It's a running joke that every album released by the Rolling Stones is the band's "best since X," where X represents a random release from their extensive back catalog. Unsurprisingly, Hackney Diamonds has already received similar plaudits and comparisons. But the Stones' first full-length of original songs since 2005's A Bigger Bang can't really be compared to anything they've done before—namely because it's the first Stones album recorded (for the most part) without drummer Charlie Watts, who died in 2021. Watts does add his trademark crisp, jazzy swing to a pair of highlights: the strutting "Mess It Up" and swaggering boogie-rocker "Live by the Sword." (On the latter, former bassist Bill Wyman also contributes a grimy low end and Elton John adds freewheeling piano.) Elsewhere on Hackney Diamonds, Watts' hand-picked drumming replacement Steve Jordan anchors the rhythm section with his looser approach—a perfect match for big-sky rockers like the saxophone-augmented, funk-tinted "Get Close."But even with the lineup change, Hackney Diamonds feels like classic Stones—no asterisk needed. The album brims with familiar signifiers: fiery guitar interplay between Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood; an abundance of Jagger-Richards songwriting credits; and Jagger's inimitable vocals, which veer between spitfire sleaze and tender balladeer. Musically, Hackney Diamonds also spans the entire Stones continuum. "Dreamy Skies" is the kind of laid-back country rocker the band excel at writing; the string-swept "Depending on You" occupies a more introspective space; and "Driving Me Too Hard" is 1970s-era honky-tonking. On "Tell Me Straight," Richards even takes a turn on lead vocals. So what's the secret to Hackney Diamonds? Avowed Stones superfan Andrew Watt produced the album, which was an inspired choice: Watt pushes the Stones to play to their strengths and not rely on cliches. Hackney Diamonds' guests are also a welcome presence. Paul McCartney contributes bass to the barnstorming "Bite My Head Off," while the torchy power ballad centerpiece "Sweet Sounds of Heaven" includes keyboards and piano from Stevie Wonder and towering vocals from Lady Gaga. Fittingly, Hackney Diamonds ends with a song that's long featured into the Stones' mythology: a cover of Muddy Waters' "Rollin' Stone" (here called "Rolling Stone Blues"). The Stones' performance is raw and unfiltered, with shuffling harmonica and unpolished Jagger vocals; it sounds more like a low-key jam session than a high-gloss studio work. "Rolling Stone Blues" also gets to the heart of why Hackney Diamonds works so well: On the album, the Stones aren't trying to repeat themselves or recapture any past glories—but they are remembering their roots, and channeling the passion, ambition and musical chemistry that initially propelled them to superstardom. © Annie Zaleski/Qobuz

It's a running joke that every album released by the Rolling Stones is the band's "best since X," where X represents a random release from their extensive back catalog. Unsurprisingly, Hackney Diamonds has already received similar plaudits and comparisons. But the Stones' first full-length of original songs since 2005's A Bigger Bang can't really be compared to anything they've done before—namely because it's the first Stones album recorded (for the most part) without drummer Charlie Watts, who died in 2021. Watts does add his trademark crisp, jazzy swing to a pair of highlights: the strutting "Mess It Up" and swaggering boogie-rocker "Live by the Sword." (On the latter, former bassist Bill Wyman also contributes a grimy low end and Elton John adds freewheeling piano.) Elsewhere on Hackney Diamonds, Watts' hand-picked drumming replacement Steve Jordan anchors the rhythm section with his looser approach—a perfect match for big-sky rockers like the saxophone-augmented, funk-tinted "Get Close."But even with the lineup change, Hackney Diamonds feels like classic Stones—no asterisk needed. The album brims with familiar signifiers: fiery guitar interplay between Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood; an abundance of Jagger-Richards songwriting credits; and Jagger's inimitable vocals, which veer between spitfire sleaze and tender balladeer. Musically, Hackney Diamonds also spans the entire Stones continuum. "Dreamy Skies" is the kind of laid-back country rocker the band excel at writing; the string-swept "Depending on You" occupies a more introspective space; and "Driving Me Too Hard" is 1970s-era honky-tonking. On "Tell Me Straight," Richards even takes a turn on lead vocals. So what's the secret to Hackney Diamonds? Avowed Stones superfan Andrew Watt produced the album, which was an inspired choice: Watt pushes the Stones to play to their strengths and not rely on cliches. Hackney Diamonds' guests are also a welcome presence. Paul McCartney contributes bass to the barnstorming "Bite My Head Off," while the torchy power ballad centerpiece "Sweet Sounds of Heaven" includes keyboards and piano from Stevie Wonder and towering vocals from Lady Gaga. Fittingly, Hackney Diamonds ends with a song that's long featured into the Stones' mythology: a cover of Muddy Waters' "Rollin' Stone" (here called "Rolling Stone Blues"). The Stones' performance is raw and unfiltered, with shuffling harmonica and unpolished Jagger vocals; it sounds more like a low-key jam session than a high-gloss studio work. "Rolling Stone Blues" also gets to the heart of why Hackney Diamonds works so well: On the album, the Stones aren't trying to repeat themselves or recapture any past glories—but they are remembering their roots, and channeling the passion, ambition and musical chemistry that initially propelled them to superstardom. © Annie Zaleski/Qobuz

How to better a record like Revolver? Sign off another by the name of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. For many, this is truly the greatest pop and rock music of all time, if not one of the most significant works of art in popular culture from the second half of the twentieth century... After discovering the endless possibilities offered to them in the recording studio, John, Paul, George and Ringo continue their crazy musical experiments. More than ever considered as the ‘fifth Beatle’, producer George Martin runs out a magic carpet of discoveries that would go on to influence the future of pop. When this eighth studio album is released in June 1967, the era is one that has embraced the all-out psychedelic, and this concept album is a true hallucinatory trip (not only for Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds). Like the patchwork of his mythical pocket, Sergeant Pepper's journeys through pure pop, manly rock'n'roll, totally trippy sequences (to near worldly scales), retro songs of nursery rhymes, animal noises and even classical music! On the composition side, the duo of Lennon/McCartney is at the top of its game, delivering new songs that are still influential today. © MZ/Qobuz, Translation/BM

Beginning with Swordfishtrombones, released in September 1983, Tom Waits' turn towards cabaret blues-rock (that had more to do with Bertolt Brecht than George Gerswhin) was brilliantly confirmed on Rain Dogs two years later. Marc Ribot, the genius behind this masterstroke, brought a unique, unregimented guitar sound to the Californian bluesman, finding a perfect osmosis with his wavering organ. Also on six-string, another big name was on hand for a few tracks: Keith Richards! With his crazy stories, improbable stopovers between New York and Singapore, UFO sounds, disfigured blues and drunken waltzes, Waits dares to do it all, and delivers some of his finest songs, such as Downtown Train and Jockey Full Of Bourbon. Behind the brilliant array of crazier instruments that give our modern-day Howlin' Wolf his unique identity, Rain Dogs offers some truly timeless songs.    © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Sometime after the Rolling Stones wrapped up their 2022 tour -- the second they completed since the 2021 death of their drummer Charlie Watts -- Mick Jagger decided the band had spent enough time working on their first record of original material since 2005's A Bigger Bang. Jagger gave Keith Richards, the only other surviving founding member of the Stones left in the band, a deadline of Valentine's Day 2023 for wrapping up the sessions that had been dragging on for years. The ultimatum worked: by October of that year, the Stones released Hackney Diamonds, their first collection of new songs in 18 years. The album doesn't entirely consist of material the Stones cut early in 2023 -- two tracks feature Charlie Watts, including "Live by the Sword," which has original bassist Bill Wyman guesting on a Stones record for the first time in 30 years -- yet it bears the unmistakable imprint of a record delivered on a deadline. There's little hesitation, no thoughtful pondering here: Hackney Diamonds just barrels ahead with a clean efficiency. Although they're largely working with a new producer -- Andrew Watt, who came recommended by Paul McCartney -- the Rolling Stones don't attempt new tricks anywhere on Hackney Diamonds, save maybe "Whole Wide World," whose bizarre neo-new wave vibe gets odder thanks to Jagger singing in an exaggerated cockney accent. Even that is a slight nod to the band's mall-rat rock of the early '80s, one of many different guises the Rolling Stones adopt over the course of Hackney Diamonds. While a good portion of the record is devoted to straight-ahead rock & roll, they also find space for ragged country ("Dreamy Skies") and acoustic blues ("Rolling Stone Blues"), not to mention "Sweet Sounds of Heaven," a showstopping ballad featuring Lady Gaga. That track is a good indication of how Hackney Diamonds plays. At first, it seems like a solid evocation of "Beast of Burden," but it's a slow burn, a song that sounds stronger with each repeated listen. So is of the rest of Hackney Diamonds. Because it has no grand conceptual hook and because the Stones so thoroughly integrate their superstar guests -- not only are Gaga and Wyman here but so are Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and McCartney -- it doesn't overwhelm upon an initial listen the way the lengthy Voodoo Lounge or A Bigger Bang do; that small scale is its strength. At its heart, it's nothing more than the Rolling Stones knocking out some good Rolling Stones songs, which seems like a minor miracle after such a long wait.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Back in 2003, Las Vegas quartet the Killers were just another young act pushing angular indie that revived post-punk and new wave sonics for a new generation, scoring a minor hit in England with a little song called "Mr. Brightside." Over in the U.S., it took over a year for another single, "Somebody Told Me," to edge its way onto the mainstream charts, peaking in late 2004 in a landscape that featured competition from acts like Hoobastank, Linkin Park, and Green Day. One could be forgiven for thinking they were just a flash in the pan, destined to fade away like so many of their early-aughts peers. However, two decades later, they had enough hits (and then some) to craft their second greatest-hits compilation, Rebel Diamonds. Celebrating 20 years with 20 songs, the collection showcases seven studio albums and a trio of stand-alone singles that have kept the Killers on the radio, in stadiums, and on international festival stages since the band's inception, surviving the times with enduring hits and beloved favorites. Building upon 2013's Direct Hits set, Rebel Diamonds retains most of that first decade's tracks (major differences being "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" replacing "Smile Like You Mean It" for Hot Fuss representation; "For Reasons Unknown" getting axed; and "Be Still" performing double duty in the Battle Born era instead of "Miss Atomic Bomb" and "The Way It Was"). These changes are welcome, giving "Jenny" and "Be Still" some much deserved attention in the face of their more-famous album siblings. The relative tumult of the Killers' uneven second decade can be seen on the back half. After a five-year gap between albums, they returned in 2017 with Wonderful Wonderful, which yielded the strutting Bowie tribute "The Man" but not much else. At this point, it had been half a decade since they had a hit, and the future seemed a little uncertain. So when 2020's Imploding the Mirage landed to a flood of critical acclaim and fan adoration, it was a welcome comeback that reestablished the group with rousing, anthemic gems such as "Caution," "My Own Soul's Warning," and "Dying Breed." Even 2021's subdued, Americana-leaning Pressure Machine -- which added more emotional depth to their catalog with some of Brandon Flowers' most engaging storytelling to date -- kept the revival going, culminating in a triumphant international tour that found them performing on some of the biggest stages to date. In a generous move, the Killers added three fresh tracks to the album, produced with longtime collaborator and Day & Age studio man Stuart Price. These infectious, '80s-indebted nu-wave nuggets stand tall as some of the band's best non-album tracks, echoing Erasure ("boy"), Pet Shop Boys and New Order ("Your Side of Town"), and even New Order by way of Underworld's "Born Slippy (Nuxx)" on "Spirit." Showing just how far Flowers, Dave Keuning, Ronnie Vannucci, Jr., and Mark Stoermer had come from just being stylish, Anglophile scenesters, Rebel Diamonds is a perfectly curated snapshot of two decades of indelible hits from one of the greatest American rock ambassadors of a generation.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Sitting atop the charts in 1975, Elton John and Bernie Taupin recalled their rise to power in Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, their first explicitly conceptual effort since Tumbleweed Connection. It's no coincidence that it's their best album since then, showcasing each at the peak of his power, as John crafts supple, elastic, versatile pop and Taupin's inscrutable wordplay is evocative, even moving. What's best about the record is that it works best of a piece -- although it entered the charts at number one, this only had one huge hit in "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," which sounds even better here, since it tidily fits into the musical and lyrical themes. And although the musical skill on display here is dazzling, as it bounces between country and hard rock within the same song, this is certainly a grower. The album needs time to reveal its treasures, but once it does, it rivals Tumbleweed in terms of sheer consistency and eclipses it in scope, capturing John and Taupin at a pinnacle. They collapsed in hubris and excess not long afterward -- Rock of the Westies, which followed just months later is as scattered as this is focused -- but this remains a testament to the strengths of their creative partnership.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

The trio of Enya, producer and sound engineer Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan, have joined forces for Dark Sky Island, a new album inspired by the voyage to the Isle of Sark (off Normandy), a journey which represents a lifetime journey through history and emotion, and travels to the very heart of the oceans. Musically, Dark Sky Island is an incredibly eclectic collection of titles, naturally unified by a panoramic and masterful execution. Time does not yet seem to have taken its toll on Enya, who again and again manages refresh her pop and new age stylings, her haunting accents and wonderful lyricism. © CM / Qobuz

How to better a record like Revolver? Sign off another by the name of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. For many, this is truly the greatest pop and rock music of all time, if not one of the most significant works of art in popular culture from the second half of the twentieth century... After discovering the endless possibilities offered to them in the recording studio, John, Paul, George and Ringo continue their crazy musical experiments. More than ever considered as the ‘fifth Beatle’, producer George Martin runs out a magic carpet of discoveries that would go on to influence the future of pop. When this eighth studio album is released in June 1967, the era is one that has embraced the all-out psychedelic, and this concept album is a true hallucinatory trip (not only for Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds). Like the patchwork of his mythical pocket, Sergeant Pepper's journeys through pure pop, manly rock'n'roll, totally trippy sequences (to near worldly scales), retro songs of nursery rhymes, animal noises and even classical music! On the composition side, the duo of Lennon/McCartney is at the top of its game, delivering new songs that are still influential today. © MZ/Qobuz, Translation/BM

If Closing Time, Tom Waits' debut album, consisted of love songs set in a late-night world of bars and neon signs, its follow-up, The Heart of Saturday Night, largely dispenses with the romance in favor of poetic depictions of the same setting. On "Diamonds on My Windshield" and "The Ghosts of Saturday Night," Waits doesn't even sing, instead reciting his verse rhythmically against bass and drums like a Beat hipster. Musically, the album contains the same mixture of folk, blues, and jazz as its predecessor, with producer Bones Howe occasionally bringing in an orchestra to underscore the loping melodies. Waits' songs are sometimes sketchier in addition to being more impersonal, but "(Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night" and "Semi Suite" are the equal of anything on Closing Time. Still, with lines such as "...the clouds are like headlines/Upon a new front page sky" and references to "a 24-hour moon" and "champagne stars," Waits' imagery is beginning to get florid, and in material this stylized, the danger of self-parody is always present.© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

On her stellar sophomore set, Diamonds & Dancefloors, American pop hitmaker Ava Max bests her 2020 breakthrough debut with precision focus and a bounty of catchy hooks. Yet another instance where every track could be a lead single, the album is indebted to '80s synth-based dance-pop ("Million Dollar Baby," "Weapons") and early-'90s house anthems ("Ghost," "Diamonds & Dancefloors"), extending her pedigree as the next logical progression after forebears like Lady Gaga and Dua Lipa. With executive producer Cirkut back in tow, Diamonds & Dancefloors seamlessly evolves the playful pop heard on Heaven & Hell and hones the attack with an icy determination born from recent breakups. Hardened by heartbreak, Max takes her pain to the dancefloor, drying her tears through the power of pop. The energy never relents -- the skittering two-step of the Omar Fedi-assisted "In the Dark" is the closest thing to a "break" -- and it's pure, irresistible thrills from start to finish, buoyed by the power of Max's vocal range and passionate delivery. Beyond the official singles, other highlights include the dark synth creep of "Sleepwalker"; the disco-kissed earworm "Turn Off the Lights"; the electronic dance bliss of "Get Outta My Heart" (which samples Bernard Herrmann's Twisted Nerve score); and the pulsing neon-electro "Last Night on Earth." Deftly executed and ideal for repeat listens, Diamonds & Dancefloors makes it two-for-two for Max's catalog, delivering on the promise of her debut and pushing her even further toward the top of the early-2020s pop pantheon.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Released in 1973, three years after the separation of the Beatles, this compilation from 1967-1970 is more commonly known as the The Blue Album and consists of 28 songs that were recorded, as the title indicates, between 1967 and 1970. It is obviously the essential companion of its red twin, The Beatles 1962 - 1966 (The Red Album), and was mastered simultaneously. The anthology of the second period of The Beatles' career can be summed up wonderfully by simply reciting the titles of all the opening tracks (light euphemisms to say the least): Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, A Day In The Life, All You Need Is Love, I Am the Walrus, Magical Mystery Tour, Hey Jude, Back In The USSR, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Here Comes The Sun, Come Together, Let It Be or Across The Universe. Again we listen, open-mouthed, witnessing the musical aftermath of adulthood on the four boys from Liverpool, who were undoubtedly some of the most accomplished musicians on the planet, both in their brilliance and in their imagination. It is fascinating, again and again, to realize that this extensive list of wonderful songs was recorded in just four short years ... © MZ/Qobuz, Translation/BM

As the '90s opened, Prince was in a weird place. Coming off the rollercoaster of Lovesexy's tepid commercial reception, the windfall success of the tossed-off Batman soundtrack, and the bombing of the deeply personal Graffiti Bridge movie and soundtrack album, Prince had a choice to make about his direction moving forward. Would he be a creative madman indulging his singular musical whims for a small but devoted fanbase? Or would he use his prodigious talents to align himself with the pop zeitgeist in order to become relevant again? Well, the man realized he had bills to pay, and work began on Graffiti Bridge's follow-up in late 1989, with Prince's eye firmly on the mainstream. Taking more than two years to complete, Diamonds and Pearls was, with the exception of Purple Rain, the album that Prince exerted the most time and effort on, relying completely on brand-new material (rather than pulling songs from the vault) and the integration of a brand-new band, the New Power Generation. That band is the secret weapon for the success of Diamonds and Pearls, harnessing two formidable forces of nature—vocalist Rosie Gaines and the rhythm section of Michael Bland and Sonny Thompson—that give this music a breadth, depth, and muscularity that had only been hinted at on previous Prince albums. Even on numbers like "Push" and "Daddy Pop" that have their eye on mainstream R&B audiences, Prince largely eschews the airless drum-machines-and-synths sound of his '80s recordings for a full-bodied, live-band sound that was somewhat at odds with the contemporaneous hits that were full of ... drum machines and synths. To be sure, hip-hop was a massive influence on the album—the first configuration of Diamonds and Pearls from late 1990 opened with "Something Funky (This House Comes)," which featured no Prince vocals, but, instead, raps by Tony M.  Its incorporation is often clumsy (see: "Jughead"), but occasionally charming (Prince's demur "you don't want me on the mic" bit on "Push"). Yet for all the nods to the charts, like the note-perfect balladry of the title track or the T. Rex-ripping "Cream," there was still quite a bit of "weird Prince" making its way through the grooves on Diamonds and Pearls, from the religio-rocking bombast of "Thunder" that updated "Let's Go Crazy" for the '90s and the album-closing rock opera "Live 4 Love," to the unhinged lasciviousness of "Gett Off." For this massively-expanded Super Deluxe Edition, one can get a look at just how hard Prince was working during this time, as the selection of outtakes and non-album tracks is extensive. Though most of the b-sides of the era were glorified remixes, some, like "Horny Pony" were part of the album project from its earliest phases (it's also included in a previously unheard alternate version). A couple of other tracks that made their way to various configurations of the album are here also—"Schoolyard," "Something Funky"—and it's easy to see why they didn't make the final cut. However, Prince's compositional powers were still in full flow, and, like during the Purple Rain period, many of the best non-album tracks he would write would end up finding their way to other artists; this set features several highlights, from three stellar synth-pop tracks written for Martika and the killer midtempo jam "Get Blue" (given to Louie Louie) to the bouncy, funky "The Voice" that found its way to Mavis Staples' second Paisley Park Records album. There are several other worthwhile outtakes, including "Darkside," which is the New Power Trio at their gnarliest, running through a gut-punching instrumental jam featuring Prince utterly slaying on his guitar while Bland and Thompson provide a "big time loud" backing. "Lauriann" sounds like a prime, early '80s outtake, while the playful "Glam Slam '91" is an embryonic version of "Gett Off" that has little to do with the Lovesexy track of the same name. There are quite a few outtakes that could have been best left in the vault: "Streetwalker" features Prince breathlessly intoning "work it baby" in a way that's just embarrassing; the explicitness of "Schoolyard" was cringey in the '90s and is downright problematic today; similarly, the fat jokes on "Work That Fat" have absolutely not aged well, but the song is still home to one of Prince's funkiest grooves. The inclusion of a barn-storming club show from 1992 more than makes up for any suboptimal outtakes, though, as the band and Prince are absolutely on fire throughout, serving as an excellent reminder that, while Prince may have been willing to give hip-hop the time of day, he was still able to deliver a live show at a level few performers could ever match. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz

Arriving ten years after the single-disc Rocket Man: The Definitive Hits (known as Rocket Man: Number Ones in North America) and 15 years after the double-disc Greatest Hits 1970-2002, Diamonds ups the game by offering two variations on Elton John's greatest hits: a double-CD version and a limited-edition triple-disc box set. Given John's canon is close to set, it should come as no surprise that Diamonds follows the same path as its predecessors -- indeed, the first ten songs on Diamonds are the same as those on Greatest Hits 1970-2002, with minor rejiggering; ultimately, there is a 26-song overlap -- but within its standard two-disc set, it finds a place for some important hits absent in prior comps. Notably, this has "Little Jeannie," "I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That," and his live duet with George Michael, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," all welcome additions, and as it extends into the present, it also finds space for John's artistic renaissance of the 21st century in the form of "Electricity," "Home Again," and "Looking Up." The third disc on the deluxe version deepens the story further by adding a bunch of hits that could've feasibly been included on the first two discs -- "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," "Pinball Wizard," "Mama Can't Buy You Love," "Part-Time Love," "Victim of Love," "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)," "Kiss the Bride," the superstar charity single "That's What Friends Are For" -- and also underscores his enduring stardom and cultural reach by including OK '90s U.K. hits with Kiki Dee, Pavarotti, and LeAnn Rimes, plus his 2012 U.S. dance hit with Pnau, "Good Morning to the Night" (conspicuous in their absence is any duet with Leon Russell). This last disc offers up plenty of hits but it also feels slightly messy because of the leap from "Kiss the Bride" to "Live Like Horses," but that only indicates how John would've been equally well served by a four-disc set. Instead, we get this excellent -- if incomplete -- collection that is equally satisfying in either its double-disc or triple-disc incarnation.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

How to better a record like Revolver? Sign off another by the name of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. For many, this is truly the greatest pop and rock music of all time, if not one of the most significant works of art in popular culture from the second half of the twentieth century... After discovering the endless possibilities offered to them in the recording studio, John, Paul, George and Ringo continue their crazy musical experiments. More than ever considered as the ‘fifth Beatle’, producer George Martin runs out a magic carpet of discoveries that would go on to influence the future of pop. When this eighth studio album is released in June 1967, the era is one that has embraced the all-out psychedelic, and this concept album is a true hallucinatory trip (not only for Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds). Like the patchwork of his mythical pocket, Sergeant Pepper's journeys through pure pop, manly rock'n'roll, totally trippy sequences (to near worldly scales), retro songs of nursery rhymes, animal noises and even classical music! On the composition side, the duo of Lennon/McCartney is at the top of its game, delivering new songs that are still influential today. ©MZ/Qobuz, Translation/BM

With Part of the Light (2018), Ray LaMontagne returned to his roots with his mix of Nick Drake-style folk, southern soul, fat-free blues and classic rock. The psychedelic influences of old Pink Floyd albums that were noticeable on Ouroboros (2016) felt like a distant memory. With Monovision, the American songwriter cements his sound, confirming that it’s closer to Cat Stevens than David Gilmour. With this eighth album, he’s a little closer to sitting on the throne of Americana. When he presses down on the accelerator (Strong Enough), the virile toughness of Creedence Clearwater Revival doesn’t feel too far away. And when he starts daydreaming (We’ll Make It Through) it’s hard – especially with the harmonica – not to think of Neil Young. But at the age of 46 and having spent more than two decades on the scene, Ray LaMontagne has a sound of his own. Yes, he has rather typical voice though it never stops him venturing past the heavy shadows of his spiritual forefathers. So much so that this extremely purified 2020 vintage is perhaps the album that sounds most like Ray LaMontagne. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz