Paperboy has done it. I mean, I don't really know what he's done. He's made this album, Come and Get It, that truly stands in its own category in 2010.

With Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, it seems he's on the road to finding what works, with varying degrees of success.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is exactly as advertised: it's a journey through West's deepest thoughts, showcasing all the facets to his persona (from his bravado to his insecurities) over a pristine collection of all his signature sounds.

Nothing continues the trend of unique and fun music the N.E.R.D. name has become synonymous with.

The elements of the band complement each other instead of over-powering, thus making Ø (Disambiguation) brutally beautiful and instantly memorable.

Overall The Fire is the essential Senses Fail record to own. Time and time again, Senses Fail proves that whatever doesn't kill only makes you stronger.

With Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird EP, he does more than just add to his collection of tunes--he reaffirms his commitment to expressing the human spirit. And as identifiers with that spirit, we lean forward, eager to hear more.

Musically and lyrically, The Age of Adz is exhilarating, challenging, and thought-provoking.

For any other group purveying hardcore-influenced post-rock (or vice versa), Recitation would be a career-defining moment; but for the band that created All the Footprints and A Dead Sinking Story (releases introducing a new language in aggressive independent music), and to a lesser extent Insomniac Doze, Envy's latest is a bit too middling.

Wreckorder is the sound of a songwriter firmly embodying the spirit of Britpop and testing himself. "Sing Me To Sleep," and "As It Comes," also point towards signs of maturation that were never seen in the Travis back catalog.

The sonic evolution of the group is remarkable, and the dark, introspective lyrics of Sykes will not only be cathartic for him, but for many.

Jimmy Eat World have not just changed the game - they continue to reinvent and redevelop it entirely, each and every time.

Certainly, this is the band's greatest overall work since Recipe For Hate. It's tightly condensed, compellingly charming and whipsmart storytelling.

Upon repeat listens, there's not one point of Halcyon Digest that feels like it was overly thought out.

Truth be told, finding a clunker on the second half is a tall order and that simple fact is what makes History of Modern so rewarding.

The Big Deep shows that The Sleeping will not be pigeonholed into one genre, and the track that best sums this up is final track (and lead single) "Young Vibes...Don't Run Away From Me." Still full of the urgency you've come to expect from The Sleeping, but it also incorporates all the progress shown throughout the album, thus creating a nice balance between the old and new.

The production from song to song remains strong, but many of the tracks tend to blur together on repeated listens.

Though You Get What You Give is not their strongest offering to date, it certainly points to a most promising future. And that in and of itself is probably all the music world really needs.

John Legend and The Roots have followed the most important rules when covering material from other artists: you need to keep that signature sound that made the original important, while also adding that something special to make it your own.

Hurley is a reminder of why we fell in love with Weezer in the first place--the power-pop anthems, grungy rock songs, the gawd-awful yet quirky lyrics--it's all here.

While Flowers is a bit more reserved in his solo outing, Flamingo still retains a bit the thematic charm of a typical Killers album.

In essence, A Thousand Suns is a record with no real character or substance.

In the end, Plant sounds more comfortable in this genre than he has on any of his past solo albums.

What draws me most to Lisbon is the exciting reinventions on the band's own formula.

It's fairly apparent throughout the album that Anberlin was definitely in their element, as Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place is exactly what mainstream music needed: a challenging and engaging rock and roll album anyone can relate to. Their songwriting and musicianship have never been better.

Even though I'm sad this record has left no lasting effect, I'm also happy that it might mean my life is heading somewhere positive.

Aside from some quirky song titles, there's little about Land of Talk that's abnormal. In the end, they're just solid all the way around.

Though he's reluctant to vary his sound, the end results are far too magnetic, far too majestic and far too masterful to even allow a twinge of disappointment.