Ken Tucker

No collection of songs this year cohered to form a better picture of our collective mood than Kendrick Lamar's album DAMN. The rapper talks about feeling put-upon and abandoned, besieged and misunderstood, loved and hated. He samples voices from the Fox News channel; on the cut called "LUST.," he has a line about waking up "hoping the election wasn't true." His distinctive delivery is characterized by a flurry of syllables enunciated with hammering force. No matter how many times I hear it, it's thrilling.

Swift brings together pulsing drumbeats, surging keyboards and multi-tracked vocals on her new album. The result is a record that mixes passion and emotion with careful control.

A new nine-disc set chronicles the music Dylan made between 1979 and 1981 during his so-called "born again" period, which saw him turn to evangelical Christianity as a theme.

The Nashville-based singer-songwriter has a new album that explores the joys of long-term commitment. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the collection is her most personal and accessible to date.

Aiko created some of the music on Trip as a response to losing her brother to cancer. Critic Ken Tucker says the album features sorrow and grief — as well as an attempt to escape from sadness.

The Rhode Island quartet is back with two new albums, titled Deer Tick Vol. 1 and Deer Tick Vol. 2. Critic Ken Tucker says first is largely acoustic, while the second features a louder electric sound.

Sweet recalls the time just before rock 'n' roll became self-consciously "rock" on his first album of new songs in six years. Critic Ken Tucker calls the music on Tomorrow Forever "wholly unironic."

The singer-songwriter mostly recorded this album in a cabin in Sweden. You can hear that intensity and obsessiveness in his attractive, eccentric pieces, which sometimes sound like works-in-progress.

Six albums the British songwriter recorded between 1982 and 1990 are being reissued in remastered versions. Critic Ken Tucker singles out Party of One as being among Lowe's finest works.

Newman mixes cynicism and romanticism on his first studio album of new material since 2008. Rock critic Ken Tucker says Dark Matter offers a fresh recording of songs both new and old.