They aren't necessarily breaking new barriers here, but that's not really what Alter Bridge are looking for. For longtime fans, there's enough heft and craft here to satisfy, while new listeners will find a solid entry point into the band's growing canon.

Much like 1999, 2000 is a showcase of musically rich throwback production, with jazz-flecked instrumentals and smooth boom-bap beats backdropping Joey's controlled bars and lyrics of New York City life.

More gutsy, more aggressive, and more dynamic than B.R.M.C.

The band surely meant for this to be a stopgap until their next album, but rather than giving this a spin it would be more rewarding to go back to Con Todo el Mundo and enjoy its many charms instead. The ways they explore the outer reaches of dub on that album are truly exciting, while this comes off like a school assignment in comparison.

Even if it's not as traffic-stopping as her debut, this album suggests that she can keep her music interesting for the long haul.

This is easily the best-sounding album Doherty has been involved with, neither self-consciously "raw" nor overly polished; it lets the music be as simple or as elaborate as it needs to be.

Luckily, the majority of Gracious Tide, Take Me Home plays to the band's beautifully swooning strengths, and in doing so, produces one of the most majestic debuts from a British act this year.

If You're Dreaming definitely isn't as immediate as Quit the Curse, and while it isn't a demanding album, it requires a bit more concentration in order to understand it better.

Creep On Creepin' On is the sound of Timber Timbre fully coming into its own, with romance and strangeness to spare.

Overall, Marks to Prove It feels a bit anxious, but that's not necessarily to its detriment, and four LPs in, the Maccabees are still making smart and sophisticated Brit guitar rock.

Dear God, I Hate Myself is also the band’s most overtly electronic album in some time, with several songs composed on a Nintendo DS that gives the darkness of “Apple for a Brain” and “Secret Motel” an unpretentious, somehow friendly feel.

Not surprisingly, Trampin' is a largely political album, but it is far from a didactic one.

On their stunning debut, the Richmond, VA, foursome can sound as crisp and ethereal as Portishead, as otherworldly as Tom Waits, and as atmospheric as Radiohead.

Califone takes familiar elements and often combines them in unfamiliar ways without sounding unfamiliar or ever losing sight of the song.

Life on Other Planets is a smashing return to form, an album giddy with the sheer pleasure of making music.

Hotline holds together remarkably well as an album, due to good track selection and intelligent segueing; in fact, some of the songs actually run together quite smoothly, with no break between songs. Rarely does a rock band forge such a strong identity so early in their career.

If you're looking for irony, you're out of luck; if you want to hear a rock band confront the blues with soul, muscle, and respect, then thickfreakness is right up your alley.

Forget the easy Gibbard/Tamborello comparisons and look here if you seek more mope with your Moog.

There are occasional missteps, of course, with Becky Stark’s spoken interlude in “Cradle”--a spot-on vintage ballad that dissolves into pure camp--being the worst offender. But the vocals rarely disappoint, and vocals are Love to Live’s bread and butter, anyway.

Saying The Grand Theatre, Vol. 1 is a return to form unnecessarily belittles the last few Old 97's albums that came before it, but calling it their best album since Fight Songs is just about right.

The Baseball Project doesn't do fluff songs on the subject, though, and the songs on this second outing, like they were on the first, are intelligently written and arranged, running the full spectrum of emotions that baseball can inspire in a fan, and in so doing, the best of the songs rise above novelty to grapple with the passions and difficulties of life itself.

What the Obits do reasonably but not remarkably well isn't as important as where they excel on Moody, Standard and Poor, and when the pieces mesh just right, this band does guitar back-and-forth as well as anyone since Television, and rocks a whole lot harder to boot.

Nursing Home is the best kind of second album--it reminds you why you liked Let's Wrestle in the first place and manages to improve on an already stellar offering.

Songs like this--imaginative, contemplative, densely wordy, slightly silly but unflinchingly earnest--are arguably Lewis' strongest suit, especially in his recent work, and if the instances on A Turn in the Dream-Songs aren't quite as striking as those on its predecessor, the album still ranks right up there among his best.

It may be only four songs long, but Vasquez makes up for its small size by packing even more ominous drones and evil-sounding synths into it.

People, Hell and Angels certainly isn't the place to start your Hendrix collection, but collectors will surely want to hear this and it provides an interesting perspective on where Jimi's music was headed post-Experience.

Though it may puzzle initially, its substance is such that it creates a mysterious and compelling listening experience that assures one that more will be revealed.

Though worlds away from White Hinterland's soft-hearted chamber pop beginnings or more recent dreaminess, the dire overall feeling of Baby represents vivid, undeniable growth for the project.

Once again, they have succeeded and prove that they aren't just an oldies act; they are at the forefront of the modern shoegaze/noise pop scene.

That bifurcated sentiment is best laid out on prime cuts like "1999," "Too Late," "These Arms," and the luxurious title cut, all of which ooze atmosphere and vulnerability, but are denied oblivion by the grounding force of Grossi's remarkable voice.

It's all spirited and lively. At their best, the wide-eyed folk-soul moments tend to evoke a contemporized version of fellow Englishwoman Linda Lewis.

The whole album is pretty good, sometimes even really good. The Parrots may not be doing anything new or even close to it, but they give the corpse of garage rock a good kicking and that's a pretty cool.

Lady Parts is a fun, slightly chaotic album that captures the creative spirit of golden age rap, updated for the damaged attention span of a generation raised on social media.

There's some solid world-building going on here, but not a ton of innovation.

While it does contain a few songs that could be split off and saved, it mainly goes to show that she makes for a better melancholy dream pop artist than a singer/songwriter with her toes dipped in Americana and soft soul.

Persuasion System signals a bit of a different approach for Haley, but not so much that it will alienate anyone who enjoyed his earlier releases.

While its charms might take a few spins to unpack themselves, Andersson and Dornauer have applied their own unique set of filters and experiences to the dreamier side of post-rock on this solid debut.

It manages to enrapture thanks to solid layering and intricate patterns -- even if those patterns never really go anywhere -- yet wholly relies on listening to dance music for relaxation. With that requirement fulfilled, Bedroom Tapes shows that Woolford can embrace his softer side with effective results.

Chronologically sequenced, it presents an alternate, semi-secret MC timeline. It starts with an upbeat Mariah Carey outtake, ends with a 2020 acoustic version of Butterfly track "Close My Eyes," and more importantly contains some prime B-sides.

The album is celebratory rather than mournful, channeling the positive, creative energy of these spirits and honoring the fleeting miracle of life.

Leaving Why Bonnie's previous home-brewed and indie pop leanings behind, 90 in November and its solid songs mark a confident step forward into the domain of dreamy, twang-infused rock.

At times, the first two Amber Arcades albums felt like they were made by someone feeling her way toward something better; Barefoot on Diamond Road is where de Graaf arrives.

Altogether elegant, moving, and often beautiful, Not to Disappear leaves Daughter, without question, on the heavier side of the emotional spectrum, but, like the Cure's "Dark Trilogy" 35 years prior, is sure to connect deeply with some listeners and stand out not only among pop contemporaries but among other emotive, textured indie pop.

Shut Down the Streets is as accessible as it is rewarding, and as refreshingly idiosyncratic as it is revealing.

Clockwork Angels demonstrates why, after 36 years, Rush's fan base continues to grow. Its musical athleticism and calisthenic discipline are equaled only by its relentless creative drive and its will to express it in a distinct musical language.

Shifting into metalcore territory is a tricky decision, since a lot of their initial appeal was due to the fact that they were making their own personal stamp on revitalizing punk--a genre that's becoming increasingly saturated with commercialism. Here, they seem less unique.

Soft Airplane is a more focused outing; one that rarely travels outside the indie pop realm.

Freeclouds has a little more up its sleeve than either a clear break from Tanton's past or a simple extension of it.

It's in Mended With Gold's second half that the band feels the most engaged.

Not only has she written an engaging set of songs, but they are played and captured with gusto.

They sound more confident than ever, igniting their cabaret-rock with more crazed inventiveness and you-are-there immediacy.

The swirl of sonic suggestions throughout the album ranges from Laurie Anderson to These New Puritans to Active Child to Planningtorock to Brian Eno and David Byrne's collaborations and much more besides, all tied up and presented as an immediate and incredibly enjoyable art pop album without apology, an increasingly distinct and unique prospect.

It lovingly invokes both the past and the future without fully submitting to either.

When the final piano twinkles of the heartbreaking ballad "Última" close the first half, the album shifts to mixtape mode with the flood of additional hits that pack the back end, making Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran a great two-for-one set that is essentially a short new album and a de facto "Greatest Hits 2022-2024."

Both intimate and powerful, Quit +/or Fight is a striking achievement.

There are more twists and turns, more textures, than on any other McCartney album in the last 20 years, and if it's a little messy, so be it: it's better to have Paul letting it all hang out instead of hanging back.

In short, the Messthetics are not Fugazi, but they are a bold, bracing, fearless band from Washington, D.C. playing music that challenges and dazzles, and that's more than enough reason to make their debut album worth your time.

While several tracks are less than essential, the mixtape's best songs are powerful enough to make Demidevil the strongest showing of Ashnikko's formidable skills and uncompromising energy to date.

Sparke touches on poetic remembrances of people, places, and joys as well as the more preoccupying struggles, making for a mature and poignant introduction.

Learn to Sing Like a Star was certainly worth the wait, and if fans will listen closely enough, they'll understand that Hersh's sophistication as both a singing poet and composer has grown almost immeasurably.

Between the Times and the Tides cements Ranaldo's role as a dreamer and poet who can remain true to himself and reveal new things at the same time.

The confidence that courses through Self Worth is matched by Mourn's unguarded songwriting.

That Numan can still juggle melodrama and musicality with such effortlessness is impressive, to say the least, but that he can make it so compelling is what sets him apart from his old guard new wave contemporaries.

Four years in the making, Can Cladders could have come off the presses as an indulgent, overwrought opus. Instead, it simply (but oh-so-craftily) distilled a career's worth of creative tangents into one solid, focused effort that, if you're observant enough, holds its own amongst the likes of the Llamas' comparative "elite."

New Wave is crisp, direct, and sharp. It's clean, but not glossy; it's defiant; it's brash; it's heartfelt.

It's a bleak album to be sure, undoubtedly inspired by the downtrodden national mood of the times in which it was recorded. Ann's voice is strong and convincing on these tunes, largely drawn from the '60s and '70s with a few exceptions.

Those of centrist or conservative political persuasions may decide this is a socialist document. Let them. For Morello and others, this recording claims songs from organized labor history, which are more relevant now than ever; he includes his own contributions to it as well.

Shape Shift finds Zombi returning to their earlier sound and reliably crafting sturdy, horror-tinged neo-prog.

Suck It And See may be at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Humbug--it's concentrated and purposeful where its predecessor sprawled--yet it still demands attention from the listener, delivering its rewards according to just how much time you're willing to devote.

Even if this is Snoop's first album with a single producer since the monolithic, Dr. Dre-helmed Doggystyle, don't call it a comeback, call it lark, and a funky, welcome one at that.

Albatross can sometimes be too insular for its own good.

As it stands, Metal Resistance is still worth hearing, if only for the half of the record that captures the insanely silly balancing act that their debut managed so well.

The album is clearly the product of the artist's singular vision rather than anything created with commercial expectations, and while certain listeners might find it indulgent or amateur-sounding, give it a chance and it might prove to be a rewarding, amusing listen.

While it's true that some of their pseudo-"prog" power is lost without Madsen's riffs, Mew's delivery is no less effective. Their ever-morphing vision has simply moved beyond terrestrial bonds and ascended into the expanse of the galaxy.

Doris & the Daggers is settled in an appealing way. Kannberg eases into a collection of classicist guitar pop that recalls vintage '80s college rock from New Zealand and Australia, but also bears some resemblance to the sharp, knowing pop of Kelley Stoltz, who functioned as a part-time collaborator on the record.

The sound isn't a throwback to their first (or second) great era so much as it reflects the best qualities of their more mature work, and if it's not quite what some folks may have hoped for, it's a pleasing and well-crafted set that reminds listeners this band is still vital and productive.

It's elegant, regal even, yet so immersed in its icy solitude that the listener is often left looking for cracks in the facade instead of common ground.

Like its predecessor, Bootleg, Vol. 2: From Memphis to Hollywood is essential for Cash collectors and hardcore fans, adding even more depth and weight to his enormous stature in American popular music.

Gallagher isn't as potent a personality as he was a quarter-century earlier, but his middle-aged control has its charms, too. He sounds relaxed on Why Me? Why Not., maybe for the first time ever.

Rival Sons are a power trio plus singer in the traditional style, who might have made this album after listening to the first Led Zeppelin LP over and over for a day or two... Anyone who likes [60's hard rock] should ... check them out.

The Kronos Quartet, So Percussion, and the six players in Dance Patterns deliver topnotch performances, and Nonesuch's sound is immaculate.

Sharks have built up a reputation as one of the U.K.'s most vibrant young live acts, but the disappointingly flat No Gods suggests that something must have gone missing on their way to the studio.

It's an album that never feels overstuffed, even at its most wandering.

It integrates them in a 21st century musical language that is holistic and accessible while remaining fully exploratory.

n. Out of View is an impressive debut but, more than that, it's the sound of shoegaze and early-'90s guitar pop at its best.

Top of the Pops is a thorough and lovingly compiled set, and it's only fitting that a band as incredibly geeky about music and pop culture as Art Brut is should get the deluxe treatment.

Whenever they seem affected it's when they try to be a little bit too pure in their bluegrass ("Hermitage Hostep"), but when they incorporate bits of rock & roll and gospel, or when they cut loose ("People Been Talking"), or lay back ("Just Like You"), they're a compelling, muscled Americana outfit, given just the right showcase here by Benson.

While this might not be the album that will make believers out of their haters, Trivium have put out an album that, with its impressive blend of melody and scorching riffs, feels capable of luring more than a few post-grunge and hard rock fans over to the heavier side of the dial.

Forty years on, Los Lobos are still one of America's best, bravest, and most satisfying bands, and their skills and their their instincts remain razor-sharp, regardless of their stage volume.

If E Volo Love was his breakout, Piano Ombre should be the record that will truly resonate with fans.

It all makes for a complex, often beautiful debut album that affords Kelly even more expression and possibilities than what he's done before.

Refreshing in its conciseness and brightness, Shaken Up Versions embraces change even as it unites the different eras of the Dreijers' music.

Darkness has been a frequent companion on She Keeps Bees' earlier releases, but most of Eight Houses seems to take it a step further, verging between sad and threatening, yet ultimately powerful.

Gallows are certainly not getting any happier, but they've got torment down to a science.

Not all bands have to reinvent the wheel; they just need to roll it with some passion and dedication. Fist City do that and more on Everything Is a Mess.

Ropewalk finds the View further maturing into a tight, sophisticated outfit, capable of balancing the punk energy of their early work with a more nuanced sense of song craftsmanship.

After such a long journey, the original lineup have finally made an album together and it's every bit as triumphant and evocative for fans as it is for the quartet who have finally fulfilled a vision they had at the turn of the millennium.

Sequence and flow, moods and styles, all form a coherent whole--albeit one that might have used a tad more judicious editing. But it's hard to fault a band for trying new things, especially when what they deliver is an album with far more hits than misses.