Expo 86 proves that Krug and Boeckner still can do what's always been most important, namely writing songs that still kick *** at every available opportunity.

Insides is a thrilling, addictive, at times breathtaking piece of electronica and is sure to make Hopkins into a name more renown than just ‘Coldplay’s co-producer’, but here’s hoping that with his next effort he can focus a little more on stirring the heart and a little less on shocking the head.

Resonate with them, and you learn to speak about yourself in a way that carries meaning--and this is what What Now does best. Take a walk with this in your headphones and look at the people passing by; you’re allowed some isolation among others.

Even if it’s not quite as good as Shinedown’s very best material dating back to their heyday, Attention can still claim at least one superlative in relation to the band’s discography. For starters, it may very well be their heaviest album, moving along at a consistent breakneck pace that relents only sparingly.

Corey Taylor has crafted a no-frills, carefree collection of party rock tunes that, at worst, offer nothing inventive or deep but at best will give you an adrenaline rush at 2 a.m. when you’re out with your buddies getting trashed and forgetting that 2020 ever happened.

There’s a warmth and resonance to every last beat here, and so the album, while frequently propulsive, is far too lush to be harsh or impersonal. When it goes it doesn’t shut you out, it sweeps you along.

Spectral Lines is a batch of quietly luminous tracks that feel just as interlocked as the secrets of the universe, sharing pianos that blossom to stunning effect, vocal harmonization that whisks your mind off toward the ether, guitars with just enough bite to lend traction, and seamless transitions that give the entire experience an effortless, elegant flow.

The flickers of brilliance are scattered all throughout Man’s Best Friend, and for the most part, it’s a great album with some moments of weakness. It’s a clear step ahead of Short and Sweet, and hopefully, will be another stepping stone on the path to her magnum opus.

he more he opens up, however indirectly, the more Dark Bird Is Home is content to color his emotions through an opaque prism of expansive arrangements that belie a broken heart.

Essentially, Infinity On High is From Under The Cork Tree, except this time done well.

Their most socially aware record yet. Whether they address political issues, genocides (both historic and contemporary) or anxieties caused by alienation or inability to cope with the overwhelming pace of the 21st century, the band smoothly blends the beautiful with the ugly. In between the loud, razor wired guitar attack you also get lovely picked chords or bouncy bass lines.

Sometimes wistful and reflective, other times earnest, Temper is always tranquil, concise, and accessible.

The band sounds fresh from their rest, aren't trying to be something they're not again, and most importantly, they sound young and sincere. Welcome back, Yellowcard.

A lot of tracks start off OK, but his flow and style are so unfocused and muddled the songs become a chore to sit through.

In the end, what we have is a record that pushes towards an extremely promising new direction while still managing to maintain the band's adored personality.

Wreck, their seventh full-length effort, is pretty much everything you would come to expect from an Unsane record.

At times The Physical World feels like the real deal, at others a pale imitation of a too-distinct aesthetic.

OK Human is an oddity and a warm digital hug; it's Weezer reacting to an endless, nerve-shredding, social-life-destroying period of isolation the way only Weezer can, drawing further inwards to themselves but somehow inviting us along for the ride.

If Async was an album centered on the genesis of its creator's suffering and recovery, Remodels is the triumph over the odds put up against Sakamoto and his way of continuing to share his life's work with the world through the lens of his disciples and his contemporaries.

Kanye West’s fourth album 808s and Heartbreak follows the crowd rather than leads it. Where he steps, the footprints of T-Pain are readily visible. His use of auto-tune throughout the album is heavy, and in songs like Heartless and Love Lockdown its use is appealing.