While it's not the Clan in full, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better supporting cast. If Tomorrow is, in fact, the group's swan song, 36 Seasons proves that Wu's members can do just fine--and maybe even better--on their own.

Much like its forebear, the album's 12 tunes are tight, tidy pop-rockers, presented in her characteristic straightforward-yet-slightly-skewed manner.

It's a more consistent album than its predecessor. And perhaps more importantly, it shores up the duo's country flanks, and demonstrates that FGL intends to aggressively protect its progressive place in the genre, one that the act essentially designed on its own.

Not only does Wilder Mind reintroduce the band members as rock gods worthy of the title, it does so ­without changing what fans cherished most about them in the first place: their songwriting, their sentiment, their gusto.

Unbreakable is the mature album, free of commercial ambition, her all-too-breakable brother never made.

Art Official Age isn't just the stronger of the two--it's among his most imaginative albums since the '90s.

Martsch has hinted that There Is No Enemy could be the band's final album. If that's the case, the set's multifaceted melodies and experimentation would be an inspired sendoff.

Leaps and bounds over the act's earlier material, "Teen Dream" allows Legrand and Scally to truly come into their own while leaving the listener aching for more.

Its fifth album is another successful step toward the mainstream.

Blackstar is its own strange, perverse thing, the ­latest move in a boundlessly ­unpredictable career.

Lady A has always demonstrated the potential to deliver a little something more. On 747, we finally get a glimpse of it.

Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, Lennox's fifth studio LP, is his most direct and accessible statement yet.

Deerhunter isn’t repeating itself: This creatively restless group doesn’t stand still for long.

If there's a funnier, stranger and more touchingly bizarre album released this year, it will be a very good year indeed.

[2012 album, Shrines] was a fun record, like listening to Madonna at half speed with your face in a strobe light. Follow-up Another Eternity does little to expand this aesthetic, but for those who enjoy hearing top 40 pop sounds refracted through a funhouse mirror, that's probably not bad news.

The music is spacious, paranoid and sultry; the lyrics are ­suggestive and knotted.

By using the lineup shift as a chance to explore different terrain-namely, eschewing pop choruses and traditional vocals-Underoath's sprawling, at-times disquieting music is newly realized.

On its fifth studio album, "Fire Away," Ozomatli shows a remarkable ability to innovate with its most expansive and energetic set in years.

Lantern is a beautifully restrained--by HudMo standards, that is--concept album that mirrors a full day, yawning awake with palate-clearing drones and ending ecstatically in the wee hours of a club utopia.

While it's too early to tell if The Pinkprint is a classic, it's safe to say it's her best album to date. Minaj was finally able to out-rap herself and purge issues she's struggled with in private in her most exposed fashion yet.

Unexpected collaborations with stateside cool kids like Perfume Genius on the aching “Jonathan” and talented Philly rapper Tunji Ige on the plush “No Harm Is Done” should charm any skeptics who might worry Letissier got lost in translation.

Songs of Innocence is a colossal-sounding record from rock's ultimate stadium wreckers, and a quick listen reveals why no other marketing strategy would have worked.

With these 13 tracks--nine of which the band had a hand in writing--One Direction does maturity much better than on its last album, 2014's ballad-heavy Four.

Pain Killer is an in-your-face album with rock bombast, though there's enough occasional twang here to keep the country traditionalists happy.

Frontman Randy Blythe still growls his guts out while his bandmates hammer away at economy-sized grooves that suggest an extreme-sports version of Southern rock.

Throughout Stronger With Each Tear, Blige solidly reinforces why she endures as a fan favorite.

It's an intense, focused exploration of all, or nearly all, the relationships the singer is involved in, both romantic and familial.

On the impressive Sour Soul, the Canadian trio that built its profile through Odd Future and Gucci Mane covers bangs out rich blaxploitation-invoking live instrumentals, providing a perfect canvas for the Wu-Tang Clan vet's vivid rhymes about dodging police, jewelry and, oddly enough, yoga.

As an ode to nuptial bliss, the album is both ­convincing and surprisingly coquettish.

Between the folds of intricate sound on Odd Blood float Yeasayer members Anand Wilder's and Chris Keating's expressive vocal harmonies, giving this seemingly disparate, indefinable music a clear identity.

The set includes virtually every imaginable permutation of the album--a remastered stereo version and a radio-only mono mix that boosts the bass and makes for an overall punchier sound--and two-dozen-odd outtakes, demos, single mixes and “remastered early versions” that are fascinating but have been available for years. Where it gets really interesting is the two concerts.

On DBD, he delivers music that can’t be clumped with contemporary hip-hop.

The new set-Lady A's follow-up to its self-titled debut in 2008-showcases the group's ability to combine its own contemporary country sound and folk-rock flair with a familiar formula, making it a refreshing addition to the ever-expanding country genre.

While not groundbreaking, Evolution of a Man shows McKnight still has a way with the ladies.

American Middle Class is a focused collection of songs.

And yet: that voice. On 25, the material is occasionally inspired, sometimes dull, but always serviceable--and with Adele, that’s enough.

Even with so many producers lending a hand, there isn't a dud to be found on the record's thirteen tracks.

The rapper's delivery is confident in a poetic and artful way, channeled through a theatrical set of songs.

An old-fashioned countrypolitan album-and a really good one at that.

Despite its countless co-writers and producers, chief among them Bieber’s bestie Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd, the album boasts a consistent palette of lush, low-key electro-dance sounds: sun-warped synths, chipmunk accent vocals, rattling trap hi-hats, and loads of bass.... It’s in this Spotify-age blend of dance, hip-hop, R&B and classic smooth-dude vocalizing that Bieber truly shows his growth.

They never supersede the originals, but hardly suffer in comparison.

Peace Is the Mission soars on the strength of sticky melodies sung by a unique combo of pop divas and West Indian vocalists.

Reflection represents a promising first step for a girl group that has long been awaiting stardom and has quickly established itself as a wrecking crew of positive role models.

Akinmusire has chosen to challenge listeners, exploring free territory where Smith squeaks and squawks his way into the wilderness.

The box's liner notes are a bit scant, but it's full of treats even for aficionados.

Hudson links with a long tradition of powerful female vocalists making highly danceable music. And the spare templates she uses here, which are heavy on rhythm and relatively empty otherwise, give her plenty of space to flex her powerful voice.

Rebel Soul brings [that devil (without a cause, of course)-may-care 'tude] back into the mix without sacrificing the lessons Rock learned from working with Rubin and his cadre of top-shelf session hands--only this time he applied them to the live, lived-in feel of his Twisted Brown Trucker band.

Globetrotting frontman Damon Albarn then returned to Hong Kong to write lyrics, hoping to recapture the spirit. He has largely succeeded, as The Magic Whip is a fascinating snapshot of a group coming to personal and professional crossroads in a strange city where modern living leads to bewilderment and alienation.

The set features several strongly tropical numbers, like the gentle 'Cancao de Amor' and a fine cover of her father's original bossa nova classic 'Bim Bom.'

It's big, bold and still stands out next to anything coming from Nashville.

Not every track on Another Round may be a winner, but Jaheim remains a welcome oasis in a desert of Auto-Tuned voices-and a beacon for the next generation of soul.

The rage gives American Capitalist a fierce potency.

Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo have made an analog album that's less of a "throwback" and more of a salute to the idols that would now do anything to hop on the duo's full-length.

The Black Keys' eighth long player isn't loaded with obvious hits, and that's more than okay--because this is a brave, varied and engaging collection of songs.

For all their diversity and maturity, these songs couldn't have been written by anyone else, and this welcome return shows that the three years since the last Bright Eyes album have been well spent.

Underneath the Pine is at its best on songs like Got Blinded, Still Sound and Divina, with solid grooves and discernable melodies that leap out from the kaleidoscopic bramble.

Making the most of Capitol's Studio B--a Los Angeles landmark where Sinatra recorded--Dylan captures his band live, with stirring intimacy. As curator, he gets credit for avoiding obvious hits like "Stardust" and "Fly Me to the Moon," instead picking "Why Try to Change Me Now?" and the show-stopping closer, "That Lucky Old Sun," an old sufferer's plea for relief

It’s the rare major-label debut that trusts the artist’s aesthetic enough to not tamper with it.

The achingly good Something More Than Free, captures the mix of excitement and fear that comes when the sun rises on a new day.

The vibe on the new album may be rootsier and more acoustic than Walker's usual fare, but it still emphasizes his knack for memorable wordplay and melodic know-how, which have earned him writing and producing gigs.

For all of the sonic pleasures, much of At.Long.Last.ASAP’s narrative is hard to swallow with a thinking mind--which makes it hip-hop at its finest, and its worst.

Even as his piecework band stretches the sound in unexpected directions, Lidell--like a peculiar cross of Prince and Otis Redding--remains confidently true to his soul vision, creating a tense musical discourse that wrings raw emotion from each eclectic track.

A hazy, seductive blend of trap and techno, it feels like the soundtrack to a strip club in Paris' grittiest arrondissement.

With 1989, she expertly sets up the next chapter of what is now even more likely to be a very long career.

What Sound & Color does best is hard to describe any other way: The music chugs, boogies, churns and rolls. Among rock music of its kind, it's one of the most ­muscular collections in some time, yet it accomplishes this by hardly even flexing.

Flamingo finds Brandon Flowers exploring big topics (love, religion, the complicated charm of his Las Vegas hometown) over even bigger arrangements.

Full of contradictions, the album is primitive and ultra-modern, dark and enchanting, tranquil and energetic.

"The Courage of Others" doesn't offer anything as immediately captivating as "Van Occupanther" gems like "Roscoe" and "Young Bride," but the new songs slowly take shape and are unafraid to choose interesting detours.

On Lazaretto, White rummages through his cart and emerges with fiddles, organs, slide guitars, and fuzz boxes powered by hand-cranked generators. And is that a leftover plate of Ennio Morricone's Western spaghetti? Indeed, it is, and if it all adds up to a better album than his debut, "Blunderbuss."

Although the set's complex instumentation finds BLK JKS occasionally losing their footing, their confidence in their craft largely covers up any glaring errors.

This Is... Icona Pop, like Carly Rae Jepsen's "Kiss," may someday be viewed as a full-length that included one pop masterpiece, but that underscores the delectability of the treats Icona Pop has sprinkled around that triumph.

With Supermodel, his goal is not to make you like him, but rather to give you a sense of what it's like to be him. He pulls it off, and he throws in plenty of hooks along the way.

After 15 years of recording together, the members of Guster deliver their poppiest, most cohesive effort with Easy Wonderful.

London rock act Bombay Bicycle Club hasn't been playing together long, but the foursome boasts an impressive sound on debut album I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose (released last July in the United Kingdom).

While the album's softer instrumentation and thematic preoccupation with romance may initially frustrate some diehard rap fans, its silky hooks begin to sink in with repeated listens.

["Entertainment,"] like almost all of the LP, there's heavy pop appeal for those with an ear for glistening production.

What follows is Doris, a slow (rarely rising above 70 bpm), introspective album where Earl Sweatshirt combats pressures when returning to a life of stardom after time spent at a Samoa-based boarding school for troubled youths. 


With production by Joe Barresi (Coheed and Cambria, Queens of the Stone Age) and Howard Benson (Three Days Grace, My Chemical Romance), Apocalyptica continues to impress with its unique ability to meld classical with metal.

Benson spent the early part of the decade building a repertoire of scruffy but sophisticated pop songs, but he fulfills his potential on this sparkling new set.

While the artist has raised some eyebrows by asking, "Who says I can't get stoned?" (on the album's first single, 'Who Says'), the rest of the collection certainly has the goods to eclipse that overblown controversy.

The Black Dirt Sessions delivers even more grit and lyrical heaviness than its predecessors, revealing a desperate, wayworn side to McCauley's songwriting.

The lack of woe-is-me melancholy on Mindy Smith's fourth release, Stupid Love, is what makes the heartrending album so intriguing.

Based on David Lynch's reputation, one can expect his first album to be either weird or cinematic. He delivers on both counts on Crazy Clown Time.

While not every track is a slam-dunk, Gray definitely recaptures her earlier promise.

Leave it to Em to continue confounding expectations this late in the game.

In New Orleans vernacular, Ya-Ka-May is a stew comprising various meats, green onions, noodles and a hard-boiled egg. This album may well be the musical counterpart of the dish for which it's named.

If fans felt like they got to know the real Blake on the hit NBC show, they'll get another close look with this batch of songs.

The New Jersey group gets back to the business of rocking on its 11th studio album, The Circle.

Most important, it's big fun, whether you buy into the high concept or not.

The singer has a strong grip on her skills as a performer, but is still chiseling away at the formula that works best for her as an artist, and is unwittingly putting that self-discovery on display here.

Goodnight Unknown is layered with subtle distortion and commanding percussion, combined with Barlow's confident, sometimes contemplative vocals.

Even with the hiatus, the effort is remarkable for its maverick spirit and pop unorthodoxy.

Crazy Love is another step in Buble's creation of his own kind of songbook, and there's nothing necessarily crazy about that

Fistful of Mercy's sound shouldn't surprise fans of any of those acts; nor, for that matter, should the appealingly casual quality of the nine songs on "As I Call You Down," which the musicians wrote in three days.

Rich organ swells and muscular horn charts mark many of the 10 tracks, with a live, off-the-floor groove that levitates.

Those who have witnessed the group's floor-shaking live shows might be a bit disarmed by the deliberately dense and lo-fi production of "Boys & Girls."

Although Francis has described himself as a "low-confidence engine" since early in his career, the rapper has produced a strong and instantly relatable album with Li(f)e.

As always, though, Streisand sings the material like it was written expressly for her, elongating phrases at will and slowing most of the tempos to a luxurious Old Hollywood crawl. What matters most? Babs' bliss.