It quickly announces that they're as capable and creative as ever, and the finished product is as strong as anything they've released to date.

All the performances on Rule 62 are delivered with a casual assurance that gives the record a warm feel that, when combined with sturdy songs from a variety of styles, gives the record the feeling of an old favorite; it feels like a record that you've lived with for years, in the best possible sense.

The fascinating ways she puts songs and stories together on Three Futures reveals more with each listen.

Far from seeming aimless, the spaciness is controlled: guitars and bass build to occasional crescendos that then fall back to earth, and the prolonged periods of murmuring electronics do not lack texture or tension. It's this almost cinematic pacing that gives IN///PARALLEL its unique appeal.

Audio, video, or both, this is a fantastic version of a bona fide classic.

Just as much as their very best studio work, For Sale is a invigorating, joyous, rollicking summation of a remarkable band on a night when they truly lived up to their legend. If you ever loved the 'Mats, you need to hear this.

Two of the album's finest originals--burning perseverance anthems "Fussin' and Fightin'" and "Freedom Chain"--are reggae to the core, translatable from an intimate hideout to a sound system. Other moments travel far afield from McFarlane's prior sessions. Not one of them is disposable.

Cults give more of themselves on these songs than ever before, and opening themselves to more possibilities pays off with some of their most exciting music.

Tenderness sounds bigger, bolder, and more sensual than Blue Hawaii's previous work, thanks to the duo's embrace of house, disco, and '90s dance music.

As displayed on Nightbringers, there's plenty of room left to explore and experiment inside their sound, while expanding its parameters. They've done both to excellent effect here.

Found in Far Away Places, was a bold smorgasbord of stylistic trial and error--but Phantom Anthem is rooted in pure power, and it just never lets up.

Distilling discomfort into something more palatable is never easy, but with a name like the World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, the band probably knew that going in.

The Blow's most self-assured, thought-provoking, and exciting music yet.

As You Please can sometimes come across as overly dour, but Citizen are masters of uneasiness and wield that power like a sword.

His sweetness and melancholy are as palpable in the composition as they are in the performance and, ultimately, that's why the live-in-the-studio recording of Out of Silence cannot be dismissed as a stunt: such a simple, yet kinetic, production is the only way to do justice to songs are rich as these.

The songs on French Touch are idiosyncratic and free of drama. But they are chock-full of tenderness; Bruni delivers them with keen insight into the lyric meanings these melodies convey.

The only time they stumble is when they get a little heavy, like on "Half Hour," where some of the musical choices overpower Simpson's tender vocals. It's a minor quibble that's easy to overlook, and it doesn't make the album any less enjoyable overall.

Heaven Upside Down is Manson at his most human. If Pale Emperor was a welcome return to form that signaled a new day for the band, its successor is just as satisfying, if not better.

To call I Tell a Fly a difficult listen may be understating it, but within this madcap art-pop song cycle, which is purportedly about two flies in love, are some genuine payoffs for those with the patience to stick with it.

Arty tropes aside, with Undivided Heart & Soul, McPherson continues to pull all of his varied stylistic influences together into his own vibrantly coherent brand of visceral, emotive rock that grabs you by the collar and demands your passion.

The entire album is a stunning work of highly advanced kaleidoscopic new age pop, and is easily Smith's best and most accessible release to date.

Stripped of harsh digital fuzz and angular guitars, Fatherland is an honest, satisfying window into the heart and mind of the man himself.

Pinewood Smile should be all killer no filler, but late-album offerings like the vapid "Happiness" and the infantile no-fatties ballad "Stampede of Love"--Spinal Tap's "Big Bottom" was ludicrous and infantile, but it wasn't cruel--suck some air out of the room, making the whole thing feel a little stale, which is the last thing you want from a project that so fetishizes another era.

New Energy is one of the most accessible, listener-friendly releases in the Four Tet catalog, but it still maintains the creativity and unpredictability that have always made his work stand out.

Sterilize is raw, unrelenting rock music that unapologetically draws blood.

If you're up for a highly creative, exhilarating sugar rush, Neō Wax Bloom will undoubtedly be one of the most joyous surprises of the year.

This collection is full of fine music that merits attention, but as a career summary, it falls short of the mark.

An artful mix of focus and atmosphere, Real High may be Nite Jewel's finest moment to date.