When all is said and done, this album will be looked at as a turning point for the trio: the moment they went legit.

Nearly every song on Luv Is Rage 2 comes with a distinct enough hook to break up the limited set of things it does and subjects it ponders.

In between Beauty’s innumerable hooks, Tesfaye finds room to be a pop figure with something to say.

Big Ups aren’t always this lyrically profound, but they can make a little go a long way.

Mostly, though, Dark Sky Paradise is an ambitious, tasteful album from a rapper who’s often viewed as neither.

Even without the willful innovation, the record is important evidence to just how strong and poignant his songs are in skeletal form. Wilco is nowhere to be found here, but Together at Last is still a very good Jeff Tweedy record that should hold over fans until his band’s next musical flight of fancy.

That refusal to keep quiet is essential to the makeup of Jambinai, accentuating and amplifying traditional Korean music, turning up the noise, and letting both traditional and modern emotions vent.

While Farrar’s restlessness seems authentic, he sometimes gives the impression of someone who’s lost track of himself, barking truths so obvious that they fall flat when said aloud. Still, Spirit World rewards repeat listens, a dense full-length on which a band with an ever-shifting identity finds a firm foothold, at least for now.

Night Surfer remains that rare record that elucidates how dysfunctional our world has become while somehow leaving us thankful that we get to trudge ahead through the mess.

Given all the resources he has, the album may have been too big to fail, but he’s still maintained enough of his unique talent that it’s unlikely anyone could have done it better.

This album release coincides with the aforementioned documentary, and as the details of Lovato’s rocky recovery continue to unfurl, there’s a bit of concern in the idea that this record is a bit too intrinsically tied to another very public narrative. She tells us, over and over within the album, that this devastating chapter of her life is over and gone. In the aching, tender closer, she sings that she’s in a “good place” in a track of the same name. I desperately want to believe her.

The Gamble may be a record nearly a decade in the making, but by not putting pressure on themselves to make a grand statement, nonkeen have made a memorable work and showcased their strengths.

A.L.L.A flows well from track to track; it’s well sequenced but long at 18 songs and more than an hour.

Bahamas Is Afie demonstrates a powerful agility and musical literacy on Jurvanen’s part, and its powers of seduction lie in how easy he makes it all look.

What the album lacks in singularity, it makes up for with a stronger sense of urgency. It’s louder, it’s heavier, and it’s jammier.

It’s the sound of a band digging deep, sharing the lessons they’ve learned, and channeling their experiences into something bigger than all its members combined. Even if it’s slightly lopsided and occasionally heavy-handed, this album undoubtedly proves that Arcade Fire have a lot of gas in the tank, and they’ll do whatever it takes to… (I’m sorry) keep the car running.

Interpol sound more connected to each other as players and songwriters, the result of making music in closer quarters and in the midst of unfamiliar footing.

Even with its inevitable blemishes, The New Abnormal is easily the freshest, most interesting album that The Strokes have released in more than a decade. While the band haven’t proven to be the single-handed savior that rock music always seems to be searching for, they have made the case for taking a slow-burn approach to collaboration and creativity.

eternal sunshine is a place for her to process and reflect; she might not be fully in her healing era, but she’s picking herself up and preparing for whatever’s next.

Pocketknife is surprisingly diverse, with nearly every song offering a hook or refrain that feels textured, vital, and, perhaps most importantly, of a piece.

While the music of The Julie Ruin may not have as much of the anger and purpose that colored her earlier work, it feels like some of her most personal music yet, a reclamation of herself as a musician.

The current of honesty that runs through Endless Summer Vacation encourages the listener to press play on the record again, and the stories here get even better on a second or third listen. It’s cohesive without feeling repetitive.

Half of Where You Live is a strong follow-up from a producer who’s underrated due to his patience and steadfast refusal to be ostentatious.

An expanded look at this duo's heady, cinematic interplay likely would make for even stronger results.

Is this the best album of Orbital's career? Certainly not. But it is their best album in the past 15 years.

There are a few moments that go on a bit too long toward the end, like “Branches on the Arrow Peak Revelation” and “North Star Ordination”, but overall, Illumination Ritual is the band at its poetic best, riding the quiet night wind to a restful conclusion.

On House of Baasa, Zambri excels at combining the eerie with the fun, and the result is one of the more remarkable debuts of 2012. It's akin to throwing a dance party at an abandoned haunted house.

Dagger Beach is a marked return to Vanderslice’s impressively meticulous tinkering after the hurried live recording of White Wilderness.