While it may hard to both live up to hype and craft something distinct in a young career already brimming with excellent releases, channel ORANGE finds Frank Ocean rising to the challenge with a class unlike anyone in music these days.

These discs should be played loud, but not to ramp up the cinematics. Rather, they should be played loud to highlight the intimate details, to convince you just how uniquely, impossibly good these guys were when they played together.

You will be hard pressed to find another album that is as essential and equal parts human and inhuman as The Satanist, a world-beating return from near death for Behemoth’s enigmatic emperor.

Almost 50 years after the fact, that first Cluster record (named either Cluster or Cluster 71, depending on whom you ask) still sounds miles ahead of the curve.

Each album, from the White Stripes to De Stijl to White Blood Cells, has shown their evolution from Blind Willie McTell cover band with a pop sensibility to full-fledged, honest-to-goodness rock 'n' roll gods, a status finally reached on their latest disc.

Shut off the social media for an hour, and pay attention to these stories. The co-writers of these poignant and powerful songs have fought in defense of our collective freedom of speech. We should honor them by listening to their stories.

For what's essentially a bootleg recording, the sound quality of the 47-minute set from 27 October 1968 is surprisingly strong. ... It sits comfortably amongst Monk's finest recorded works.

Ray Blk remains an individual, someone who can make mainstream soul music that still shows off impressive creativity and ingenuity.

Raw Power is one of his definitive statements, and it is presented here in superb form. You owe it to yourself to get this.

To genuinely appreciate this album, you need to sit with it and let it wash over you.

Melodrama finds Lorde producing the best work of her career so far, crafting an ambitious and uncompromising pop statement suffused with intensely personal artistry. Both jubilant and frightened, insecure and proud, the album establishes her as a pop star on her terms.

Imperfect and ambitious, sometimes startling and always smart.

The Greater Wings is sublime and difficult to fault. Fans of Byrne will be delighted and moved to hear her grow even further as an artist and songwriter, not least in her coming to terms with grief and pain. New listeners to Byrne will surely find an artist of great pathos and empathy whose talents may now get the wider hearing they deserve.

His ability to purge himself on every track is contagious. You don't have to go there with him to enjoy this album, but don't be surprised if you do.

The London performance has yielded one of the finest live albums to come our way in a long while.

Swift lays the groundwork of her songs with good chords in Red (Taylor’s Version), but she also enhances the songs’ power with catchy lyrics and melodies (“You fooound me / You fooound me / You fooound me-e-e-e-“).

Lamar concentrates the ideas of hip-hop narrative and nonfiction into such a form that's shocking for how simultaneously accessible yet full of depth it is.

With this record, Skinner is now in a class all his own; nobody else is making music like this.

It was as powerful a set of players as Davis ever played with, but it also did its own thing, carving out a space that was equal parts eccentric and classic, innovative and authoritative.

No More Blue Skies – a follow-up arriving four years after its predecessor – is a welcome return for fans of Gold Dime, as it includes all of Ambro’s brilliant touchstones. It can be loud and fast, but will also disarm you and create a deeply unsettling atmosphere. Gold Dime are thankfully never boring.

Renaissance succeeds as a post-Covid soiree and massive PR campaign, though one can’t help but note that the album occasionally sports more style than substance.

It's funky and fantastic, futuristic but retro. It's in a category of its own.

Baizley shines like never before, Thomson and Jost continue to excel as a rhythmic duo, and newcomer Gleason infuses the set with rewarding and required vocal and instrumental supplemental shades. Together, their faultless unified elegance harvests cherished templates and innovative techniques in equal measure. As a result, just about every listener—no matter their history or prior opinions—will deem Gold & Grey Baroness' masterpiece.

Ultimately it’s a reaffirmation of that original gambit and breakthrough, a renewal of vows between artist and audience, and a reminder that second acts are possible.

Places of Worship is highly recommended for fans of Miles Davis, Jon Hassell, David Sylvian, Triosk and Fennesz.

The Guitar Song quite firmly cements Johnson's place at the forefront of today's country music songwriters, performers, and singers. The fact that he had the courage to put out a 25-song album after achieving some success is not as significant as the courage he had to keep following his vision of what country music can and should be.

Ultimately, Elitism for the People 1975-1978 functions as a veritable primer for not only those interested in the band, but also those looking to explore the possibilities of popular music.

Whichever end of the spectrum you might land on, there’s rage, yearning, and reckless behavior here that transcends generations, which is a soaring accomplishment.