By maintaining forward momentum while having so much going on in every song, the band makes Shaky Dream an album that provides plenty of depth without sacrificing accessibility, striking a fine balance between catchy melodies and murky atmospherics.

There is no doubt that Scattergood is deeply connected to the journey that she voyages through on Arrows, and it's clear that only a small future refinement would result in more songs like the shimmering electro-pop of "Subsequently Lost."

Driving Excitement and the Pleasure of Ownership is a great introduction to a band that deserves to have a close watch kept on its future activities.

Alternating between bro country that's just past its sell-by date, summertime party tunes so breezy they get silly, and a heavy dose of southern rock, the Cadillac Three demonstrate versatility but they also seem scattered, as if they're scrambling for an audience.

While the feisty, Imagine Dragons-meets-Twisted Sister vibe remains their forte, it's Vale's pop proclivities that ultimately win out, suggesting that future endeavors may rely less on fighting the man, and more on working alongside him.

Here, he winds up finding depth within his signature mellow good times, and the result is one of Chesney's best records: it goes down smooth yet lingers in the memory long after its gone.

The elements are familiar, but Hawkins assembles fuzz guitars, glam beats, New Wave synths, and operatic harmonies with flair and wit, turning Get the Money into a giddy journey to the past that's remarkably devoid of nostalgia.

Its lyrics are concerned mainly with current- or post-relationship malaise, whether he regrets ever getting together in the first place (the somewhat cringy "Starfucker"), feels distant ("2001," "Same Old Story"), wonders if he's leaving any impression at all ("What's It Gonna Take to Break Your Heart?"), or ambivalently philosophizes "Maybe love is a way to kill time," which could have been the title for the album.

Overall, there is just enough on Everything Now to appease fans and attract newcomers with accessible singles, but as an Arcade Fire record, it's unfortunately too inconsistent and ultimately hollow. Arcade Fire sought to make a Big Statement but instead produced one of their least impactful works.

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

Film School isn't breathtakingly original, but it is well made.

Ray Ray occasionally loses focus, slipping into moments that are either undercooked or worthy of the cutting room, but it's enjoyable enough to keep his followers happy and will certainly act as a remedy for those who don't like the gold-bricked path being taken by mainstream R&B.

On Music for Listening to Music To, there's a vision, but it's not Goodman's and it's not well conceived or well executed.

Liberated from the weight of their history, they're just ready to rock while they still can, and that's why Ready to Die is, against all odds, a terrific Stooges album.

Eskmo is clearly a major talent, and if his muse takes him in odd and inscrutable directions, it's almost always worthwhile to follow and listen.

There's no denying that, a half-decade late or not, SebastiAn has delivered.

Get Along isn't the first live set offered up to listeners by the sisterly Canadian crooners Tegan and Sara, but when paired with its deluxe edition DVD, it's certainly their most ornate.

A Time to Love finds the two halves of Wonder's adult career finally coming to home to roost in peaceful harmony with one another, and it's one of the finest records he has done in decades.

Caligula club music and nothing but, Stay Trippy is a pimp party of the highest order.

The shift to a more dynamically rich sound suits Simple Plan just fine.

What follows is a lovingly balanced set of rural rockers ("Street Fighting Sun") and dirt road ballads ("Girl in a Coat") that sound about as far from the murky introspection of 2010's Destroyer of the Void as one would expect from a band that continuously tries to reinvent themselves within their own psych-folk/alt-country/indie rock universe, and almost always succeeds.

Midtempo tracks like "Only if for a Night," "No Light, No Light," and "What the Water Gave Me," the latter of which finds Welch in full control of the room by the song's second half, are soulful, spooky, and bold.

At worst, it feels unfinished, and at best, it feels like a mixtape cobbled together from mostly choice tracks but without that overseer's polish.

Everything Goes Wrong is by no means a bad album, but there are other bands doing this same kind of thing, and doing it with better songs and a better sound.

Moore has a great set of pipes, a mix of the throaty take charge style of Toni Braxton and the soft vulnerability of Janet Jackson, an undeniable sexiness, and a real emotional conviction that lends the songs an authenticity absent in many current releases. Still, with all that she has going for her, Exposed only manages to be a hit and miss record.

It's actually a fair album for two main reasons: the new lead single, "Slow Jamz," and the killer guest productions of Kanye West.

The Hunger for More is another solid release from the crew and is a couple steps down from 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and a step above G-Unit's Beg for Mercy.

It is more than the sum of its many parts, as the Warlocks whip up a '60s of the imagination, making you hear the sounds anew while resurrecting the old before your very eyes.