AWLWLB is the sound of a legendary band coming to full terms with who they are, giving them the power to take everything that’s made them distinct and pushing those qualities as far as they can go in one unified statement.
As it stands, it’s a portrait of growing up that is wonderfully vivid but a tad unfulfilling, a collection of tracks boasting some remarkable tunes and a complex theme, and an album that is bound to satisfy both hardcore and casual fans.
The record makes for wonderful background listening but also has a good handful of tracks that would tear up a dancefloor in the hands of the right DJ.
What’s astonishing about Breakup Song is how it maintains an intuitive notion of coherence, even with its handling of contradictions. All the while making it look easy.
Put Your Back N 2 It is essentially a conversation between a man and his piano, and letting us intrude into his deeply personal thoughts is his cunning way of seeking validation.
Sun is undoubtedly Marshall’s boldest and most diverse effort to date, and it is all the better for it.
These are, quite simply, great songs. They are fun, they are emotional, and no two sound alike.
Purity Ring has crafted an album in Shrines that stands head and shoulders above the works of their peers.
There’s an undeniable beauty running throughout the album, but there is also such a comfortable departure from the form of the first two records that it might be too easy for Khan.
It’s an album that revels in interpretation and grows larger and nearly overpowering in its ability to draw the listener into its dense layers of distortion, cascading dissonance, and fleeting moments of stunning clarity.
Ekstasis abounds with originality and depth; soars and sinks; expands and implodes; evolves and dissipates; crackles and breaks all within one cohesive sound.
This is METZ suggesting, insisting and demanding to be heard. Theirs is the voice of freedom and expression and we should all listen very carefully to what that means.
Death Deams almost faultlessly conveys the volatility and incomprehensibility of their particular genius.
As enjoyable as the first half of America is, the sprawling suite on the flip-side is a truly inspired effort from Deacon -- probably his most adventurous and involving piece to date.
The heavy wear upon new wave revivalism in the past few years has really limited the scope of this album as per its originality.
The grid of his computer screen is less rigid, and consequently, there is less access into the song's core because there are multiple cores, each a little world onto itself, a degree zero, an island.
There is not quite enough confidence, not quite enough honesty to elevate Blunderbuss to the record Jack White wants it to be.
The Men’s Open Your Heart has the good sense to utilize its influences as a means to go forward, cultivating an eclectic albeit consistent brand of independent rock n’ roll music.
Bloom, unfortunately, becomes less interesting with the more attention you pay to it, largely because there is not much to set it apart from its predecessors.
Elverum’s utilization of metallic and avant-garde elements into what might otherwise be considered a folk album demonstrates a songwriter unlimited by genre and also turned on by creative possibility.
Overall, it’s a successful return, and a record that demonstrates the success of their debut wasn’t a fluke and that The xx truly are masters of musical alchemy.
The melodies are catch and pleasing, full of sharply written, witty lyricism. Not a thing about it is forced. It’s a classic slow grower, immediately pleasing but not striking.
Visions is beautifully conceived and executed, musically, lyrically and thematically.
Most of Attack on Memory has an abrasive, shrewd backbone, but it’s those moments where Baldi hones his sweet touch where the album finds a satisfying balance of surprise and comfort.
Celebration Rock’s high-tempo riff rock concerns itself with energy and embraces our serendipitous run-ins with those good times worth remembering.
Whereas once, Longstreth was a composer, on Swing Lo Magellan he tries his hand at being a songwriter. And it’s the most refreshing move of his career.
The hard work they put into Shields deserves recognition, even if it occasionally strikes as too labored and considered.
Songs reverberate out of relentless feedback, their forms never hold any oppressive distinction and what is truly liberating is that you get to experience a band that has experimented on record.
With a few notable exceptions, Channel ORANGE is solid rather than spellbinding
The sparse, even unprompted production only makes it richer, resulting in a fascinating unanimity of piano and voice that turns more involving with every clink, clatter, and clap.
The Seer is 30 years’ worth of effort, a unique and exciting height earned after decades of creation, experimentation and unconventional musical disassembly.
The Money Store might be the very definition of acquired taste, and will most likely alienate the vast majority who attempt to give it a spin, but it's undeniably an extraordinary record.
This album is incredibly intriguing and was executed beautifully.
good kid, m.A.A.d city is a cocksure record, but that confidence isn’t misplaced.