Over their first four albums, these Georgia sludgethrashers grew increasingly conceptual, centering lyrics around classical elements (fire, water, earth) while expanding toward classical-movement song lengths. But after 2009's grandiose Crack the Skye - which had an 11-minute epic called "The Czar" – The Hunter reins things in: no tracks over six minutes, and a straightforward attack close to post-grunge commercial rock. Producer Mike Elizondo – whose résumé includes Switchfoot, Maroon 5 and lots of hip-hop – was presumably a catalyst. But he doesn't stop Brent Hinds' and Bill Kelliher's guitars from sparking at odd angles or intertwining like kudzu, and there are moments of leftfield eccentricity: the swamp-beast psych of "Creature Lives," or "Spectrelight," an over-the-top blitzkrieg with guest roaring from Neurosis' Scott Kelly. Mainly, though, The Hunter demonstrates how contemporary radio rock can still be made with imagination, precision and a majestic sense of force.

Listen to "Creature Lives":

Related
• Photos: The Week's Hottest Live Shots

“Is It True”

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."