It's a diverse mixture of sounds delivered in a cohesive and well-arranged package.

The theme of perseverance resonates strongly on the album, and the imperfections and vulnerabilities in his vocals help to encapsulate the artistic progression.

Ultimately, Wiped Out! comes off as a "see what sticks" effort; it's slick and polished, but hits varying levels of satisfaction throughout.

By toeing the party line--one that many critics and fans have completely rejected--Made in California paints a false picture of one of rock's most enduring and puzzling acts.

A deceptively lush record full of moments of striking beauty.

Hackney Diamonds may not go down as an iconic Stones LP, but this late in the game it's basically a triumph by nearly every measure.

Nothing here quite scratches the itch of both emotional catharsis and rapturous splendour the way Arcade Fire's best songs do, but after a few initial attempts at capturing our collective panic and frustration, they have finally managed to pull it off by seeing themselves as part of the problem, by putting themselves in the line of fire, and by sharing the coping strategies and counterarguments that get them through and putting them into song.

Ordinary Man isn't necessarily the best Ozzy album ever made, but if this does mark the end of his recording career, he's ended with a bang instead of a thud. The record is easily the most captivating music he's made on a solo record since the early '90s, and despite small flaws with select songs, he's created another record worthy of people's attention.

This might not be the golden, triumphant comeback Aguilera had hoped for, but it's pretty close and, let's face it, it's better than most Top 40 music right now.

On his Late Night Tales, Floating Points shows off his exceptional taste and curation skills, assembling a captivating set of songs that test just how "chill" a chill-out compilation can get.

The best moments are when all of these elements are working together to make songs both catchy and corrosive, like the propulsive "We've Come So Far" (one of the two tunes recorded in Norway with Serena-Maneesh bandleader Emil Nikolaisen) and the unhinged bass feature, "Straight."

Crusher shows that Grave Babies know how to get down with some morbid music, all in the name of good, clean fun.

WILLOW's pointed vision and eagerness to push the envelope allowed her and Greatti to construct songs that consistently take unexpected turns yet culminate in her most cohesive project to date.

Seven Steps Behind is an album that, for the most part, has found its footing with a few missteps along the way.

With simple rhyme schemes, by no means is Chance an incredible rapper, but he is true to his artistry, the person he's growing into and is becoming a force in the new age rap realm.

Lyrically strong, thought provoking and groovy as hell, What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down? shows to the world that Public Enemy still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

While Berman's sentiments are sweet, there's nothing revolutionary here. That said, revolution isn't a prerequisite for good music, so if insular, sensitive indie rock is your thing, you'll probably love The Echo of Pleasure.

PHOENIXXX is a difficult listen, abrasive and angry, but it's expressive and worthwhile if you can manage to make it through.

Here is empowering at times--it's strong in craft and intent, and will likely perform well--but the hope that Keys will deliver that iconic, instant classic album continues on.

Regardless of your level of faith or denomination, the 19-track album is accessible enough from a craft and sanctified standpoint. Whether it's for interpolations of Kanye tracks like "Fade," with "Follow Me – Faith" — itself a gospelized riff off the classic house track by Aly-Us — or for a new take on "Ultralight Beam," off 2016's The Life of Pablo, there's a lot here to vibe off of.

L.W. may not boast many surprises, but it cements its makers as masters of their realm.

It's inevitable that lately i feel EVERYTHING will be relentlessly compared to its influences and predecessors, but Willow manages to pay homage to the subculture while putting her own spin on it.

Forever may be too long to wait for Keenan's other work, but it would be wrong to say Money Shot is any less rewarding.

Folks hoping for a repeat of Rabit's 2015 pseudo-grime offering Communion will certainly be disappointed here; open-minded listeners with a penchant for the darker side of experimental dance music will find their thirst for evil slaked.

What appeals to you about this Strand of Oaks effort will likely depend on which side of this spectrum you fall on--in the heartland or out in space. That's a divide that Eraserland creates, putting it somewhat out of sync with itself, but the title track brings those worlds together beautifully.

For such a specific formula, the law of diminishing returns likely looms, if it hasn't arrived already, but for now, The Glow is just enough of a good thing.

Head in the Dirt definitely bears all the hallmarks of an Auerbach production--fuzz, funk and stadium-ready choruses--and often it's difficult to tell whether El Khatib is merely serving as Auerbach's stand-in. But the catchiness of his songwriting ultimately wins the day.

It all sounds great, but the songs don't sink in, don't push past the surface.

Continue as a Guest picks up on the beats-and-synths sound that drove 2017's snappy Whiteout Conditions. Yet where that album saw Newman and Co. dabbling with syncopation, here the band is moving as one unit, deepening the music's groove.

It's a pleasant surprise to hear that he's capable of so much more.

Dark Sacred Night is a non-traditional Christmas album, but one of great import nonetheless. It makes a perfect companion for those of us whose Christmas experience is absent of the typical festivities and jubilation.

Ugly Season may lack the emotional resonance of Hadreas' best work as Perfume Genius, but it achieves a wildness that he's never quite accessed before, an alchemy between his bone-raw earlier records and the epic proportions of his later work. It's not the most essential Perfume Genius album, but it feels like an important one.

It's the slower, more "mature" tracks that disappoint here.... Still there's plenty to like on Let It Reign for Libertines fans missing that garage rock sound.

Your Hero Is Not Dead is an impressively contemplative debut album, filled with quiet music that packs a surprising emotional punch.

On their latest full-length, the duo maintain their ambition, putting together four sonically challenging tracks that range between nine and 15 minutes in length.

If hippie songstresses, piercing sopranos and meandering song craftsmanship are your bag, this album is certainly for you.

Though the sonic explorations undermine the album's overall cohesiveness, Crush remains a shining example of Shepherd's growth as an artist, and his willingness to push boundaries well into his career.

Nothing groundbreaking, but a good modern soul album that draws on specific touchpoints--late '90 to early '00s R&B filtered by way of trap-minded beats--curated to today's audience.

The 11 tracks on Magpie and the Dandelion were recorded during the same Rick Rubin-produced sessions, and now stand as a well-timed response to those that found The Carpenter too weighty for its own good.

While Raury makes no secret of his influences, that doesn't mean he lacks his own distinctive style.

Teaspoon To The Ocean's all-encompassing aura takes you through Craig's master class of dream exploration fairly quickly, but even in the midst of all the trippy goodness, his thoughtful testaments manage to shine through track to track, giving poignant, detailed expression to the anxiety that plagues his deepest thoughts.

Hexadic is louder and more gnarly than anything else he's done under this moniker.

As with earlier releases, This River is a seamless mix of Southern soul, rock, funk and blues.

There's casual grace in the band's winding and ultimately engrossing vibe and most of the earworms on the record stick like glue.

The Vancouver duo's captivating moments easily outnumber the few duller ones. On Lightning Dust's fourth studio album, Amber Webber's beautifully haunting voice brings hope to dark places, and following it feels like being guided to the light at the end of the tunnel.

This isn't going to be one of the classic Slayer albums, but there's still plenty of good thrash to be found on Repentless.

Minerva (née Juur) takes a few steps closer to the blurry line that separates quirky, home-taped experiments and straight-up club cuts.

Although much of the material has a familiar lustre to it, Something Shines nonetheless finds Laetitia Sadier at her most contented and focused.

Utilizing a variety of different sound palettes, from glossy synths to pounding drums and chanting voices, Lopatin uses the Uncut Gems score to give the listener effective moments of tension, dreamlike airiness and triumph, all in equal measure, making the listening a journey all in itself.

Though things work best when Pierce allows enough space amidst the music for the actual songs to flourish, even the jostling of the overcrowded bits is wonderful and energetic.

The accumulation of these sugary notes over the course of 45 minutes can feel somewhat sticky. This a good album, and everyone loves a bit of syrup--but you have to know when to draw the line.

Although Jim White and Marisa Anderson never seem to give themselves enough time or space to truly stretch out, The Quickening nonetheless captures two masters at their most free.

English Oceans, their 12th album in 17 years, confirms they've lost little of their potency, despite major personnel changes over the past decade.

Though initially intimidating, 13 Degrees Of Reality's murky, dub-inspired sound and paranoid aura get under the skin after repeated listens.

There's nothing especially innovative or unique about Handfuls of Night, but what it does, it does very well and should find great resonance with fans and filmmakers seeking some palpable sonic gravitas to help sell an emotional scene.

In his quest for comedic and artistic transcendence, Kaufman's intense pursuit of the "real" was, at the very least, unwittingly timeless.

Other than a few lapses, the hooks, synths and classical instruments effectively recontextualize Architects' musicianship. For Those That Wish to Exist proves these guys can successfully diversify their sound.

Its first half features some of the group's sweetest pop confections since those massive singles, while its second delves into the muggy Barrett-isms of their more recent work.

It's clear that Jonathan Wilson's naked ambition has reached a zenith, for better and for worse, with Rare Birds.

With impressive growth, and while still operating within the genre's tight confines, Carnifex put the final nail in deathcore's coffin, giving it an appropriate sendoff.

Indicud won't work for everyone, but if you're a Cudi fan, this album finds him sounding better than he has in some time.

Where Donovan really soars is the quieter moments on the record.

Tend No Wounds sounds very much like a transitional record, one foot firmly planted in the tar pit of their sludge roots while the other steps forward into a more punk-influenced, high-energy hard rock mode, and this liminality leads to moments of awkwardness.

By pairing their well-honed blues rock temerity with genuine emotional weight, Spoon continue to wring new ideas out of classic sounds without veering into gimmick, staying consistent without getting stale. By slowly introducing the idea that it's cool to care, Spoon continue to expand their comfort zone.

Listening to Look to the East, Look to the West feels at once redemptive and healing; Camera Obscura have found their way through the dark.

Everything goes by at such a breathless pace and without much variation that for individual listening, it gets a bit draining at times.

While even Young's most autobiographical ("Old Man") and tender ("Harvest Moon") songs deliver a level of poetry and mystery to his plainly spoken lyrics, much of his folk material here is paired with often cheesy and typical phrasing. ... That said, at 76 years of age, Young is still making more shrewd, relevant, and valiant albums than any of his peers not named Bob Dylan.

It's not perfect – there's a spoken-word bit tacked on to the end that is less than satisfactory, but the lyrics aren't really the point here. This is a record that fills up a room and begs to be turned up loud.

Like any colourful kaleidoscope however, there's a lack of cohesion on this debut, as varying production clashes throughout the disorganized project. That's a minor quibble, though; if you look closely, and let the visuals clash and morph into something new, you'll still find plenty to wonder at.

For a solo debut, Serpentine Prison seems like a natural first step and a safe bet for both the artist's individual ambitions and the comfort of existing fans.

High Noon showcases Arkells' lofty ambitions, and while it might not be their defining record it's another intriguing step in their evolution.

Neuroplasticity is a full-on rock record, though, as much as it's just a transition for Spx into something that takes a variety of musical turns.

In its quiet drawl, Out of Touch is a perfect record for joining Kalevi on that beach: full of the foggy calm of letting the imagination run its own course.

While founders Jonathan Russell and Josiah Johnson do seem to come from the Simon & Garfunkel school of songcraft, an appreciation of California pop also comes out.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy remains the apex of West's maximalist visions, and while The Life of Pablo certainly aims high, it isn't as consistently pointed in delivering both music and message as its big-budget predecessor was. And yet, it remains a modern gospel that is undeniably West's own, with a handful of vexatious moments peppered throughout the undeniably visionary ones.

A Girl Cried Red takes you back in time to the nostalgia of your emo days.

Scis demonstrates that, 27 years into his recording career, Markus Popp is still managing to come off forward-thinking and forward-sounding.

While a slight step forward, Nocturne, like all of Wild Nothing's output to date, still inhales all of its influences--the women, the hurt, the favourite records stuck on late night repeat--and exhales them in to a beautiful, swirling, ethereal cloud.

With tiny flourishes, Ndegeocello injects new meaning into each song she covers.

The music is punchy, with electronic and analog elements, but, in contrast with Fucked Up, there is absolutely nothing abrasive about the vocals, which are sometimes dominated by beautiful harmonies, as the album's title suggests.

DJ Khaled knows how to produce a hit with any number of artists, but his 2019 effort could have used some more growth like Asahd.

“My Day Off” is an instant standout. .... Other songs on Still lack these creative frameworks and aren’t quite as successful in leaving an impression.

Universal Themes is still overwhelmingly heart-on-sleeve, human; if it's not universal in the specifics, then it is in the way it rawly depicts experience.

Like Funkadelic's 2014 comeback First Ya Gotta Shake the Gate, Medicaid Fraud Dogg is a sprawling listen, and a few tracks, like the tedious "On Fire" could have been trimmed.

Scruff's in his forties but the assured, mature Friendly Bacteria is the antithesis of a mid-life crisis.

Hypnotic Eye may just be a solid middle-of-the-pack release as far as Petty albums go, but only a fool would complain about having another 45 minutes of music from one of rock & roll's premier units.

An easy 12-track listen with smart, if not epic, storytelling and a variety of sounds.

It's a gritty, soulful sound that holds The Solution together, seemingly aspiring to be nothing more than "Boot Camp meets Little Brother": familiar and stress-free for an audience seeking a vintage feel in their hip-hop.

Whether the band chose to do so to demonstrate their virtuosity, or merely their indecisiveness, has yet to be shown. Regardless, Collector is inspiring in its scale and complexity.

The band's 14th record finds Yo La Tengo settling into a late career renaissance that revisits the timbre of some of their best records (especially the quiet grace of And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out) without rehashing them, providing a welcome counterpoint to their slightly louder and more bombastic later efforts.

Weak spots include "Superfresh" and "Hot Property," staid disco-pop ditties offering outdated synth and vocoder machinations. But overall, Automaton is inspired, experimental and timeworn.

It's true that Fujiya & Miyagi have a particular formula, and they seem to follow it on their self-titled LP, but they've managed to figure out when to use this formula to satiate listeners and when to tweak it to make listeners salivate.

Lamb of God is essentially what fans should expect from the band at this point. Nothing on it feels groundbreaking or cutting-edge like the band's music did in the 2000s, but then again, it's unlikely Lamb of God will ever muster up that same aggression from the comfortable place they sit now.

Like the murky corners of the city that birthed it, Get Back is filled with interesting diversions, even if those ideas don't necessarily add up to a unified vision.

Although new listeners may find this brand of new wave revival frivolous in such an oversaturated pool of sound-alikes, longtime fans, or those who listen close enough, will hear a band who has a little more weight beneath the surface than their contemporaries. Songwriting that isn't always complementary, but bold nonetheless.

EarthGang's otherwise lean and careening style has the potential to reach the acclaim earned by their label head J. Cole — even if the stratospheric success of Stankonia remains out of reach for now.

This is a fantastic debut full of genuine warmth.

MassEducation is hardly a necessary addition to St. Vincent's repertoire, but it is nevertheless an interesting and worthwhile listen for fans.