By the nature of its content and assemblage, there's not a lot of flow on A Folk Set Apart and some of the tracks might have best been left behind, but there is enough strong material here to attract new fans and provide longtime listeners a deeper look into McCombs' curious world.

The Buffet does have more dimensions than Black Panties, including the enjoyable "Step in the Name of Love" rewrite "Backyard Party" and the throwback, Love Letter-styled "All My Fault."

The mix of guests, which includes Deniece Williams, CeeLo Green, and Jessie Ware (who once covered Caldwell), add to the album's cross-generational character.

There aren't many surprises here for fans, save for the fact that he manages to spin the same nocturnal stories of drugs, partying, and fornicating over 17 addictive tracks without it ever growing stale.

Raw, rowdy, and devoid of any sort of studio chicanery, Skeletons feels less like a proper Danzig album and more like a home recording of a boozy late-night house show. Surprisingly, its slapdash, lo-fi demeanor mostly works in its favor.

Named for characters from these films, the Soulsavers aimed to capture the emotion and atmosphere of each one. What results is, oddly enough, a lush work of gorgeous beauty for such dense and oftentimes disturbing movies.

A top-notch Lil Wayne appearance plus an unofficial Lox reunion with Styles P and Sheek Louch guesting on the LP help put this one through the uprights, giving veteran Jada one of his best and most ambitious showcases to date.

This rough, honest, and ambitious work is like his Raging Bull, taking the listener on a compelling, dirty journey that's also a connectable character study.

Whether or not Bop English will outshine the continued efforts of his main vehicle, White Denim, remains to be seen, but as far as debuts go, Constant Bop is first-rate.

While a sci-fi-themed album by a celebrity cat is by its very nature a novelty, the music made here by Tobey and Bridavsky is quite enjoyable, and Lil BUB's many admirers will be comforted by the charismatic cooing and extreme purring heard in the breakdowns.

Everything flows naturally, and that ease is so alluring upon the first spin of Traveller that it's not until repeated visits that the depth of the album becomes apparent.

The Ties That Bind: The River Collection, like a high-profile DVD release of the 2000s, is more about the bonus features than the main feature, but the extras lend an invaluable perspective to one of the most important works in Springsteen's catalog, and this set makes it possible to imagine the many chapters that could have been added or removed from the album while still telling the same powerful story, as well as documenting the thought and effort Springsteen put into the process.

On Kannon, Sunn O))) illustrates through heavy sonic immersion that noise and silence are equals--aspects of circular, self-perpetuating emptiness. Like the persona of the deity, they generously receive and contain all the sounds of the world in all their dimensions of darkness and light.

Coldplay cheerfully embrace the cheese, ratcheting up both the sparkle and the sentiment so the album feels genuine in its embrace of eternal middle-aged clichés.

Credit him and songwriting partners Daryl Simmons and Kameron Glasper, along with hall of fame-level session musicians like Nathan East and Greg Phillinganes, for ignoring the increasingly narrow sound of commercial R&B. They've done so with a satisfying album that sounds as if its organic making necessitated little exertion.

Shape Shift finds Zombi returning to their earlier sound and reliably crafting sturdy, horror-tinged neo-prog.

Returning fans won't be disappointed, while newcomers with a taste for blissful journeys will likely be entranced.

Though these songs were released over the course of 18 months, Product holds together remarkably well as it captures SOPHIE's instantly addictive, ever-evolving reimagining of pop music.

It seems like Parquet Courts might be taking notes from labelmates Girl Band, producing some of their most uncompromising work to date. Monastic Living is a very curious move for the band.

Make no mistake, all 11 songs are of a piece -- they're shaded by melancholy, gaining most of their power through performance -- but that cohesive sound only accentuates how Adele has definitively claimed this arena of dignified heartbreak as her own.

Suitable for backgrounds and times when you just want something pleasant as a diversion, but not much more.

While it would be unfair to call Dark Sky Island a throwback, it does manage to harness some of the power and creativity of Enya's early days and pairs it with both the confidence and shadows of age.

The bulk and repetition of The Complete Matrix Tapes will scare away a few casual observers, but anyone who wants to know how this band sounded on-stage on two good nights will find this to be a revelation; it's the best and best-sounding VU live release to date.

There are plenty of bands doing roughly the same thing as Ringo Deathstarr, but there are few who do it as well as they do. Pure Mood is proof of that.

As a two-disc set, Bluenote Café feels a bit overstuffed and drawn out, but these recordings confirm the Bluenotes hold up better than many of Young's creative left turns in the '80s, and this is a thorough and entertaining look at an often overlooked phase in Young's creative journey.

Ironically, this hip-hop heavy revision has the net effect of straightening out a wild, wooly record.

A set of songs that build on the dreamy pop of the Medusa EP with a smoother, bigger sound.

With only a few guest shots, plus a long track list, newcomers might find this big LP a tough go. Regardless, the ambitious Church in These Streets stands with the man's great Thug Motivation 101 while beating that album on artistic merit and meaningful lyrics.