From start to finish, the album does a great job of capturing the nostalgia and wisdom of age without losing sight of the youthful tenacity and outspokenness that’s always made him unique. Backed and guided by some other truly talented folks, Costello’s latest is another pleasingly characteristic and weighty addition to his already illustrious legacy.

Positions fits neatly in the pop princess’ catalogue and feels like a worthy continuation of her story. The narratives (much like the vocals) are lush, filled with graceful twists and turns, plenty of side characters to keep our attention, and a star worth rooting for.

Existential Reckoning is certainly another worthwhile effort from the acclaimed singer and his ever-revolving musical collaborators.

There’s a powerful cohesion to the collection that makes it feel greater than the sum of its parts, with several standout fusions of singing and instrumentation/production as only Lopatin could yield.

The emotion is there, as ever, but the production sound doesn’t pull equal weight in distinguishing Smith’s work from other mainstream pop artists.

The album could stand to be 10 minutes shorter, but who’s to complain about having too much of a good thing? Recorded pre-pandemic, the joy and enthusiasm of the reunion tour is captured here and the results are immensely entertaining. If you like thrash, then the Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo is mandatory listening.

Forgotten Days is arguably the best doom metal album of 2020 and an impressive label debut. Thanks to Dunn’s minimalist production, the album is a sonic pleasure, and it’s instantly more listenable and accessible than Heartless.

Not many artists reach 20 albums, and even fewer do it with such aplomb. Or, to put it another way: here’s to 20 more.

Thanks to all involved in this loving project, we get a better chance to explore and understand what made Wildflowers bloom as fragrant and beautiful as it did more than a quarter century ago and what made Petty the perfect talent to pluck those blooms from the studio weeds.

Love Is the King is the work of a songwriter with clear eyes and a full heart. Tweedy leans on the two constants in his life, music and family, to find hope in a year where such a thing has too often been absent. In doing so, he’s left behind more than just another solid record to add to his oeuvre, but also some reassurance that maybe things will be okay, so long as we keep sight of what’s important.

This is the biggest Benny album to date, but he doesn’t lose what made him great and such a beloved underground rapper. His boasts are as strong as ever, and his flows are cold like the air in the Buffalo streets.

Once again, Gorillaz’s ability to infuse their immaculately polished and idiosyncratic production with the wide-ranging talents of their guests is commendable, too, ensuring that their work remains charmingly singular by default. Sure, its lesser moments are expectedly artificial and monotonous — that, too, knowingly comes with the territory — but there’s more good than bad here, and most Gorillaz devotees will surely adore it.

Fake It Flowers is a true evolution, a record that’s stronger and fuller than beabadoobee’s earlier EPs and exemplifies the ongoing growth of her artistry.

This latest record delivers everything we’ve come to expect from the Baltimore-based band — plucky synths, drama-dripping vocals, and a well-rounded backdrop of sound that sounds like something out of an outer-space orchestra, rather than something mixed over Zoom.

Griselda captain Westside Gunn remains as shocking as ever, and his ear for beats hasn’t lost a step despite his higher profile. Conway and Benny are both in fine form here, too, especially on closing song “98 Sabers”.

Listening to Shiver, it’s easy to imagine up-tempo tracks getting remixed as sophisticated, otherworldly club bangers. When we are eventually allowed back onto teeming dancefloors, Jónsi’s swings of melancholic euphoria and piercing wordlessness may hit just right.

The Album showcases their signature style of blending genres and influences to create songs that are just as classically pop as they are identifiably BLACKPINK.

Shamir’s music makes the listener want to wake up. Listening to it is like being shaken awake, blinds thrown open. And it’s not like learning that anything sad or dull or particular was a dream all along.

Serpentine Prison isn’t the drastic change of pace that many frontmen create when they do a project outside of their main band, but it does enough to justify itself as separate from The National’s catalog. At the same time, longtime fans of the group will undoubtedly feel at home here, too, while also admiring what Berninger does differently.

Chuck D’s hard-hitting lyrics and the album’s dynamic production can serve as a soundtrack for the American Dream (or nightmare, depending on your perspective) for the foreseeable future. Public Enemy seem here to stay, but the truth is — they have never really left.

Free Love is an album you wade through, one that carefully encourages you to move with it and move through it, challenges your existence and presses you to feel, then drops you off lightly just a few feet away. It’s a true testimony to the fertile partnership that is Sylvan Esso.

Deftones have only ever produced good albums, but they’ve also spent the decade since Diamond Eyes exploring textures and soundscapes, sometimes at the expense of songcraft. Ohms breaks that trend, with more focused songs, and a renewed love of hard-rocking guitar riffs that may rekindle the band’s relationship with fans that jumped ship after White Pony.

The Ascension is one of Sufjan Stevens’ grandest, most ambitious works yet.

Embury took this record as an opportunity to redefine what the band’s sound can successfully encompass. Together with Greenway’s thought-provoking lyrics, Embury delivered a set of songs so good that they made the band’s recent victories seem conservative in retrospect. Even the bonus tracks course with vitality. In 2020, Napalm Death remain — to quote one their series of cover albums — leaders not followers.

At its strongest, Ultra Mono offers a fresh set of urgent rallying cries for anyone interested in furthering workers’ rights, dismantling systemic racism, and knocking out a few Nazi teeth. The record’s missteps mostly come when Talbot finds himself on the defensive, a position that finds him turning out poison-pen responses to critics that probably felt better to sing than they do to hear.

A debut album can often feel like an announcement or an artist statement: something that says, This is me, and this is my music. Anjimile unites that self-consciousness with an exploratory intention.

From King to a GOD is arguably one of the best Griselda projects thus far and a viable contender for year-end lists. Conway’s versatility is on full display throughout the album, exhibiting his growth as an artist who is coming into his own in his late thirties.

Overall, the production, musicianship, and songwriting are among the best of Manson’s career.

American Head stands alongside The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots as one of the very best records The Flaming Lips have recorded and should be required listening for anyone who’s gone on their own quarantine-induced walk down memory lane in search of a way to survive this year.

It’s one of Big Sean’s strongest efforts and one that should make the Motor City proud.

Overall, everything is brighter here versus the original S&M. It’s a celebration of Metallica, their fans, and their music. Let this version of S&M2 be the one that’s remembered.

Perry has always been a top-notch entertainer, who tries on a range of styles and wants to make folks feel good. I’m not asking her to be anything else. But what comforted us before, both in pop and faith, doesn’t hit the same anymore.

Reinterpreting and rearranging a series of older songs with new tones and styles — especially songs off of an album widely acclaimed for its tone and style — is a vision that not everybody could pull off, but Olsen does.

From start to finish, this album ceases to stray from its main concept, and Nas doesn’t have to sacrifice the quality of his music to do so. Primarily produced by Hit-Boy, King’s Disease delivers a feel appropriate for the times and hits the mark as being one of the better rap albums of the year.

Considering that Project Regeneration Vol. 1 was pieced together from demos, it really is a commendable effort. What could seem like a cash grab is far from it. The album is a fully fleshed collection that properly cements Wayne’s legacy.

There’s a maturity in The Killers’ music that started to emerge on Wonderful Wonderful and really takes root here.

Now a certified pop vet, La Roux returns with a work that translates the hard-earned lessons of the past decade into another collection of radio-ready dance-pop whose best tracks manage to sound timeless and topical at the same time. It’s an eminently listenable album, and her best shot in years at recapturing some of those triumphs for herself.

The Neon delivers mostly carefree synth-pop comfort food calibrated to appeal more to our feet and our hearts than our already overtaxed brains. The record is certain to thrill devotees and potentially catch the ear of an unsuspecting Release Radar listener or two; whether we’ll still need it once these current hard times end remains to be seen.

Down in the Weeds is still a Bright Eyes album, with its share of obsessiveness, narcissism, and angst. Many songs have their sights set on calamity, from climate disaster to Oberst’s failed marriage. And yet, there’s also a refreshing maturity, a perspective that seems a bit wiser, a bit less ready to revel in self-loathing. ... That culmination — from grief to love — is what truly makes these Bright Eyes songs feel new.

Polo’s previous album, Die a Legend, was meticulously crafted but unrousably lethargic; all the beats sounded hungover. The Goat has more pep in its step.

All the songs here are pretty much worth their salt, but there are a few lyrical moments where the complexity and contradictions feel a little boiled-down.

The Psychedelic Furs don’t skip a beat bringing back everything that devotees adore amidst tapping into enough current techniques and mindsets to feel fresh. As such, they prove that a vintage band can still produce something so praiseworthy and pertinent that it surpasses the output of many newer stylistic siblings.

On folklore, Swift has come of age, emotionally and sonically, and proven herself — not that she needed to — as not only an exceptionally autonomous auteur but a nimble collaborator with an ever-broadening palate.

She is mourning and healing all at once here, and while at times it can feel a bit tedious, overall she’s delivered one solid collection of songs.

The management of tone throughout is also masterful and consistent. For all the shifting that occurs within individual songs, it’s always anchored to place by restrained instrumentation and artful, deliberate counterpoints between highs and lows.

The ability to successfully engage with a number of different styles and tones, pen lyrics that are both incredibly vulnerable and smartly robust, and frame it all within their own unique zeal makes Hate for Sale a worthy and welcome addition into the band’s historic discography.

Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon neither blights nor burnishes Pop Smoke’s legacy. It’s fine. Better to remember Smoke as the dark-horse MVP candidate for summer 2019.

The torch songs here resist the urge to wallow, counterbalancing their regrets with mature calls for personal growth. The result is a slice of summer escapism with some weight to it and a worthy companion during isolation in all its forms.

Price created a country-rock record for both twentysomethings and their parents to listen to together. Despite at times feeling too true to form, there are breakout moments of Price’s fervor that illuminate the album as a whole, something we’ll hopefully see more of in the future.

By further broadening their scope of sound, HAIM create a wide window for listeners to find something of resonance within Women in Music Pt. III.

The exploration and craft put into Blythe’s lyrics, along with the stunning musicianship of each member, allows for an exhilarating work of pure heavy metal. This album isn’t just an awesome release from Lamb of God, but a perfect record to unite metalheads as one.

Dylan could use some editing here, for sure, but it’d be even better to let his band off their leashes and, like in the old juke joint featured on the album’s cover, close the windows and let it get hot in there.

While a handful of tracks (around the belly) don’t live up to their legend, hearing Homegrown after all these years rates as a fine gift for Young to leave to his legions of fans … and, hell, humanity.

Punisher is a dazzling record, one filled with sadness but not overwhelmingly so, full of moments that sting the first time you hear them but burrow deeper into the soul with each listen.

The complexity of Run the Jewels 4 is its strongest asset. Killer Mike and El-P, just like their listeners, are still trying to navigate nefarious ideologies while remaining steadfast in their desire to destroy them. Their latest work is a political manifesto that antagonizes a system that never had the marginalized and vulnerable in mind. Though it comes several albums into their discography, RTJ4, with its empowering proclamations, buoyant production, and ferocious soundscapes, feels like just the beginning of something even greater.

Most of these songs are an extension of the excitement and novelty that he’s not only bringing to the Latin market, but to the music world at large.

As a lot of Lady Gaga’s work has done in the past, it offers up some honest-to-God bangers side by side with some honest-to-oneself reckonings with trauma, pain, addiction, and the very idea of what it means to be flawed and how this idea shifts depending on who’s defining it.

Perhaps the B-sides are not all as special as what Jepsen chose for her official album, but she saved them and released them with her fans in mind. All along, she was most dedicated to them.

Notes seethes with paranoia, charges of revolution, and, above all, honesty, providing a semblance of comfort during a, drum roll please, “unprecedented time” that truly affects everyone.

Paradise Lost have found an almost ideal balance between grit, atmosphere and songcraft. What Obsidian lacks in lyrical subtlety or song variety, it makes up for with sonic depth and sheer catchiness. ... Paradise Lost float above the fray, synthesizing aggression and accessibility in every song. It’s hardly a new trick for these Brits, but that they’ve made it par for the course makes their career all the more remarkable.

Present and post-lockdown, how i’m feeling now will be a definitive album of its time. Aitchison has captured this space we now all exist in and all its facets.

Williams sounds here like she’s singing about something else, something more her own. The assorted focuses of these songs sound like they’re being relayed less as rallying cries and more as personal thoughts and confessions to a close friend or a lover. The result is a fitting solo debut, a solid album full of friction and honesty.

An interesting bunt that adds color and flavor to an intriguing sound, Making a Door Less Open is a classic transitional album, which they may double back from and they may double down on; frankly, either result will be more exciting.

SAWAYAMA appears poised to be one of the best pop albums of the year and sets Sawayama up as a pop force to be reckoned with.

Bolt Cutters delivers a much-needed auditory exercise for the sequestered masses and surely one of the best albums to grace us in 2020. Eight long years later, Fiona Apple proves her return was worth every second in waiting.

Even with its inevitable blemishes, The New Abnormal is easily the freshest, most interesting album that The Strokes have released in more than a decade. While the band haven’t proven to be the single-handed savior that rock music always seems to be searching for, they have made the case for taking a slow-burn approach to collaboration and creativity.

Saint Cloud offers us the best possible version of Crutchfield she could possibly give us. The record is made by someone who was always whispering, finally having the confidence and courage to speak up and sing unrestrained. It demands to be listened to.

While 20 tracks seems exhausting, to the contrary, he captures our attention throughout, especially with his clever zingers. His pen is sharper than the last time.

It’s hard to critique punk music. You’re judging exactly how much someone doesn’t give a fuck and how well they are at expressing that. High Risk Behaviour is an album you can blast on the highway while going 90 or one that you can watch live and get drunk and crowd-surf to.

Described by Stevens and Brams as a New Age-inspired album, Aporia accomplishes exactly that, functioning as a recovered soundtrack to a long-lost, fictitious sci-fi film.

As he evolves, he continues to reinvent himself, and he knows exactly how to leave fans hooked on havoc. And After Hours is proof that he’s not done with us yet; in fact, he’s just getting started.

3.15.20 truly showcases Glover’s talents as a musician, producer, and songwriter. It’s a balanced body of work, not through its similarities, but rather its extreme contrasts.

There are no filler colors like “macaroni and cheese”. The brushstrokes he paints as a purveyor of perreo pop might not be as broad, but they’re far-reaching in highlighting the evolution and future of reggaeton music. Balvin remains a power player in the globalization of the #LatinoGang, and Colores continues to showcase his colorful flow and spirit as a beacon in the movement.

A Written Testimony is one hell of a promising effort that was well worth the wait. The skillset of Jay Electronica as both an MC and a producer is on full display.

On their debut full-length, THICK are solidifying their status as a pop punk band at a time when the state of pop punk is relatively murky.

Eternal Atake has moments of heartfelt candor, including “Chrome Heart Tags” and “Spread the Bag”. LUV Vs. the World 2 doesn’t really. There’s no equivalent to the “Never Bend” remix from 2018, which hinted at a world of hurt behind the “project walls.”

It delivers on every promise in a sleek, incredibly catchy package and does it all in under 50 minutes. Yes, it’s music made by young adults obviously aimed at young adults. Yes, it could be more subtle about its influences. And yes, it’s going to make a whole lot of year-end lists.

Suga is a solid and cohesive EP that showcases Megan Thee Stallion’s unfettered appetite for destruction; she obliterates any beat she comes into contact with without batting an eyelash. Although the majority of the project is an exhilarating listen, its own ambitions prove to be its biggest challenge.

Fresh ideas abound nearly everywhere on Gigaton.

While the record doesn’t reinvent the wheel in any major ways, it offers an exciting array of musicianship that’ll keep listeners hyped. Body Count’s drive towards facing real world issues, along with their intriguing fusion of musical styles, allows them to be a band for fans of both the old and new school.

Post Animal have managed to find a sound much more their own — both momentous and giddy, contemporary and sentimental.

She offers a deeply internal side to her world, buoyed by a production style rich with grains and echoes.

Deeply satisfying on multiple levels, Always Tomorrow is great guitar pop and a bracing account of one person’s struggle to construct a new life. Free of sugar-coating or easy answers, it should speak to everyone who wants to take better care of themselves.

Divorced from Marshall’s self-set high standards, the record contains a compelling portrait of an artist caught mid-evolution, and its most intriguing moments are worth putting up with its less-successful experiments.

Their cultural impact is undeniable, and their work continues to push forward conversations about genre, language, and much more. There’s no telling what BTS will do next, but that’s what’s so compelling.

While Ordinary Man doesn’t stack up against early Ozzy classics like Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, it is a step up from recent LPs like Black Rain and Scream. There’s strong songwriting, both musically and lyrically, with a handful of infectious choruses throughout the album.

Five years removed from Currents, The Slow Rush plays as though no time has passed at all.

Miss_Anthrop0cene is the perfect Grimes record for 2020, delving into topical themes such as climate change with an eclectic mix of genres. It’s certainly her darkest, most ambitious project yet, and it works on nearly all levels.

Over its 11 tracks, Splid consistently churns out raging banger after banger, allowing for the record to roar with metal bliss. The creativity expressed in Splid is matched by its intensity, as Kvelertak embrace the metal spirit throughout the album.

On Honeymoon, Trifilio finally invites someone into her bubble, into her dream. With a ceaseless, buoyant energy that swims across a candid narrative, Trifilio flexes her masterful songwriting on an album bound to win the hearts of emo-punks and TikTok girls alike.

Father of All… is a solid album that shows not only their mastery of sound but also genre and a nod to the greats that came before them.

Likewise is a gorgeous solo debut from a unique singing and writing voice, a record that quietly gets under your skin and stays there.

He still has clear vision and awareness of his place in the hip-hop game. However, Wayne is not a great editor, and thus listening to Funeral can become exhausting about halfway through. While listeners may be fatigued, however, Wayne is far from it.

The entire album feels hard and driving, like electric rain or the tension between two thunderclouds. The fact that Silver Tongue is so thoroughly electric and buzzing is part of what makes it such a convincing rendering of a relationship between two people, galvanized and ultimately realized.

Kesha is in transition, searching for that balance that can give her music meaningful identity in the future. High Road’s few shining moments — the vulnerability of her ballads and the wild sparks sprinkled throughout — suggest that balance is imminent. High Road is ironically (and unfortunately) a low point in Kesha’s career.

Have We Met, though perhaps less ambitious than Destroyer’s best work, is nevertheless their freshest and most enjoyable record in years.

The album finds a way to weave together multiple emotions, sounds, and genres and shows off Frangipane’s versatility as an artist while still acting as an incredibly cohesive and seamless album. She explores more ideas in one album than many do in their entire career. Do not underestimate Halsey.

If he’s figuring out from scratch how to be a compelling artist again, Eminem’s improved the caliber of his beats and guests, taking stands against the right day-to-day injustices, toning down the tasteless (with the exception of the already-infamous Ariana line, of course), and rapping with the manic precision of someone who just snorted a whole sandcastle of cocaine and Vyvanse. If only a single minute of it was as hilarious or bracing as Chris D’Elia’s impression of him.