This album is a perfect time capsule of the world that we live in today, a world filled with hostility, mystification, and fear.

The danger, of course, is that 13ghosts has structured this album not as a baker’s dozen but as a back-and-forth between two main sounds, and most listeners will likely tend to prefer one sound over the other.

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While Leto displays a tremendous amount of passion in his lyrics, some tracks (“The Story,” “Was It a Dream?”) walk a fine line between schmaltzy and pompous.

“A Long Way Home” is a gorgeous song that washes over you and is reminiscent of Joni Mitchell.

Which brings us to their self-titled debut. A.R.E Weapons have decided to ride the electro-clash trend and fill their album with brutalizing beats fronted by a Beastie Boys–style shriek. In some cases, making music via the DIY approach creates beautiful and exceptional things; in A.R.E. Weapons’ case, it creates cheap and vulgar music.

The tenacity and love on the album surpass any doubts, however, and leave you wanting more.

I don’t know how likely a second album is, but Black Lines to Battlefields is definitely worth owning, even if you’re not a Christian. Or an emosexual.

Young’s “Walls of Jericho” alludes to the Book of Joshua, to be sure, and religious elements inform “It’s All the Same” (whose anti-war message would otherwise melt the iPod of Christian in Chief George W. Bush).

Aerogramme writes songs that are poignant and powerful and relatable.  You know that cheesy song that goes, "I don't know much/but I know I love you"?  That's how I feel about Seclusion. 

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Full of melodic keyboards and intricate percussions that layer the music oh-so ethereally, Aloha whip out all the instrumental stops, from marimbas to their true forte: the vibraphone.

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If you like your punk fast mean and with a chip on its shoulder, American Distress’s debut LP will be right up your alley.

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As a strong four-piece, the band utilizes its numerous musical talents, including a knack for four-part harmony, throughout their music. Following the 2004 release Beatchen, Amsterband returns with Buckle in the Bible Belt, where a new level of maturity and complexity peaks out from their songs. Relying a little less on their original folk-sounding base, the band breaks into traditional rock tempos with dips into deep-fried southern rock.

Bare touches upon some more overcast skies of gray, but the significance of the songs tells a story of a woman emerging from the wreckage of the bleak to tell a story of personal triumph.

Because of these unfortunate circumstances, some diehard Antipop fan could see the album as an improper send-off, a compromise of the group’s intentions. But that doesn’t turn out to be the case.

You have to be down on your luck to really appreciate them, as they wallow in sadness. However, when they break out of it, it is joyous.

Sonically sandwiched neatly between the Brit-pop of Blur and the more experimental alternative rock of Stone Roses, the album's cumulative effect is that of a 20-something's attempt at synthesizing the last 15 years of British pop music. 

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The best way to describe AOR’s sound is to imagine if Moby dropped acid and hung out with members of Depeche Mode and Gravity Kills.

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Pretentious to end all pretensions, frontman Eddie Argos simply states what two dimensional feelings he knows, lines delivered in a quick dose of kick-in-the-ass awesome.

 Hailed by Spin magazine as the new millennium’s first true supergroup, Audioslave is a fusion of forces that have created a new sound with a comfortably familiar feel.

The largely acoustic instrumentation would work within several sub-genres of country music or bluegrass, its Appalachian cousin. But the lack of instrumental breaks showcasing the musical prowess of the players and bluegrass-style harmonies make this a bad fit for the latter.

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I lack the skills and language to communicate exactly what is Bald Eagle. I mean, what person writes songs titled “Sniffing Glue and Casual Sex” or “Fucking Christian Laser Tag”? No, no, I don’t get you, Bald Eagle.