The notions of conflict, turmoil, and regret are certainly well-worn staples of the genre, but with Sturm und Drang Lamb of God have accrued a significant amount of experience in all three, and have distilled those concepts into pure unfiltered adrenaline.

A streamlined ten-song effort that, at the outset, feels like a very meat-and-potatoes, suburban pop-punk affair. But simple suburban pop-punk is Spraynard's bailiwick and their unpretentiousness is part of their charm.

It is their most holistic, inventive recording to date and ups the ante for anyone trying to follow them.

The CD edition is especially nice--a fold-out cardboard package with sharp, true-to-the-era artwork for each disc. It tops the double-vinyl edition, a truncated and smart selection made by the Roots' Captain Kirk Douglas, released months earlier for Record Store Day.

Sirens is a step up from their debut.

Throughout it all, co-founders, producers, and arrangers Ben Ellman and Robert Mercurio sonically map out a NOLA that's as vibrant and forward thinking as it is steeped in the region's rich culture, cementing the band's reputation (20 years in) as both innovators and stalwart defenders of tradition.

With the release of the album DS2--Dirty Sprite 2, named after his hit mixtape -- he becomes a hip-hop version of Lee "Scratch" Perry, a strange and yet in command figure standing at the center of a slick, inventive swirl of music.

Splitting this weighty and rich effort into digestible chunks, the album's physical release comes on two separate discs, making Summertime '06 an artistic triumph wrapped in conceptually fitting package.

Young still doesn't do darkness as well as light but Mobile Orchestra shows a willingness to grow and change that makes it the most complete portrait of Owl City's music yet.

Southeastern was a triumph from a talented songwriter and vocalist who stepped up to a new level; Something More Than Free shows Jason Isbell knows he just got there, and is still making use of that hard-won knowledge--it confirms his status as a major artist.

A diverse set of songs but the key to Monroe's appeal is that she seems neither showy nor calculating when she expands beyond her classic country roots. She rolls easy, luxuriating in that exquisite sound, her soft touch making the heartbreak and the humor seem equally alluring.

It is recognizably the album in its form but not quite in feel.

Works for Tomorrow stands alongside their best albums.

Born in the Echoes is an excellent mash of familiar and vanguard, the very same formula that lifts all the duo's best albums above expectations.

Those attracted to the collaboration's premise will very likely appreciate its results.

These performances mark the apotheosis of a creative journey that began at Newport two decades earlier.

Their album is all thriller, zero filler.

Magnifique doesn't show a ton of artistic growth or progression; it's more of a rebranding that tightly focuses on their strengths and passes them to the consumer like a sharp, swift punch to the brain and feet.

In the end, the street-worthy effort seems more influenced by Maybach Music than Minaj, as it forsakes the paparazzi and gossip pages for the better and continues on the path first laid out on the man's mixtapes.

While Currents would have made a decent Kevin Parker solo album, people coming to the album and expecting to hear the Tame Impala they are used to will most likely end up quite disappointed.

While a few tracks sound too similar to each other, How Does It Feel's best moments deliver pop accessibility without sacrificing any of MS MR's identity.

Instrumentals 2015 feels like a successful reinvention after such a lengthy absence, but at the same time, it could've been beamed in at any point during FSA's existence, as its elemental, bare-basics construction isn't beholden to any trends, and therefore it feels timeless.

Her earnestness is nearly as appealing as her prettiness, a quality apparent in both her voice and her surroundings.

Gold and Stone is another intriguing entry in the discography of Eternal Summers, a band who is quickly building up an impressive body of work.

Sonically, Explains is breezy, effortless, and warm as a Pacific Ocean sunset, and its laid-back vibe helps tame some of Field's more manic, pop culture-laden diatribes like "Light Brang" and "Where."

Starfire certainly isn't as game-changing as LPs like Agharta and Pangaea, the mood and spirit is that of Miles in the '70s, but with the mechanically precise rhythms one would expect from a group born in the era of acid jazz.

Olympic Mess is a gripping sound odyssey which bewilders and occasionally perturbs.

Yuck may be bereft of any edges, but it's devilishly clever sophisti-pop disguised as big- box shopping center background music.