Fans of the band are either going to be blindly loyal, or extremely disappointed with this release. Meanwhile, those who felt that Editors were overly generic will either be interested in their new direction, or simply feel they are now generic in a different genre.

The multi-genre approach of The Colossus is refreshing.

Astro Coast sounds like an honest representation of four gifted songwriters writing what they know and how they know it. What they know is a refreshing change of pace for the indie rock narrative.

They’re darn right they still belong, since Lostprophets have delivered an excellent album that is a reminder to all and sundry that this is a band with not only a storied past, but also a very bright future.

This is a much, much more consistent album, it's got nothing as immediate as "Mansard Roof" or "A-Punk", and it moves a little toward the pop end of their sound, but other than that it's business as usual.

There is still much to work on for OK Go, but at the very least, the progression on display this time around is rather admirable.

This is Animal Collective at their finest folks, inviting everyone in to see them at their peak and loving the freedom that comes with being on top of the world.

Battle Studies, by comparison is relaxed and laid back, it’s feet in the air and stripped of extravagance with Mayer simply doing his thang with ease and pazazz.

As the marginal progression of Waking Up attests, OneRepublic gladly mix things up a little. Unfortunately, whether it be through compromise, confusion or otherwise, they are still to find their consistent sweet spot.

Sure, there are a handful of half-decent cuts included here, but even they have limited lasting value. Meanwhile, the filler (arguably half the LP) is mind-numbingly boring.

When Slug is at his most Atmospheric (ie, emotive storytelling), he's at his best, but it really doesn't matter. Nothing here really sticks with you, but it's more or less the Aesop Rock show through and through; hopefully he puts out more in the future.

Overall, Attention: Deficit should be considered a successful debut, albeit mildly uneven.

There are just a few riffs and grating melodies that spoil what could have been an album that was at least as strong as its predecessor.

The dressing is a little different this time around; a few more jokes, a couple catchy tunes (this is most definitely not the worst Weezer album ever), but once again Weezer are content with churning out sugary pop tunes that go down easy and unimpressively.

Pretty much, Say Anything offers more for fans and opens up the Say Anything sound for new ‘users’ to come and enjoy. It’s the perfect balance of a step forward and a redaction to a more “safe” sound.

The group has expanded its vocabulary and in general made its sound more broad and enjoyable.

Between the Buried and Me have refined their sound and improved their songwriting ten-fold, and while The Great Misdirect may not match "The Silent Circus'" raw energy and intensity, it might be their most coherent album yet.

To be fair to the songwriters behind this record, "Make You Cry" is actually the worst thing here - when the sound abandon the '90s and either tries to sound like the '80s ("Heaven" is pure Stock, Aitken, and Waterman), or to be a bit more modern, the quality remains solid. But therein lies the one major flaw of 3 Words - it's simply not consistent enough in terms of sound.

Lungs is one of the most exciting, compelling, fearless and ultimately promising debuts of the year.

They’re some decisive stuff, yet tend to leave the listener strangely alleviated, especially the title track: it’s the perfectly weird, yet high-energy song to get anyone out of their bedroom. That is, when they return to listen to this album again, of course.

In general, 'Axe to Fall' speaks towards the stagnancy of most bands in the metal genre. The collaborators here can't even help a band as good as Converge make a solid record and when examining Converge's almost flawless discography that is wholly unexplainable.

Far from a unified artistic statement, Other Truths refuses to pin itself down, and marks itself simply and modestly as a showcase of some of the best talent in genre. A minor miracle, if you will.

Impeccably produced, Conditions is a legitimate contender for debut album of 2009.

Exploding Head holds as one of the most consistent, mind-blowing releases this year, unwavering of an any possible identity crisis.

By sheer strength of will the band has salvaged an album that could have just been a derivative mess and created something pretty damn good in the process, and for that brand new eyes should be praised while we await something even greater from these boys (and girl).

Crash Love doesn’t demand the listener’s attention to the same degree as Decemberunderground did, but closer inspection reveals a more intricate and well-constructed album.

It is a legitimately excellent record that lives up to (and sometimes even exceeds) the song writing standards set by the band on "Dirt" or "Jar of Flies."

It's hard not to inflate the rating of a record with some truly incredible joints, yet it's difficult to ignore the two-thirds filler combined with Ghostface's least complicated rhymes in years.