Well, we've come to the halfway point of the year—and then some.
It's time to look back at what has, so far, been a strong year for music, one in which the guitar has been pushed to new creative peaks on new albums in an array of genres.
From Sleater-Kinney's nervy punk to JD McPherson's fierce roots rock to Periphery's always-impressive technical metal, the guitar has had quite a year already. And forget we have another six months of releases coming our way. You'll find those in our year-end-wrap-up stories in December.
On that note, let's have a look at 30 of the year's best albums (so far).
NOTE: This list is presented in alphabetical order, not from worst to best or best to worst. So there's no order of preference. Enjoy!