Puscifer, “Existential Reckoning: Rewired.” While Existential Reckoning: Rewired is a remix album for Puscifer, that definition doesn’t totally capture the scale of the project. The band recruited friends to completely break down and reassemble the dozen tracks of Existential Reckoning in an entirely new way. The guest list is a who’s who of…

Lordi, “Screem Writers Guild.” There’s no faulting the commitment of heavy metal shock rockers Lordi. The Finnish band’s 18th album, Screem Writers Guild, has everything it needs for the haunted motif, from the dark lyrics to the spooky key-laden hard rock and undead monster visuals. At the same time, the…

Fall Out Boy, “So Much (For) Stardust.” So Much (For) Stardust, the eighth album from Fall Out Boy, is less of a return to a band’s original sound and more of an infusion of the spirit of those early years into the band you see today. So Much (for)…

Babymetal, “The Other One.” One of heavy music’s unlikeliest of imports returns after a four-year absence. Su-Metal and Moametal, known better collectively as Babymetal, are back with another collection of kawaii metal on their fourth album, The Other One. While the record still offers plenty of head-banging opportunities and metal…

Depeche Mode, “Memento Mori.” Spurred on both by pandemic lockdowns and the death of founding member Andrew Fletcher, the new album by now-duo Depeche Mode is a dark and claustrophobic work that reflects not only the times but the ways in which singer Dave Gahan and guitarist Martin Gore…

Lana Del Rey, “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.” Lana Del Rey’s ninth studio album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, is an exercise in opposites. It’s intimate but expansive, exploratory but familiar, lush but spacious. Did You Know That There’s a…

Pink Floyd, “Dark Side of the Moon” 50th anniversary box set. In the 1960s, communication theorist Marshall Mcluhan famously declared “the medium is the message.” Mcluhan’s point was that the means by which an idea or piece of “content” is transmitted is at least as important as the content…

Katie Melua, “Love & Money.” Singer-songwriter Katie Melua was coming to terms with a divorce on 2020’s Album No. 8. Her latest long-player, Love & Money, finds her in a completely different place. Now with a new partner and a newborn son (she was pregnant when making the album),…

Luke Combs, “Gettin’ Old” Billed as a reflection of where Luke Combs is at in his life now while reminiscing on the way things used to be, Growin’ Up, traverses themes of love, loss and family. But rather than from the perspective of a young man looking to make his…

U2, “Songs of Surrender.” U2 has released alternate takes of its songs on collections before, but they’ve always been either as bonus material on re-releases (Kindergarten Achtung Baby) or as fan-club-only releases (Medium, Rare & Remastered, Artificial Horizon). Their latest, Songs of Surrender, is their first attempt at mass-market…