| 2013 |
| Hands Like Houses Unimagine | 4.0 |
| Hands Like Houses follow up to their debut, the thrilling 'Ground Dweller,' is another batch of stellar, driving alt rock tunes. Going by the old adage, "if it's not broke, don't fix it," the band sets out to refine their approach rather reinvent themselves and while the results aren't anything groundbreaking, the albums is full of soaring, driving melodic rock, played with equal parts heart and brains. The band has seemingly perfected their formula with powerful rockers such as Shapeshifters and Introduced Species and even produced a stellar piano driven ballad with the gorgeous, yet delicate Oceandust. The end results are more consistent and engaging than the bands debut, and while there's nothing here quit revelatory, the bands ability to find the middle ground between, post-hardcore, alt rock, and arena rock, showcases a wide spread appeal that many of their peers sorely lack. rAlbum Picks: Shapeshifters, Oceandust, A Fire On A Hill |
| letlive. The Blackest Beautiful | 4.0 |
| Motionless in White Infamous | 3.5 |
| Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! Pardon My French | 3.0 |
| Fall Out Boy Save Rock and Roll | 3.5 |
| Paramore Paramore | 4.5 |
| Bring Me the Horizon Sempiternal | 4.5 |
| The Color Morale Know Hope | 3.5 |
| The Plot In You Could You Watch Your Children Burn | 3.0 |
| Black Veil Brides Wretched and Divine | 3.0 |
| 2011 |
| Skrillex Bangarang | 2.5 |
| Crown the Empire Limitless | 3.0 |
| I Am King I Am King | 3.5 |
| Like Moths to Flames When We Don't Exist | 2.5 |
| Florence and the Machine Ceremonials | 4.5 |
| Five Finger Death Punch American Capitalist | 3.5 |
| Blessthefall Awakening | 3.5 |
| Switchfoot Vice Verses | 3.0 |
| Volumes Via | 3.0 |
| The Devil Wears Prada Dead Throne | 3.5 |
| We Came As Romans Understanding What We've Grown to Be | 2.5 |
| Dir En Grey Dum Spiro Spero | 4.0 |
| Falling in Reverse The Drug in Me Is You | 3.0 |
| Iwrestledabearonce Ruining It for Everybody | 3.5 |
| Chelsea Grin My Damnation | 3.0 |
| Suicide Silence The Black Crown | 2.5 |
| Breathe Carolina Hell Is What You Make It | 3.5 |
| Fair to Midland Arrows and Anchors | 4.0 |
| The Black Dahlia Murder Ritual | 4.0 |
| Black Veil Brides Set the World on Fire | 2.5 |
| Of Mice and Men The Flood | 3.5 |
| Skrillex More Monsters and Sprites | 3.5 |
| Sleeping With Sirens Let's Cheers to This | 3.5 |
| Memphis May Fire The Hollow | 3.0 |
| Explosions in the Sky Take Care, Take Care, Take Care | 4.5 |
| letlive. Fake History (Re-Release) | 3.5 |
| Asking Alexandria Reckless and Relentless | 4.0 |
| Breakdown of Sanity Mirrors | 3.0 |
| Protest the Hero Scurrilous | 3.5 |
| The Strokes Angles | 3.5 |
| AWOLNATION Megalithic Symphony | 3.5 |
| The Human Abstract Digital Veil | 4.5 |
| Eisley The Valley | 4.0 |
| I See Stars The End of the World Party | 4.5 |
| An absolute party of an album that manages to mix electronica, pop, metal and emo into a glorious masterpiece. Every song here is as anthemic as music gets and packs an absolutely amazing sonic punch as the band moves from electronic synthesizers to 80s hair metal guitar solos then to autotuned pop-punk choruses , hardcore gang shouts and then back to intense thrash metal freak outs. This album is an adrenaline rush that is sure to keep even the most ADD riden tweens interested. In lesser hands all of this genre hoping could come off as unfocused, forced, and especially indulgent, but I See Stars are excellent song writers and know how to balance all of these seemingly disparate elements together. Now, this album isn't for everyone (it may be too poppy and chaotic for some to handle), but for the kids of this generation, when they run out of their aderol or ritalin, this just may be the only thing that'll keep their attention. |
| A Skylit Drive Identity on Fire | 3.0 |
| Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows D.R.U.G.S. | 4.0 |
| The Civil Wars Barton Hollow | 4.0 |
| 2007 |
| Memphis May Fire Memphis May Fire | 4.0 |
| Nirvana MTV Unplugged in New York (DVD) | 5.0 |
| The Classic Crime Seattle Sessions | 4.5 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Ire Works | 4.5 |
| Burial Untrue | 5.0 |
| To be perfectly honest, Untrue, Burials second album, could very well be the greatest album of the past 10 years. A hypnotic blend of subtle beats, wacky sound effects and gorgeous, etheral vocal samples, Burials Untrue simply reigns as Dubsteps defining achievement. Comparable maybe only to Boards of Canada in the fact that the music doesn't seem to be of this earth, Untrue doesn't sound like anything before it or since. It's very much electronic, but the album lacks any form of bass drop or breakdown. And, Burial doesn't use his samples so much as to create hooks, but to build upon the atmosphere of beats and entrance us with the spacious textures of the music. Best listened to from beginning to end, there's no track that sticks out in the mind, yet the album is consistent as a whole, and becomes quit memorable while maintaining focus and consistency at a breath taking level through out. The beauty and the dark over tones simply radiate from beginning to end. Also, to add to the surrealism and mystery at hand here, at the time of Untrues release,very few people actually knew the identity of the man behind the moniker, Burial. From the bleak, yet restrained cover art, to the unified vision of the music, to the mystery behind its creator, Untrue is quit simply one of the most haunting albums ever recorded and, when listened to carefully and taken for what it is, will surely never be forgotten. |
| Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold | 3.0 |
| Oh, Sleeper When I Am God | 3.0 |
| The Octopus Project Hello, Avalanche | 4.0 |
| Born of Osiris The New Reign | 3.0 |
| The Black Dahlia Murder Nocturnal | 3.0 |
| Between the Buried and Me Colors | 3.5 |
| Suicide Silence The Cleansing | 2.5 |
| War from a Harlots Mouth Transmetropolitan | 3.5 |
| Atreyu Lead Sails Paper Anchor | 4.0 |
| As I Lay Dying An Ocean Between Us | 4.0 |
| The Devil Wears Prada Plagues | 2.5 |
| Eisley Combinations | 4.0 |
| Arsonists Get All the Girls The Game Of Life | 2.5 |
| Mae Singularity | 4.5 |
| The Receiving End of Sirens The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi | 4.5 |
| Five Finger Death Punch The Way Of The Fist | 3.0 |
| Nile Ithyphallic | 2.5 |
| Broadway Calls Broadway Calls | 4.0 |
| Symphony X Paradise Lost | 4.5 |
| August Burns Red Messengers | 3.0 |
| Tomahawk Anonymous | 4.0 |
| Fair to Midland Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True | 4.5 |
| Sullivan Cover Your Eyes | 4.5 |
| Circa Survive On Letting Go | 4.0 |
| Despised Icon The Ills Of Modern Man | 3.5 |
| Dance Gavin Dance Downtown Battle Mountain | 2.5 |
| Chasing Victory Fiends | 3.5 |
| Emarosa This Is Your Way Out | 2.5 |
| Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare | 4.5 |
| The Wedding Polarity | 3.5 |
| Avril Lavigne The Best Damn Thing | 4.5 |
| Blessthefall His Last Walk | 3.5 |
| From Autumn to Ashes Holding A Wolf By The Ears | 3.5 |
| Sick Puppies Dressed Up as Life | 3.0 |
| The Chariot The Fiancee | 4.0 |
| See You Next Tuesday Parasite | 3.0 |
| Leng Tch'e Marasmus | 4.0 |
| Anberlin Cities | 3.5 |
| The Handshake Murders Usurper | 2.5 |
| Explosions in the Sky All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone | 4.0 |
| Dir En Grey The Marrow of a Bone | 4.0 |
| Fall Out Boy Infinity on High | 3.5 |
| A Skylit Drive She Watched the Sky | 3.0 |
| Atreyu The Best of Atreyu | 3.0 |
| A Day To Remember For Those Who Have Heart | 3.5 |
| Divine Heresy Bleed the Fifth | 3.5 |
| Everyday Sunday Wake Up! Wake Up! | 4.5 |
