Fortress is a driving album that not only doesn't feel tired or stale, but is a monster of an album that makes a pretty solid case for being some of Alter Bridge's strongest and most dynamic work to date.

Melophobia is a thoroughly modern rock record, where all the past is alive in the present, so if you've ever had affection for any alt-rock sound from the '80s through the 2000s, it's hard not to find something to enjoy here.

On Lightning Bolt, they've grown into that classic rock mantle, accentuating the big riffs and bigger emotions, crafting songs without a worry as to whether they're hip or not and, most importantly, enjoying the deep-rooted, nervy arena rock that is uniquely their own.

Jarosz lets her considerable instrumental prowess submit itself to serving the needs of her songs instead of merely adorning them with a precocious imagination. She can do this because she possesses not only self confidence in her material, but in her discernment, which is rare for a musician so young.

Along with being the most accessible and traditional of Stoltz's albums, Double Exposure turns out to be one of the best.

The result is that We Were Here, while still sounding fresh and inspired on its own terms, is imbued with much of the lyrical passion and melodicism of Turin Brakes' past work.

It is simultaneously inward and explosive, a record that demands close listening and certainly rewards the attention.

Hecker's sound signature may still be instantly recognizable, but there is no denying that he has moved significantly farther down the path toward something else with Virgins.

While the album does seem rather patched together with a lack of focus--it plays out like a pair of distinct EPs and a couple transitional orphans on shuffle--there's an irrefutable charm to the restlessness.

While Numan's work remains strictly sulky stuff destined to ruin any party, he proves he's not a robot at all on his most connectable, personal, and palpable album to date.

While fans of Tonight Alive's debut will quickly fall in love with their sophomore effort, anyone looking for some powerful new emo-pop will definitely want to check this one out.

Without losing any of the distortion, Devine's approach is clear-headed and direct, melding the indie pop mysticism of Neutral Milk Hotel or Elliott Smith's tunesmithery with the political conscience of Billy Bragg.

The fantastically produced full-band sound serves as a lush backdrop for Devine's often political or culturally critical lyrics.

The album's sound is so alluring that it sometimes threatens to overwhelm the delicate vocals and melodies. Still, Static is a vivid, poignant tour of heartbreak that's much more enjoyable than that description suggests.

Temple is very good at indie rock, and his indie folk was always pleasant, but he seems to have found his true niche on Good Mood Fool, and it's his first album to carve out territory that is unique and truly interesting.

Wenu Wenu cleans up Souleyman's music just enough to place it in an expanded musical and sonic context that creates a new frontier without sacrificing its power.

While this might not be the album that will make believers out of their haters, Trivium have put out an album that, with its impressive blend of melody and scorching riffs, feels capable of luring more than a few post-grunge and hard rock fans over to the heavier side of the dial.

While the more approachable Album of the Year makes for an easier entry point into the man's discography, this one is deeper, and artistically more filling.

Even if Shulamith isn't as strikingly original as Give You the Ghost, the growth in its songwriting and emotional complexity suggests Poliça are in it for the long haul.

It seems the change in membership has reinvigorated them, providing their songs with a sense of stability that shines through on an album that easily ranks as some of the band's most exciting work in recent years.

This is an ambitious, cohesive effort from the Sheffield band, and its complex and spacious sound is both beautifully engaging and highly rewarding.

The experience of listening to the album is a harrowing one, but the bevy of unexpected shifts, sidesteps, and complete submission into patches of noise makes it one of the more adventurous metal records of its type, and speaks to the long-fought amounts of work and thought the Body have put into their ever brutal, ever forward-looking sound.

Red Hot + Fela's unique yet nearly seamless-sounding collaborations offer a deeper hearing of Afrobeat in light of its wide-ranging implications trans-culturally, both in the present era and as it points toward the future.

Fanfare travels easily between intimacy and more psychedelic-influenced euphoria because Wilson's songwriting remains his ace in the hole. For all its laid-back deference to his production, it's tight, clever, and artfully constructed.

Nuanced, dark, funny, harrowing, but also amiable, Mark Kozelek and Desertshore is one of the more digestible and entertaining documents of what could stand as the most prolific writing period of Kozelek's already inspired career.

By no standards is the album a cleanly polished turn toward high-brow composition, but the sounds are more inspired and the hybrid of improvisation and clear-headed direction is one of their most cohesive-sounding, not losing any amount of excitement or fire with the added structure.

Each song on Fetch feels so meticulous and so conscientiously crafted, it's hard to listen to it without arriving at a cliched but undeniable truism: good things come to those who wait.

Not only is it a welcome return, it's one of the Fratellis' most consistently engaging albums.