The late-night host went viral with his spot-on impressions of Bob Dylan and Neil Young covering TV show themes. Now those hits, plus duets with stars like Justin Timberlake, Bruce Springsteen and Sir Paul McCartney, are compiled in Fallon’s sophomore album, which promises to keep fans laughing all summer long.
It couldn’t have been easy growing up in the shadow of her famous father. Lisa Marie, Elvis’ daughter with Priscilla, struggled through three marriages to musician Danny Keough, with whom she had two children, superstar Michael Jackson and actor Nicolas Cage. Now happily married to guitarist Michael Lockwood, with whom she has twin girls, the 44-year-old singer has just released the authentic sounding Storm and Grace. Says Presley: “It’s me without any attitude or anger at a time of rediscovery.” Produced by T-Bone Burnett, Storm and Grace reveals an artist baring her soul and embracing her Southern roots. Mixing country, folk and blues, Presley delivers moody confessionals like “Over Me” an...
The Welsh crooner, now 71, shows no sign of slowing down. On the heels of his rootsy 2010 album Praise & Blame comes this collection of well-chosen covers, all sung in Jones’ wonderfully gritty baritone. Highlights include his moving versions of Blind Willie Johnson’s “Soul of a Man” and Leonard Cohen’s “Tower of Song.”
He’s done with dishing on his famous exes, Jennifer Anniston and Jessica Simpson. Mayer has turned reflective, taking stock of life and love on mellow new songs like “Queen of California,” with its references to Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, and the title track, featuring classic harmonies from David Crosby and Graham Nash.
Time has been kind to Ram. When the McCartneys first released the album in 1971, critics savaged it as lightweight and inconsequential. It certainly offered no big artistic statement of the Sgt. Pepper’s variety. Instead, it reflected Paul’s embrace of a simpler life away from the Beatles. Written during his and Linda’s extended holiday in Scotland’s Mull of Kintyre, while the band was in the midst of a bitter legal break up, the songs offer a sense of unbridled joy. Now available in several formats, including a Deluxe Edition Box Set featuring bonus CDs, a DVD and a 112-page book, the reissued Ram is a revelation. Along with hits like “Another Day” and “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” the son...
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, California’s legendary pop group has reunited and made a new album. Songs like the “Spring Vacation” revisit the good vibrations, while the harmony-filled title track is an exquisite nod to the classic surfer sound. With Brian Wilson back on board, the Beach Boys have just extended their endless summer.
A frequent collaborator with Olivia Newton-John, Sky took a break from her own music to become an advocate for mental health issues, after going public with her own post-partum depression. Sky’s new album, featuring such joyful numbers as “Hope Floats” and songs of gratitude like “A Mother’s Love,” signal a confident return.
If you haven’t followed her music in the last few years, if what you know best is the soft jazz-pop sounds of her early albums, then you’re in for a surprise. Jones’ fifth studio album, produced by Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton of Gnarls Barkley fame, is her darkest, moodiest release to date. A collection of songs about a failed relationship, it features fuzzed-out guitars, electronic effects and spooky vocals. “Breaking up is hard,” says Jones, “even if you’re the one breaking up. It’s not fun. It can be dramatic and complicated.” But there’s nothing depressing about the new album. “Happy Pills,” with its chugging beat and good-riddance lines, is refreshingly cathartic. And “Miriam,” a haunte...
He’s written for Céline Dion and Josh Groban and penned the Olympic theme song “I Believe.” But Moccio, a judge on TV’s Canada’s Got Talent, wears many hats. His third CD showcases his skills as a pianist and vocalist, especially well on the moving instrumental “Leopold” and the orchestrated “Juliene,” a heartfelt love song to his wife.
The onetime Genesis frontman has amassed a stellar body of solo work. Here, performing with a 46-piece orchestra, Gabriel reimagines his “Biko,” “Solsbury Hill” and “In Your Eyes” as stirring classical pieces, while his minimalist treatment of Paul Simon’s “The Boy in the Bubble” cleverly accentuates the song’s profound comment on social inequity.
