What's Going On was Marvin Gaye's masterwork, the most perfect expression of an artist's hope, anger, and concern ever recorded.

Don't expect things to change much as the duo's edits are minimal beasts built from breakdowns and bridges, but if you're in the mindset, this is chopped post-disco heaven with Prince, electro, new wave, and all things '80s swirling in the clean mix.

The crossover material leaves the album sounding a little stiff, and "No Tomorrow" seems manufactured to the point of feeling artificial, but if Attack! Attack! were aiming for commercially viable pop-punk, they hit the nail on the head with this one.

If the band were merely backtracking from the more arranged and fleshed-out sound Cartwright gave them, this record could be seen as a retreat. Instead, it sounds like they needed to go back to Watson to root out demons and get back to basics; instead, it sounds like a charge.

Queen of the Minor Key is a reminder that this music at its best speaks to the wayward impulses of the human heart, and Eilen Jewell embodies that quiet, insistent voice as well as anyone making music in the 21st century.

Arguably Megadeth's strongest effort and a classic of early thrash, Peace Sells combines punkish political awareness with a dark, threatening, typically heavy metal world-view, preoccupied with evil, the occult, and the like.

If many of Pollard's post-GBV albums have suggested a man tossing out whatever tunes he came up with this week, Let It Beard is an ambitious, clearly focused attempt to create something out of the ordinary, and it succeeds well enough to feel like a game changer for Pollard and his partners.

Our Blood, with its tattered, frayed grace, reflects Buckner's compellingly listenable, weary yet stubborn poetic journey, for answers to questions -- both past and and present, elliptical and enormous --that lie just beyond his grasp.

Longtime fans will be pleased, and folks who only know Newman from his film scores will be startled at the depth of the man's body of work, even on a collection with a couple of (relative) ringers.

On Perfect Darkness, Fink sticks to the excellent template he developed around 2006, and in its best moments, the record offers sounds on par with anything off his previous two records: the same taut folky guitar, the same delicate grooves, and the same quiet, reserved vocals all rolled into one laconic, low-key package.

Its versatility is quite dazzling, making it one of the best records in the Romweber catalog.

The compilation was offered on CD in three-disc and one-disc sets. The latter is more like a sampler with no discernible method to the selection process, and those who take that option will miss out on the Clarke and Wilder mixes, as well as numerous highlights.

Once rumored to be a true Wu-Tang Clan release, Legendary Weapons arrived as another compilation of Wu whatnot, with affiliates and second-string producers running the show as core member GZA sits things out.

Not all music is obligated to provide happy, cheerful escapism; dark lyrics certainly have their place as well, and dark lyrics are the rule on And Hell Will Follow Me, which falls short of remarkable but is nonetheless a solid and inspired, if derivative, debut from A Pale Horse Named Death.

Despite the recycling, it's one of his most inventive and potent albums to date, full of aggression, euphoria, and hope--alongside the rage, indignation and bitterness--and powered by idealism, pride, honor, and some of his strongest jams yet.

The 33 cuts on this sprawling collection offer so many fine and unusual moments, Red Hot + Rio 2 is every bit as unique and groundbreaking, puzzling and dazzling, as its predecessor; only more so.

There's a pervasive sense of mutual affection and musical respect throughout this album that makes it a pleasure to listen to even in those moments when its other elements don't quite come together perfectly.

Though it is one long cut, Night Gallery is free of noodling or self indulgence; it proves that acid jam is alive and well in the hands of the right musicians.

If a new artist released an album as strong and well-crafted as Roses at the End of Time as their debut, they'd likely be hailed as a major new force on the contemporary singer/songwriter scene; just because it's the work of a seasoned veteran doesn't mean it's too late for Gilkyson to be celebrated as a talent deserving of a larger and wider recognition.

The rest of the record is filled with an invigorating amount of passion, noise, and power that impressively takes their roots and influences to a new place. Not bad for a debut album; it bodes very well for further endeavors.

While the Summer Set shed some of their emo-pop roots for Everything's Fine, the growth as songwriters and performers as well as potential for wider recognition shown on their sophomore effort is a worthy exchange.

Lonely Twin takes a sweetly woozy way through its length, at once enjoyable enough while still feeling like a recapitulation more than a way forward. Still, even with that caveat, it's pleasant enough listening.

This flirtation with mass appeal is interesting for those with even a bit of an indie-hop bent, and hearing Sole working with a less forgiving rulebook just makes the album's successes more massive.

For all the musical adventure and the growth it reflects, Arrows & Anchors is Fair to Midland's finest effort to date.

LP1 doesn't always achieve a balance between the two extremes, not to the extent Stone and Stewart desires, as some of the ballads are a little formless and some of the funk a little too restricted, while some of Joss' posturing is a little affected, but it has more moments that work than anything she's done since her actual debut in 2003.

Tara Nevins, a member of Donna the Buffalo, released her debut solo album, Mule to Ride, in 1999, and only in 2011, 12 years later, got around to her second, Wood and Stone. It's been worth the wait, however.

The Kickback is a cool, slick, and easy party for the most part, with the occasional ballad slowing things down a bit too much.

They are of interest as a curiosity, especially for pub rock fanatics, but Harlan County illustrates why Jim Ford never became a cult artist in his own right.