Keb' Mo's self-titled debut is an edgy, ambitious collection of gritty country blues. Keb' Mo' pushes into new directions, trying to incorporate some of the sensibilites of the slacker revolution without losing touch of the tradition that makes the blues the breathing, vital art form it is. His attempts aren't always successful, but his gutsy guitar playing and impassioned vocals, as well as his surprisingly accomplished songwriting, make Keb' Mo' a debut to cherish.© Thom Owens /TiVo

This debut Genesis album, which has appeared under license to various labels in addition to Decca and London in different configurations, is largely of historical interest. The group was still in its formative stages, the members barely past their 18th birthdays and still working out what they wanted to sound like. Mostly they sound like the Bee Gees trying to be the Moody Blues (picture something similar to the sound of the former group's Odessa album). "The Silent Sun" and "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" are pleasant enough, but scarcely indicate the true potential of the group or its members. A pleasant enough piece of pop-psychedelia/art rock, but not a critically important release, except to the truly dedicated.© Bruce Eder /TiVo

Much will be made of Wilco recording a "country" album. Frontman Jeff Tweedy has said that "country music is simply designed to aim squarely at the low-hanging fruit of the truth"—but that's an idealistic vision that isn't always true anymore. It's more that the genre understands universality, creating a fantasy of what love should be, of revenge, of a simpler life and time to enjoy it (even if it's just long enough for a cold beer). Or, too often, the "truth" is little more than a furrowed eyebrow sighing for three minutes over something truly horrible in the world. Thank goodness Wilco doesn't seem to know this. This record is brutally, beautifully honest. "I don't mind/ When certain people die/ I can't cry/ I wonder why," Tweedy sings on the lazily dreamy "Hearts Hard to Find," confessing something no one is supposed to say out loud. "It's worse than neglected when you need the one who loves no more," he describes Southern border migration on "I Am My Mother." "There is no middle/ When the other side would rather kill than compromise," goes "Hints," an easy connect-the-dots to Mermaid Avenue, the band's Woody Guthrie project with Billy Bragg—and it doesn't get more authentically American or country than Guthrie (even if the genre remains sheepish about Guthrie's socialism). Wilco's music has always had trace elements of the Grateful Dead—which is, as Margo Price brilliantly put it, "country music for people who also like LSD." (In the case of Wilco, it's probably more like Dad Grass.) You can hear it on the title track with its loose and jangling beat, or the sweet and easy skiffle of "All Across the World." "Many Worlds," meanwhile, is a seven-minute-long countrified trip that deserves its own laser show. ("When I look at the sky/ I think of all the stars that've died," Tweedy sings, securing his place as the alt-rock Eeyore.) And when the band doubles down on country sounds, it's a delight. "A Lifetime to Find" is great, an upbeat honky-tonk exchange between a mortal and the grim reaper: "Oh Death, oh Death/ I was just getting dressed/ The place is a mess/ I was hoping you'd forget" is answered with "Oh yes, oh yes/ Death never rests!" "Falling Apart (Right Now)" is extra twangy, delving deep into the canyons; "Ambulance" flirts with delicate fingerpicking; "Please Be Wrong" has an early '60s standard feel akin to Willie Nelson's "Hello Walls." There are lovely surprises, like the somber horns of "Darkness Is Cheap" (cribbing from Dickens' A Christmas Carol: "Darkness is cheap, and so Scrooge liked it.") And the lightly racing "Bird Without a Tail / Base of My Skull" features word-play lyrics like the lullaby "Hush, Little Baby," each line riffing off the previous: "When the sky began to roar like a lion at my door/ When my door began to crack it's like a stick across my back/ When my back began to smart, was a pen knife in my heart." © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

There have been plenty of George Strait compilations, and most of have been very good, but none have been as good as 2004's 50 Number Ones. While the 1995 box set Strait Out of the Box illustrated the range and depth of Strait's musical achievement, it may have been too lengthy for some listeners, and shorter compilations like the two-volume The Very Best of Strait left too many hits behind -- and by 2004, all those compilations were out-dated, since Strait continued to top the charts until the release of 50 Number Ones. This double-disc contains all the big hits that he's had since Strait Out of the Box, along with all of his classics from the '80s and early '90s. The title might bend the truth a little bit -- at least according to the Billboard charts, such latter-day singles as "True" and "Run" only peaked at number two, not number one -- but it doesn't matter, since this contains all of his major singles in one convenient package. And it's not noteworthy just because it's one-stop shopping, it's also noteworthy because it proves exactly how consistent George Strait's body of work has been over the last twenty-some years. From start to finish, there's not a slow spot here -- it's a thoroughly entertaining collection that belongs in the ranks of country's greatest-hits albums.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Not many bands can pride themselves on never succumbing to mediocrity and only ever producing masterpieces, but Annihilator is one of the rare few. The man responsible is their leader, the undisputed guitar-god known for his one-of-a-kind playing techniques, Jeff Waters. In addition to being a skilled composer, he is back once again as lead vocalist for the band’s grand return on this album. Ballistic, Sadistic is a real gem that puts to one side the experimentation that Waters had been revelling in these past few years and takes us back to the band’s roots. It’s an album that is criminally technical and precise and is vintage Annihilator through and through. As always, there are bound to be complainers but it’s hard to deny that these tracks, especially the turbo-charged The Attitude, are perfect examples of thrash metal the way it should be. Waters has really stepped up his game here and become more adventurous with his vocals on this album, sounding somewhere between a Dee Snider and Dave Mustaine in his younger days. Catchy and packed full of aggression and raw energy, Ballistic, Sadistic is the proof that thrash certainly hasn’t had its day and that Annihilator is still one of the most underrated bands out there. © Maxime Archambaud/Qobuz

Even though Neil Young fans have something to celebrate almost every month these days, October 2021 is set to be special, with the launch of a new collection of unreleased material. As the name suggests, the Neil Young Official Bootleg Series focuses on live material, hitherto only available in bootleg form, but now officially released at last. The fun begins with a solo concert by the Loner, given in New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall on 4 December 1970. It was an intense time for the Canadian. A few weeks after Everybody Knows This is Nowhere came out in May 1969, Neil Young signed a lucrative deal with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, which gave rise to the album Déjà Vu, a dreamlike hippy piece which leapt to the top of the charts and made the foursome global stars. Amid this feverish whirl, he took advantage of his fame to bring out After the Goldrush in midsummer 1970, his third solo work which contains some of the most beautiful songs he ever recorded. The record was mostly made in his house in Topanga Canyon, California. A perfect blend of rock, folk and country, he took it on tour at the end of that year, travelling solo, and playing a date in the Big Apple. The tracklist from Carnegie Hall 1970 mixes songs from Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and brand-new material from After the Goldrush. Neil Young even offers the audience a taste of the follow-up in the form of Old Man, which was to be the opening track for his famous Harvest, which came out in February 1972. Over a long night, a purely acoustic set (one piano, one guitar) can wear a little thin. But Neil Young's songs from this period are such masterpieces that it's impossible to get bored with them: we are captivated by this colourful, melodic, rural ride for the full hour-and-a-half-plus runtime. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Riding the wave of success following 2015's The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2 and 2016's The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever, BTS continued their global ascent with the release of their sophomore LP, Wings. Issued in late 2016, Wings pushed the creative maturation for the K-pop septet while maintaining the unique spirit that had so endeared them to fans looking for more than the typical K-pop industry product. In addition to a handful of requisite hits that deftly captured the contemporary pop zeitgeist, Wings allowed BTS to delve deeper into more serious topics (such as mental health, non-conformity, and female empowerment) and artistic expressions. Wings notably features seven solo tracks that showcase the personality of each BTS member. On V's soulfully jazzy "Stigma," Suga's intense "First Love," and Rap Monster's atmospheric "Reflection," gravity and introspection collide, grounding the dance-pop gems that bookend the album. Jungkook's "Begin" is bright and tropically inspired (much like lead single "Blood Sweat & Tears," it sounds like something produced by Major Lazer), while Jimin's bold "Lie" is buffered by lush orchestral production and Motown cool. Jin contributes a gorgeous ballad with "Awake," and J-Hope maintains the hip-hop heartbeat of BTS with "MAMA." The other half of Wings finds BTS together as a unit and in full K-pop hit mode on infectious dance tracks like "Lost," "Interlude: Wings," and the booming one-two punch of "Am I Wrong" and "21st Century Girls." Diehards will rejoice at the sight of "BTS Cypher 4" (the first since 2014) which features frantic trap-rapping akin to countrymate Keith Ape. With such a wide range of stylistic influences and lyrical content, BTS continue to push the limits of what can be said or done in K-pop. Wings is a testament that such risks can be both substantial and successful.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Like Come before it, Chaos and Disorder is a contractual obligation album for Prince, a way to get himself out of his contract with Warner Brothers. Unlike Come, Chaos and Disorder doesn't sound disjointed and pasted together -- it's a fun, offhanded throwaway. For the first time since 1987's Sign 'O' the Times, Prince has made a pop/rock album, complete with squealing guitars and sighing melodies. None of the songs qualify as major songs in Prince's canon, but that's part of the record's charm -- Prince sounds like he's having a good time, and he could really care less what anyone else has to say. Or, as he puts it in one of the album's best and most careening tracks, "I Rock, Therefore I Am." Chaos and Disorder sounds immediate, like the songs were recorded the same day they were written. While that might mean there's a handful of throwaways scattered throughout the album, there are wonderful moments like the stuttering jazz-funk of "Dig U Better Dead," the scathing "Had U," the psychedelic clashes of the title track, the heavy rock of "I Like It There," and the beautiful "Dinner With Delores," a rough gem that ranks as one of Prince's simplest and most charming singles of the '90s. So, Chaos and Disorder isn't Prince's best or most important work, but it is a really fun listen, especially if you're willing to accept it as what it is -- a record that does nothing more than rock.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Four months after the release of Wings, K-pop boy band BTS returned with a repackaged version of that sophomore LP, which they dubbed You Never Walk Alone. In addition to the original Wings track list, You Never Walk Alone added four new songs, including the chart-topping singles "Spring Day" and "Not Today."© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo