The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1: Live in Europe 1967 box is an essential addition to the catalog.

The whole sternly focused thing is laced with enough emphasis on sound design to function as an immersive headphone listen, while at least two-thirds of it can drain one's energy on a dancefloor.

He's settled into this well-weathered skin on Clancy's Tavern, winding up with his best album in many a moon.

As an album, Empros shows Russian Circles bringing together everything they've done before into one complete package, compiling the lessons of albums past into one singular vision, and bringing it all together for a new vision of their future.

[A] rare sophomore outing that not only manages to avoid the slump, but bests its predecessor in the process.

Quibbles aside, everything about this package is richly detailed, immensely pleasing, and overall a wonderful experience.

With Four the Record, she's digging deeper than ever before and finding considerable riches.

Ndegeocello is making some of the finest music of her life.

A gift for fans who want to dig deep into the Smashing Pumpkins archive.

Southern Rock Opera should be required listening not only for fans of the genre, but anyone interested in the history of '70s rock, or even the history of the South in that decade.

More than any other Black Keys album, El Camino is an outright party, playing like a collection of 11 lost 45 singles, each one having a bigger beat or dirtier hook than the previous side.

Rio is therefore the new standard by which the pianist's future solo recordings will be judged, and perhaps also sets the bar for any other player who attempts the same.

While the double-disc edition is quite a handsome thing in its own right--the Super Deluxe Edition is something special thanks to the alternate version of Quadrophenia, which contains six songs cut from the final album.

Musically, Undun flows easier and slower than any other Roots album.

Through these two discs, the band's highs, tragedies, slumps, and comebacks are all evident.

A tremendously heartfelt celebration of music as a force for transformation, togetherness, love, and personal expression.

Surprising as it may be, coming from masters of the quick-cut DJ collage, The Search Engine is a journey worth taking from beginning to end, uninterrupted.

Singles shows that their craftsmanship and good taste may have been their most defining quality.

The whole is a portrait of a collective creative spirit that sounds as unsettled and fascinating as when the original recordings were made.

The charm of this edition is that the unreleased material is considerably looser than the finished album.

This is a record that buzzes with ideas, it's giddy with the noise it makes, and once its initial rush fades away, it still has plenty to offer in substantive songs and sheer sonic pleasure.

Black Radio creates an entirely new context for popular music in its near erasure of boundaries. It is the sound of the future--even if no one knows it yet.

Hearing this evolution in microcosm is fascinating: few albums are ever as lavishly and carefully produced as The Wall, and by going through this "Work in Progress," it becomes clear just how much labor Floyd and producer Bob Ezrin exerted on the finished album.

Haunting as it may be, A Church That Fits Our Needs succeeds on nearly every level.

While this would be a step backward for anyone else, the band has a talent for effortlessly making the unpolished seem charming as it bashes its way through tracks like "Nostalgia" and "The Worst Has Yet to Come."

Had it not been for the underground releases, this disc would be one of 2012's best debuts.

The combination of precisely crafted pop and fiercely imaginative arrangements results in a thrilling listen.

Sure, it's messy, but Alex Chilton always was--it's also some of his richest and best music, and it's never sounded better than it does on Free Again: The 1970 Sessions.