Originally titled King Does the King's Thing, here's Albert King adding his own touch to a batch of Elvis Presley tunes. Because King's style is so irreducible, the concept actually works, as he fills this album with his traditional, high-voltage guitar work and strong vocals. That isn't surprising, since four of the nine tunes on here originally started as R&B hits covered by Presley, including an instrumental version of Smiley Lewis' "One Night." No matter what the original sources may be, though, this is a strong showing in King's catalog. © Cub Koda /TiVo

From the release of his debut album, My Aim Is True, in 1977, Elvis Costello expressed his musical gluttony by mixing explosive pub rock, reggae tones, almost country-like ballads and pop songs sculpted with crystalline arpeggios. It was this eclecticism that allowed him to work with people as diverse as George Jones (the godfather of country music), Burt Bacharach (the master of pop lounge), the mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, the jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and even the rappers from The Roots, just to name a few… Forty years later, the elusive spectacled Brit (having always been fond of concept albums), releases Look Now with the Imposters, featuring Steve Nieve on keyboards, Davey Faragher on bass and Pete Thomas (already the drummer of his group Attractions). This group, with whom he recorded Momofuku in 2008, give him the chance to get his writing pen out once again… and it’s as sharp as ever. Here he has shared the writing responsibilities with the great Carole King on Burnt Sugar Is so Bitter, co-written 25 years earlier, as well as with Bacharach on Photographs Can Lie and Don't Look Now. Once again, it feels like Costello is searching for the perfect pop song. He takes an approach that screams 1960s. However, the timelessness of the album anchors the songwriter well in his time, in 2018. Costello succeeds in writing melodies and lyrics that stick in his listeners’ heads. A good song, as we all know, is ageless and Elvis Costello certainly reminds us of that here... © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Get Happy!! was born as much from sincere love for soul as it was for Elvis Costello's desire to distance himself from an unfortunate verbal faux pas where he insulted Ray Charles in an attempt to get Stephen Stills' goat. Either way, it resulted in a 20-song blue-eyed soul tour de force, where Costello doesn't just want to prove his love, he wants to prove his knowledge. So, he tries everything, starting with Motown and Northern soul, then touching on smooth uptown ballads and gritty Southern soul, even finding common ground between the two by recasting Sam & Dave's "I Can't Stand Up (For Falling Down)" as a careening stomper. What's remarkable is that this approach dovetails with the pop carnival essayed by Armed Forces, standing as a full-fledged Costello record instead of a genre exercise. As it furiously flits through 20 songs, Costello's cynicisms, rage, humor, and misanthropic sensibility gel remarkably well. Some songs may not quite hit their targets, but that's part of the album's charm -- it moves so fast that its lesser songs rush by on the way to such full-fledged masterpieces as "New Amsterdam," "High Fidelity," and "Riot Act." Get Happy!! bursts with energy and invention, standing as a testament to how Costello, the pop encyclopedia, can reinvent the past in his own image. [The Japanese edition includes bonus material.]© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Elvis Presley's third non-soundtrack, post-Army album is, in many ways, his most interesting from those years, though nowhere near his best. Something for Everybody offers a tamer body of songs than Elvis Is Back!, but also shows the effect of Presley's maturation -- his voice is better than ever, and this is reflected in the arrangements, most of which are closer in spirit to the finely crafted pop symphonies of Roy Orbison than they are to any of Presley's earlier work. His ballad performances are impeccable, displaying a richness of intonation and delicacy of nuance that is downright seductive. Rather less successful are the rockers, including "I'm Coming Home," "Judy," and "Put the Blame on Me," which show a cooling of some of the white heat that Presley used to generate on the rhythm numbers. The one moment where the old Elvis Presley manifests himself is "I Want You with Me," a shouter that's only missing maybe a Gene Vincent-style scream or two from the backing band on the choruses.© Bruce Eder /TiVo

“Since I was two years old, all I knew was gospel music. It became such a part of my life, it was as natural as dancing. A way to escape my problems, and my way of release.” Elvis fans are well aware of their idol’s veneration for gospel. Fans who are always willing to expand their already XXXL music library. Even when the attempt ostensibly looks like a cash grab… This Where No One Stands Alone celebrates the King’s gospel side. Produced by Joel Weinshanker, Lisa Marie Presley and Andy Childs, the album released in August 2018 features re-orchestrated versions performed with artists who worked with Elvis on stage or in studio, like Darlene Love (who sang with him for the first time during the NBC TV special in 1968) and Dr Cissy Houston (who, along with the Sweet Inspirations, performed with the King on stage from 1969). Where No One Stands Alone also includes a duo with his daughter Lisa Marie Presley on the eponymous song. “It was a very powerful and moving experience to sing with my father, she writes in the album’s sleeve notes. The lyrics speak to me and touch my soul. I'm certain that the lyrics spoke to my father in much the same way.” Also featured are some classics so dear to the King, like Crying In The Chapel, How Great Thou Art, You’ll Never Walk Alone and Saved composed by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, as well as So High, Stand By Me, In The Garden and the indispensable Amazing Grace. Titles for the most part borrowed from two gospel albums, How Great Thou Art released in 1967 and He Touched Me in 1972. Concretely, only the King’s voice was retained. The parts with the Jordanaires, guitarists Scotty Moore, Chip Young and James Burton, Floyd Cramer’s piano and D. J. Fontana’s drums were all scrapped. For those who know the original recordings, it’s a painful amputation. Even upsetting… Yet the work offered here is honest and doesn’t distort the King’s initial intention nor the spirit of his interpretations. Quite logically, this 2018 production brings a “contemporary” touch without vainly and hypocritically trying to remain young and modern. The master’s voice remains intact and staggering as ever. The union between the King and the Lord could only be divine… © Max Dembo/Qobuz

Australian psych pop weirdos Pond existed for a time in the shadows of their somewhat more accessible sister band Tame Impala, both groups sharing multiple members and an obsession with the acid-damaged psychedelia of the '60s and early '70s. When Pond frontman/songwriter Nick Allbrook left his position as touring bassist with Tame Impala in 2013, his cleared schedule kicked Pond into high gear, with Allbrook writing the majority of their dark fifth album, Hobo Rocket, and corralling his band to record the album in just four days. Just over a year later, Man, It Feels Like Space Again emerged as the band's sixth full-length, this time far more ambitious, unexpectedly funky, and cosmically colorful. Even with just nine tunes of moderate length, MIFLSA feels every bit as epic as the mind-expanding double albums of '70s freaker-outers like Pink Floyd and Hawkwind. The production drifts through different styles minute to minute as well as song to song. The band takes flight with all the blissed-out chamber pop friendliness of Super Furry Animals or Spiritualized on album opener "Waiting Around for Grace," moving quickly to a far more swaggering glam rock feel on "Elvis' Flaming Star," which sounds like Ariel Pink imitating Bowie. The album rarely slows down, offering up track after track of blown-out guitar tones, drifting synths, and even the occasional sound effect of atom bomb explosions. Things feel pleasantly crowded, from the laser beam party rock of "Zond" to the Funkadelic-flavored groove of "Outside Is the Right Side." The band finally takes a breather with the beautifully spare Dylanesque acoustic opening of "Medicine Hat." It's a stark contrast to the glimmering psych tones that saturate the rest of the album, but the respite is short-lived. By the second half of the tune, the band is back in full force, layering the song's soft structure with armies of fuzzy guitar tones. Somewhat disorienting, MIFLSA is a messy, incredible collection of damaged pop, and shows a band that's been forming for a while stepping into its full capabilities.© Fred Thomas /TiVo

Following a pair of near-masterpieces in 1986, Elvis Costello went into semi-seclusion, separating from the Attractions (once again) and Columbia Records, emerging three years later on Warner Brothers with Spike. Mockingly billing himself as "the Beloved Entertainer" on the album's front cover, there's nevertheless a real sense of showbiz pizzazz here, as he tries on a little bit of everything. You like Costello the soul singer? Try "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror," recorded with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Costello the pop sophisticate? How about the torch song "Baby Plays Around" or "God's Comic," a tune that mocks Andrew Lloyd Webber, while aching to eclipse him. The angry young man? There's "Tramp the Dirt Down," perhaps the nastiest anti-Thatcher song ever waxed. Costello the witty wordsmith? Well, there's "Pads, Paws and Claws," a rockabilly tune overflowing with labored puns. Costello the gifted pure pop tunesmith? There's plenty of that here, from "This Town" with Roger McGuinn and Paul McCartney and the lovely "Veronica," a tune co-written with McCartney that became one of his biggest hits. So, there's a lot here -- everything except focus, actually. And Costello certainly likes to indulge himself here, throwing in the awkward "Chewing Gum" and the instrumental "Stalin Malone" for good measure. There are some moments that work quite well, but there's nothing connecting them, and if anything, he's trying way too hard -- and, for all of the overarching ambition of his early-'80s recordings, that criticism never applied before. Certainly, there are cuts for cultists to enjoy, but Spike's sprawl works against it, resulting in a maddeningly diffuse listen.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

A Boy from Tupelo rounds up all the known existing Elvis Presley recordings from 1953 through 1955, a sum total of 53 studio takes and 32 live performances. The subtitle of the triple-disc set is The Complete 1953-1955 Recordings but it could as easily been dubbed The Sun Years, as the first two discs not only contain all the masters Elvis released for Sam Phillips' legendary Memphis label, but all the outtakes, the four alternate mixes of Sun material released by RCA, and the four acetates Presley privately cut for Phillips' Memphis Recording Service. The third disc is devoted to live material, primarily recorded at the Shreveport radio show Louisiana Hayride, but there are also some tracks recorded at concerts and radio stations in Texas and Mississippi. A lot of this third disc has shown up on prior Presley compilations, usually collections targeted at the hardcore Elvis fans, but A Boy from Tupelo presents all this music in a logical, orderly sequence that suits Legacy's previous big Presley boxes, such as 2011's Young Man with the Big Beat: The Complete 1956 Masters. If A Boy from Tupelo doesn't seem as revelatory as that five-disc box, blame it on the fact that apart from the live recordings -- which are cleaned up, but often can still seem pretty rough -- this is heavily recycled material. Elvis' Sun sessions were first reissued as a 16-track LP called The Sun Sessions in 1976, which was trumped 11 years later by the CD release of The Complete Sun Sessions -- which itself wound up getting usurped in 1999 by the double-disc Sunrise. Additionally, this music can be found on 1992's five-CD The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50s Masters, the massive 2010 box The Complete Elvis Presley Masters, and 2016's The RCA Album Collection, albeit spread over some of that set's 60 CDs, so no matter how well executed A Boy from Tupelo is -- and it's very well done, boasting a handsome, detailed book and clean sound -- it can't help but feel a little old hat. Still, those consumers in the market for the earliest Elvis will be satisfied by this, as it not only has everything in one convenient box but the addition of the live material does provide a nice coda to the familiar Sun sessions. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo