Blurryface [LP]

Ohio's crafty, genre-hopping rock duo Twenty One Pilots return with Blurryface, the wildly erratic follow-up to their 2013 major-label debut, Vessel. Instead of asking a single producer to harness their unusually diverse sound -- which mixes rap, rock, emo, electronic, and even reggae -- they've collaborated with a variety of different producers (Ricky Reed, Mike Crossey, and Tim Anderson, among others) and studios, introducing a number of new sounds, styles, and textures into their already heady mix. Since their early days building a grassroots following on the Midwestern college town music circuit, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun have never short-changed their aspirations, and as they come off their most successful period yet, their upward trajectory appears to continue on the ambitious Blurryface. ~ Timothy Monger