The EP is five songs of huge, intricate, explosive guitar work, thumping drums that refuse to take a rest, Day and O'Connor's signature call-and-return vocals, the occasional necessary breakdown and gang vocal portion, and the catchiest choruses FYS has ever penned.

Ultimately, though, regardless of whether Hansard is cribbing moves from his own country's heritage, or from one of the biggest rock stars in American history, he manages to make it all his own thanks to the quality of his songwriting and the passion behind his performances.

Lyrically and musically (guitarists Luke Kilpatrick and Jeff Ling showcase impressive tapping and riffing throughout), this is Parkway Drive at its best--combining the best elements from its previous albums and expanding on them to create an album that encompasses all your senses.

For this record, Lana Del Rey went all out with her ambition, bringing her vision to life in a way that only she could. She's making music that only she could make, that possess a unique sound no one else is bringing to the table right now.

With A U R O R A, Ben Frost has crafted an unimpeachable story of weathering the most abrasive elements of existence and emerging stronger for the trials endured.

Most importantly, the album extends the reaches of their previous effort and makes an even bigger dent.

The only time the record comes across as flawed is the manner in which certain tracks happen to run into each other, however largely, this is easy to ignore when the rest of the record is so great. Local Business is certainly the business.

What we end up with on Cope is not only an album that’s worth the wait, but one that seems to be pretty distinctly illuminating a path: soft-to-loud, simplicity over complexity and emotional release through power chords.

Tapestry of Webs makes the band's debut EP seem like forgotten practice demos. Across the board, the album displays acts of jazz, salsa and anti-post-pop (if that's a word), and it all leaves the listener coming back for more.

It's evident from the musicianship, from the instrumentation, from the lyrics, and from the vocal delivery that Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me is a record of progression and refinement; released halfway through 2011, it will go down among the best of the heavy hitters this year.

Overall, the EP works wonders, given largely to the fact that it contains unreleased tracks from sessions of the band's greatest, most straightforward work to date.

Taylor still crams an awful lot of herself into these verses and choruses, to the point where most of these songs hit a new sound, but are still unmistakably her.

Tarot Classics so efficiently sets to buoyant, energetic music a viewpoint that is not only discontent but increasingly disinterested. And it's all somewhat hidden, because party tunes these can still be.

As long as they keep crafting albums as fresh, loose and fun as Remedy, chances are they’ll keep this truck roaring for another two decades.

On the whole, American Beauty/American Psycho is Fall Out Boy's most consistent and bottom-line best album ever.

Whether Murder by Death ever gets the credit they so richly deserve still remains to be seen. But more albums as dominant, complete and enriching as Big Dark Love probably won’t hurt their cause. In an era dominated by singles and ample amounts of filler, it is a delight to hear an album as engrossing as this.

EVOL is one of if not the best project Future has under his name, and while it may not feel as grandiose and capital I Important as DS2 in his legacy, it pushes his sound forward while he continues to stretch himself as an MC, songwriter, and lyricist.

It's the sound of a veteran band coming back to the game without missing a beat, and churning out some of their best, liveliest, and catchiest material in the process.

The regression in complexity seems to underscore the band's endorsement of arrested development as the secret to eternal youth. Their perpetual glee suggests that maybe they're onto something.

At the end of the day, Rise of The Lion was the record that Miss May I needed to make in order to continue as a band.02

There are moments of despair, but on the whole, Lift a Sail rings as an uplifting testament to love and human resilience.

It's the ambiguity of styles, the insistence on bringing the listener along for a journey, that makes Total Life Forever such an endlessly interesting statement.

Our Home is a Deathbed is not only a vulnerable record lyrically, but also for its time and place in the current hardcore scene as well.

It’s been too long since we’ve heard a great acoustic album where the vocals, lyrics, and guitar work all work to complement the other parts perfectly. On Clouded, This Wild Life achieve just that, resulting in what will end up being one of the most impressive debut albums of the year.

Easily their most consistent release yet, it’s unquestionably one of the best albums of the year.

This is necessary listening for the carefree weeks before school picks up again in the fall, and it's a record you'll end up holding near throughout the entire semester and then some.

Its not as bare bones as NLDW, but it's every bit as in-your-face and aggressive as you would expect from a Death Grips record.

Title Fight isn't trying to reshape the sound of punk--they just want you to listen to better music. Floral Green accomplishes that and more.

+- stands up to all of their previous records easily, and while there aren't any major shifts in their trademark formula, it is another step forward in the ever expanding career of the danish band.

The Beast in Its Tracks wouldn’t be a Josh Ritter album without at least a few home-runs, and luckily, the hits here are plentiful.

Aside from the overall atmosphere of the album, most of the time, Veronica Falls are spot on with their songwriting.

With albums as comfortable and likable as Twin Forks, there’s simply no reason to mourn Carrabba’s decision to give this new band his full focus for the time being.

11 tracks of stick-to-the-roof-of-your-eardrums music that sounds all at once immediate and laid-back.

Memorial is arguably Russian Circles' best work to date. It's certainly debatable, but this is undeniably an staggeringly strong output for a band on their fifth release.

Some will deplore the record for its relative lack of pop appeal, but for a massively popular band that has so often been derailed by its own lofty ambitions, there is a huge pleasure in hearing something that succeeds on such a small, modest, and humanized scale.

Take Care does a beautiful job of giving Drake the best group of features that complement his style while rarely outshining him.

This is the kind of record where everyone will have different favorite song, where what someone calls dull or overlong or indulgent will resonate perfectly with someone else, depending on that listener’s past musical tastes and experiences.

With Leveler, August Burns Red stays true to their sound while remaining fresh. The 12 tracks contain new dynamics and elements that are sure to please old and new fans alike, while Jake Luhrs' performance places him to the very top of best vocalists within the genre.

For such an expansive, detailed album, it can be hard to forget this is just his debut record.

While not every song is up to a "Moves Like Jagger" or "Payphone" standard hook-wise, the co-writers and producers never stopped breaking into new grounds for the band throughout the record.

"Summer Brings You Closer to Satan" would be an fair pick for the album’s best track, except that Runners in the Nerved World hardly falters in quality at any point.

As loud as What You Don''t See seems at first blush, it's really quite thoughtful.

Matangi can be looked at as a return to form, but it's more fitting to think of it as a "getting back on track" kind of record.

The songs are still great, the live shows will still be raucous, and as evidenced by fiery album closer, "Til I Do It Again," Hoge's still got plenty of rebel left in him anyway.

Ultimately, Mayer Hawthorne has created his most complete and compelling piece of art yet, taking risks, experimenting, and looking to expand his already defined palate.

Tape Deck Heart may not be quite as good as the phenomenal England Keep My Bones, but it’s a quality release with excellent lasting value that will be a mainstay on album of the year lists in 2013.

On her debut album, Azealia Banks has established herself as a brash and crude personality both on and off record, and she’s complemented it with a competent execution of a bold artistic vision.

Maintaining the melodramatic indie that Stars do so beautifully, The North manages to channel every aspect of the indie rock spectrum, whilst creating a body of art that is perfectly coherent.

Burials is an album you’ll want to replay, especially as the days get darker and the weather gets colder.

Emotion goes to great lengths to prove the advantages of being manufactured, with every piece interlocking with machine-like precision with its surroundings. It’s astonishingly effective, and like the best pop, demands to be listened to ad nauseum in order to gawk at the sheer audacity of the accomplishment.

Heady Fwends, rather inexplicably, plays much like a proper follow-up to their 2009 mindfuck Embryonic, and their ability not only to bring a project like this together at all, but to make it work so cohesively and effectively, is as strong a testament as any to their genius.

You’ll sing along because it’s catchy, but you’ll push repeat because the lyrics are so personal.

Though Ty Segall often seems like he makes records at inhuman paces, Sleeper indulges his very human impulse for a good wallow, and proves that there’s more to the man than the distorted ripping guitars would make you believe.

While State Champs is not necessarily reinventing the idea of what it means to be a pop punk band, they’ve sure as hell perfected it.

Now the experimentation with electric guitars, even more electronic sampling and a focus on vocalist Becky Jacobs has brought Tunng to a paradise of exceeded expectations.

With her second proper full-length, Dessa has been cemented as one of the most important voices in not only hip-hop but all music today.

It’s disheartening that the album isn’t the game-changing record Fallon promised, and it’s too bad that it doesn’t have the thesis-statement cohesion of albums like The 59 Sound and American Slang. But the songs are still great, the production is still excellent, and the performances of the band members have rarely been in finer form.

These guys have created a pop-punk album that isn't timeless, but that's not the point. Wishful Thinking, by design, tells the story of a point in time, one that only has meaning because it won't last.

It's sexy, daring, and complete.

With Last of the Great Pretenders, Nathanson captures the organic energy of a city full of exuberant personalities, legendary landmarks, and gorgeous vistas, and the result is one of the most bulletproof summer discs to come along this year.

So sit back and grab a bag of popcorn, because Vacation is chock-full of aural acrobatics rolled up into its withered plaid sleeves. You just have to be daring enough to push that button.

Wide-ranging, engrossing and incredibly powerful it represents a new height for a band who has hinted at towering heights before.

It doesn't take a biological science major to realize that this album is very well worth listening to regardless of whether you're a seasoned veteran of The Amory Wars storyline or you've never even heard of Coheed & Cambria.

Whereas 2011's Want More felt uneven, Howl is dynamic, controlled and with few, if any holes.

Malin has always been a talent, but here, he parlays everything he does well into a single 45-minute burst, and he reaches his pinnacle as a result.

[Pageant Material] sounds effortless and fully formed from first note to last.

Though not nearly as strong as 2008’s Ganging Up On the Sun, Evermotion is stronger than 2010’s Easy Wonderful and will continue to keep the band relevant in 2015 and beyond.

The sincerity displayed by Green throughout just makes it very easy for any listener to be fully transfixed by Beautiful Things.

It's one of the most organic and genuine albums of 2011.

The most amazing part about Foolish Blood is that it sounds effortless, almost as if the band could write a sequel to this in their sleep.

Skyer is one piece of art, obviously. But it’s not going to do the same thing to you as it has done to me. And that’s a special thing.

In short, a few stray hiccups only gives a listener more reason to be excited for the next release.

Grace and Lies is a terrific disc and the signal of a strong new talent, but far too often the entire effort feels like a solo album and a vessel to showcase Krans' alto voice.

Mechanical Bull is the sound of real life. It’s the sound of Kings of Leon realizing that sometimes where you were is better than where you ended up.

Full of tenderness and vulnerability yet also razor-sharp and raucous moments, it makes the record even more charming due to the relatable nature of the constant battle with internal monologues.

While Ryan Adams doesn’t take as many chances as some of the other records that Adams has made in the past decade, it’s also as cohesive and consistent an album as any he has ever made.

One Wing is equal parts raw, deranged, beautiful, and immense--it's a very primal and exhausting release; something you can feel pouring out of your speakers.

At the very least, Better Nature represents 10 more (well, 9 if you don’t count “Ragamuffin”) well-crafted and heartfelt songs to listen to for the next 2-3 years before they put out another unbelievably consistent record.

Rather than dialling in the same record with a different twist every two years, Desaparecidos have crafted another mission statement.

While mewithoutYou is still as ambiguous as ever with their music, they've never been as creative and daring as they are on Ten Stories.

While the album doesn’t have the dynamic genre-hopping sensibility that made both Continuum and Born and Raised instant classics, it’s still a solid set of songs that follows one of today’s best songwriters as he establishes a new comfort zone.

Saves The Day is another feather in the cap known as the band's illustrious career, marking the return of the band we all fell in love with many years ago while successfully beginning the next phase of the band’s career.

Trash Talk have stepped up with their new album. While many are still getting turned on by the word of mouth of the band's live outlet of aggressive showmanship, Eyes and Nines also shows that heart shouldn't be lost on the idea of moving forward as an artist.

It sprawls and can feel tenuous, even precipitously close to collapse under its own weight, but the moment of calamity never arrives. It stands instead as a monument not to the person who has erected it, but to the multitudinous influences that brought it into being.

Long Live offers few surprises, but that really isn't an issue when what is offered this time around is really something great. If you're a fan of the band's discography through 2007's Lead Sails Paper Anchors, chances are you're going to really like this record.

Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness is especially welcoming given that it’s probably his most consistent front-to-back set of songs since Transit.

Anarchy, My Dear is a record that promises that anything could happen at anytime, and Bemis and company do their very best to shake up what has been expected from them as a band.

The songwriter gets primary production credit on nine of the 12 tracks from The Blessed Unrest, and on many of them, she uses that position to build the sort of stunning and nuanced arrangements that elevate her songs beyond traditional singer/songwriter fare.

Having complete freedom and reign with this record, Eisley was able to take its musical element to richer and grander heights.

With so much going on in these songs, they could easily have become overstuffed, but Moulder balances everything perfectly, creating a swell of sound that surrounds you with its hugeness, but doesn't lose clarity in the process. Suffice to say, this is a record that demands to be listened to on a pair of good headphones.

Though it is probably not Coldplay's best, it is indeed a memorable listen and another chapter for a band whose place in rock music is firmly cemented.

All in all, People and Things hits home as an almost surprisingly diverse record from Jack's Mannequin.

Random Access Memories is teeming with life, and the multitude of genres presented as well as the production choices of the duo help the album deliver on its promise.

Into It. Over It. have become a group that show us that the innermost workings of one mind can represent so many. All different. All the same.

Like its predecessor Indestructible Machine, the album belies her age and finds the singer churning out songs that are wise beyond her years.

Awakened makes for a reasonable continuation in the band's sound, but finds the group making a significant stride in their ability to mix their talents together while keeping the songwriting at dizzying heights.

Animal Joy represents a remarkable band in their prime of their career and is a stunning success on every level.

Long Way Down has just enough flaws to show that Odell has room to grow and progress. If you listen to one pop album this year, this is a pretty good bet.