They are an emotionally rich dialogue that is so easy to relate to, it's hard not to get lost in his sentiments.

Sparks is an album containing its share of diamonds, but only if you’re willing to sift through the rough in order to find them.

In all honesty, For All Kings is great, but it is definitely front-loaded. It could have used a few more thrashers down the line to really push it to the next level, but it is still the best thing they’ve done since Persistence of Time.

Although there's nothing innovative about it, at least they brought the guitars back, offering us a handful of groovy tracks among all the kitschy bonanza. The LP is stagnant in the grand scheme of things, but that's good for them. It could've been much worse.

Night of Hunters feels refreshing, unique, and utterly lovely; it's another great success in a career that has quite a few of them.

Everything a sophomore effort should be.

In terms of overall quality though, it has to be said that things noticeably pick up in the album's second half, as any traditional indie rock sensibilities that Gibbard may have initially had start to recede and are replaced by a grittier, slightly more abstract edge.

The strength of The Ridge isn’t really in how it evokes emotions, or even to showcase Neufeld’s maturing skills, though it accomplishes both. Moreso, it succeeds in how it makes an indeterminate landscape worth trekking.

As it stands, Earth is a subtle and enjoyable little singer/songwriter album that highlights Ed O’Brien’s songwriting prowess.

This is an album that might be best digested in smaller doses, in order to avoid the feeling that all these songs sort of just wash each other out--but there’s no denying that Blaqk Audio have stumbled onto something really entertaining here.

Soulful and bluesy in a way that still acknowledges the existence of the various strains of cutting-edge electronic music emanating from the UK, Mirrorwriting is one of 2011's most assured and confident debuts.

Subtly exploring pop, soul and contemporary R&B, the nineteen year old recalls everyone from Lauryn Hill to Alicia Keys, and Lorde to Rihanna, on this thirty-five minute record... Often within the same song!

It’s still a strong album with several standout moments, but these great moments are often hampered by the inchoate themes and parched ideas surrounding it, making the album feel at times unfinished.

In keeping with Givers' multi-dimensional aural assault, it only makes sense that vocals would also come from multiple sources. While drummer Kirby Campbell occasionally lends a hand, it is predominantly Guarisco and Lamson who brilliantly deliver the boy/girl dynamic on show here.

It has all the enjoyable little quirks of New Found Glory's earliest material, and most of the songs have the potential to stay lodged in your brain for days.

And it does seem that way here[on this album], that Gold Panda has made some kind of discovery that will be looked back on in a few years time as a defining statement to the turning tides of dance music extravagance.

There's pure pop gold to be found here, but also envelope-pushing alchemy that turns these songs into unforgettable aural expressions of joy.

This is a remarkably solid album that stands as one of the best album made by a pop-punk band this decade, although this music can hardly be considered 'pop-punk' anymore.

Dense, satisfying, and fun--this deserves to go down as one of the peaks of baroque pop in recent years.

Overall, this is unmistakably a Banks album, so if you've liked anything she's done so far, this is definitely worth checking out. Despite some of the shifts described above, her darkness is still there, and it is still equal parts inviting and off-putting.

At its core, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here is a rock solid record that sees Alice In Chains settling in the confines of their own style.

The new outing from the Nordic rockers may not be as essential as Sister Faith in the long run, but it certainly makes for a highly pleasurable listen.

Clear Heart Full Eyes is entirely at ease with itself, rarely forcing the issue beyond the gently affecting, but affecting is definitely the right word.

Everett has stated that Tomorrow Morning is an album of redemption, and being so it beams with a warm and understated jovial jaunt that never outlives its welcome and is omnipresent throughout the album.

Dream pop, goth, shoegaze--call it what you want, but what School of Seven Bells have ended up with is a genuinely gorgeous record by any standard.

It is a hodgepodge of stupid ideas that one will either find brilliant or, well, stupid. However, it is hard to deny that it is a pop album of massive ambition and yet, suffers from none of the pretentiousness that plagues most of the Killers contemporaries in that aspect.

The better they’ve gotten at refining their craft, at writing the perfect chorus and combining them seamlessly with organic, vivid sonics, the further away they’ve gotten from the wounded empathy that drove their earlier records. At least ice burns. Optica too often feels like nothing at all.

Ultimately, this is the best album The Artist Formerly Known As Squiggle could possibly have hoped to make in 2006.