In Some Way, Shape, or Form. (Deluxe Version)

With its fourth studio album, Four Year Strong took a big risk in eliminating synthesizers and keyboards from its songs, in a bid to alter and mature its musical style. In Some Way, Shape or Form is the Worcester, Mass., band’s first recording without its ivory-tickling bandmate Josh Lyford. The results successfully abound, with a meatier-sounding band playing noticeably heavier songs. “The Infected” opens with fist-punching guitar riffs chugging along a flawless rhythm section that pumps like an external combustion engine under Dan O'Connor’s muscled vocal performance. Check out the tough-as-nails guitar lead that kickstarts “The Security of the Familiar, the Tranquility of Repetition”—then it unfolds into a dynamic rock ‘n’ roll song with the band’s penchant for soaring melodic choruses. “Just Drive” is a salient single where every element of the song is catchy. Just try getting that contagious guitar melody or O'Connor’s intensely impassioned singing out of your memory lobe.