Led Zeppelin I is a fantastic glimpse into the time capsule, a standing testament to rock pageantry.

While not the towering achievement of its brothers in numerology, Led Zeppelin III remains one of the great albums in rock and roll history, significant for its role in establishing the legend of Led Zeppelin that would become fact with Led Zeppelin IV.

There are fewer moments of complete chaos, giving over instead to more detailed-oriented dissections of experiences from puberty. While this might sound like dangerous territory for an artist who’s known for searing riffs and vicious live performances that include screaming into the pickups of her guitar, Mitski uses her voice to measure the slightest nuances within complex emotions.

Indigo, which RM describes as “a sun-bleached record faded like old jeans,” feels like a gift to his own creative spirit as much as it does a gift to the listeners.

It’s a bit of cruel irony that in the face of so much adversity, the band has somehow managed to helm their most creative and compelling album in over 20 years. It may be hard for the band to recognize it, but believe it or not, Foo Fighters are learning to live again.

Model Citizen is a clear and cohesive step towards a post-Warped Tour, pop-punk-celebrating audience. And though some of their more specific reference points may be stuck in the MySpace era, Meet Me @ the Altar are proving that they’re right on time.

Tillman’s writing, already literate and caustically funny, has progressed as well as his arrangements.

The story he set out to tell ends up linear and cohesive, remarkably so, even for people who don’t speak Korean and experience the album first solely as a sonic journey. ... This collection is a body of work people will turn to for years to come.

It requires multiple listens. In turn, it helps the listener grow, revealing spaces where their own narrative and experiences can intertwine with his--not in a romantic sense, but an educational sense. As a result, Aromanticism has already become one of the most emotionally therapeutic albums of the year.

Because it’s loaded with guests, there’s a transparent curatorial awareness to Music Complete, one that’s surprisingly engaging and effective.

A Crow Looked at Me stands as a remarkable example of the restorative power of music, an intimate display of love, daring both in concept and execution.

Side B is the more adventurous half of the album, pushing Bad Bunny’s sound into new places with collaborations with alternative acts. ... With the sun-kissed Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny continues to proudly give pop music some much-needed flavor, swagger, and sounds by way of the Caribbean.

LZII could’ve used a live version or two to highlight the energy of the late ’60s--an era that remains especially mythical for those of us who weren’t there. As a two-disc set, though, this reissue is both a reminder of the original album’s wallop and a closer look at the alchemy of a band increasingly attuned to ideas of progression.

On “DNA.”, Kendrick slices himself down the middle, spills his guts, and mines the finer points of all of his moving parts over an 808-heavy production from Mike Will Made It. The combination may sound to purists like it should not work on paper, but it is absolute fire, and they reprise their magic again on “HUMBLE.” and “XXX.”, challenging rap’s own perceptions of itself and what value really boils down to from the Hot 100 to the underground.

Norman Fucking Rockwell! proves (again) Del Rey as a fully-realized artist who has remained true to her obsessions — aesthetic, cultural, and personal — outlasting the misogynist criticisms that could have derailed her early career. Del Rey delivers a gaze that swivels internally and externally, that can simultaneously observe our national existential dread and her own sudden hope for a “Hallmark” love.

The singing and melodies are massaged with a care unheard in the prior Drake discography; this album flows as improbably as The Life of Pablo, with more assured lyrics and smoother sequencing, to offset the lack of a certifiable genius at the helm.

It’s something special, just like it was always planned to be.

While all three women may continue on to even greater heights as individuals, the record offers something so much more than the sum of its parts. It’s a covenant between three soulmates, a trio of best friends ready to carry the torch for a new musical generation.

With Black Messiah, D’Angelo has silenced any doubters and re-confirmed his invitation as the heir apparent to the R&B throne, whether he continues to refuse the honor or not.

Of course, the album is a highly polished product and not some diary page. But it feels lived in, truthful, authentic.

Using his remaining time, he’s not only putting his house in order, he’s tidying up ours too. You Want It Darker prepares us for his departure and, in turn, shows us how it’s done, so we have a road map--pockmarked by land mines as it is--in place when we reach that stage.

As he evolves, he continues to reinvent himself, and he knows exactly how to leave fans hooked on havoc. And After Hours is proof that he’s not done with us yet; in fact, he’s just getting started.

The interplay between Crutchfield and Lenderman’s voices makes the tunes all the more memorable, and his guitar work on tracks like “Evil Spawn” adds a certain bite to Waxahatchee’s sound that helps distinguish the record from its predecessor. It’s such subtle shifts that make Tigers Blood so remarkable.

The most fun PUP have ever sounded. ... For a band who claim to be “too old for teen angst, too young to be washed,” PUP have successfully found that balance.

Each of the album’s 10 songs are fully formed and smartly rendered, but “Young Blood” stands out as the most jaw-dropping.

Simply put, AC/DC went in and kicked out the proverbial jams, crafting their best album in years and igniting a spark of joy into the stark timeline that is 2020.

They’ve boiled their process down to its essentials, and No Cities to Love crams genius lyrics and hook after inescapable hook into just 10 tracks and 33 minutes.

For 44 minutes, Mann slips into the skin of someone walking an emotional tightrope, and it’s an act she pulls of with grace and conviction.