If it’s not as good as “Achtung Baby” or “The Joshua Tree,” U2 have failed. That’s one prevalent barometer to judging a new U2 album. That’s a flawed way to judge, because those two albums are flawless. It doesn’t mean U2 can’t create another masterpiece, though. Is “Songs of…

This is the final part in a five-part series. Read how I’m scoring my list and find out about my “special consideration” acts in PART 1, the runners-up in PART 2, 15 through 11 in PART 3 and 10 through 6 in PART 4. Before I get my five favorite shows, here…

Photos: Roman Gokhman This is the fourth in a five-part series. Read how I’m scoring my list and find out about my “special consideration” acts in PART 1, the runners-up in PART 2, and 15 through 11 in PART 3. Reminder: If the name is hyperlinked, that means I wrote about…

Photos: Jon Ching This is the third in a five-part series. Read how I’m scoring my list and find out about my “special consideration” acts in Part 1, HERE, and the runners-up in Part 2, HERE. Reminder: If the name is hyperlinked, that means I wrote about the act this year,…

This is the second in a five-part series. Read how I’m scoring my list and find out about my “special consideration” acts HERE. I call these next three shows the runner’s-up because I didn’t want to have a “Top 18.” That would mean that nearly one-fourth of the shows I…

I doubt I’ll ever get to go to as many concerts as I did in 2013. My goal was see 50, and I saw 64. In judging what I enjoyed most, I decided to grade based on my favorites rather than the “best.” “Best” means being objective, which of…

This debut album could be subtitled, “’70s rock-influenced sounds from Australia.” Many in the U.S. are about to find out about this quintet, which includes three brothers, as they open for Grouplove across the country. The story goes like this: They completed a demo and gave it to a…

Franz Ferdinand have never seemed to care about popularity and record sales. That they achieved it with their debut album was an added bonus. All they’ve wanted to do was make the music they like, visit the places they wanted to visit, and have arts-influenced lives outside of the…

Ever wonder what a child of Depeche Mode would sound like? Or if the Editors decided to speed things up a bit? Or if the National got synthy? White Lies’ third album, “Big TV,” (in stores Aug. 20 on Harvest Records) is a smorgasbord of appealing touches and styles.…

To be honest, I had written the Stereophonics off several years ago. They’d fallen into a rut and everything they released sounded the same. It turns out singer-guitarist Kelly Jones thought the band had fallen into a rut as well. Following the release of the band’s previous record, 2009’s…