Sure, Saint Cecilia fills itself with all inclusive lyrics that Grohl has become known for. Yes, there are some midtempo shifts that you wish you could skip over. But out of five songs, four are solid.

Adore Life would have been stronger as an EP, cutting off the fat and making something as lean and muscular as their songs. What we have though does suffice.

Stickles and company prove once again that there is nothing more punk than doing the opposite of what’s expected. And this album meets, exceeds and plays with expectations in the way only Stickles knows how.

Some tracks settle better than others but the fact that most tracks don't sound like repetitive iterations of the other surprised me a lot.

Whirr's clearly moving to the beat of their own drum, rotating in new vocalists (who, at least, largely tend to sound similar) and opting for more dissonant and graying atmospheres. It feels like a losing compromise, but they're more than merely competent players at it for now-just strap in and make the most of the ride.

With some new tricks as well. A Weird Exits runs a tad overboard and drags midway through but despite being about three or four tracks too long, don't let it slip by.

All in all, with bad songs few and far between, this was a pleasant surprise.

The arrangements are much tighter, the lyrics feel fleshed out in a time where we can't help but be cynical of humans, and overall what you get from Sebastien Grainger and Jesse Keeler is a buzzy spin on the rock genre that feels like two dudes just chilling while the apocalypse hits and everyone's running around with their heads on fire.

Better Oblivion Community Center acts like something cultish, but it’s really an excellent collection of songs by two great lyricists. Neither really plays too far out of their comfort zone (even if “Exception to the Rule” brings back some Digital Ash nuances) but both lend themselves to the other. The result is an excellent addition to each artist's catalogue.

California isn’t a perfect record, nor does it need to be. It displays a band getting back on the right page with great energy yet struggling a bit to find equilibrium.

Some improved diversity and novel musical ideas make 13.0.0.0.0 a much more interesting listen, though, and it's nice to hear a math rock band bringing more than just math to their songwriting sensibilities.

Beauty & Ruin is more impressionistic than, say, the Mountain Goats' Sunset Tree, but it's still a vivid, moving story about dealing with abuse.

To whereas many may have expected that Idol’s first LP after 10 years be a rock destroyer, it’s probably his most mediative to date. It’s always great to hear Idol rev it up like the rock god that he is, but arguably, at this stage, it’s more interesting to hear what Idol thinks of Bill. And he still rocks live.

If you're a fan of The Front Bottoms, you should consider that folk/indie/acoustic era totally dead. And it's not a bad thing to accept because art involves evolution and experimentation, and while it even took me a while to get accustomed to TFB's pop-mainstream aura, it's a jacket worn pretty damn well as In Sickness & In Flames shows.

"Breaking The Chain" and "War", give off a Linkin Park vibe for the 2000-2008 era of MTV and help prop 13 Voices up as one of the band's most radio-friendly and accessible albums to date. They do however take away from the rawness and grit diehards came for.

Her new album is carefully all over the place, ditching pretty much every aspect of the genre that brought her recognition.

Is it as epic as say, the swell of songs like "Continental Shift"? No, but while there's work to be done still, it's still a solid step forward.

He puts his vocals on bright display as compared to the sparse musical backing. It’s not quite the unrestrained dissection that Johnny Cash’s American Recordings series was, but it leans in that direction.

Charming and inviting best sums this musical prose up.

It's simple yet non-formulaic and finds the band providing another batch of delectable mid-tempo jams.

Unfortunately, Tape Deck Heart is not his strongest offering as a whole, but it features a number of fantastic tracks that could conceivably be "hits" and will surely become live staples.

If you’re a fan of slow, sad, acoustic songs, then this is an interesting EP for your collection. Either way, it’s a great midway point in Sorority Noise’s growing canon.

Despite a shift-up in sound, the new roads dug out by Weatherbox are littered with elements of the old trails.

Terror offers few surprises, but has delivered another solid slab of hardcore.

Give Indie Cindy an honest listen. If you have to, just pretend it's the new project of Frank Black, Joey Santiago and David Loverling.

They've always done hardcore pretty well but now, as you can tell off tracks like "American Death" there's something new the band wants to explore and succeed at. In fact, this reminds me of Suicidal Tendencies and set the stage for other punk tracks like "War" and "Flowers Under Siege" to make the record just as political as it is personal. And hell, they're actually succeeding at it.

Vocalist Tim McIlrath must be given credit as well, as his voice -- and overall production -- is as tight as ever. Technically, I found their last couple albums lacking, feeling too generic and polished, but it's a much better balance now.

For the most part, Dolly sounds great- her personality pouring through effortlessly, as well as her masterful way to inhabit a song without making it a caricature.

The shifts between melodic post-rock and Korean folk and the full-on metal sections is what really caught my attention. Typically, bands can do loud well or they can do quiet and subtle well. It’s rare you find a band that excels at both, Jambinai does that here.

While not holding up to Pile's highly-regarded past, still hits hard and reminds you why Pile deserves much more time in the limelight.

If Lonesome and Moon are 10s, Good News is a 9 and Long Drive and We Were Dead are 8’s, then this gets 7/10. Definitely worth picking up for Modest Mouse fans, but those new to the band should start elsewhere.

Guppy as a debut does have room for growth but it's a distinct statement that matches the highs that Hendricks hits and the ambitions of a band whose cult following surely expanded this year.

One or two tracks could have been cut but overall, this is a random yet pleasant surprise. And one that's definitely sure to please fans of both.

Working again with producer Brendan O’Brien, Mastodon maintains their polished technical expertise. The album is clean but not scrubbed of feeling.

The album's pretty good -- especially as Relapse loves letting bands do this shoegazey wandering and overall 'finding yourself' schtick -- but with something so deep and filled with portraits of different eras and mentors, it's going to take some time to really say just how good, especially compared to an already profound discography.

Despite its vocal flaws, if anything, there is a great amount of care in Compton.

If they look hard enough, any artist could find criticism of their work online. That’s sort of the curse of the Information Age. But not everyone overreacts quite as much as Eminem does. But if his fears grow tiring, his lyrical ability can still give you something to admire, even if the album is somewhat uneven.

Ultimately, it doesn't feel as differentiated as what the band did way back when, when their records stood out and urged you to pour sweat and tears into basement shows.

It’s not that The Black Album is a very bad album, just that it feels part of a larger calculus that’s so carefully planned out that it lacks any of the artistic spontaneity that their first two albums had, which is exactly what the band’s been missing ever since Pinkerton.

This album continues to keep the Have Mercy brand stagnant and disappointingly makes surpassing their debut a tall order. "Smoke and Lace" and "Coexist" are probably the only songs that recapture the magic of the first record. Everything else tries too hard to repeat the slow/loud dynamic they pride themselves on.

All in all, it's an accessible ride and if this is your first rodeo with them, then Imbue isn't such a bad jumping-on point. However, it doesn't hold up to the young days where The Early November were immature mavericks letting loose.

This seems like a minor pit-stop for them and in fairness, it's a good record but nothing like what I expected.

Not a bad album but one that requires a few more listens, personally, to really feel captivated. The band seems to be going through the motions here and it doesn't stick as much.

Right now they still seem to be in the reactionary phase, rebelling against the slick pop punk produced for Warner Bros. Ideally they’ll find a happy medium but for now we have You’re Welcome.

Tend No Wounds might not be the best starting point for new listeners (that'd be Dial or Taste the Sin), but it should tide over fanboys until the next full-length.

The tracks that hit really save this album but those that miss, really leave a bad taste. Still, Citizen does just enough to get the benefit of the doubt.

The yMusic songs certainly sound like Ben Folds music, except that they are frustratingly safe.

Much like peer Frankie Cosmos, the sugarcoated uneasiness works, especially when done well. Swear I’m Good At This is a solid debut.

There’s never a rush to get to a bridge or breakdown, but the emotion oozes out when they are loud and free, competitive yet supportive. They build on each other, like the Harlem Globetrotters of guitars. And man, when Diarrhea Planet hit, they blow you away. Lyrically, there's not as much to say, clearly less of a priority.

Christmas Songs is a fun enough, but ultimately non-essential piece of the Bad Religion canon.

I did enjoy hearing Jetty Bones' cooing voice on "Icicles (Morning Glow)" but other than that there aren't that many songs to phone home about. There aren't even rock ballads a la "Minnesota" and while the closer "Hallmark" tries to mix aggression with toned-down indie licks to somewhat appeal to folks like me, it's just not the impact I expected from the band this time around.

Overall, not as diverse a record so points lost there, but definitely a move that gives this new iteration much more character.

Good Nature is mellow and laid-back, everything they intended it to be. Hopefully, they add a hard rock or indie edge on the next effort as I think that sound suits them better.

Chapter and Verse misses the mark in the sense that what it tries to achieve, Conduit already did in 2013. This album feels like a repetition of that and loses steam along the way.

Real to Reel would have benefited from more diversity.

As intimate as he gets, there's too strong a withdrawn feeling and one which severely takes away from an otherwise decent effort.

Zipper Down on its own is a single short burst of energy stretched too thin.

Apart from running repetitive with no real memorable tracks in the back-end, it's the cheese factor that ends up hampering the show.

This isn’t horrible, but I can really only recommend Dead to the World to hardcore Helmet fans. The rest of you should just go listen to Meantime.

As it is, this gives us too many long, dull spots across the nine tracks and 48 minute run time. To be fair, there is some really good stuff here. There’s at least enough that hardcore Ministry fans are going to want to buy Amerikkkant. You just have to wade through a fair amount of filler to find it.

What's tough is that to get to the second half, you really have to drag yourself through some disappointing stuff earlier. If you can make it through, you'll find Zero isn't the disaster everyone thought it would be.

They had a pop-punk grit and an edgier take on their 2012 release but The Finer Things just falls short of the potential that State Champs should be exploiting by now.

It’s less dynamic, less technical, less energetic, less everything.

Thrashing Through the Passion is easily the band’s softest album to date. Where most Hold Steady albums fill the room with sound, there’s a lot of quiet and negative space on this album. While the band’s other albums wrap you up in an awkward hug of emotions and drag you through to a catharsis, this album is passive.

Is it a bad album? Nope, but it does feel a tad rickety and like maybe cutting a track or two would have helped the momentum better.

The songs are well constructed and the playing sounds authentic. ... The issue comes when Corgan begins to sing, and it’s not his nasally voice that doesn’t work. ... He still, too often, thinks his voice deserves to be the loudest in the room. He’s still a city boy hung up on big ideas.

Ye doesn’t feel like that reinvention. If anything, this album feels safe, a word I imagine is insulting to the artist. ... However, Kanye has an incredible ear for production, more apparent on Pusha T’s DAYTONA. There are some excellent moments on Ye, but with only twenty-four minutes of music, some doesn’t cut it.

This isn't a swing and a miss, nor is it a home run. It is an emphatic, resounding and diminutive crack to the wall, with a band that knows how to diligently round base cooly, calmly and collectively.

While Return to the Moon is good, it’s not the momentous occasion the next National album is sure to be. It is, however, a refreshing change of pace for its well-defined members.

Before a Million Universes is made up of good songs. Certain ones, you'll want to listen to over and over. But as a full record with two centered roadblocks, it needs you to earn the experience.

Happiness Is has some great tracks, but ultimately is probably the group's weakest showing overall.

Back On Top isn't a bad listen but it falls short of that benchmark they set in the past.

When it tries, it succeeds but when it doesn't, it really crashes into the ground face first.

While some of it lacks creativity, expression, and comes off a tad bland, you do get a sense of what could have been, had they just unchained themselves a bit more. Ironically, the songs that stand out the most here are the ones that ape tracks off Sing The Sorrow.

Ultimately, it's not a bad album, but not the greatest either.

The result: an album with zero purpose but worth a listen.

These are songs about everyday life at its most basic level. You'll have to decide for yourself whether that's enough.

Overall, the album isn't a bad listen. Symphonic. Orchestral. But compared to the last outing, it's lacking.

It’s a solid listen in its own right.

The spine and overall potential for a great record is definitely here but it was all about adding meat to these bones, and sadly, SSPU just comes off way too lean.

While Luciferian Towers evokes a lot of gorgeous imagery to soothe the soul, it lacks a lot of inventiveness and imagination I usually associate with the band.

On this particular album, they achieve just the right amount of flair and flavour to spice things up with character and believe it or not, lyrical depth. Track-wise, there are some growers. Then you've got some tedious chores to work through mid-way but overall, the album ends on a fairly decent note.

Cook nails it in the earliest stages, making it a bit front-loaded.

It's classic Fidlar. However, while the musical style's sure to leave fans scratching their heads, peer a bit deeper and you'll see their signature's very much there--it's just, well, diluted and funkier than ever.

Comfort/Distraction is a good album that shows off how well Broadway Calls understand how to make pop-punk, but it's hard to shake the feeling that the band are pulling its punches in the name of wider appeal.

While each member's technically great at what they do, once more, the magic from the band's debut seems too hard to recapture and as a sum of all its parts, DGD comes up short on Instant Gratification.

Tell Me I'm Pretty, while poppy and as mainstream as ever, loses its sense of appeal, character and individuality in coming off too much as a carbon copy of The Black Keys.

Ultimately, it feels like too much is crammed in and AFI can't tell if they want to go pop, goth, retro or symphonic. And with something that schizophrenic, it undercuts a lot of what could have been diamonds in the rough.

Angry riffs and gigantic hooks build the base of the album and it's one heavily steeped in frustration and angst. Sadly though, as emotional and honest as the record gets, too many songs are forgettable and lack the punch possessed a couple years ago.

If you stack this up against all the Pixies' previous output, it leaves a sour taste. But if you judge it simply on its own merits, it's a not-half-bad set of somewhat generic indie rock.

Given Morello’s dynamite live sets with the E Street Band, it’s a shame that the Springsteen album with his biggest influence is so underwhelming.

Quiet Slang was the stripped-down version of the band so we don't need acoustics like "Nobody Say Nothing" or "Nowhere Bus" or the piano-driven closer "Bar No One". They're catchy, sure, but I mean, they're songs we've heard over and over so if it ain't new, at this point, please fix it. I do commend the band for attempting to cut a new road with songs like "Stiff" but again, it's all about sex appeal here and I just can't connect with a band and a vocalist that comes off like a 17 year-old who is now trying too hard.

AAF spread all their goodies out over these tracks with the rest of the album lacking energy. Sad to say, the other tracks feel drab and don't translate well at all.

I think the punk rock attitude is to not easily be impressed with technical musicianship that doesn’t make you feel much of anything. American Head didn’t hit me in the heart or in the gut, but it did make me want to go back and listen to “She Don’t Use Jelly” again and, if nothing else, that’s a positive that comes from this experience.

The big hooks don’t connect, swinging too hard for something both underground and mainstream. This is a feat these two have accomplished before, but on Material, it always sounds just out of reach.

A few songs impress but the majority is meant to fill radio stations and leave you wondering where the magic this band held went. Probably outer space...

This album and The Party’s Over share many of the same problems that the band can't seem to shake off. Whether you were fan of Public Enemy, Cypress Hill or Rage Against The Machine first I think you’ll agree that this whole project just comes off as clumsy.

In a year that will see an actual new Gaslight Anthem album, as well as Brian Fallon's new side project Molly & the Zombies, The B-Sides can be easily skipped.