OK Computer never stopped sounding timeless. In its new form as OKNOTOK, unreleased songs feed off beloved B-sides, forming a web that supports the concrete themes of the original album so as to make its points even sharper.

The Basement Tapes Raw, like the original ’75 release, blends brilliant performances with pure curiosities. What’s remarkable, though, are how many beautiful, emotionally daunting moments came into being during these rather informal sessions.

What makes Rumours so remarkable and relevant is that it remains fragile and passionate 35 years later.... From a historical, archival standpoint, this package is extremely valuable, as Rhino left in the studio banter and rough cuts from the recording sessions; you get to overhear Fleetwood Mac as they make the record.

Resounding with enchanting vocals, a distinctly dusk-singed ambience and a keen precision thanks to its percussion, Blue Lines transcends the spills onto the dance floor and tinny thumps from laptop speakers, possessing a cosmic ability to remain a masterpiece 21 years after its release.

Bolt Cutters delivers a much-needed auditory exercise for the sequestered masses and surely one of the best albums to grace us in 2020. Eight long years later, Fiona Apple proves her return was worth every second in waiting.

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.

The remastering of this album is a blessing to the careful compositions and mannered performances throughout the record.

Remastered by Page himself, this is the best digital version of Physical Graffiti available and the definitive way to hear the album if you don’t own a turntable.

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

Kendrick can’t be Pac or know everything it took to be him, but he isn’t going to let doubts stop him from making groundbreaking music. With To Pimp a Butterfly, it’s never been more apparent that he’s doing just that and prepared to stride past any and all obstacles.

The biblical book of Hebrews says, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Never has an album expressed this idea clearer than Ghosteen.

The band opened the vaults for this reissue to give us a sparkling remaster, a sturdy live set from the 40 Watt Club (though it hardly begs for canonization like 2009’s revelatory, rarity-packed Live at the Olympia), and a juicy third disc of demos. Some of these are pretty fun.

There's more than enough here to disavow thoughts that this is a needless cash grab by Corgan.

It's easy to lose yourself in the countless studio takes. Little gasps of pure genius here and there. The slow dissolution to it all. The echoes of things to come. It's a history lesson come to life, and that's part of the reason the collection here works so well.

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.

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.

Dylan could use some editing here, for sure, but it’d be even better to let his band off their leashes and, like in the old juke joint featured on the album’s cover, close the windows and let it get hot in there.

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.

Thanks to all involved in this loving project, we get a better chance to explore and understand what made Wildflowers bloom as fragrant and beautiful as it did more than a quarter century ago and what made Petty the perfect talent to pluck those blooms from the studio weeds.

In spite of everything that Oasis would become on record, on stage, in the tabloids, Definitely Maybe stands above it all.

Twenty-one years later, Gentlemen remains as much an outlier as ever due to its unlikely fusion of sounds and uncompromising view that breakups are as much about anger and resentment as wallowing and pining. Listen to Gentlemen again, and you’ll find it’s all still “in our heart, in our heads, in our love, and in our beds.”

As an artist, he needed to release the record in just this way in order to process his pain. Skeleton Tree was released for us, but it’s for him.

Come in expecting a mystical journey and take it for what it is--an hour-long, drug-infused jam--and you'll be pulled right in.

There is no question that this album is a game changer. It's Kanye West's greatest work.

If anything, the extras better inform the choices eventually made on the band's debut, highlighting just how great a record it turned out to be (since, basically, they'd been doing it from song one). Put simply, Icky Mettle is a gem of early '90s rock worthy of a place in the indie Smithsonian.

A stunning listening experience, even for longtime fans of Rosalía.

It’s in her own vocal and musical versatility that Polachek can create a new map to discover, and the results are nothing short of thrilling.

Even without the bonus disc full of rare goodies, this remastered version of Lifes Rich Pageant is required listening.

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.

The pleasure of Room 25 is in hearing a master wordsmith turn words into feelings so that the feelings linger long after the words have stopped.

It shows that the Some Girls era was, and remains, one of the most productive of the Stones' career.

Musically and lyrically, Achtung Baby sounds as fresh and relevant as it did 20 years ago.

With everything under one roof and no vacancies in sight, the 25th anniversary return to Singles is a pleasant one. It’s a humble reminder of a time when soundtracks could rule the roost and yet also serve a greater purpose.

It’s a grief we hope to avoid and yet a grief we can’t help tasting. Saba makes it near impossible to turn away.

Nova Twins bend and blend genres like alchemists, generating a sound specific to them and the undertones of their social movement. ... Supernova is like our generation’s “f**k you” to every version of “the man,” much like The Clash did in 1977 and Rage Against the Machine did in 1992.

Lemonade marks Beyoncé’s most accomplished work yet. It is the perfect combination of the sharp songwriting of 4 with the visual storytelling acumen of her self-titled record. Here, we see Beyoncé fully coming into her own: wise, accomplished, and in defense of herself.

Sunbather is a developed, mature, and, above all, an original statement that truly lives up to the unbelievable amount of hype it has earned.

Turnstile have already built a devoted following with their previous releases and legendary high-energy live shows, but Glow On takes them to a new level. It’s a fearless album that doesn’t bow to genre conventions, establishing Turnstile as the present and future of rock music.

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.

Even though other recent interviews and richly realized tracks like those imply that Ocean's songwriting is just a vessel, his own devil is still in the details, and that's what makes his music compelling.

COWBOY CARTER is a worthy entry in an ambitious trilogy, but it isn’t a country album. It’s a Beyoncé album, and what that means keeps getting bigger.

What Cave and Ellis have crafted with Carnage is a refreshing respite from chaos, a record that sits at the burning edge of dawn and anticipates destruction’s undoing.

Lorde’s overreaches and missteps are just as charming as the incisive parts, so she must be an icon. The board-manning Jack Antonoff’s over-reliance on synths and clicks limits what she can do with this new maximalism, and her insistence on, well, melodrama will occasionally mar her best writing, which remains in the shadows. She’s not a liability. But she can be a forest fire.

Born Against is a triumphant collection of tracks from one of modern music’s most gifted storytellers.

The service Temporary Residence Limited have done in making these nearly lost classics available again is downright admirable, turning out a set that's a must-have for post-rock fans.

Red has aged fairly well overall, even some of the lighter fare. ... The tracks from the vault here are stronger than those chosen for Fearless (Taylor’s Version).

We now have an album from him so masterful that it'd be greedy to ask for much more.

While not a perfect album, Renaissance is pretty damn close. It’s infectious and not overbearing, elegant, but not shallow.

Baroness currently find themselves in a place of great maturity, exhibiting superb musicianship. It’s fitting for Gold & Grey to be the conclusion of the band’s color-themed albums. The array of instrumentation and emotion throughout not only make Gold & Grey a joy to listen to, but also an achievement of which Baroness can truly be proud.

The River Collection isn’t a glimpse of what could have been--it’s raw proof that The River sessions produced too many good songs for one album (even a double album) to contain.

Rodrigo certainly has the capacity for the kinds of nuanced choices that match her vulnerability with active, novel sonics, and GUTS proves that she’s willing and able to embrace the grey areas that these big emotions inhabit. But her fearlessness with a pen in her hand deserves to be matched by the overall presentation of these songs, making it all the more satisfying when she lets these songs bubble up and burst.

By and large, We got it from Here… has the classic Tribe sound: a warm and crisp confluence of East Coast hip-hop, jazz, and more, all mixed and mastered impeccably. While some aspects of the sound are dated, others feel fresh.

It is an absolute monster of a record that clocks in at just over 67 minutes with a staggering 23 tracks — and boy, was it worth the wait. If Ctrl was a near-perfect debut, S.O.S might be an inch closer to masterclass status.

By forsaking greatness, Stevens has unearthed a wonder altogether more tremendous than the one at the top of those towers he used to stack.

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.

Punisher is a dazzling record, one filled with sadness but not overwhelmingly so, full of moments that sting the first time you hear them but burrow deeper into the soul with each listen.

The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We finds Mitski at her most peaceful, hopeful, and, yes, loving.

Paradise Lost have found an almost ideal balance between grit, atmosphere and songcraft. What Obsidian lacks in lyrical subtlety or song variety, it makes up for with sonic depth and sheer catchiness. ... Paradise Lost float above the fray, synthesizing aggression and accessibility in every song. It’s hardly a new trick for these Brits, but that they’ve made it par for the course makes their career all the more remarkable.

The 2013 remix is a bit of a wash, if only because the album already sounded great.

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.

While one could argue Lord-Alge’s mix brought the band their first Billboard Hot 100 hit in “I’ll Be You”, time has proven that hit didn’t really bring them any long-term success. By scaling back then, Wallace has created an album that truly fits with their narrative, and that’s probably worth more now than then. After all, time has been very kind to The Replacements, who continue to build upon their legacy with each passing year, and Dead Man’s Pop is a welcome addition.

Her biggest fans may prefer less direct writing, but it makes St. Vincent her most widely appealing album to date, an infectious work that doesn’t ever feel like a compromise.

An album like RTJ2 is rare. Decades from now, this album may just be revered as one of the best hip-hop records of our era, the total synchronicity of two talented artists reaching the apex of their prime.

It’s sad and sweet and lovely and brutal.

Rat Saw God is the type of kaleidoscopic album that offers up something new to appreciate with each listen. It’s a record worth hearing, recommending, and obsessing over – Google search results be damned.

Woods embodies the cultural makeup of Chicago, tackles the multiplicity of identity, and balances her dominance with flawlessly selected features that build her up. ... This record could be the basis for a college course or used as an actually accurate history book.

The complexity of Run the Jewels 4 is its strongest asset. Killer Mike and El-P, just like their listeners, are still trying to navigate nefarious ideologies while remaining steadfast in their desire to destroy them. Their latest work is a political manifesto that antagonizes a system that never had the marginalized and vulnerable in mind. Though it comes several albums into their discography, RTJ4, with its empowering proclamations, buoyant production, and ferocious soundscapes, feels like just the beginning of something even greater.

SAWAYAMA appears poised to be one of the best pop albums of the year and sets Sawayama up as a pop force to be reckoned with.

The challenge of teasing audience expectations and controlling an artistic persona would seem far greater. With this EP, twigs pulls it off expertly, fracturing and blurring her musical self.

Black Origami is an album that, like its predecessors, will be savored and analyzed for the rest of the year. It’s a lock for best albums of 2017.

All Mirrors is a successful example of how being bold and staying true to yourself pays off. Undeniably, this is Olsen’s most cohesive, self-aware, and searing album to date, and the era of Olsen is far from finished.

Even when Parks tries on different hats, Natural Brown Prom Queen still manages to feel cohesive and genuine. ... Meanwhile, songs like “Ciara” and “Freakalizer” feel like hits ahead of their time.

While Coloring Book successfully channels the musical conventions of African-American church tradition without sounding dated or pastiche, the album also subtly chronicles black history and uses it as inspiration for artistic freedom.

On his new album, Big Fish Theory, Staples continues to perfect his brand of nuanced nihilism while exploring new sounds that should put the music industry on notice that the future is now.

Musgraves hits one high note after another on Golden Hour; her talent as a songwriter and melody-maker is second to none, and each song is thoughtful, well-formed, and a delightful experience on its own. Together, the tracks on Golden Hour add up to an honest, cohesive musical experience that will linger in your mind and heart long after the final notes have faded.

It’s groovy and funky and sultry, and it takes things seriously while still being joyful. It encourages freedom of form, in the sense of both body and art. It’s the perfect second album for Christine and the Queens.

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 interludes are all derived from the same sonic template as the songs, so the borders between tracks can be hazy, giving the album a meandering feel. That said, ultimately there’s something refreshing about Solange’s dreary, almost funereal compositions.

When I Get Home is universal because of Solange’s deep respect for her own home. The way she switches beats and flows constantly surprises, even on a tenth listen, unraveling new riches each time. Solange’s latest mystifies and stuns, leaving you awestruck as she cements her legacy as a true generational voice.

With their latest studio album, Slipknot have released one of the strongest albums in their career. When it comes to We Are Not Your Kind, Slipknot live up to the title.

The Idler Wheel succeeds in creating a singular world more daring than any of Apple's previous records and one of the most daring pop records in recent history.

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.

As perfect as Illmatic is, there are plenty of crevices that can be explored and different musical avenues to test Nas’s verses/scriptures.

By further broadening their scope of sound, HAIM create a wide window for listeners to find something of resonance within Women in Music Pt. III.

There’s little that’s playful inside Superunknown. It sounds more like Black Sabbath running for their lives, about to crack under the pressure, but then, at the last minute, escaping--and thriving.

On folklore, Swift has come of age, emotionally and sonically, and proven herself — not that she needed to — as not only an exceptionally autonomous auteur but a nimble collaborator with an ever-broadening palate.

To Be Kind does as much soul exposure lyrically as it does musically, Gira’s simple, howled lines finding the vein incredibly easily.

Ultimately, Valentine is the perfect marriage of concept and skill at this point in Snail Mail’s career.

While the no-bullshit lyrics and get-in, get-out nature of American Band work to make the band’s politics perfectly clear (at 47 minutes, it’s a contender for DBT’s shortest LP), it still has unique lyrical details that separate it from other protest music, even protest music of the loud and pissed-off variety.

Musically, the band sounds as tight as ever, matching Lyxzén’s dynamic vocals with monstrous riffs and rhythm all through War Music. ... With War Music, Refused have delivered a rousing call to arms, and perhaps a call to their punk-rock peers to join the fight.

The album winds up feeling like the first in Newsom’s catalog that won’t be considered a classic, but it’s proof that a sturdy, thought-provoking, and rewarding record doesn’t necessarily need to stand next to her past work to find its own greatness.

For Adele, 30 is an emotional breakthrough — a refreshingly candid body of work that is revelatory. While the album is about “divorce, babe,” the record’s 12 songs go deeper.

Loud City Song is a sightseeing trip with a person fully able to portray the objective beauty of the sights, as well as her own take on them.

Going back to the well is generally frowned upon, but given the depth of Waits' well and the crispness and vitality drawn from it on Bad As Me, it hardly seems to warrant criticism that he has chosen to rummage through his past and revisit what he never had the heart, or mind, to throw away.

Waiting five years to hear previously released tracks is worth it precisely because Radiohead finally feels connected enough to perform them with meaning.

The artists for whom Clark now carries the torch were never satisfied with their past accomplishments and were always pushing forward. MASSEDUCTION cements her in this camp.

Saint Cloud offers us the best possible version of Crutchfield she could possibly give us. The record is made by someone who was always whispering, finally having the confidence and courage to speak up and sing unrestrained. It demands to be listened to.

For fans who were sucked in during the time of “Dynamite” or “Butter” and haven’t dug into their back catalogue just yet, they might be surprised to discover just how broad of a range these songs can stretch. ... Disc 3 is a whole different kind of time capsule: there are 11 unreleased demos, two brand new tracks (“Quotation Mark” and “For Youth”), and one previously-shelved track (“Young Love”) that peel back the curtain on BTS as artists like never before.