Yellowcard - Lift A Sail (Japan Version) (2014)

For their seventh studio album, Lift a Sail, Yellowcard had a simple but ambitious goal: to out do everything they'd ever done before. The guitars and drums had to hit harder; the songwriting had to cut deeper; the choruses had to reach heights only hinted at on their previous outings. Frontman Ryan Key believes he and his bandmates guitarist Ryan Mendez, violinist Sean Mackin, bassist Josh Portman and guest drummer Nate Young (Anberlin) succeeded on all those fronts. We really feel like we got where we wanted to be, and made a proper rock n roll record, Key says proudly.

Recorded with longtime producer Neal Avron at The Casita, his studio in Los Angeles, Lift a Sail is by far their most dynamic, full of massive rock anthems and haunting ballads shot through with Mackin's evocative violin and string arrangements. Young, who recorded his drum tracks at East West Studios, gives songs like Transmission Home an extra hard rock kick, over which Ryan Mendez guitars have never churned with more intensity.