Creeping out from under Atlantic Record’s oppressive force emerges Lupe Fiasco’s third album, “Lasers.”

It’s not too difficult to comprehend the circumstances that birthed this album: Atlantic demanded a more commercial piece opposing Fiasco’s own form of eccentric hip-hop. Thus, the album was delayed until Lupe fans across the world demanded its release. But instead of a commercial masterclass, they got a limp compilation.

“Lasers” starts out with “Letting Go” and “Words I Never Said,” setting a tone of unrest, bitterness and internal dilemma that remains consistent for the duration of the album. “Till I Get There” plucks along effortlessly, bubbling like a satisfying flavor of lite-pop and is easily one of the most accessible tracks on the album.

“I Don’t Wanna Care Any More” simply screams of Top 40 conformity but doesn’t really reach dance floor revival nor feel-good anthem territory. Lead single “The Show Goes On” samples the eternally inescapable Modest Mouse sing along, “Float On,” latching on to the song’s coattails and showboating around in all of its sad glory. This gallivanting is amusing enough for radio play, but repeated listens disclose just how deflated the track is.

Dive into the middle of the album to find Fiasco playing with extremes. “Beautiful Lasers (2 Ways),” probably the most earnestly morbid song on “Lasers,” somehow comes off like a more deprived and hopeless Drake just reeking of sap and banal pathos. In contrast, “Coming Up” rings with much of the enthusiasm that has gone missing lately in hip-hop.

On standout, “Break the Chain,” Lupe actually mends the synthesizer and dance beats to his advantage, bouncing lyrics around the music instead of suffocating beneath the production gloss. The most memorable track, “All Black Everything,” calls to mind a rapper at his most boundless as he speaks of a world turned upside down, race tensions distorted, “Malcolm Little dies as a old man/Martin Luther King read the eulogy for him/Followed by Bill O’Reilly who read from the Quran/President Bush sends condolences from Iran Malcolm Little dies as a old man/Martin Luther King read the eulogy for him/Followed by Bill O’Reilly who read from the Quran/President Bush sends condolences from Iran.”

“I’m telling you all of this from my therapist’s couch,” said Fiasco in “Till I Get There,” one of the prime moments where his character actually overpowers the record label monster. Although a chunk of his album comes off glib and pedantic, there are moments that Fiasco does manage to blast something memorable and something stunning our way.