While the world might miss the raw energy and exuberance of their earlier work, the more precise and mature band found on Exister is still as effective, and is definitely one that fans will want to stop and catch up with.

Call Here Come the Bombs a transitional album, one where Gaz is trying out everything he always wanted to do within Supergrass but never could, and next time around he may be able to synthesize all these sounds.

I Predict a Graceful Expulsion feels like a late round in a long fight, and while it may not deliver a knockout punch, it most certainly deserves the win.

Even more so than their debut album, Gallery shows just how impressive Craft Spells can be and sets them up as the synth pop revivalists to beat in 2012.

A Joyful Noise isn't as raw or immediate as any of the Gossip's earlier albums, which makes it a bit of a grower for anyone attached to the band's previous firepower.

While Spirit in the Room matches its predecessor on a track-by-track level, it's only in those last moments that the whole package seems as thematically sound and well designed.

Heaven comes across as a more or less triumphant culmination of the Walkmen's first decade, and the fact that happiness fits the band better than anyone could have expected is just a welcome bonus.

On the surface, Valtari may seem like a step back for the band, but instead of just retreading the past, the album is one of their best; a refined display of their musical power with breathtaking dynamics and enough emotion to flood an ocean.

While Magic Hour may not be as satisfying to fans who just wanna dance as albums like Night Work and Scissor Sisters were, it should please those who enjoy the band's formidable songwriting skills as much as cutting a rug.

Words & Music turns out to be one of the band's most enriching albums, both musically and emotionally.

What We Saw from the Cheap Seats succeeds more often than it frustrates.

It's a great pop record with plenty of guts and a sense of reality that is so often missing from records that sound this fun.

With spot-on production and their most engaging material yet, Grass Widow come into their own on Internal Logic, and have given themselves enough room to grow into something more vivid and lasting than ever before.

The album comes up short in the song department and doesn't quite get by on its abundance of free-love signifiers.

The album is a lush, somewhat orchestral album that finds Gardot delving into various Brazilian, Spanish, and African-influenced sounds -- including bits of samba, tango, bossa nova, and calypso -- that evince her global journey.

2011's Heaven is a stylish, expertly produced contemporary R&B and pop album that showcases Ferguson's emotive, soulful voice.

Another solid and easy to recommend effort in a discography that already has a couple.

At 17 tracks/diary entries, some of which feel like cast-offs from previous sessions, it feels a little bit indulgent, but maybe, considering the subject matter, that was the intention after all.

[The album's] drifting momentum makes 2:54 a lot like taking a trip on a train, allowing listeners to simply sit back and enjoy the scenery without needing to think too much about how they're getting from one end of the journey to the other.

A Kiss Before You Go has its fingers in so many pies that it's unlikely to be appreciated entirely by many, but listened to in small portions, it's difficult not to be enamored by its inventiveness and inherent avant-garde charm.

Their version of soul revival captures the sweat and fire of classic soul music better than almost anyone else in 2012.

These songs may not be self-styled major statements, but they are endearing and enduring, as is Ram itself, which seems like a more unique, exquisite pleasure with each passing year. Hardcore fans will definitely find the big set to be a worthwhile investment.

Natural History [is] something of a stop-start effort rather than an unqualified success, but if Dope Body can keep playing around with elements like the grinding, crackling hook of "Out of My Mind," it'll be interesting to see what a third album can bring.

Its lack of more compelling compositional ideas and some of its ham-fisted production problems are balanced by the fact that Santana is not coasting on his rep any longer; he's trying, and he's playing the hell out of the guitar again.

Heartfelt, ragged, and stoic.

Vol. 1's heavier layers of glimmering guitar, celestial synths, and twinkling percussion flourishes serve more to create distance between Caulfield and the listener than convey that earlier intimacy in a new way.

Though it never feels disjointed, it never feels fully realized, either. In the end, it's hard to tell exactly what the album is aiming for, but taken as another rowdy set of tunes from a living legend, Night & Day delivers from both sides of whichever dichotomy it's grappling with at any given moment.

[Space Homestead] could almost be a summary of their approach rather than taking their work to the next level, but Space Homestead succeeds precisely because MV & EE have so clearly constructed their particular vision.