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

Much of the aptly named Th1rt3en feels vintage, from the familiar political themes on "We the People" and the tightly wound, Dio-esque riffing on "Public Enemy No. 1" to the soft, melodramatic military snare intro of "Never Dead," which eventually explodes into a wicked blast of retro-thrash that feels positively invigorating, not redundant.

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

Boyle isn't an interpreter, necessarily, finding new meanings of songs; instead, the songs are pitched toward her specific skills, so there's an inevitable sameness to her albums, as they all consist of slow, pretty versions of songs you know by heart.

Some of the remixes sound like little more than historical curios, but a surprising amount are either vigorous or imaginative and they all underscore how Achtung Baby truly was the first U2 album that could lend itself to these kind of mixes.

Ultimately, Lulu is a brave experiment for both Reed and Metallica, but it's one that falters as often as it succeeds.

The rest of the EP, outside of the brooding "Burying Davy," leans closer to that countrified feel, and while it may come off a little contrived at times, these outtakes will no doubt help to satiate fans until the group reconvenes for album number seven.

While Live Music sometimes feels a little too rambling for its own good, the growth the band shows is even more impressive because it seems so effortless.

After such a lengthy time away, it's admirable that Dolby has returned with such a bold and difficult-to-pigeonhole record, but with its disappointingly flat production, A Map of the Floating City fails to make the most of its abundance of ideas.

A firm step forward on all fronts, Bright and Vivid is a thoroughly engaging listen and establishes Calder as a creative force and pop craftsperson every bit as worthy as her big-deal bandmates.

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.

Is the World Strange or Am I? is indeed a little too strange to achieve the commercial success Jarvis has admitted he craves, but it's an admirably bold statement of intent which is perhaps unlike anything else you'll hear all year.

While Best Intentions doesn't reinvent the wheel, listeners will enjoy spending some more time with We Are the In Crowd.

If you're a fan, it's a classy slice of nostalgia.

She's been in something of a career renaissance ever since the mid-2000s, creating sharp adult pop that's accessible without being commercial, so if fan funding is what's needed to keep her actively recording, this album is a great testament to its potential power.

A brief but powerful statement, Mount Wittenberg Orca brings remarkably creative artists together for a good cause, and ends up bringing out the best in all of them in the process.

While Peggy Sue's drastic musical overhaul doesn't always convince, it's an admirably brave effort which possesses enough quality to make it worth the occasional test of endurance.

The album is not just the best country has to offer (if the genre were modeled on his standard, its radio stations would be difficult to turn off), but more: it's the best that pop music has to offer, too.

Bad as Me is an aural portrait of all the places he's traveled as a recording artist, which is, in and of itself, illuminating and thoroughly enjoyable.

While Astro Coast's nostalgia is missed, Tarot Classics finds Surfer Blood showing more potential to create something unique than their debut suggested.

The results can be winning, especially when they're slathered in classic, Les Paul/Mary Ford-inspired slapback delay. However, busier cuts like "Sleigh Ride," "Little Saint Nick," and "Christmas Day" reveal a charming yet pitchy vocalist with all of the inflections of a classic torch singer, and none of the discipline.

Their loosest, wildest, and most honest collection of Saturday night/Sunday morning pining/drinking songs to date.

They've embraced their schoolboy selves and are simply singing songs of love and good cheer, albeit on a grand scale that somehow seems smaller due to the group's insuppressible niceness.

Audio, Video, Disco might just be the quintessential example of pop music in the Internet world where everything is available, and available to shuffle, but the main point is good times, great record.

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

Despite the natural feel of these songs as sung by Wilson and performed by his talented backing band, anyone who's paid attention to his solo career of the '90s and 2000s won't hear any surprises.

Certainly, part of the variety is down to the multitude of producers and writers on Stronger, but the album's success is entirely due to Kelly Clarkson, whose personality and professionalism turns it into her best album since her Breakaway breakthrough in 2004.

The writing is nothing earth-shattering; in fact, it's rudimentary and formulaic almost without exception, although they still come up with a couple of winners ("I'm Coming Home"), and lots of tunes that would easily pass for understandably forgotten oldies.