This 11-song collection pays tribute to the Motown icon with all-star collaborations on his timeless songs. Sheryl Crow joins him for a buoyant “Tears of a Clown,” while James Taylor and the r&b legend serve up a bluesy “Ain’t That Peculiar.” And Elton John gets deeply soulful with Smokey on his classic “The Tracks of My Tears.”
“I love honesty and soul and heavy, crunchy beats that move you and make you breathe a little faster,” says 26-year-old Jillian Banks. The California native’s first album certainly has the power to quicken pulses, with intimate songs like “Waiting Game” and sultry vocals sung over atmospheric electronics and throbbing rhythms. A thrilling debut.
Sobriety and marriage (to actress-singer Mandy Moore) seems to agree with Adams. The once volatile American rocker’s first album in three years finds him settling in with first-rate songs and an ’80s-inspired sound that owes much to early Springsteen on “I Just Might” and his near-namesake Bryan Adams on the “Run to You”-like “Trouble.”
She’s written hits for divas like Rihanna (“Diamonds”), Britney Spears (“Perfume”), and Celine Dion (“Loved Me Back to Life”). Now the 38-year-old Australian songstress seems destined to become a major star herself, despite her uneasiness about fame, on the strength of her sixth album. Sia’s knack for crafting hooky melodies is on full display here, with songs like the brooding dance number “Chandelier” and the stirring empowerment anthem “Eye of the Needle.” Her dark lyrics make these confessional compositions deeply personal. Sia, who has battled alcoholism and depression, bares her troubled soul on “Cellophane” and “Fire Meet Gasoline.” But she proves herself resilient on the innovative “...
Morrissey has always been one of pop’s most curious figures. As the handsome frontman of the Smiths, he was a brooding matinee idol, renowned for sad songs like “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.” As a solo artist, the Pope of Mope has been no less puzzling, a sexually ambiguous icon and animal-rights activist prone to rants and self-absorbed songs like “How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel.” Now Moz has released his 10th studio album, a collection that plays to both his strengths (witty, melodic introspection) and weaknesses (clichéd political self-righteousness). The title-track ballad and the flamenco-flavored “Earth is the Loneliest Planet of All” leave no doubt about his distaste for ...
He’s known for the sunny vibe of love songs like “I’m Yours.” After the heartache of Love is a Four Letter Word, the Grammy-winning singer is back with a positive take on romance. Backed by the harmonizing female group Raining Jane, Jason serves up sweet, acoustic gems like “Love Someone” and “Hello, You Beautiful Thing.”
“What doesn’t kill you only makes you blonder,” Lambert cracks on the playful title track about strength through bleached hair. The country star also sings about wicked women on “Somethin’ Bad,” her sassy duet with Carrie Underwood, and Mrs. Elvis Presley on “Priscilla,” which cheekily nods to her own marriage to fellow superstar Blake Shelton.
Fans of England’s “red-haired one” (Elly Jackson) have waited ages for the followup to her Grammy-winning debut, which featured the synth-pop smash “Bulletproof.” It’s worth the wait. Electro-dance nuggets like “Uptight Downtown,” “Kiss and Not Tell” and “Tropical Chancer,” with hints of Bowie, ABBA and Grace Jones, offer the most infectious sounds around.
Norah Jones is a restless soul, never settling on one sound or set of musical cohorts. The Grammy-winning songstress has previously worked with the all-male roots group the Little Willies, pop experimentalist Danger Mouse and Green Day frontman and fellow Everly Brothers lover Billie Joe Armstrong, among numerous other collaborations. Now Jones has teamed up with gal pals Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper for a twangy, harmony-filled collection of folk and country songs. With Dobson on drums, Popper on bass and the “Chasing Pirates” singer on guitar, Puss N Boots tackle Roger Miller’s “Tarnished Angel” and Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc.” The trio harmonizes sweetly on Tom Paxton’s “Leaving London” and...
Breakup albums are a mainstay of pop music, from Marvin Gaye’s Here, My Dear to Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black. The “Blurred Lines” singer latest disc certainly fits the mold, detailing as it does his estrangement from actress-wife Paula Patton. What’s different about Thicke’s album is just how far he goes in apologizing for his marital misdemeanors and begging for Patton’s return. “I’m sorry you had to suffer my lack of self-control,” he sings on “Still Madly Deeply.” “Pretty, pretty please come home to me,” he implores on “You’re My Fantasy.” On the spare funk of “Black Tar Cloud,” he even admits to being “face down in a puddle of shame” and “desperately crying for help.” Musically, the alb...
