IIII is the fourth album from German DJ and producer Robin Schultz and follows 2017 Uncovered. The album, which includes the single "All We Got," sees the producer delivering a blast of anthemic house-tinged pop.© Rich Wilson /TiVo

The long wait is over. California's Saosin issued their debut EP Translating the Name in 2003. They already had a well-developed fan base for their unique, even enigmatic brand of post-hardcore screamo. The band, having undergone some personnel changes -- most notably singer Anthony Green's departure in 2004 and the enlisting of Cove Reber as his replacement -- also underwent a sonic change on their self-titled 2005 EP. That primer was a guidebook to the band's new sound. Their Capitol debut, produced by Howard Benson, who also plays keyboards and does minimal programming, is a much slicker and far more imaginative outing than the band's underground fans may appreciate. That's not to say it's not impressive. It is. Quite so. This quintet are fine songwriters, excellent musicians, and have actually taken their post-underground hardcore beginnings and turned them into something that may indeed further rock music itself. This is not an idle claim. The songs on this album are tight, finished, and full of unexpected twists and turns, varied dynamics, fine lyrics, and, most of all, they're surprising. The hard twin-guitar sound at the front drives a rhythm section that is always in the pocket. Justin Shekoski and Beau Burchell work symbiotically with one another. They twin riffs and single lines without ever devolving into guitar heroics. They play as a unit. Reber's beautiful high-pitched voice walks the line but never resorts to screaming, because he doesn't have to: his instrument is powerful enough to ride the top of the musical swirl. The rhythm section carries the cradle of all this innovation, never slipping or abandoning these songs to mere workmanship. Check the killer counterpoint leads on "Follow and Feel," and how drummer Alex Rodriguez takes the beat to the band inside the tune. When Reber enters with "Don't let them know you're watching their situation crumble..." his lyric is one of dislocation and the futile attempt to understand distance and dissolution. The killer, all-out rock riff in "It's So Simple" is beguiling as the song's dynamics and pace change three times inside of four minutes. That's the other beauty of this record; all but one track are under four minutes. The album flows from top to bottom; songs bleed into one another yet keep their distinctive identities. It's a strange comparison, but Saosin are as unique in their way as U2 were in their right from the beginning. Though they are seasoned road warriors, it's no mean achievement that a debut album carrying so much weight seemingly so effortlessly, is so utterly sophisticated and complete . Sure, Capitol will try to make them the next big thing, and maybe they should -- when's the last time you heard anything really new in rock music? "Bury Your Head" is the only track here that is a carry-over from Saosin's EP. Its woven textures, explosive singing, knotty basslines, and call and response vocals are chilling and utterly effective. Saosin walk that line between metal, indie rock, post-hardcore, and many other things. But that tautness is what gives their songs such power and ruddy grace. The album may garner the charges of "sell-out" from the underground, but musicians grow. In a relatively short time, Saosin has evolved into a smart, utterly talented and perhaps even visionary unit that is rewriting the book in the 21st century. They have delivered a debut album that is mature, truly original, that can garner the attention of those kids -- and hopefully, older adults who still care about rock -- from almost any side of the rock & roll spectrum.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

The veteran Georgia metallers' 13th studio effort, Blood & Stone commences with the seismic "Dying to Live," a textbook Sevendust endeavor that pairs crushing, bottom-heavy riffage with razor-sharp hooks. As steely and sound as it is indifferent to maturation, the 13-song set nevertheless impresses via brute force and mastery of craft, two things that the band have excelled at over the last two decades. Few artists in the dwindling alternative/nu-metal universe have been as consistent as Sevendust, and Blood & Stone is no exception, with future live staples "Love," "What You've Become," and the aforementioned "Dying to Live" equaling the soulful, sonic firepower of fan favorites like "Denial," "Praise," and "Enemy." Welding fist-pumping melodic hard rock onto a nu-metal chassis has always been the group's bread and butter, and the front half of Blood & Stone operates almost exclusively via those schematics. It's later on that things begin to drift, with a handful of sturdy yet formulaic midtempo offerings like "Nothing Left to See Here Anymore," "Criminal," and "Alone" veering into forgettable active rock radio territory. That having been said, frontman Lajon Witherspoon's expressive voice -- which manages to come off as both bruised and bruising -- and his reliably elliptical chorus melodies achieve a sort of buoyancy that helps elevate some of the less-immediate offerings. Concluding with an emotionally charged rendering of Soundgarden's "The Day I Tried to Live," the aptly named Blood & Stone is so committed to its late-'90s/early-2000s esthetic that the last decade may as well have been a cosmic aberration, but as per usual, Sevendust manage to infuse the proceedings with enough gravitas to elicit respect.© James Christopher Monger /TiVo

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The first posthumous material released after rap superstar Juice WRLD's 2019 death was 2020's aptly titled Legends Never Die, a moving collection of unreleased songs highlighting his talents for introspective songwriting and the ability to fully inhabit whatever style he chose. It was as strong a showing, if not stronger, than any of the albums Juice WRLD released while still alive, and was made all the more powerful by the context of his recent death. Fighting Demons is another volume of previously unshared material, assembled by Juice WRLD's estate and filled out with newly recorded features and interludes. While Fighting Demons doesn't feel as cohesive or finely tuned as Legends Never Die, it works well as a collection of tracks to cull favorites from. Juice's anguished, emotionally vulnerable side comes through on the lonely melodies of emo-rap track "Doom," and the cutting "Already Dead" is one of his best, and clearest, depictions of the pain and desperation of addiction. There are slices of radio-ready pop to balance out the more depressing moments, with clear-eyed hooks, tight vocal harmonies, and guest spots from Justin Bieber and BTS' Suga on tracks like "Wandered to LA" and "Girl of My Dreams." There are several by-the-numbers trap-pop songs that feel like filler even for a posthumous release, and some space is filled by interview clips, including audio of Eminem discussing his experiences with addiction. Themes of struggling to overcome depression and drug dependency surface often on Fighting Demons, making it a heavier collection than the sometimes celebratory memoriam of Legends Never Die. It's not an essential piece of the Juice WRLD story, but it's also not without some solid reminders of his greatness.© Fred Thomas /TiVo