The singer has yet to discover a sound or sensibility that truly distinguishes her.
Eminem’s grip on the zeitgeist is less firm on the over-long Revival than it was on the freestyle cut “The Storm.”
The album generally rebalances the scales of U2’s ambitions, resulting in an aesthetically riskier sound.
Listen to a playlist of the best singles of the year on YouTube and Spotify.
The best albums of 2017 were made by artists ready to lay the groundwork for a counter-cultural movement.
While singer Jim James’s sequel to his 2009 EP Tribute To feels lonely and reflective, it’s not a downer.
The resilience of retroism was, this year, tinged with the irony of watching those not knowing the past being doomed to repeat it.
The album is a rote and low-energy jaunt by Van Morrison through the Great American Songbook.
Like its predecessor, From A Room: Volume 2 is marked by casual virtuosity.
War & Leisure is less of a stylistic about-face than it is a subtle and deliberate course correction.
The Visitor finds Neil Young tilting again at the political windmills of the present day.
The Ramones’s Rocket to Russia is a pure punk album, in the late-1977 sense of the word.
Bob Seger’s faith in democracy may wane, but when it comes to rock ‘n’ roll, he remains a true believer.
Utopia represents an earnest desire to reconcile a yearning for future happiness with the pain of the past.
In typical Morrissey fashion, he apologizes for nothing here, and if anything he doubles down on his stodginess.
Mavis Staples’s album is hopeful and optimistic not in ignorance of political reality, but in spite of it.
Icelandic pop goddess Björk has released what is, perhaps, her most melodic song in years with “Blissing Me.”
The beauty of Jones’s voice projects an optimism that is, in these traumatic times, a balm for the soul.
The holiday album format doesn’t exactly lend itself to the Aussie singer-songwriter’s idiosyncratic vocal style.
“Walk on Water” is both contemplative and combative, offering a glimpse into Eminem’s creative process.
Swift assesses her crumbling empire and tattered reputation, discovering redemption in love.