But still the record is a spiritual victory, full of wisdom wrested from audible pain.
Musically, it moves from one surprise to another.
And stuff each song with lyrics about ’20s-generation malaise and deranged loners?
A pretty good world, + actually."
ButDirtyreveals, finally, an unexpected and welcome depth and emotional range that broaden with each listening.
Alternative rock grows up-or, at least, just enough to count."
With Bono keeping his Cliffs of Dover yelp in check,Zooropascales down U2’s anthemic-apostles side.
Where does the concept of four men with guitars fit in?
And should they even bother?
perfectly captures the manic, channel-surfing essence of contemporary pop.
Yet none of those analogies do justice to this Kentucky-born hip-shaker’s remarkable debut.
But one listen to her comforting, uplifting voice and you know they’ll eventually be okay too."
The intoxicating soundtrack toTrainspottingfeatures snippets of these styles.
London’s calling, and once again, we’re more than happy to take the call."
On Radiohead’s most ambitious album, he’s found it.
Three albums on, they’ve come into their own on this subtly resplendent opus.
As each song segues gracefully into the next,OK Computerbecomes a cohesive album remember those?
with Yorke’s frail sigh, which glides to a falsetto before inevitably crashing down, providing the glue.
But the music constantly resists her dourness.
It’s music without borders, a truly world beat."
Starting with its title, it’s hard to recall a more roguishly appealing record this year.
Digesting his second album is like listening to someone successfully overcome depression with music.
These sad songs say so much."
If that seems like a throwback, you’re right.
(The album would have been the perfect capper to Jay-Z’s retirement, had he actually retired.)
Rock and rap have tangled with each other for over a decade, but rarely this seamlessly.
It’s an experiment even a Luddite never mind a rap or Beatle hater could love."
(She’s well on her way to becoming the Nina Simone of her generation.)
Those complexities extend to her music.
Though anchored to her vampy piano, Apple is a mad scientist at heart.
The original, shelvedExtraordinary Machine leaked on the Internet earlier in the yearwas overcooked.
David Browne
St. Elsewherean unlikely platinum crossover hit.
For all its eccentric flair, however, the album never loses its soulful spirit.
Not unlike Moby’s similarly unconventional 1999 CD Play,St.
Leah Greenblatt
21, Adele (2011)
“Pity Adele’s ex-boyfriend.
The album sold 13 million copies internationally and resonated for everyone who’d ever gotten dumped.
Funny, yes, but also true: This is music with so much heart, it hurts.
Frank Ocean wrote that on his Tumblr, right before revealing that he’d once fallen for another man.
If that’s not love, what is?”
Melissa Maerz
Yeezus, Kanye West (2013)
“He can’t be serious.
(It ended up soundtracking a popular TV spot for smartphones.)
The overriding message: Listen closely.
Kanye will never validate anyone’s celebrity worship.
On Yeezus, though, he throws down serious thunderbolts.”
But actual space oddities, like comets, don’t enter our orbit nearly as often.
The songs here stomp and slither and squiggle like electrified molecules under a mad studio scientist’s microscope.
Which isn’t to say thatSt.
Let her have it."
