If Turner can return to his best--and there's reason to suspect he can't--then the possibilities open to them are potentially limitless. Then, Humbug will be seen a stepping stone. That's certainly how it feels now.

While sounding more like a compilation of singles than a fully cohesive album, One Love could in fact be the release that finally wins over both the dedicated weekend club-goers, as well as the stay-at-home older generation looking to revisit their youth.

Simply put, No More Stories… is accessible without being overbearingly so, experimental without sounding too abstract and ridiculous, and most importantly, one of the year's most endearing records.

Colbie’s soothing vocals, the warm sound of the music, and the memorable choruses are all well worth listening to this for when the mood for something easy hits you.

A more confident, complete record than its predecessor, No Baggage sees Dolores O'Riordan building on old strengths, while broadening her artistic scope farther than it's been in thirteen years.

It’s obvious Hospice is an album Silberman made for himself, one that we’re just privileged to listen to and enjoy. So sit back, listen, and consider yourself lucky, punk.

Pissed Jeans have polished up their sound as much as is seemingly possible and because of that they've crafted their finest record yet.

Chasny has completed the move started with "School of the Flower" into a more polished sound and Luminous Night seems to be the finest example from this new period of Six Organs of Admittance.

You Can’t Take It With You sounds like a proper album par excellence, gelling together with a cohesiveness so many strive for but never really hit.

A rousing vessel in which Wolf has finally had the chance to channel his newfound zany confidence into his most extravagant and captivating record yet.

Slaughterhouse hearkens back to the early days of the New York hardcore underground, and it's a travesty that it does nothing more. With commonplace soul-influenced boom bap at the fore, compositions this anachronistic just don't cut it in 2009.

Japandroids' (or JPNDRDS) first full length--Post-Nothing--is the perfect embodiment of the post-teen angst, excitement, anxiety and fuck-it artlessness of finally packing your bags and moving on, wherever the destination as long as it’s at least a million miles away from home.

Skyscraper is filled with those types of Banks lyrics, the kind of trademark brain-vomit that produces words that sound cute together but lack any semblance of cohesion.

Blank by the numbers, blank’s the result.

A lyrically potent, melodic, and danceable piece, make sure to cop one of the best records the year has to offer.

I’m Going Away finds the band embellishing on their debut, the criminally underrated "Gallowsbird’s Bark," which also found the band at their most melodic.

Riceboy Sleeps isn't quite awful; on the contrary, there is enough warmth and prettiness to give the record some value. But by the same token, it's certainly not fantastic either, and therein lies the great problem with the whole project.

The record doesn't particularly sound like anything Our Lady Peace has done in the past, but maybe that is what's so exciting about the quartet's seventh release.

The music is, as ever, varied and interesting. The Satanic Satanist is a guitar-centric album and it is all the better for it, as Gourley has a unique knack for riffs and leads.

Not much is worth listening to here; the record's second half saves the abysmal first, yet never approaches the greatness they're capable of.

Taking into account that half of Leave This Town was never intended for headphone listening, and is better heard blasting on a car stereo or a jukebox, it can seem somewhat picky to criticise the album for being poorly-written or for sounding like compressed dog poo.

The first album in a series of three (all with the same title, differing only in capitalizations) BLACKsummers'night isn't just the soul album of the year, but also a top-tier addition to the canon of a once-fizzling scene.

There’s rarely a song here that isn’t beautiful: Fortino’s sense for gorgeous melodies, both instrumentally and vocally, simply shines throughout.

Even though Farm may be the album we (should have) expected from Dinosaur Jr., it is still an excellent record that offers a variety of different qualities, while remaining as much fun to listen to as they have ever been.

it’s an excellent change of pace for the band, and proves that they can indeed write spacey, esoteric mid-tempo songs instead of...well...spacey, esoteric breakneck songs.

Regina has basically mastered everything else too; it's hard to see her making a wrong move anytime soon.

Unfortunately, Beacons Of Ancestorship may leave listeners concussed; as there are only a handful of memorable musical fragments.

Basically, Black Clouds & Silver Linings is an album that continues the band’s increased use of metal riffs combined with extended musical interludes but also brings in strong compositional skills that give the songs the kind of consistency they require in order to be truly memorable and engaging.