The second album by Jefferson Airplane, Surrealistic Pillow was a groundbreaking piece of folk-rock-based psychedelia, and it hit like a shot heard round the world; where the later efforts from bands like the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and especially, the Charlatans, were initially not too much more than cult successes, Surrealistic Pillow rode the pop charts for most of 1967, soaring into that rarefied Top Five region occupied by the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and so on, to which few American rock acts apart from the Byrds had been able to lay claim since 1964. And decades later the album still comes off as strong as any of those artists' best work. From the Top Ten singles "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love" to the sublime "Embryonic Journey," the sensibilities are fierce, the material manages to be both melodic and complex (and it rocks, too), and the performances, sparked by new member Grace Slick on most of the lead vocals, are inspired, helped along by Jerry Garcia (serving as spiritual and musical advisor and sometimes guitarist). Every song is a perfectly cut diamond, too perfect in the eyes of the bandmembers, who felt that following the direction of producer Rick Jarrard and working within three- and four-minute running times, and delivering carefully sung accompaniments and succinct solos, resulted in a record that didn't represent their real sound. Regardless, they did wonderful things with the music within that framework, and the only pity is that RCA didn't record for official release any of the group's shows from the same era, when this material made up the bulk of their repertory. That way the live versions, with the band's creativity unrestricted, could be compared and contrasted with the record. The songwriting was spread around between Marty Balin, Slick, Paul Kantner, and Jorma Kaukonen, and Slick and Balin (who never had a prettier song than "Today," which he'd actually written for Tony Bennett) shared the vocals; the whole album was resplendent in a happy balance of all of these creative elements, before excessive experimentation (musical and chemical) began affecting the band's ability to do a straightforward song. The group never made a better album, and few artists from the era ever did.© Bruce Eder /TiVo

As a suburban California kid, DJ Shadow tended to treat hip-hop as a musical innovation, not as an explicit social protest, which goes a long way toward explaining why his debut album, Endtroducing....., sounded like nothing else at the time of its release. Using hip-hop, not only its rhythms but its cut-and-paste techniques, as a foundation, Shadow created a deep, endlessly intriguing world on Endtroducing....., one where there are no musical genres, only shifting sonic textures and styles. Shadow created the entire album from samples, almost all pulled from obscure, forgotten vinyl, and the effect is that of a hazy, half-familiar dream -- parts of the record sound familiar, yet it's clear that it only suggests music you've heard before, and that the multi-layered samples and genres create something new. And that's one of the keys to the success of Endtroducing.....: it's innovative, but it builds on a solid historical foundation, giving it a rich, multifaceted sound. It's not only a major breakthrough for hip-hop and electronica, but for pop music.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Casual buyers and browsers should note that the vocal works on this album, accompanied by orchestra, are not the original works of Debussy. They were made in 2012 by composer Robin Holloway at the request of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. They were performed at that time by Renée Fleming but have not been recorded until now. The settings are unorthodox and never boring, and they will probably strike different listeners in different ways. Holloway reorders the songs, believing that they were not intended as a sequenced set (probably debatable), inserts some of the composer's Verlaine settings in the new ordering, adds transitions between most of them, and tacks on a high-powered epilogue of his own. The end result, perhaps, is Debussy for the 21st century, amped up and intense, with hidden psychological themes and ideas wrung out and brought to the fore by the orchestration. There will be little disagreement, however, about two of the main attractions: soprano Vannina Santoni is a talented newcomer from whom one wants to hear more, and Mikko Franck, heard at the end in La Mer, is an excellent Debussy conductor; his rendition of this well-trodden work is full of detail and entirely absorbing. Santoni has a big voice that stands up to these orchestrations, and Alpha's sound from the Radio France auditorium keeps everything in balance. Nothing if not an intriguing Debussy release. © James Manheim /TiVo

Stéphane Denève has established himself as a versatile maestro with a highly varied repertoire, from concert fare to operas, but his recordings have revealed him to be a specialist in French orchestral music, notably in his coverage of works by Albert Roussel and Guillaume Connesson. This double hybrid SACD from Chandos offers Denève's interpretations of the orchestral works of Claude Debussy, and the lavishly detailed and expressive performances by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra show a conductor and an orchestra in complete sympathy with the music. Because the presentation by Chandos is first-rate from an audiophile perspective, with spectacular reproduction and close-up, credible presence, the listener is immersed in Debussy's dazzling colors from the opening of Images, and surrounded by fully dimensional sonorities throughout the album, which includes such other masterpieces of impressionist music as Jeux, Nocturnes, La Mer, Printemps, and Prélude à l'après-midi d'une faune. When the clarity of the notes, the richness of the timbres, and the depth of the orchestra's sound are appreciated altogether, it's truly a seductive experience, and Debussy's lush and atmospheric music achieves its potential in this impressive package. Indeed, it's difficult to pull away from these gorgeous performances, so prepare to listen to both SACDs in one long, leisurely sitting. It's that good.© TiVo

The exclamation points are back! They're right at the forefront, added to the end of "Giddy Up!," the song that opens Queen of Me, effectively announcing that Shania Twain is done with the introspection that characterized her 2017 album Now. There's nary a trace of self-reflection on Queen of Me. Those moments have been replaced by self-affirmations and celebrations, reverie punctuated by just a slight hint of romance. It's a shift from not only the manicured, mature Now but the boot-stomping hooks of Twain's imperial phase, as it moves Shania quite far away from country; the only thing Western about "Giddy Up!" is the titular phrase. Queen of Me is a relentless pop album, bedecked in spangly baubles and slathered in shiny digital effects, all designed to bring Shania Twain firmly into the pop mainstream. The change is deliberate. Twain collaborates with producers and writers who have worked with such 21st century superstars as Justin Bieber, Pitbull, and Halsey, all in an effort to give Queen of Me a fresh, sparkling sheen. There's no question that she's game -- she throws herself into the songs, not hesitating when "Pretty Liar" calls for her to curse -- and her spirits are so high they nearly counter the cacophonic cheer of the production. Nevertheless, the end results feel curiously constrained, as if Twain was dancing in front of a mirror instead of underneath a mirrorball.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Weighing it at a generous 20 tracks, The Best of Three Dog Night may be a little much for some casual listeners, yet it's unquestionably the definitive collection, featuring all of their hits, plus a nice selection of album tracks. There isn't anything major missing, and while some of the non-singles material isn't particularly strong, there are enough worthwhile moments to make this a fairly consistent, enjoyable listen, in addition to being the one Three Dog Night album most fans will need.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Herbie Nichols occupies a special place on the podium of unfairly forgotten heroes in the history of jazz. This virtuoso, who died of leukaemia at the age of 44, was an innovative pianist with lyrical and rhythmic melodies that were very original for their time. Fascinated by Thelonious Monk, he found his own sound by mixing influences as disparate as Dixieland, Caribbean and classical music by the likes of Bartók or Satie. His transition to Blue Note led to three trio albums: The Prophetic Herbie Nichols Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (recorded in May 1955 with Al McKibbon on double bass and Art Blakey on drums) and Herbie Nichols Trio (recorded in August 1955 and April 1956 with Teddy Kotick and Al McKibbon on double bass and Max Roach on drums). This box set brings all these recordings together with the added bonus of alternative takes. His improvisations, complex rhythmic patterns, and personal compositions make this Blue Note box set a brilliant gateway into the world of a truly “different” jazzman. In 1957, Herbie Nichols recorded his last record for Bethlehem Records - the equally important Love, Gloom, Cash, Love with George Duvivier on double bass and Dannie Richmond on drums - before falling into oblivion and being eaten away by the illness that took over his life in April 1963... Years later, avant-garde musicians like Misha Mengelberg, Roswell Rudd and Steve Lacy helped bring his music back into the public eye. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

"Where do we go from here, what kind of sound do we follow?" muses Terry Hall on "Way on Down," a track from the Fun Boy Three's eponymous debut album. It was a question on numerous lips, ever since Hall and his fellow ex-Specials Neville Staples and Lynval Golding announced the formation of their new group. It's doubtful that anyone came even close to the correct answer. The album was built firmly around tribal drumming, whose percussive possibilities were inspiring a number of groups at the time. Most notably, Adam Ant had merged the beats with a Gary Glitter stomp and a military tattoo, and was now riding the rhythms toward world domination. The Boys, however, were taking the same African influence in an entirely different, and even more innovative, direction. Most surprisingly, or perhaps not, considering the size of their former band, was how minimalistic the music was. Many of the songs were stripped down to bare vocals and percussion, while even those tracks which did sport other instruments mostly utilized them as mere embellishments around the showcased rhythms. Long before modern rap and techno placed all its focus on the beats, the Boys were diligently working around this same concept. In fact, the album on occasion brought to light the direct link between African beats and American hip-hop; elsewhere it foreshadowed the rise of jungle, and even hinted at progressive house and techno-trance. At the same time, the vocalists created their own rhythm, which cunningly counterpoints the main beats. The band used both vocals and rhythms to explode genre boundaries, as "Sanctuary" beautifully illustrates. Beginning as an exercise in African choral singing, it subtly evolves into a Gregorian chant, all the while pulsating with pounding tribal drumming. It says much about the state of the British music scene of the time that such innovative music was not only accepted, but reveled in. Three of the album's tracks -- "The Lunatics," "It Ain't What You Do It's the Way That You Do It," and "The Telephone Always Rings" -- snaked their way into the U.K. Top 20. The album pulsated all the way number seven. It also introduced the world to Bananarama, who provided backing vocals on many of the record's tracks. "One of the most wonderful recordings of our time," the album sleeve boldly stated, and it was absolutely true. © Jo-Ann Greene /TiVo

The exclamation point that punctuates its title suggests Jason Mraz may be a little enthusiastic on Yes! but that's a feint, hiding how this 2014 record is the next logical step on the singer/songwriter's road of seduction. Gone is the celebrated wordplay, a self-conscious maturation that was perhaps inevitable, but also absent are the smooth soul flourishes of 2012's Love Is a Four Letter Word. Those slow grooves underscored how Mraz embraced his role as a middlebrow make-out king in the wake of the success of "I'm Yours," but Yes! feels like a truer follow-up to that 2009 hit than the 2012 LP because it emphasizes Jason Mraz the sensitive singer/songwriter with an acoustic guitar slung across his shoulders. He flirts with rhythms floating up from the Caribbean, he covers Boyz II Men's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday," he cops a bit of the Lumineers' big-beat folk stomp, and he strums a ukulele -- but these are all mild, complementary accents to a sun-kissed collection of romantic songs. Mraz doesn't avoid amorous clichés so much as he shamelessly embraces each and every one, addressing songs to a lover who is also his best friend and a "beautiful thing," celebrating long drives and quiet times with the one he loves. Such subjects are a clear indication that Yes! is not a record fueled by the heady rush of love at first sight; it's an album designed to soundtrack a long getaway weekend for a couple already in love.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

On his second album of urban adult contemporary, singer/songwriter Eric Benet scores with a series of mellow grooves and sizzling duets aimed at both the body and brain. A Day in the Life is sharper than contemporary R&B, keeping the arrangements and production simple, all the while nodding toward the genre's golden era of the '70s (which is also evident in the album's Toto and Kansas covers). Benet does, however, play the same loverman role on most of the songs here, never quite allowing them or his tranquil voice to stretch (and sometimes breathe). The best cuts, though -- Toto's "Georgy Porgy" with Faith Evans and "Spend My Life With You" (featuring Tamia) -- are velvety modern soul soaked in traditional sounds.© Michael Gallucci /TiVo

Two discs and almost 50 tracks of the Ink Spots, all recorded within a relatively narrow 13-year window, could be enough to overwhelm anyone not intimately interested in close-harmony vocal music, especially such a humid, narcoleptic sound as the Ink Spots tended toward. For those unhindered by the prospects of two and a half hours of gentle crooning, though, The Anthology earns its title and then some, sprinkling the big hits already anthologized many times over -- "If I Didn't Care," "My Prayer," "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)," "Java Jive," "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire," and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" -- among a parade of obscure yet intriguing performances. Prime among the latter are the kinetic "Your Feet's Too Big," one of their first recordings, and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," probably more famous now as an Elvis Presley cover than an Ink Spots original. As often happened during the 1940s and '50s, the Ink Spots also recorded dozens of songs in the standards repertory, and several of those ("Who Wouldn't Love You," "Prisoner of Love," "I Cover the Waterfront," "I Get the Blues When It Rains") make for the biggest surprises on this bountiful compilation.© John Bush /TiVo