With the first Rammstein album you hear, it's hard not to be slightly amazed by the sheer chutzpah of it all. The German lyrics, the prog rock tendencies, the classic metal guitars, and the ridiculous basso profundo vocals -- you either fall for it, spurn it, or are utterly bemused by the extremeness of it all. Unless you're a fanatic, it wears a little thin the second time around. And for most listeners, MUTTER, the group's third album and sequel to their inexplicable commercial breakthrough Sehnsucht, will be the second time around since it's their first release since becoming a high profile act. Thing is, if you've heard that record, you've pretty much heard MUTTER, since all the trademarks are in place, without much noticeable variation. Yes, there are slight differences, chief of which is the cleaner production, which streamlines everything so the guitars don't seem as heavy, the songs not as epic, and the whole enterprise not as ridiculous. That's not the same thing as stripping the group to the basics, however; it's more like wrapping up the music in nice, shiny paper and putting a ribbon on it. That's not really good for a group like Rammstein, but it doesn't dilute their impact, either, because they are what they are and no amount of polish will make them mainstream (nor will it make it possible to take them seriously). So, that does mean that MUTTER isn't as good as Sehnsucht, but it isn't a stumble either -- and if you liked the first, you'll like this (not the same thing as being amused by the first -- in that case, this will try your patience). That still doesn't answer the question whether anybody outside of diehards needs more than one Rammstein album, but that's just a question of personal taste.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

After two delectable EPs, Benjamin Clementine has finally brought out his first album, At Least for Now. An impressive record. It is the strong, demanding work of a true voice, literally and figuratively. He is as charismatic a figure as those on whose shoulders he stands. It is hard not to think of Nina Simone, for example, when one hears the grain in Clementine's voice and his connection with the piano. But she is also there in his relationships to the musical styles which he mixes and matches with charm and ease. Jazz, soul, folk, blues and pop: At Least for Now makes no distinctions, eschewing labels because it is confident of its own vision... Even the instrumentation here alternates between the nakedness of a solo piano and the power of a violin section. A great aficionado of Maria Callas, but also of Léo Ferré and Jacques Brel, Clementine is also a fine raconteur. And so we will let ourselves be carried away by his storytelling. A star is well and truly born. © MD/Qobuz

Exotic and Latin albums were big deals in the 1950s and early '60s, and singers as diverse as Dean Martin, Lena Horne, and Peggy Lee were recording with castanets and bongo drums. Peggy Lee was so successful at the style that she cut two albums of light pseudo-Latin jazz in 1960. Like Peggy Lee, Julie London combined a restrained vocal approach with jazz phrasing and a cool attitude with icy sex appeal. But while London had Lee's stripped-down musical approach, she just didn't share her unrelenting rhythmic vocal drive or her innate feeling for exotic rhythms. It doesn't help that London is paired with arranger Ernie Freeman, who was usually better at crafting Nashville and soft rock style charts than Latin jazz arrangements. This isn't a bad album -- London sounds casual and confident throughout -- but it is a rather bland one, and isn't blandness what these types of exotica albums are supposed to be fighting against? Latin in a Satin Mood ends up sounding exactly like what it was intended to be -- an aid to put a little vanilla Latin sparkle in suburban American bedrooms. If you want your London in the Latin style, then try her excellent Getz/Gilberto-style tribute to Cole Porter, All Through the Night. Julie London's affinity for West Coast jazz and her melancholy emotional pull were much better suited to bossa nova than to Caribbean Latin music.© Nick Dedina /TiVo

At long last, Gustavo Cerati returned to straightforward guitar rock on Ahí Vamos, following an extended run of fairly experimental albums that interwove electronic and orchestral flourishes into the fabric of the Argentine rock legend's guitar-driven style. If you've followed Cerati's erratic solo career, not to mention his latter-day efforts with his longtime band, Soda Stereo, it's difficult to view Ahí Vamos as anything except a back-to-basics return to form -- something for which a lot of fans had long been pining. In fact, a certain segment of fans had abandoned Cerati years prior to the release of Ahí Vamos in 2006; after all, he hadn't released an album of good old-fashioned guitar rock since Soda Stereo's Cancion Animal (1990). His experimentation -- or pretension, some would argue -- began with Soda Stereo's poorly received Dynamo (1993) and continued with his solo releases, peaking with a pair of bold 2002 releases: 11 Episodios Sinfonicos, a live album recorded with a 40-piece symphonic orchestra directed by Alejandro Terán, and Siempre Es Hoy, a long and meandering 17 tracks of unruly electronic rock. So the straightforward guitar rock of Ahí Vamos came as a surprise, especially since Cerati had been inactive since the boldness of 2002, and a pleasant surprise it is. Indeed, Cerati hasn't sounded this accessible since Cancion Animal, crafting direct rock songs with soaring choruses, his guitar heroics at the forefront of every song. In fact, the album's lead single, "Crimen," a gentle piano ballad, could well be mistaken for an old Soda Stereo hit, with its yearning, reach-for-heaven chorus and its urgent climax. "Adiós" is another such song -- gently melancholic in its elegance, and instantly memorable because of its melodies. However, the surging guitar rockers here are the highlights, especially the opening three songs ("Al Fin Sucede," "La Excepcíon," and "Uno Entre 1000"), each dynamic and uplifting, driven by fierce riffing. Again, if you've followed Cerati over the years, or at least have a sense of his career musically, it's clear that Ahí Vamos is a back-to-basics statement of purpose. Even the album's stark cover image sends a clear message: Cerati as guitar hero, plain and simple. Moreover, the modest running length of 13 songs helps make Ahí Vamos one of the most easily enjoyable efforts of Cerati's career. It's an album that should appeal to Soda Stereo fans as well as newcomers unready for the challenges of his prior solo albums, of which Bocanada (1999) is the masterpiece, albeit a difficult one that feels a world apart from the ease of Ahí Vamos.© Jason Birchmeier /TiVo

Dino Saluzzi on record is rather uncommon, and Dino Saluzzi playing his bandoneon solo is even rarer.So, Albores is a real treat for aficionados of the Argentinian master. Recorded between February and June 2019 in his Buenos Aires studio, these nine tracks demonstrate how, even with the simplest of instruments, his music is an infinite wellspring of stories. A musical storyteller, Saluzzi renders the most intimate, even personal stories accessible to all. For example, he recounts the work of his composer father Cayetano Saluzzi on Don Caye and on Adiós Maestro Kancheli he pays homage to the Georgian composer Giya Kancheli who died in 2019 and whose repertoire he covered in 2010 on Giya Kancheli: Themes From The Songbook with Gidon Kremer and Andrei Pushkarev. More so than on his previous solo albums released under ECM such as Kultrum (1982) and Andina (1988), Albores completely breaks down the borders between Argentine folklore, jazz, contemporary music and improvised music. The minimalist soliloquies resonate his voice, and his bandoneon seems to play to the rhythm of passing time, drawing the contours of the end of a road that inevitably looms closer at the age of 85. Even in those moments of silence and space in the music, Saluzzi is as charismatic and untouchable as a bard. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

"‘BMD’ throbs with lust, while ‘Emotional Damage’ teases with recovery; by the time ‘Adios’ comes into view, the breathless finale has you on the ropes, knocked to pieces by her passionate glovework."© TiVo

Since John Hiatt and the major labels decided to go their separate ways around the turn of the century, his approach to record making has been direct and organic; most of his albums have sounded as if Hiatt and his sidemen put them together without a lot of fuss, placing the emphasis squarely on Hiatt's dependably strong material and tough, flinty vocal style. But 2011's Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns is a more polished and ambitious affair than Hiatt has delivered in years. The sessions were produced by Kevin Shirley, who has previously worked with Aerosmith, the Black Crowes, Dream Theater, and Journey, and though his approach isn't especially intrusive, the sound of this record is certainly more luxurious, with the guitars sounding bigger, the drums booming a bit louder, and strings and keyboards decorating several tracks and the arrangements, gaining a greater sense of drama along the way. The latter is fitting, since the songs on Dirty Jeans have a more melodramatic tone than most of Hiatt's recent work, particularly "Damn This Town"'s tale of a shattered family, the romantic lament of "Don't Want to Leave You Now," "Down Around My Place"'s elegy to a world gone to seed, and Hiatt's belated meditation on 9/11, "When New York Had Her Heart Broke." While Hiatt's accompanists play in a strong, confident manner (especially guitarist Doug Lancio, drummer Kenneth Blevins, and Russ Pahl on pedal steel), Shirley's production tries to build atmosphere and dramatic tension out of echo and reverb, and sometimes his artful approach is a bit much, particularly since most of these numbers would certainly sound powerful with a more Spartan approach. But this delivers another 11 songs from one of America's best working tunesmiths, no small thing, and it shows Hiatt's craft is still potent, while his singing hasn't been this effective in years. In many respects, Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns shows that John Hiatt is well served by a more hands-on production, though one might also imagine Kevin Shirley isn't necessarily the best person to do the job.© Mark Deming /TiVo

Predictably, this debut album by a sort of Tex-Mex Traveling Wilburys is a delight. Forty percent of the Sir Douglas Quintet -- Doug Sahm and Augie Meyers -- is represented, along with Freddy Fender and accordionist Flaco Jimenez. The album reflects the differing strains that each brings to the music, from the more pop/country approach of Sahm and Meyers to Fender's bluesy singing and Jimenez's Mexican playing. An all-star project that brings out the best in its members, Texas Tornados is a landmark Tex-Mex album. (The track "Soy de San Luis" won the 1990 Grammy Award for Best Mexican/American Performance.)© William Ruhlmann /TiVo