Fall Out Boy
American Beauty/American Psycho
Alternative, Pop, Punk, Rock

Fall Out Boy albums are always interpretive exercises in sifting lyrical wheat from chaff or, say, beauty from psychosis.

Maroon 5
“Sugar”
Pop

The video for Adam Levine and Co.’s smash “Sugar” is so sweet and fun you might not realize at first …

Ellie Goulding
“Love Me Like You Do”
EDM/Electronica/Techno, Pop

Romance quickly gives way to an out-of-control surrender to pain and fear in Ellie Goulding’s contribution to the Fifty Shades …

Nicki Minaj
The Pinkprint
Pop, R&B, Rap/Hip-Hop

It’s as if The Pinkprint’s risky emotional authenticity just gets too scary for Nicki Minaj. So she retreats to “safer” …

Charli XCX
Sucker
EDM/Electronica/Techno, Pop, Punk, Rock

This rising British star isn’t really who you think she might be. On her second major-label release, Sucker, Charli XCX …

Bastille
Vs. Other People’s Heartache Pt. III
Alternative, Pop, Rock

As the title indicates, this is Bastille’s third Vs. compendium, a so-called mix tape that’s full of contributions from relatively …

David Guetta
Listen
EDM/Electronica/Techno, Pop

French EDM maestro David Guetta conscripts a long list of upper-echelon vocalists—Ryan Tedder, John Legend and Nicki Minaj among them—on …

One Direction
Four
Pop, Rock

In November we begin musing about mmm-inducing Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas shopping and … the arrival of a new One Direction …

Andy Grammer
Honey, I’m Good
Country, Pop, Rock

No matter the temptation, the thing to do is stay true. That’s the message of Andy Grammer’s seriously catchy first …

Mark Ronson
“Uptown Funk!”
Pop

You’d be forgiven for thinking that this collaboration between British producer Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars was a long-lost bonus …

Selena Gomez
“The Heart Wants What It Wants”
Pop

The sensual ghost of Selena Gomez’s high-profile, on-again, off-again, on-again relationship with Justin Bieber lurks in this heart-haunting rationalization for …

Taylor Swift
1989
Pop

“Haters gonna hate, hate, hate,” sings Ms. Swift. And, yeah, we’ll probably end up in that column for our review …

Taylor Swift
“Blank Space”
Pop

Ms. Swift brags that she’s got “a long list of ex-lovers” on which there’s still “Blank Space” for a lot …

Meghan Trainor
“Lips Are Movin”
Pop

“Lips Are Movin” pairs ’50s-approved doo-wop harmonies with lyrics that almost could have fit that decade as well. But what …

Ariana Grande
“Love Me Harder”
Pop, R&B

When Ariana Grande asks her man to “love me harder,” what exactly is she asking for? More security or deep …