Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe aren't often discussed as one of pop music's great songwriting teams, but the wonderfully eclectic body of work they've created as Pet Shop Boys speaks for itself. Since crashing into the mainstream with 1985's chart-topper, "West End Girls," the London duo have delivered a remarkably consistent barrage of tightly crafted synth pop singles that fuse dance culture with trenchant cultural commentary and an undeniable sense of melodic grace. Each of their 14 albums has reached the U.K. Top Ten, and they've sent an astonishing 42 singles into the Top 30, including number ones like "It's a Sin" and "Heart." A bevy of compilations have celebrated Pet Shop Boys' highlights over the years, and 1991's Discography: The Complete Singles Collection was a significant number three hit itself. 2023's Smash: The Singles 1985-2020 is essentially an update of the aforementioned collection and contains, in chronological order, each of their singles from this 35-year period. In unpacking its 55-song sequence, the first thing one notices is the uniform quality of their songs: elegantly constructed, dense with pop nutrients, undeniably catchy, yet ever so smart. Tennant is an underrated vocalist who has continually pushed his range over the years, balancing wry asides and spoken word sections with his reedy and surprisingly nimble tenor. Lowe's ear for a catchy hook is another defining element and ranges from subtle (1990's droll standout "Being Boring") to grandiose (2013's marvelous banger "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct"). What's more, the pair has assembled this durable catalog almost without interruption, reliably delivering singles, albums, remixes, and EPs almost annually since their debut. Work ethic and quality don't always go hand in hand, but Pet Shop Boys have both in spades.© Timothy Monger /TiVo

“We are not serious when we are 17.” But Billie Eilish has all the marks of a serious young lady and someone who we should indeed take seriously. At the age of sixteen she released the noteworthy Don’t Smile at Me, an EP created with the help of her older brother, Finneas O’Connell. The EP is comprised of the singles Copycat, Bellyache and Ocean Eyes and was posted two years earlier on Soundcloud when Eilish was just 14 years old. Critics hailed her music due to its depiction of a lost adolescent with bleached hair, dressed in oversized sweaters. With the album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and its strange title and shocking cover, Eilish and her dark hair flaunt their more obscure side. One is immediately struck with how well polished Finneas O’Connell’s production is after an intro in which Eilish jokingly mocks her brother for his Invisalign (a kind of invisible dental brace). The first track Bad Guy features an EDM beat which contrasts with the dreaminess of the subsequent Xanny. The rest of the album follows this trend, weaving together both harsh and soft songs combined with the mature lyrics of a girl who was diagnosed with Tourette’s at the age of 11 and speaks of Xanax and young girls descent into a hellish existence. In this mix of gloomy pop and creepy trap beats, Eilish excels. A real eye-opener. © Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz

On her ninth album, and first in nearly a decade, Natalie Merchant echoes the lushness of her classic Ophelia from 1998—though you can hear the age in her voice. That's not a bad thing. You might not recognize her in the first notes of the excellent "Big Girls," but you will soon enough. Her voice is richer, smokier, and a stunning complement to duet partner Abena Koomson-Davis' warm lilt on both this soulful piano number and its follow-up "Come on, Aphrodite," an appeal to the goddess to deliver all the beauty and messiness of love. Egged on by vibrant horns, Koomson-Davis sounds full of longing, while Merchant is simply commanding: "Make me head over heels/ Make me drunk/ Make me blind/ Over the moon/ Half out of my mind." Merchant has said the 10 songs here "needed all the textures of full orchestrations: wood, metal, gut, reeds, skins, human breath, pressure, and friction," which led her to seven composers, including Gabriel Kahane and Megan Gould, as well as the Celtic folk group Lúnasa. Insistent cowbell escorts in sultry piano and Cab Calloway-style horns on "Tower of Babel," while "Narcissus" is set to romantic guitar and tells that Greek myth from cursed Echo's point of view, letting her speak the complete thoughts she was unable to say in the original story. "I'm nothing but the clear and empty sky above/ I'm light, can you see me?" Merchant sings, her voice at times reaching the clarity of her early 10,000 Maniacs years. And her signature vibrato is perhaps best highlighted on "Song of Himself." She covers "Hunting the Wren" by the Irish folk band Lankum, offering a softer, more delicate contrast to the stoic pain of the original, which uses the bird as a metaphor for exploited women. "Sister Tilly" is a melancholic but playful string tribute to the fading Chelsea Girls and '60s earth mothers of yore—the "women of my mother's generation who are leaving us now," Merchant has said. She lovingly chronicles "your Rilke poems and your stacks of Mother Jones, your feminist raves in your Didion shades, and your Zeppelin so loud and so proud." Near the end, it rolls into an easy, Carly Simon-like sway. (There are shades of Joni Mitchell, meanwhile, on the Celtic-tinged "Eye of the Storm.") The whole thing ends on a dramatic turn with "The Feast of Saint Valentine" and its chamber pop stylings; kudos to Merchant for managing to open a song with the line "In the deep and darkest night of your soul" and close it with "Love will conquer all" without earning any cynicism for those cliches. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

It was designed to be a blockbuster and it was. Prior to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John had hits -- his second album, Elton John, went Top 10 in the U.S. and U.K., and he had smash singles in "Crocodile Rock" and "Daniel" -- but this 1973 album was a statement of purpose spilling over two LPs, which was all the better to showcase every element of John's spangled personality. Opening with the 11-minute melodramatic exercise "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" -- as prog as Elton ever got -- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road immediately embraces excess but also tunefulness, as John immediately switches over to "Candle in the Wind" and "Bennie & the Jets," two songs that form the core of his canon and go a long way toward explaining the over-stuffed appeal of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. This was truly the debut of Elton John the entertainer, the pro who knows how to satisfy every segment of his audience, and this eagerness to please means the record is giddy but also overwhelming, a rush of too much muchness. Still, taken a side at a time, or even a song a time, it is a thing of wonder, serving up such perfectly sculpted pop songs as "Grey Seal," full-bore rockers as "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" and "Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock & Roll)," cinematic ballads like "I've Seen That Movie Too," throwbacks to the dusty conceptual sweep of Tumbleweed Connection in the form of "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34)," and preposterous glam novelties, like "Jamaica Jerk-Off." This touched on everything John did before, and suggested ways he'd move in the near-future, and that sprawl is always messy but usually delightful, a testament to Elton's '70s power as a star and a musician.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Lana Del Rey is a femme fatale with a smoky voice, a languorous image, and a modeling contract. Not coincidentally, she didn't lack for attention leading up to the release of her Interscope debut, Born to Die. The hype began in mid-2011 with a stunning song and video for "Video Games," and it kept on rising, right up to her January 2012 performance on Saturday Night Live (making her the first artist since Natalie Imbruglia in 1998 to perform on SNL without an album available). Although it's easy to see the reasons why Del Rey got her contract, it's also easy to hear: her songwriting skills and her bewitching voice. "Video Games" is a beautiful song, calling to mind Fiona Apple and Anna Calvi as she recounts another variation on the age-old trope of female-as-sex-object. Her vacant, tired reading of the song rescues it from any hint of exploitation, making it a winner. Unfortunately, the only problem with Born to Die is a big one. There is a chasm that separates "Video Games" from the other material and performances on the album, which aims for exactly the same target -- sultry, sexy, wasted -- but with none of the same lyrical grace, emotional power, or sympathetic productions. Del Rey doesn't mind taking chances, varying her vocalizing and delivery, toying with her lines and reaching for cinematic flourishes ("he loves me with every beat of his cocaine heart," "Pabst Blue Ribbon on ice"), and even attempting to rap. But she's unable to consistently sell herself as a heartbreaker, and most of the songs here sound like cobbled retreads of "Video Games." An intriguing start, but Del Rey is going to have to hit the books if she wants to stay as successful as her career promised early on.© John Bush /TiVo

Refreshing and free, Something to Give Each Other is the sound of a maturing artist taking a bold step into the spotlight. Three years after his last EP and a full half-decade since his previous full-length, Troye Sivan finally does what he came to do, delivering an effervescent dose of pop that is all-at-once endearing, explicit, and exciting. In addition to the horny lead single "Rush" -- one of the most memorable singles of 2023 -- Something... is packed with a wide range of gems that range from club-friendly dance anthems ("Got Me Started," "Silly," and "What's the Time Where You Are?") to romantic, midtempo sweetness ("In My Room," "One of Your Girls"). The young artist responsible for his earlier, more introspective bedroom pop material is still at work here, while that liberated spirit that began to "Bloom" in 2018 has taken the reins and successfully reached a place where he can be himself. As such, Something to Give Each Other succeeds because Sivan has been freed: to be who he wants to be and express that through his most engaging and addictive album to date.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Almost a decade since the release of their first effort, time and experience have softened Crosses' bite. On Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete., the pair (Far's Shaun Lopez and Deftones' Chino Moreno) dig deeper into their electronic sides, embracing synth pop, new wave, and goth influences. Less crunch, fewer guitars, and barely any screaming -- it's like Trent Reznor, Thom Yorke, and Sade formed a supergroup. Whereas their self-titled debut might be categorized as a "Deftones Lite" exercise, this sophomore set finally sounds like a truly separate entity. Moody as ever, the album is set to chilly synths and cold soundscapes, diving into an even darker chasm. Descending into shadowy club territory on opener "Pleasure," a skittering beat and jagged synth stabs are enveloped by a spacious, atmospheric bubble as Moreno intones a sultry "Pleasure, pleasure, pleasure." The sparse "Invisible Hand" sounds like it could be a sweet pop ditty with its melodic chorus, but with a repetitive vocal sample strung throughout the track, it ends up being anxiety-provoking and utterly unnerving. That interplay, between the sensual and discomfiting, makes for an engaging listen -- and the listener can't really predict what Lopez and Moreno will do next. In addition to highlights such as the ominous "Pulseplagg" and sprawling "Grace," Goodnight also features appearances by Run the Jewels' El-P on "Big Youth" and Cure frontman Robert Smith on "Girls Float † Boys Cry." Moving way beyond their debut, Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete. is the sound of artistic maturation and sonic expansion, a logical culmination of what they were trying to do in the first place.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

One of the great new wave/early MTV records, She's So Unusual is a giddy mix of self-confidence, effervescent popcraft, unabashed sentimentality, subversiveness, and clever humor. In short, it's a multifaceted portrait of a multifaceted talent, an artist that's far more clever than her thin, deliberately girly voice would indicate. Then again, Lauper's voice suits her musical persona, since its chirpiness adds depth, or reconfigures the songs, whether it's the call to arms of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" or the tearjerking "Time After Time." Lauper is at her very best on the first side, all of which were singles or received airplay, and this collection of songs -- "Money Changes Everything," "Girls," "When You Were Mine," "Time," "She Bop," "All Through the Night" -- is astonishing in its consistency, so strong that it makes the remaining tracks -- all enjoyable, but rather pedestrian -- charming by their association with songs so brilliantly alive. If Lauper couldn't maintain this level of consistency, it's because this captured her persona better than anyone could imagine -- when a debut captures a personality so well, let alone a personality so tied to its time, the successive work can't help but pale in comparison. Still, when it's captured as brightly and brilliantly as it is here, it does result in a debut that retains its potency, long after its production seems a little dated.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

"[A] shining demonstration of the aptitude that made Monét a sought after collaborator, but here, in the album’s comfy old-school soul and sharp modern edge, she preserves something fresh and unique for herself."© TiVo

A sequel to Nicki Minaj's 2010 debut Pink Friday, this super-stuffed album (22 tracks, 70-plus minutes) finds the rap queen defending her throne and showing off her diverse range of skills. It kicks off with a slow jam, "Are You Gone Already"—a lullaby for her dad, killed in a hit-and-run in 2022—that interpolates large, sped-up chunks of Billie Eilish's "When the Party's Over." But right after that is "Barbie Dangerous" highlighting Minaj's signature rapid-fire precision on inventive verses that reference her young son (nicknamed Papa Bear): "Name a rapper that can channel Big Poppa and push out Papa Bear/ Ho, I'm mother of the year." Moody "Nicki Hendrix," featuring an Auto-Tuned Future serves as a reminder tha Minaj can sing with real emotion. Excellent "Let Me Calm Down" shines with a '90s throwback feel—delivering silky-smooth R&B balladry, hard-spitting from Minaj and a breathtaking, roller-coaster guest turn from J. Cole as he defends the queen. Indeed, Minaj flexes her power via the big names she's able to enlist. Drake brings the sexy come-ons for dance-floor ready "Needle," with its island-breeze vibes and references to Minaj's Trinidadian origin story. On twinkly "RNB," Lil Wayne goads and Tate Kobang croons, while Minaj swears her ride-or-die devotion. As usual, Minaj seemingly takes swipes at rivals, including Megan Thee Stallion on bombastic "FTCU." She also pulls out her notorious alter egos, such as Harajuku Barbie on "Cowgirl"—which also shines with dreamy singer-songwriter guitar and Lourdiz singing sweetly about a sex position. Minaj's other selves mostly stay in the closet, though new addition Red Ruby gets introduced via irresistible "Red Ruby da Sleeze," a spicy dancehall-flavored track that samples Lumidee's 2003 hit "Never Leave You." Pop hits are put to good use on bass-booming "My Life" (Blondie's "Heart of Glass") and "Pink Friday Girls," which borrows all the best part of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and is sheer exuberance in the vein of Minaj's 2012 classic "Starships." Divisive "Everybody" turns the madness up to 11, sampling the Junior Senior earworm "Move Your Feet" and layering on a tongue-twister verse from Lil Uzi Vert. Minaj sprays her lyrics in short spurts and cleverly uses the sample: "Pretty face with a Barbie doll (Body)/ 'Nother year, 'nother Vince Lom' (Body)." Get ready, because it's going to be blasting from cars and TikTok videos for months to come. Super fun "Super Freaky Girl" samples Rick James and leans hard into a cheerleader chant ("F-R-EEEE-A-K"), with lines that range from cartoon double-entendres to plainspoken raunch. Minaj completely switches gears on "Blessings," featuring gospel singer Tasha Cobbs Leonard, and sincerely thanks God for all she has in life. Finally, she switches to a deeper, T-Boz-like register and reggae feel for "Just the Memories"—a sincere-sounding reminder of how Minaj got here: "I remember when I was the girl that everybody doubted/ When every label turned me down, and then they laughed about it/ I 'member goin' home and writin' fifty more raps." © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

Graduation's pre-leak talk wasn't as substantive as it was with Kanye West's first two albums. As with just about any other artist's third album, it had to be expected. The College Dropout was one of the most anticipated debuts of the early 2000s, while Late Registration had people wondering why Kanye would feel the need to work so extensively with multi-instrumentalist rock producer Jon Brion (the J Dilla of the chamberlin) and whether or not Kanye's hubristic tendencies would get the better of it. With Graduation, there was Takashi Murakami's artwork, a silly first-week sales competition with the decreasingly relevant 50 Cent, and chatter about synthesizers running wild. That was about it, but it all seemed loud and prevalent, due in part to a lack of high-profile rap albums released in 2007. Graduation is neither as bold nor as scattered as The College Dropout, and it's neither as extroverted nor as sonically rich as Late Registration. Kanye still makes up for his shortcomings as an MC and lyricist by remaining charmingly clumsy, frequently dealing nonsense through suspect rhyme schemes: "I never be picture-perfect Beyoncé/Be light as Al B. or black as Chauncey/Remember him from Blackstreet, he was black as the street was/I never be laid-back as this beat was." The songs that are thematically distanced, introspective, and/or wary -- there are many of them -- are, in turn, made more palatable than insufferable. That his humor remains a constant is a crucial aspect of the album, especially considering that most other MCs would sound embittered and hostile if they were handling similar subjects, like haters new and old, being a braggart with a persistent underdog complex, getting wrapped up in spending and flaunting, and the many hassles of being a hedonist. Those who have admired Kanye as a sharp producer while detesting him as an inept MC might find the gleaming synth sprites, as heard most prominently throughout "Flashing Lights" and "Stronger," to be one of the most glaring deal-breakers in hip-hop history. Though the synthesizer use marks a clear, conscious diversion from Kanye's past productions, highlights like "I Wonder," "The Glory," and "Everything I Am" are deeply rooted in the Kanye of old, using nostalgia-inducing samples, elegant pianos and strings, and gospel choirs. So, no, he's not dreaming of fronting A Flock of Seagulls or joining Daft Punk. He's being his shrewd, occasionally foolish, and adventurous self.© Andy Kellman /TiVo

For their third album, The Smiths are at the top of their game: a tortured crooning voice, crystalline arpeggios seeping from a limpid guitar, romantic and cynical lyrics, everything’s gathered for some 100% British pop, like The Kinks, The Who and The Jam knew how to create in their day… The Queen Is Dead, Bigmouth Strikes Again, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out and Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others are all introspective gems that the charismatic Morrissey transforms into pure poetry. Teenage worries, social paintings, subtle caricatures, Mozzer dips his pen here in the ink of perfection. © MD/QobuzIan Youngs of BBC News has described them as « the band that inspired deeper devotion than any British group since the Beatles ». In 2002, The Smiths was named the most important musical artist of all time in a survey conducted by the NME. In 2013, The Queen Is Dead was voted best album of all time by the same weekly magazine. In 1996, The Queen Is Dead was voted best album of the decade 1986-1996 by The inRocKuptibles.

Doja Cat's fourth album Scarlet marks one of the most exciting eras for femcees since Cardi B. Hot off the back of much media and fan speculation, Doja isn't afraid to speak out this time around, and no one is safe. Earlier in 2023, the pop superstar was losing followers by the boatload stating "seeing these people unfollow me makes me feel like I've defeated a large beast that's been holding me down for so long… now I can reconnect with people who really matter and love me for who I am." This "large beast" is most clearly addressed on the hard-hitting track "Demons," a Doja-fied version of something you may have found on Tyler the Creator's revolutionary 2011 album Goblin: "Lots of people that were sleeping say I rap now/ Lots of people's hopes and dreams are finally trashed now." And rap she does.Proudly boasting "no features" on her social media, this album is 100% Doja Cat; she didn't come to play and she has a lot to say. From her laid-back flow on "Balut" where she addresses her amateur contemporaries to "Wet Vagina" where she points out her newfound status in the fashion world, it is always great to see a female artist who unashamedly backs herself like no other. Even on "Attention" she brings up the fact that the media tried to pin her against fellow rap icon and personal influence Nicki Minaj ("'Why she think she Nicki M? She think she hot shit'/ Huh, I never gave a F, go stir the pot bitch").Beyond her protean flow, Doja's knack for writing flaming hot bars really shines on Scarlet. She is a master of the metaphor and the double entendre. On "Balut" she raps "Make the hoe kneel/ She kill it like an O'Neal," using "she kill it" as a homophone for Shaquille (O'Neal). The production also speaks for the album's versatility, with credits including hip-hop producer legend Rogét Chahayed, London on Da Track, Beat Butcha, Jay Versace and f a l l e n. Scarlet was written between Doja's regular writing schedule and a 10 day Malibu treat.  As a result, half of the album has a different aura and message from the other. Tracks like "Attention" and "Paint the Town Red" have an ultra cool laissez-faire Doja is known for and "Demons," "Wet Vagina," "Fuck the Girls FTG" and "Balut" all have a certain bite recalling her early SoundCloud rap days. The vibe completely switches to something more relaxed and "sing-songy" (think her previous album) on tracks like "Gun" and "Go Off" (produced by  f a l l e n, who also worked on Planet Her), and can also be felt on "97," "Agora Hills," "Can't Wait" and "Love Life." Whilst this album has a lot to offer and there is something for everyone, one might experience a little less whiplash if a few songs were dropped from the 15-deep tracklist.  Regardless, Doja Cat has certainly earned the title of the Princess of Rap and is deserving of the recognition as a truly talented multi-faceted artist and pop-culture icon. To quote Princess Doja one last time, "Is it coke? Is it crack? Is it meth?/ What the fuck do she put in them hits!?" © Jessica Porter-Langson/Qobuz

Joe's Garage was originally released in 1979 in two separate parts; Act I came first, followed by a two-record set containing Acts II & III. Joe's Garage is generally regarded as one of Zappa's finest post-'60s conceptual works, a sprawling, satirical rock opera about a totalitarian future in which music is outlawed to control the population. The narrative is long, winding, and occasionally loses focus; it was improvised in a weekend, some of it around previously existing songs, but Zappa manages to make most of it hang together. Acts II & III give off much the same feel, as Zappa relies heavily on what he termed "xenochrony" -- previously recorded guitar solos transferred onto new, rhythmically different backing tracks to produce random musical coincidences. Such an approach is guaranteed to produce some slow moments as well, but critics latched onto the work more for its conceptual substance. Joe's Garage satirizes social control mechanisms, consumerism, corporate abuses, gender politics, religion, and the rock & roll lifestyle; all these forces conspire against the title protagonist, an average young man who simply wants to play guitar and enjoy himself. Even though Zappa himself hated punk rock and even says so on the album, his ideas seemed to support punk's do-it-yourself challenge to the record industry and to social norms in general. Since this is 1979-era Zappa, there are liberal applications of his trademark scatological humor (the titles of "Catholic Girls," "Crew Slut," "Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?," and "Keep It Greasey" are self-explanatory). Still, in spite of its flaws, Joe's Garage has enough substance to make it one of Zappa's most important '70s works and overall political statements, even if it's not focused enough to rank with his earliest Mothers of Invention masterpieces.© Steve Huey /TiVo

Just as nature blossoms to life during springtime, so do Florence + the Machine with their triumphant fifth album, Dance Fever. This vernal revival is patient to reveal its full scope, but once these songs settle in, it's a transformative journey that's spiritually on par with 2009's Lungs and 2015's How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful in emotional depth and uplifting power. At first glance of the title (and eyeing producers Jack Antonoff, Glass Animals' Dave Bayley, and Kid Harpoon), fans might expect a disco-kissed, dancefloor romp, but Dance Fever is more pure and pastoral in its interpretation of the titular movement: a primal act of ecstasy that takes inspiration from the choreomania phenomenon, where groups of people burst into dance frenzies to the point of exhaustion or injury. With that in mind, Florence Welch and company invite listeners to their sacred ceremony to find healing, empowerment, and catharsis through song and physical response ("Heaven Is Here" could conjure an entire army of spirits). The most immediate expressions come with "Free" and "My Love." The former track is an urgent, synths-and-guitar pop thrill that sounds like Antonoff's band Bleachers taking on an early-aughts Bloc Party or Strokes number, while the latter is one of the band's best singles, the closest this album comes to nailing the expected level of mainstream "dance" energy with its shimmering production, heaving beat, and festival-sized chorus. "Choreomania" percolates to life with Welch's confessional spoken word delivery and a sparse, skittering beat, slowly building to an explosive, euphoric end packed with strings, pounding percussion, and joyous cries of "I just keep spinning and I dance myself to death." "Cassandra" is similarly rapturous, swelling with church organs and Welch's trilling vocals that recalls the dramatics of Ceremonials. The shiver-inducing "Daffodil" follows a similar route, a showstopping highlight that sways and stomps with cinematic might, clattering to a close with a cacophony of drums and heaving breaths. Meanwhile, the bold "King," the threatening harps-and-horns "Girls Against God," and the seething "Dream Girl Evil" empower with some of the strongest lyrics and personal insight on the album. While this effort may not be Welch's surprise transformation into a full-on pop diva, Dance Fever is a generous offering to the goddesses of dance and restorative energy.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo