Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

No wonder the Aussie country star is having trouble keeping his feet on the ground—he quit drinking and now shares a beautiful daughter with Nicole Kidman. Unbridled joy is the pervasive sound of Keith’s fifth studio CD, from the pop-flavored “Kiss a Girl” and the country-rocking “Sweet Thing.” Gone are the ballads of remorse and regret that dominated his last album. In their place are sincere, heartfelt expressions of gratitude to Nicole like “Thank You” and “Only You Can Love Me This Way.” Upbeat and hopeful. Aprill 2009

The godfather of grunge has his hobbies (model trains) and pet peeves (George W. Bush). Neil’s latest obsession is the Lincvolt, his converted 1959 Lincoln Continental that now runs on alternative fuels. The project serves as the inspiration for his latest album, a collection of raw blues-rockers that deal mostly with the eco-car theme. One exception is the rugged title track, which cites the economic meltdown in acidic lines like “there’s a bailout coming but it’s not for me/it’s for all those creeps watching tickers on TV.” April 2009

“Fleetwood Mac has a convoluted and emotional history,” guitarist Lindsey Buckingham jokingly understated during the band’s recent Canadian concerts. Indeed, Fleetwood Mac’s past is rife with tales of drug abuse, adulterous affairs and marriage breakups. The group’s 1977 album, Rumours, documented the group’s internal turmoil in now-classic songs like “Dreams” and “Go Your Own Way.” Although John and Christine McVie divorced and Lindsey and Stevie Nicks split after various flings, including one between Stevie and Mick Fleetwood, the band stayed together and went on to sell more than 100 million albums—including 25 million for Rumours alone—and became one of the most popular bands in history....

She’s the girl next door with an edge: tender and sweet one moment, tough and sassy the next. Melissa’s third CD has both qualities in abundance, from the gentle parlor song “Segovia” and “Seasoned Lovers,” a gorgeous, folky duet with Ron Sexsmith, to the gritty twang of “Glenrio” and “When the Lights Went Out in Hogtown,” a bluesy ode to Toronto’s 2003 blackout. Produced by her musician-husband Luke Doucet, the album establishes Melissa as a rising Canadian diva with a taste for darker, quirkier material. April 2009

When it comes to top pianists, Diana Krall points to Oscar Peterson while her hubby, Elvis Costello, favors Allen Toussaint. Elvis collaborated with the New Orleans legend on their fine album The River in Reverse. Here Allen, who helped to shape the sound of r&b, soul and funk as a songwriter, producer and pianist, offers his classy instrumental versions of old standards like “St. James Infirmary” and “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” And his rhythmic cover of the Thelonious Monk-penned title track is pure heaven. April 2009

The last decade has been most fruitful for Bob Dylan. The acclaimed singer-songwriter created a trilogy of albums, with Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft and Modern Times, as strong as anything in his stellar discography. Meanwhile, he’s released a best-selling autobiography and enjoyed some prestigious exhibitions of his paintings. Now the legendary artist, who has been compared to Mozart, Picasso and Shakespeare, has produced another masterpiece. Like his most recent albums, Together Through Life is full of compelling love songs, some with a dark twist. But the music has a raw, stripped-down sound that Bob likens to early blues and country recordings on the Chess and Sun labels. “I like the...

Lhasa de Sela is a one-of-a-kind artist. In 1997, the Montreal musician released La Llorona, a stunning collection of Mexican ballads and European gypsy tunes all sung in Spanish that sold half a million copies around the world. Seven years later, she issued The Living Road, an equally mesmerizing album sung in Spanish, French and English. Now, six years on, the never-in-a-hurry Lhasa is back with her first album sung entirely in English. Songs like the harp-laden “Rising” are at once haunting and deeply hypnotic. April 2009

Canada’s top-selling rapper has always had one foot in indie-rock and the other in hip-hop. Born Kevin Brereton, k-os has recorded with Sam Roberts and remixed Feist. Here, the rap ’n’ roller teams up with Metric’s Emily Haines and the Dears’ Murray Lightburn on the guitar-driven “Uptown Girl” and creates a rap response to Feist’s hit “1,2,3,4” with his own “4,3,2,1.” Summoning characters from astronauts and superheroes to rock-star groupies, the always inventive k-os delivers some infectious positivity on his latest. April 2009

First there was Beyoncé’s alter ego Sasha Fierce. Now comes Ciara’s Super C, a comic-book character to showcase the singer’s “inner strength and more aggressive persona.” What next—a new X-Men with Jay-Z, Bow Wow and Kanye West as superheroes? Ciara’s latest boasts plenty of club-thumping tunes, including “High Price” and “Love Sex Magic,” both edgy duets with Ludacris and Justin Timberlake respectively. But, otherwise, Super C’s most distinctive quality is, sadly, just Ciara’s cold, robotic voice. April 2009

Although born in Louisiana, Zachary has spent much of his career in Quebec, where his infectious blend of his native Cajun and zydeco music with rock ’n’ roll has earned him numerous awards and devoted fans. On this, his first English language album in 15 years, Zachary proves he has a poet’s way with words on “Just Ain’t Enough” and the gospel-inflected “The Levee Broke,” about Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. He also duets with Céline Dion on a heartfelt rendition of Robbie Robertson’s classic “Acadian Driftwood.” April 2009