At the turn of the 21st century, as nu-metal neared its peak in mainstream popularity, the next generation of bands began to emerge, influenced by that scene's unhinged anger, pummeling metallic riffs, and hip-hop flourish. Of those groups, Californian crew Linkin Park rose to the top of the pack with their boundary-busting approach to the genre, which they debuted on their first effort, Hybrid Theory. Released in late 2000, the album took the basics of rap-metal fusion, discarded the lug-headed posturing and cartoonish profanity, and expanded its scope to include atmospheric electronics, a pop-savvy attention to hooks, and confessional lyrics that balanced angst with vulnerability. Anchored by the effortless interplay between throat-shredding vocalist Chester Bennington and emcee Mike Shinoda, the sextet also featured the talents of guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, drummer Rob Bourdon, and programmer/DJ Joe Hahn, the behind-the-scenes wizard on the turntables (who has his own moment to shine on "Cure for the Itch"). Together, they crafted a taut set of deviously catchy and relatable anthems that quickly connected them to a legion of fans who craved more emotional depth in their heavy music. On breakthrough single "One Step Closer," a seething Bennington showcased his wide range -- which whips from a pained whisper to a feral roar -- as Hahn wildly scratched and scrubbed on the turntables, mimicking the turmoil and angst in Bennington's lyrics. "By Myself" and "A Place for My Head" operate on a similar level, unleashing Bennington's bloody shrieks upon Shinoda's aggressive rhymes and a band united as a fine-tuned melodic unit. Later, on "Points of Authority," atop Hahn's explosive effects, Bennington's rage hits another peak, confronting the one who sexually abused him as a child. Such heavy lyrical content forms the core of Hybrid Theory, creating a cathartic outlet for those who can relate to struggling with addiction (the Grammy-winning "Crawling"), paranoia ("Papercut"), failed relationships ("Pushing Me Away," "In the End"), and much more. The combination of emotional bloodletting and gifted songwriting resonated with the public, and Hybrid Theory was soon an international, diamond-certified smash, catapulting Linkin Park to worldwide fame. However, before becoming one of the most beloved bands of the 2000s and 2010s, they were a group of hungry unknowns who sought to try something new with their hybrid approach to genre and human emotion.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

In celebration of their 40 th anniversary, The Cure didn’t just hire out a little pub in their hometown of Crawley, Sussex – they hired out the whole of Hyde Park instead! What an epic location for an epic group. The recording of this concert on July 7, 2018 in London in front of a crowd of 65,000 people is a reminder that the style, sound, creativity, song- writing and atmosphere that Robert Smith and his gang bring to the table is like no other. With his mascara, lipstick and static hair-do, the lead singer of The Cure has never sung so well despite being only a few months off his 60 th birthday here. The concert journeys through four decades of hits (which are sometimes cold wave but are mostly pop) and you can really appreciate the breadth of their work, along with all those melodies that you recognise subconsciously and Robert Smith’s ability to just get on with it. Joined onstage by his long-time partner in crime Simon Gallup (bass), as well as Reeves Gabrels (guitar), Roger O’Donnell (keyboards) and Jason Cooper (drums), he sings some beautiful versions of Pictures of You, In Between Days, Just Like Heaven, A Forest, Disintegration, Lullaby, The Caterpillar, Friday I’m in Love, Close to Me, Boys Don’t Cry, 10:15 Saturday Night and Killing an Arab. © Max Dembo/Qobuz

Crashing head-long through a wall of corroded metal and glass shards, Bring Me the Horizon redefines their heavy sound once again with the potent EP POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR. The first of a proposed series of shorter non-LP efforts, this set is a pure assault of physical, riotous aggression designed specifically for the existential dread and global turmoil of 2020. Recorded while the band was stuck in quarantine lockdown, the anxiety and uncertainty course through these nine tracks in a manner that both amplifies paranoia and comforts with cathartic release. On the thrashing opener "Dear Diary," frontman Oli Sykes screams, "God is a shithead/And we're his rejects," while Matt Nicholls' jackhammer drums pummel and Lee Malia's guitars tear through Jordan Fish's cacophony. The trap-sludge "Parasite Eve" is a cinematic epic, unveiling a neon dystopia where war and strife reign, while the stomping "Ludens" -- first heard on the Death Stranding video game soundtrack -- pleads for a new leader to help carry the world out of the darkness. "Teardrops" tackles addiction and hopelessness in one of the album's standout moments, channeling the hybrid sound of Linkin Park (later they pay additional homage to the genre-blurring outfit with "Itch for the Cure," a direct nod to the American sextet's "Cure for the Itch"). An inspired roster of guests elevate SURVIVAL HORROR even further. English upstart Yungblud joins the band for the electro-industrial collision "Obey," a deranged dose of nihilism that lambasts systemic corruption, while Japanese outfit Babymetal join the apocalypse party for the unhinged industrial tempest "Kingslayer," which pairs Su-Metal's innocent lullaby vocals with Sykes' guttural cries of "Get the f*ck up!/Wake the f*ck up!" The most impressive collaboration -- "One Day the Only Butterflies Left Will Be in Your Chest as You March Towards Your Death" -- arrives at the close of the album, as Evanescence's Amy Lee duets with Sykes on a mournful heartbreaker that leaves no hope in sight. Despite the graphic descriptions of death, it's a beautiful moment of respite after an unbroken stretch of turbulence and hostility. Longtime fans displeased with their late-era pop shift should be appeased with the increase in crushing breakdowns and more dirty vocals than on mainstream breakthroughs That's the Spirit and Amo. Indeed, SURVIVAL HORROR is one of the band's best distillations of their extremes, providing just enough brutality without sacrificing their evolving vision of how melodic and experimental a metal band can be.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

A sobered-up Mustaine returns with yet another lineup, this one featuring ex-Cacophony guitar virtuoso Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza, for what is easily Megadeth's strongest musical effort. As Metallica was then doing, Mustaine accentuates the progressive tendencies of his compositions, producing rhythmically complex, technically challenging thrash suites that he and Friedman burn through with impeccable execution and jaw-dropping skill. Thanks to Mustaine's focus on the music rather than his sometimes clumsy lyrics, Rust in Peace arguably holds up better than any other Megadeth release, even for listeners who think they've outgrown heavy metal. While the whole album is consistently impressive, the obvious highlight is the epic, Eastern-tinged "Hangar 18."© Steve Huey /TiVo

Jennifer Warnes was familiar with Leonard Cohen from a tour of duty as one of his backup singers in the early '70s, but this collection of Cohen's songs must have shocked her AM radio fans who knew her from her '70s country-pop hits and her movie themes, if they were even able to connect the woman who sang "It's the right time of the night for makin' love" with the one who declared "First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin" over stinging guitar work by Stevie Ray Vaughan on the opening track here. As that pairing suggests, Warnes wisely took a tougher, more contemporary approach to the arrangements than such past Cohen interpreters as Judy Collins used to. Where other singers tended to geld Cohen's often disturbingly revealing poetry, Warnes, working with the composer himself and introducing a couple of great new songs ("First We Take Manhattan" and "Song of Bernadette," which she co-wrote), matched his own versions. The high point may have been the Warnes-Cohen duet on "Joan of Arc," but the album was consistently impressive. And it went a long way toward reestablishing Cohen, whose reputation was in a minor eclipse in the mid-'80s. A year later, with the way paved for him, he released his brilliant comeback album I'm Your Man. For Warnes, the album meant her first taste of real critical success: suddenly a singer who had seemed like a second-rate Linda Ronstadt now appeared to be a first-class interpretive artist. © William Ruhlmann /TiVo

For anyone who prefers Ellie Goulding on the dancefloor, Higher than Heaven is a welcome return to that space. Her fifth full-length and follow-up to 2020's Brightest Blue, this tightly packed set of synth-washed, neon bangers eschews the deep introspection and personal slant of its predecessor, barreling headlong into the club in search of healing through euphoria and release. Described by the artist as her "least personal" album to date, Heaven focuses on pure thrills and escapism like similarly reactive COVID-era energizers from Dua Lipa, Kylie Minogue, and Ava Max. The album's catchiest moments are produced by Koz (Dua Lipa, Lykke Li, Lights), who plucks the most addictive textures from across the decades -- disco, '80s pop, and '90s house -- for highlights such as "Midnight Dreams," "Cure for Love," the throbbing "Like a Saviour," and the shimmering title track. Meanwhile, "By the End of the Night" strikes an ideal balance between Goulding's fun and melancholy sides, delivering a yearning yet uncertain early peak. Elsewhere, both the hazy "Love Goes On" and the strutting "Easy Lover" with Big Sean benefit from warm R&B smoothness courtesy of co-writer/producer Greg Kurstin, just as the sensual "Waiting for It" dives deeper into sweaty slow jam territory. Heaven's most intense moment arrives in the second half with the standout single "Let It Die," an urgent earworm about a tragic split that finds the resolve to move on atop an infectious beat and Goulding's most impassioned, anguished performance here. One of her strongest albums to date, Higher than Heaven falls somewhere between the commercial blitz of Delirium and the fearless, electronic heart of Halcyon. While it may not cull from her deep well of personal experiences, Heaven still ends up being one of the most immediate and compulsively listenable efforts in her catalog.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Wilco's first three albums each had a distinct personality of their own as the band (and their leader, Jeff Tweedy) were quite literally figuring out what they were going to be as they went along: 1995's A.M. was a direct extension of the music Tweedy and his bandmates were making in Uncle Tupelo, 1996's Being There was a wildly diverse dive into a number of new musical possibilities, and 1999's Summerteeth was the point where Tweedy's collaboration with keyboardist Jay Bennett came to dominate their sound and personality. With 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco hit another turning point, where the Tweedy-Bennett partnership at once reached its peak and came crashing down. The departure of drummer Ken Coomer in the earliest stages of the recording and the more artful and exploratory approach of new percussionist Glenn Kotche certainly made a difference, as did the decision to record the LP at Wilco's own rehearsal space, giving them the time and the latitude to experiment with different sounds and approaches at length. As the sessions went on, the emotionally difficult undertow of Summerteeth became a more obvious presence in these songs, and the music took on a beauty and personality that was the work of a band torn between anxiety, hope, and a powerful belief in the emotional force of music. While the very public controversy in which Warner Bros. rejected the album, making it a cause célèbre in the media, certainly helped Yankee Hotel Foxtrot gain a hearing among people who previously didn't follow the band, this would have been a major creative triumph for Wilco regardless of how it appeared. Tweedy's songs are strikingly open-hearted and revealing, whether he's wrestling with anxieties ("Ashes of American Flags"), celebrating the sheer pleasure of music ("Heavy Metal Drummer"), or baring his heart and soul to the world ("Reservations"). And the arrangements and production make this a unique and powerful listening experience, with layers of sonic atmosphere coloring the melodies and complementing the outstanding performances from the band. More than one rag declared that Wilco was "the American Radiohead" in the wake of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but the album was a powerfully original, deeply revealing work that was beholden to no one and erased all doubt that Wilco were one of the best and most imaginative groups of their time.© Mark Deming /TiVo

Expanding the latent arena rock sensibilities that peppered Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me by slowing them down and stretching them to the breaking point, the Cure reached the peak of their popularity with the crawling, darkly seductive Disintegration. It's a hypnotic, mesmerizing record, comprised almost entirely of epics like the soaring, icy "Pictures of You." The handful of pop songs, like the concise and utterly charming "Love Song," don't alleviate the doom-laden atmosphere. The Cure's gloomy soundscapes have rarely sounded so alluring, however, and the songs -- from the pulsating, ominous "Fascination Street" to the eerie, string-laced "Lullaby" -- have rarely been so well-constructed and memorable. It's fitting that Disintegration was their commercial breakthrough, since, in many ways, the album is the culmination of all the musical directions the Cure were pursuing over the course of the '80s.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Released without fanfare on Christmas Day 2022, All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live from Red Rocks) documents Zach Bryan's final show of 2022, a concert held at the fabled Red Rocks venue in Colorado in early November. Winter came without warning that day: the temperature plummeted into the 20s as a blizzard blew in, forcing the Bryan brigade to cut their opening acts loose and trim their own set so they could send the crowd home before conditions got too dangerous. He had a recording crew on hand, planning to preserve this tour closer regardless of the weather, so he wound up with a document of this most unusual show. The band certainly plays with a sense of urgency that's palpable even on the slow tunes; they're racing toward the finish line, trying to keep everybody's spirits up in the cold. Even if you didn't know this backstory, you'd figure out that it's freezing thanks to Bryan's incessant on-stage patter, where he's constantly mentioning the cold and worming a variation of "How Ya Doin' Red Rocks" into what feels to be every other song -- an affectation that's excusable given the circumstance. The nervous energy also translates to a performance that's livelier and more robust than Bryan's sprawling American Heartbreak, lending color and muscle to songs that could seem like sketches in the studio.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Few bands can call themselves contemporaries of both the heartbreakingly earnest self-destruction of Whiskeytown and the alienating experimentation of Radiohead's post-millennial releases, but on the painstaking Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco seem to have done just that. In early 2001, the Chicago-area band focused on recording their fourth album, which ultimately led to the departure of guitarist Jay Bennett and tensions with their record label. Unwilling to change the album to make it more commercially viable, the band bought the finished studio tapes from Warner/Reprise for 50,000 dollars and left the label altogether. The turmoil surrounding the recording and distribution of the album in no way diminishes the sheer quality of the genre-spanning pop songs written by frontman Jeff Tweedy and his bandmates. After throwing off the limiting shackles of the alt-country tag that they had been saddled with through their 1996 double album Being There, Wilco experimented heavily with the elaborate constructs surrounding their simple melodies on Summerteeth. The long-anticipated Yankee Hotel Foxtrot continues their genre-jumping and worthwhile experimentation. The sprawling, nonsensical "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" is as charmingly bleak as anything Tweedy has written to date, while the positively joyous "Heavy Metal Drummer" jangles through bright choruses and summery reminiscences. Similarly, "Kamera" dispels the opening track's gray with a warm acoustic guitar and mixer/multi-instrumentalist/"fifth Beatle" Jim O'Rourke's unusual production. The true high points of the album are when the songwriting is at its most introspective, as it is during the heartwrenching "Ashes of American Flags," which takes on an eerie poignancy in the wake of the attacks at the World Trade Center. "All my lies are always wishes," Tweedy sings, "I know I would die if I could come back new." As is the case with many great artists, the evolution of the band can push the music into places that many listeners (and record companies for that matter) may not be comfortable with, but, in the case of Wilco, their growth has steadily led them into more progressive territory. While their songs still maintain the loose intimacy that was apparent on their debut A.M., the music has matured to reveal a complexity that is rare in pop music, yet showcased perfectly on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.© Zac Johnson /TiVo

In 1990, remix – the core element in dance music’s DNA – was only sparingly used by rock bands. Mindful however in keeping up with the trend, The Cure decided to rework some of their old songs handpicked from their eight studio albums released between 1979 and 1989. Needless to say their fans were a tad bewildered by the result, although it did stand the test of time. Re-edited in a prestigious three-disc Deluxe Edition, Mixed Up is adorned with rare remixes from the 1981/1990 period (CD2) and new Robert Smith remixes (CD3). On the original album re-mastered by The Cure’s leader himself, rather flat remixes (Lullaby was much too similar to the original) rub shoulders with more daring and exciting attempts (Close to Me) and even unreleased titles such as Never Enough, which masterfully stands out with its incredible guitar deluge… The third CD on this Deluxe Edition is the most interesting of this 5-star re-edition. Freshly produced by Robert Smith, his 16 remixes obviously don’t feel like the 90s. It’s easy to imagine how much he enjoyed himself fiddling with his old songs in everyway imaginable, sometimes disrupting them completely. A profoundly dark piece in its original version, A Strange Day (featured on Pornography) almost becomes perky – almost. A moment later, on Lost (from the album The Cure), he slides off into a drum’n’bass reimagining. All in all, the brain behind The Cure appears to be still overflowing with ideas at almost sixty years old… © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

A sobered-up Mustaine returns with yet another lineup, this one featuring ex-Cacophony guitar virtuoso Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza, for what is easily Megadeth's strongest musical effort. As Metallica was then doing, Mustaine accentuates the progressive tendencies of his compositions, producing rhythmically complex, technically challenging thrash suites that he and Friedman burn through with impeccable execution and jaw-dropping skill. Thanks to Mustaine's focus on the music rather than his sometimes clumsy lyrics, Rust in Peace arguably holds up better than any other Megadeth release, even for listeners who think they've outgrown heavy metal. While the whole album is consistently impressive, the obvious highlight is the epic, Eastern-tinged "Hangar 18."© Steve Huey /TiVo

After the fallout both psychologically and physically of Pornography, it looked unlikely that anyone would hear from the Cure ever again. Surprisingly, from 1982-1983 Robert Smith and (now keyboardist) Lol Tolhurst put out some of the catchiest singles of their career. "Let's Go to Bed," "The Walk," and "The Lovecats" were not only singles that got the Cure radio play and made them a household name, but more importantly marked the next phase in the music of the Cure, which would reach its peak with albums like Head on the Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Dropping the stripped-down darkness of Faith and Pornography, the songs on Japanese Whispers (the aforementioned singles from that era, including all the B-sides) are light, dancy, and at times jazzy. Adding new keyboard sounds, old-timey percussion, standup bass, and some damn silly lyrics rejuvenated Robert Smith and sent him on a course that would cement his role as one of the most interesting musicians to emerge from the '80s underground. Japanese Whispers is one of those rare releases when a singles collection works just as well as a standard-issue album.© Chris True /TiVo