The album winds up feeling like the first in Newsom’s catalog that won’t be considered a classic, but it’s proof that a sturdy, thought-provoking, and rewarding record doesn’t necessarily need to stand next to her past work to find its own greatness.

For Adele, 30 is an emotional breakthrough — a refreshingly candid body of work that is revelatory. While the album is about “divorce, babe,” the record’s 12 songs go deeper.

Loud City Song is a sightseeing trip with a person fully able to portray the objective beauty of the sights, as well as her own take on them.

Going back to the well is generally frowned upon, but given the depth of Waits' well and the crispness and vitality drawn from it on Bad As Me, it hardly seems to warrant criticism that he has chosen to rummage through his past and revisit what he never had the heart, or mind, to throw away.

Waiting five years to hear previously released tracks is worth it precisely because Radiohead finally feels connected enough to perform them with meaning.

The artists for whom Clark now carries the torch were never satisfied with their past accomplishments and were always pushing forward. MASSEDUCTION cements her in this camp.

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.

For fans who were sucked in during the time of “Dynamite” or “Butter” and haven’t dug into their back catalogue just yet, they might be surprised to discover just how broad of a range these songs can stretch. ... Disc 3 is a whole different kind of time capsule: there are 11 unreleased demos, two brand new tracks (“Quotation Mark” and “For Youth”), and one previously-shelved track (“Young Love”) that peel back the curtain on BTS as artists like never before.

The city has changed, and so have Vampire Weekend — but underneath the layers of grime, graffiti, and garbage, their eclectic spirit remains unbroken.

To Tyler’s credit, he didn’t rest on his laurels. Instead, he crafted a concise piece of work about a very confident adult realizing his own ego is both his best asset and indeed his worst enemy.

Like Stephen Malkmus or Kurt Vonnegut, Barnett looks at the mundane with a skewed perspective, turning it over in her mind and transmogrifying it into something extraordinary.

So the blessing and the curse of Run the Jewels 3 is that it’s still a Run the Jewels album, a promise that every song is good, nothing is bad, and depending on your mood you’ll either bask in the lack of tempo changes, pulchritudinous song structures, and surprising hooks, or you’ll seek out a more colorful record.

Nevertheless, Vacation is an all-around solid effort, undeniably fun and would serve nicely as a soundtrack for the rest of summer.

Where Minaj is fantastical and over-the-top, Haze is understated and raw.

Big Time might be the most direct view into Olsen — at least in the context of a full band. It’s a masterful, emotional body of work ready to fit any mood, and it’s yet another successful sea change for one of indie music’s most consistent artists.

While concise in length, MAGDALENE paces FKA twigs through the unguarding of her traumas, ceremoniously giving way for her next act.

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.

All told, the story undun tells is sometimes chilling, often thrilling, and always illuminating.

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.

The melodies are clearer, pushed up in the mix, given agency by their immediacy. The psych bits have earned an assured swagger, spiraling out from the center of songs.

Nas saved the best for last, if this is the trilogy’s end. KDIII is the exclamation point at the end of his career’s most consistently dope stretch. It pays tribute to everything that came before it while whetting the appetite for what’s next.

With Jaime, Howard proves what many of us already speculated: The magic behind Alabama Shakes was Brittany Howard.

From beginning to end, Bandana is a perfectly-paced album. Madlib never lingers on a single musical idea as he chops samples and switches beats, often midway through songs. Meanwhile, Gibbs, an expert in flows and rhythms, glues each song together with his undaunted, straightforward performances, which offer an illusion of effortlessness.

The music is compelling and challenging from start to finish, a triumph of substance and style.

All We Love We Leave Behind stands tall within Converge's discography as yet another glowing example of how to make art out of aggression.

After Visions, the only thing Grimes could do was to grow as big as the landscape around her. Here’s her mountain.

The first big album of 2022 delivers like an 80 lb. baby.

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness doesn't need rose-colored lens for appreciation. The album's success still lies from all the stylistic risks the band assumed, especially in comparison to music other alternative bands were creating at the time.