In all, Jeniferever couldn't be better designed for soundtrack music to a moody sci-fi drama of the 2010s.

So judge not, indie rockers and other self-satisfied musical tribes: any way you slice it, the aging rock audience is hungry and, flawed as they may be, Chickenfoot are just the guys to feed them.

Flying in the face of his public persona, this is a sprawling (could be tighter) and humble (could be more persuasive) Deadmau5 album and one best suited for established fans.

In some instances, it helps to not be much of a Donna Summer fan. Afrojack transforms "I Feel Love" into a graceless barrage of battering noise and reduces Summer's vocal to pulp, while Greene's "On the Radio" has Summer so heavily echoed and distant that it could be titled "On the Radio (At the Bottom of a Deep Well)."

There's enough variety to excite and warrant repeat listens; however, pacing suffers when the momentum is cut by otherwise pleasant tracks like "Fractured and Dazed" and "Picture Frame." These issues aside, Let's Go Sunshine is a mature progression for the Kooks, one that points in the right direction for the band's evolution.

Somewhat more reminiscent of Rage Against the Machine than the Beastie Boys or Eminem, the group... is as good as any rap outfit at expressing anger; in fact, they're more eloquent than most.

Halfway through, Girl Who Got Away sucks you into its sway, its comforts as alluring as they are elusive.

200 Years is as subtle as they come and makes for excellent background music, especially if you're feeling fragile.

At times, Synesthesia falls short of the brainy synth rock bliss Hands aim for, and while their songs are almost unfailingly bright and fizzy, they're not always especially distinctive. Still, even the least memorable tracks will make lots of listeners bob their heads whether they want to or not.

On the whole, the produced numbers are better than the unadorned cuts: Bugg's nasal twang gets buried underneath the gloss and the hooks are pushed to the forefront. The whole thing adds up to a bit of a mess, not in the least because Bugg's schtick was his authenticity.

Consider this a Meth-led posse LP aimed at returning fans, and a very good one at that.

Lights and Sounds' good songs are very good, and the album ends up being the band's most accomplished work yet.

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.

If Ringo 2012 is slighter than the lighter-than-air 2010 Y Not, it still has enough good cheer to bring a smile to longtime Beatles lovers.

ATE doesn't shy away from their debts to the Killers and the Strokes, they brandish their influences so brazenly the echoes reverberate upon themselves and turn into something not quite their own but not quite recycled: it's insistent mood pop designed for its moment, getting enough momentum from its bounce and melody to be something of a pleasure.

Ultimately though, whether robotic or human, binary or organic, it is Ra Ra Riot's gift for addictive, romantic songcraft that gives Beta Love its heart.

The first recording that the hardcore Stereolab fans need not own.... What was once endearing has mutated into the irritating, as the chanted vocals, simple organ runs and endless, pulsating rhythmic drones alienate listeners instead of mesmerizing them.

Even if The Spine is decidedly uneven, it still has enough good songs to please diehard fans and keep them around for the next album.

The songs here all sound very samey. Not to say it's an easy listen. It's a dark one, and many songs lose themselves in sleepy, drawn-out droning. However, extended jams should be nothing new to those well-versed in the Warlocks catalog

Unlike his early classics, Laugh Now stumbles occasionally and fails to keep the momentum going through the whole fourth quarter.

The group takes pains to be able to fit onto every kind of playlist imaginable: rock, pop, electronic, soul-any popular sound that can be sculpted and shaped by a streaming service. As such, listening to Origins uncannily re-creates what it's like to experience-or maybe more accurately, consume-popular rock-oriented music in 2018: everything sounds vaguely familiar, vaguely connected, all designed to function as a soundtrack to whatever task you'd like.

The relatively stripped-down setting winds up letting the rockers of the album’s first half latch in, particularly the rather propulsive “Trouble,” the nimble “She’s Alright,” and rolling “I Got Your Number,” and does keep the succession of anthems and ballads on the second half from seeming too languid.

Stade 2 has its moments, but its overall lack of invention suggests that Mr. Oizo is perhaps now channeling his creative streak elsewhere.

With their big choruses and building grandeur, songs like "The Hunted" and "I Can't Fly" feel not only larger, but much more refined than the songs on the group's last album.

What's clear about Hurts on Exile is how skilled Hutchcraft and Anderson are at seamlessly incorporating their influences, so you can hear the bands' inspirations in every line even as you marvel that this album is like nothing you've heard before.

Despite a few moments of inconsistency, Fool Metal Jack fares far better than most records from bands returning to form after decades of silence, and in its best moments highlights the brilliance of a group that never lost its unique voice.

Sometimes, Davies' blend of hard rock and healing doesn't quite jibe--it can lose form and drift or it can hammer its points home too hard--but there's a dogged individuality to his mission that's appealing even when the music itself is not.

The majority of what follows is a qualitative step back from previous solo album X.