes where you were is better than where you ended up.

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.

While Ryan Adams doesn’t take as many chances as some of the other records that Adams has made in the past decade, it’s also as cohesive and consistent an album as any he has ever made.

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.

At the very least, Better Nature represents 10 more (well, 9 if you don’t count “Ragamuffin”) well-crafted and heartfelt songs to listen to for the next 2-3 years before they put out another unbelievably consistent record.

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

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.

While the album doesn’t have the dynamic genre-hopping sensibility that made both Continuum and Born and Raised instant classics, it’s still a solid set of songs that follows one of today’s best songwriters as he establishes a new comfort zone.

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.

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.

It sprawls and can feel tenuous, even precipitously close to collapse under its own weight, but the moment of calamity never arrives. It stands instead as a monument not to the person who has erected it, but to the multitudinous influences that brought it into being.

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.

Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness is especially welcoming given that it’s probably his most consistent front-to-back set of songs since Transit.

Anarchy, My Dear is a record that promises that anything could happen at anytime, and Bemis and company do their very best to shake up what has been expected from them as a band.

The songwriter gets primary production credit on nine of the 12 tracks from The Blessed Unrest, and on many of them, she uses that position to build the sort of stunning and nuanced arrangements that elevate her songs beyond traditional singer/songwriter fare.