Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

What seems, on the surface, like pop’s oddest couple turns out to be a musical marriage made in heaven. Although there’s a 60-year age difference between Gaga and Tony, there’s real chemistry between the two on this inspired collection of American Songbook favorites. “I’ve been singing jazz standards since I was 13,” says Gaga, “but whatever authenticity you hear in my vocals is because of Tony. I can be myself around him.” The “Applause” singer sounds especially comfortable on “Nature Boy,” showing her smooth side over sensuous strings before Tony joins her on the flute-flecked Nat King Cole classic. Whether dueting on Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” and Irving Berlin’s “Let’s Face the Music ...

Paying tribute to the music of his youth when “AM radio was really king,” the Canadian superstar turns to classics by Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys and others. While the ballads have their charm, Adams’ sandpaper vocals are best suited to feisty rockers like Eddie Cochran’s “C’mon Everybody” and the Beatles’ “Any Time at All.”

The vault was actually shoeboxes, where the Fleetwood Mac singer found songs she’d written between 1969 and 1987. Produced with Dave Stewart, the album is an intimate glimpse into Nicks’ private life, from the uncertainty of the ballad “Lady,” written after first arriving in Los Angeles, to “Mabel Normand,” an edgy rocker about addiction.

Craftily released on iTunes (to the chagrin of many unsuspecting recipients), U2’s 13th album is also its most personal, detailing the band’s teenage experiences in Dublin. “Cedarwood Road,” where Bono grew up, is about friendship, while “Iris (Hold Me Close)” deals with his mother’s death. “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) is the upbeat highlight, about the joys of discovering the Ramones.

Driver’s known as the star of movies like Good Will Hunting and the TV series The Riches. But she was actually a singer first. Although Driver finally got back to music in 2004 with her debut album Everything I’ve Got in My Pocket, followed by 2007’s Sea Stories, she’s been quiet since. Now the 44-year-old artist, who took time off to raise her son, Henry, is back with Ask Me to Dance. Where her previous releases featured original compositions, the new album is a collection of covers by her favorite songwriters, including Neil Young and John Prine. Driver's interpretive skills are impressive. She adventurously turns Stevie Wonder’s “Master Blaster” into a moody masterpiece and the Cure’s “Cl...

Lady A is already flying high. But the country trio has turned on the turbo jets for its fifth studio album, fueled by lead-off single “Bartender” and the funky “Freestyle.” “This 747 can’t go fast enough,” Hillary Scott sings on the driving title track, proving that Lady A has no interests in slowing down.

Gray is best known for her quirky soul style. Now the raspy-voiced singer has traded her sultry side for a gritty, bluesy edge on “Bang Bang,” the standout track here. It’s a refreshing change. Elsewhere, Macy keeps her freak flag flying high with the chilled-out “Stoned” and the eccentric “Queen of the Big Hunt.”

You+Me is the cross-border partnership of Alecia Moore (America’s P!nk) and Dallas Green (Canada’s City and Colour)—and rarely have two distinct voices created such a perfect union. Harmonizing sweetly on original folk songs like the deeply moving “Break the Cycle” and their cover of Sade’s “No Ordinary Love,” this new duo is pure magic.

She’s got good reason to feel good. The 73-year-old singing legend is still going strong. Here, the Grammy winner gives her Bacharach-David classics a new twist in duets with Ne-Yo, Jamie Foxx, Cyndi Lauper, her son David Elliott, granddaughter Cheyenne Elliott and others. Together with Ziggy Marley, the elegantly soulful vocalist even puts a fresh reggae spin on “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.”

The Doobies epitomized a laid-back California rock sound perfectly suited to a country makeover. With Michael McDonald back, the legends team up with some of country’s biggest stars on new recordings of their classic hits. Chris Young chimes in on “China Grove” and Blake Shelton and Hunter Hayes join them on “Listen to the Music,” while the Zac Brown Band adds some funky Dixieland to “Black Water.”