The Bachelor is theatrical, wistful, and eccentric. The songs mix traditional Celtic and English folk with techno-pop à la Depeche Mode thanks to help from ex-Atari Teenage Riot man Alec Empire. A magnificent edition to the already impressive catalog of 26-year-old musical prodigy Patrick Wolf. – Melissa R., Hollywood

How sonically far over the top Mr. Wolf can take it, is a question that must be re-asked each time he raises the bar with another grand, frenzied, effect-packed album of glam goth insanity. This began as an anti-love song cycle, but when he fell in love halfway through the recording he reversed direction with an intimate, romantic second side. As always, his commanding croon sends a vast army of synths, bells, guitars, samples, strings and many unidentifiable instruments into battle, while he declaims his literate, tormented tales of minotaurs and madness over the carefully orchestrated chaos. Tilda Swinton even shows up to deliver a monologue on “Theseus.” Wolf is a very kooky auteur with a decidedly maximalist vision, and here he unleashes it in full fury. Which is pretty much what you want him to do! Sit back and be overwhelmed.