blond (Frank Ocean) – After keeping his fans desperately waiting for four years, Frank Ocean released his sophomore studio album blonde, as well as a magazine full of photos and poems, Boys Don’t Cry, just in time for the start of the new school year. This album is similar to his first release, Channel Orange, in terms of the “contemporary R&B” style, but Blond’s deeper lyrics about love and loss definitely show progression since his first studio album.

photo courtesy of rollingstone.com

Joanne (Lady Gaga) – Released in late October, Lady Gaga took a step back from her traditional pop style and released something that was clearly much more personal to her. Joanne is relatively stripped down compared to Lady Gaga’s previous albums, showing off her powerful voice rather than hiding it behind fast paced dance beats. Instead of selling out arenas for this tour, as Lady Gaga would easily be able to do, she took a more laid back approach. Wanting to creating a more intimate setting for her and her fans, Gaga chose to perform at small dive bars to promote the new album.

photo courtesy of rollingstone.com

Revolution Radio (Green Day) – In early October Green Day made a comeback after their 2012 album trilogy with Revolution Radio, an album that, according to lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong in an interview by Rolling Stone, “is meant to reflect the current state of violence in the United States”. Fans and music critics alike have compared Revolution Radio to Green Day’s 2004 release American Idiot, which is arguably their best album. Tickets for their 2017 North American tour are available now, and Green Day will be in Champaign, Illinois on March 30th.

photo courtesy of rollingstone.com

Double Dare (Waterparks) – After performing on the Warped Tour all summer Waterparks has made a major breakthrough in the pop-punk community with their debut album Double Dare, released Nov 4. The band previously released the five song EP Cluster in early 2016, and Double Dare has proved to be a perfect continuation. The album is the perfect mixture between pop and punk, with some songs taking a more electronic, upbeat route and others a little heavier. It’s clear from their debut album that the members of Waterparks don’t feel the need to conform to any one specific genre.

photo courtesy of equalvision.com