Springsteen does more than just an adequate job; it’s difficult not to get swept along by the infectious energy of his performance.

On Metals Feist combines the sublime magic of her voice with songs that feature equally strong compositions to render an album that is easily one of the best of the year.

The National seems to have settled into a fine balance between the hungover brooding of Leonard Cohen and the more mellifluous tendencies of Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen.

The brilliant new album Dark Light Daybreak sees Now It's Overhead mixing the smoldering and beautifully layered guitar sounds from 2001's self-titled debut with the haunting synth-pop beats from 2004's Fall Back Open and taking them a step further by including more intricate melodies, polished arrangements and even grander guitar-scapes.

This is a revelatory album for the Mountain Goats and the listeners; both Darnielle and the audience find new strength in his open vulnerability.

It’s with his newest album, Years of Refusal, that Morrissey has delivered one of his finest albums to date.

A coherent, moving album that cements its place in listeners conscience.

It is easily the band’s most accomplished, interesting record, a record that will simultaneously alienate stodgy diehard “fans” and attract a new group of listeners to the band.

As one of music's most consistent bands, their ideas continue to surprise and astonish on Halcyon Digest's soaring highs.

Taken as a whole, Little Sand Box may initially feel a tad overwhelming but in actuality it makes understanding Gelb’s solo records far less arduous due to its curatorial context-setting (which includes bonus tracks and informative sleeve notes). Moreover, it upholds Gelb’s vocation as the sociable solo journeyman as being equal in stature to his role as a veteran band leader.

A rich, rewarding showcase for a woman whose voice, spirit, and energy have not faded.

This is evidence of a group that has really come into their own and while they were at it, refined their skills. It’s to the point that I feel this album is head and shoulders above any of their erstwhile releases.

Now, with Love vs. Money, Nash has been able to not only add a worthy addition but if this isn’t the best album the genre has seen and heard in the past year, I don’t know what is.

It’s symphonic, seductive, resolute, yearning.

Here We Go Magic certainly sound fantastically magical on A Different Ship. It's a definitive kind of feel and one that deserves proper recognition; they've delivered a remarkable album.

Be Still Please is the best work of McCaughan’s career.

Milk Man is representative of just about everything the band does best: the melodies soar, bend, and crunch; the verse seems interminably driven by its own internal logic; and the band’s members still play with a near-telepathic singularity of thought.

Sounds come and go but the inspiration and wherewithal to realize your own goal in tone is paramount. Women seem to know exactly what they stand for and in presenting it they've entirely outdone themselves, again.

Honestly, there is no precedent for this album.

There's enough diversity amongst these 11 songs to showcase the band's unique talents.

Eighteen years in the making, An Appointment With Mr Yates is The Waterboys actual masterpiece.

One could go on for hours about the qualities of each individual song, but it is the way they coalesce as a whole that makes Blood Mountain an incredible listen from start to finish.

Superb album in every facet, it is the first time in a while I have been able to emotionally engage in an album right from the get go.

It's her cathartic, invigorating voice on the never-miss Jukebox that aids in delivering one of the best albums of 2008--already.

Where the Aislers Set really create a distinction between themselves and their contemporaries is through the unpredictably imaginative arrangements, bolstered by Linton's truly enigmatic melodic sense.

A great album from a fantastic band.

Vastly rich... Ocean's voice is a thing of beauty – clear, crisp and almost, divine – he speaks of truth in an unabashed manner.

The songs on Bankrupt! all still feature scintillating synths, gorgeous melodies and soaring moments of transcendent skill but with more of a flair for the dynamic tense of music.