Even though it's rammed full like a powder keg of discontentment, the opinions expressed on Running Out of Love don't stop it from being the elusive indie pop band's most unified record to date.

Front Row Seat to Earth might not be the most immediate record released this year, but it never turns its back on you. Accessible without ever being simple, it's one worth getting into, even if the way is labyrinthine.

While it can be hard not to yearn for more massive and cathartic songs like "Reflection," Light We Made is still a quality effort, even if it's an adjustment.

Moby isn't letting the ills of the world get him down though; instead, they serve as the driving force behind These Systems Are Failing, an album both powerful and political that plays through without coming off the least bit preachy.

While they don't break a ton of new ground with this record or introduce any drastic new elements, Only Ghosts is still a great new addition to their canon.

It can feel a little tiring at points, as the music arguably borders on being too dense and involved considering the album's aloof spirit, but Oozing Wound do a good job of sequencing and varying tempos.

Overwhelmingly, Winter's Gate is a tight and focused melodic death metal album, and yet another quality release in Insomnium's discography.

WALLS sounds safe and comfortable. The songs coast along with a mellow fluidity that serves to establish a decidedly mature, if complacent, sound.

Color certainly announces Katie Gately as a force to be reckoned with, a true auteur with a singular--and highly listenable--vision.

On COW / Chill Out, World!, the Orb's easily digestible and absorbent songs make it simple for the listener to take the album's titular advice.

It's hard to find a flaw on this album, quite frankly. It's personal, political, funny and the production is spectacular.

First Ditch Effort doesn't match NOFX's '90s peak, but it rights the ship somewhat, and goes a long way to re-establishing the group as worthy and relevant elder statesmen.

Whether Sport is really for digital punks or leather-clad clubbers remains to be seen, but regardless of audience, this is one of the most interesting records to come out this year.

Ruminations isn't exactly a stunner--it's too low-key for that--but as a humble mood-piece, it's an engrossing listen. Its best moments are also its darkest ones.

The band's evolution on The Violent Sleep… keeps them one step ahead of all those who have been trying to catch up, making Meshuggah as powerful and proficient on the cusp of three decades of existence as they always have been.

The Lemon Twigs almost always use the kitchen sink approach on Do Hollywood, and it's pretty effective, too--there's nary a dull moment.

If this truly is the end for Dillinger Escape Plan, they've ended things by throwing down the gauntlet with such force that the reverberations will be felt for generations.

Remember Us to Life is one of Spektor's strongest records, and one that really requires repeat listens to appreciate every detail and effort.

Jacklin manages to rouse quite a number of emotions across these 11 tunes, including steady slow-burners, unconventional lyrics paired with bright guitars, hushed, soft singing and grungier moments here and there.

Marginally more "mature" in composition and content than the band's previous records, Transit Blues is another solid release from a band that audibly continue to give their all.

The stadium-minded ensemble strikes a great balance between fearless exploration and casual virtuosity with unabashedly catchy classic rock-isms pulled and bent from across the genre's history.

This string of downtempo songs, while soothing and catchy, will leave fans of Shovels & Rope's more upbeat fare feeling restless. A more balanced reshuffling of the track list would have solved this issue, and might have made this already excellent album a classic. But as is, Little Seeds is a fantastic LP that showcases Shovels & Rope's uncanny ability to both rock out and rest easy.

Sum 41 in 2016 is a lot like their early 2000s pop punk peers Blink-182; they're fun, capable of writing at least a few songs worthy of an inevitably forthcoming "best-of" compilation and at their best when embracing their past.

A collaboration with names such as saxophonist Wayne Shorter, percussionist Brian Blade and bassist John Patitucci sees a the self-professed "jazz dropout" helm a strong project of original material, save for a sweet rendition of Duke Ellington's "Fleurette Africaine" and a bulletproof interpretation of Neil Young's "Don't Be Denied.

Though Armstrong does a decent job of speaking for the freaks and the rebels, Green Day's music is always at its best when he's speaking for himself, and Revolution Radio is no different.

Cody is undoubtedly Joyce Manor's strongest effort to date, the apparent result of meticulous revision that has tightened up their sound on all fronts.

The Chilean producer has released collaborative records, scored films and released a series of incredible 12-inches, Nymphs I through IV. And yet, for all of the sonic breadth of that material, none of it quite prepares listeners for Sirens.

On Big Boat, their rambling new album, veteran producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Lou Reed) does his best to emphasize the band's considerable knack for genre-bending exercises.