In an era when innovative artists such as Frank Ocean and The Weeknd are redefining the form and feel of R&B seduction ballads, Prince sounds not just relevant, but renewed.

El-P has never sounded more scathingly unhinged as an MC. Killer Mike, who brought an urban philosopher’s mind set to “R.A.P. Music,” conjures that same level of intensity when he rains down insults alongside his new sidekick.

The trio again puts a premium on space and intimacy in the arrangements, which works especially well this time because of the uniformally high quality of the melodies.

It's impossible to assess an album this thick with twists and turns in a few hours. But at this early stage, it feels rich enough to reward more listens.

[The cover of J.J. Cale's "Magnolia" is] a beautiful grace note that rewards those who stay for the long haul.

Black Messiah miraculously doesn't sound overcooked. It's as if D'Angelo spent all that time building tracks up and then editing them down to their raw, spontaneous-sounding essence.

His first album in four years and one of the best of his storied career.

Barnett isn’t necessarily trying to reinvent rock with her songwriting. Instead, she strives to reveal something about herself within the context of relatively straight-up verse-chorus songs. Her playing is rarely flashy, but it is devastatingly efficient, a procession of riffs, fills and sculpted feedback that stamps her as a--here’s that word again--modest master of rock guitar.

The Mekons thread humor and poignancy through songs that crackle, veer, swoop and combust.

Just as eating well should be a sensual experience, this album layers its flavors.

Most of it is an inspired mix of blood and bawdiness.

As the songs unfold, the nuances in DeMent's vocals become more apparent, as painterly as the poet's words.

DBT sounds like it’s just getting re-started on its 12th studio album, “The Unraveling” (ATO). ... Even better are the songs that describe the emotional toll behind those headline-making, stomach-churning issues.

This is not a dilettantish push into the unknown. Spoon has been heading in this direction for years, and in many ways Hot Thoughts is the payoff.

It’s tactile and visual as much as aural, a continuation of her richly rewarding collaboration with Venezuelan-U.K. electronic artist and producer Arca.

In answer to the question posed by the album title, Van Etten's characters are still in transit, spinning their wheels, uncertain of their destination. No wonder their soundtrack brims with turbulence.

The first half of the album follows one knockout punch with another, with guitar-centric melodies underpinned by glitchy electronics that have more in common with 1980s post-punk and early industrial music than they do the pop mainstream.

I Learned the Hard Way (Daptone) is a master class in soul singing, songwriting and arranging.

The Providence, R.I., group’s third studio album, Cost of Living (Sub Pop), marks a step up in production clarity, with Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto slightly altering the band’s balance of power while retaining its not-having-it attitude.

It sounds fully formed and wickedly confident, the work of four people who had to get a few things off their chest.

The follow-up amplifies the hooks, widens the scope, deepens the wordplay.

Cave dials down the fiercely vivid imagery for a stark meditation on sex and death that leaves almost everything to the listener's imagination, accompanied by little more than the crackle of static.

What makes this album a must for Young aficionados is that the Harvesters are likely the most musically accomplished band the singer ever assembled. Thibodeaux's fiddle and Keith's steel-guitar complement Young's craggy guitar; there's an evident virtuosity, but it never comes off as slick.

Whatever you think of Mellencamp, this is the kind of record that will compel a re-evaluation, an out-of-leftfield shot that mostly works because of its modesty, shagginess and humor--qualities not normally associated with the singer in the past.

Drummer Cody Dickinson in particular delivers exactly what each song needs, nothing less, and keeps things swinging. It's the kind of unsentimental yet passionate tribute a musical legend and family cornerstone would surely appreciate.

An album that has few direct antecedents in his vast discography and arrives as a late-career landmark.

Even more so than its two predecessors, The Suburbs is an Arcade Fire album designed to be heard as a whole in a specific sequence.

It's an iconic if flawed album. But the overflow of songs presented on The Ties That Bind makes for a great argument-starter. Did Springsteen assemble the best version of The River? This boxed set provides evidence for piecing together an even better one.