Alison Goldfrapp's voice, songwriting, and very name are so intertwined with her wide-ranging body of work with Will Gregory as Goldfrapp that it makes establishing her identity as a solo artist uniquely difficult. Fortunately, her first album on her own proves she's up to the challenge. Instead of striving to make a deeply serious set of songs -- as many bandmembers do when they go solo -- on The Love Invention, she offers her listeners a chance to dance their cares away with some of the most direct and euphoric music of her career. The record's ecstatic grooves celebrate her musical roots and dance music itself as much as any relationship. Disco has always been a vital element of Alison Goldfrapp's work, and it provides some of The Love Invention's most glittering highlights: "Gatto Gelato" is a saucy, Italo disco-flavored standout, while "The Beat Divine" takes a cosmic, slow-motion approach that's so hazily sensual, it seems to have its own fog machine. On "Fever," a four-on-the-floor house beat brings the track -- and the album -- to a pulsing peak. Though the styles and influences may be familiar, Alison Goldfrapp takes distinctly different vantage points on them here than she does with Goldfrapp. Neither as dramatic nor as animated as the extremes of her work with Gregory, The Love Invention casts a consistently transporting spell of rejuvenation and seduction on songs like the Claptone collaboration "Digging Deeper Now," where Alison Goldfrapp sighs "Your colors/Breathe life back into me" over a swelling synth bass. Despite contributions from producers that also include Richard X, Paul Woolford, and James Greenwood, the whole album flows as smoothly as an artfully mixed DJ set. Of course, a passing resemblance to Goldfrapp's work is inevitable. Some of The Love Invention's sleekly linear tracks, such as "NeverStop," could almost pass for dance remixes of the duo's songs. Hints of Supernature's and Head First's elated dance and synth pop make themselves known, most notably on "In Electric Blue," a radiant ballad that recalls "Number One" as well as Alison Goldfrapp's larger talent for grounding her sonic fantasies in real feeling. Similarly, she transforms the prosaic into the magical on the album's sparkling title track, which was partly inspired by her use of hormone replacement therapy for menopause. On "So Hard So Hot," she fuels its Donna Summer-esque disco inferno with climate change fears. As The Love Invention unfolds, she changes things up while upholding the album's gliding flow, adding narrative drama with "Hotel"'s tale of fleeting passions and balancing "Subterfuge"'s ethereal tones with trap-inspired beats. Goldfrapp's mix of everything and anything is a large part of the duo's charm, but the way Alison Goldfrapp focuses on her legacy as a dance and pop music innovator on The Love Invention feels just as authentic. Her respect for the power of the groove results in one of her most cohesive projects, and one that makes the dance floor that much classier with its presence.© Heather Phares /TiVo

Aside from the experimental side project Lumpy Gravy, Hot Rats was the first album Frank Zappa recorded as a solo artist sans the Mothers, though he continued to employ previous musical collaborators, most notably multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood. Other than another side project -- the doo wop tribute Cruising With Ruben and the Jets -- Hot Rats was also the first time Zappa focused his efforts in one general area, namely jazz-rock. The result is a classic of the genre. Hot Rats' genius lies in the way it fuses the compositional sophistication of jazz with rock's down-and-dirty attitude -- there's a real looseness and grit to the three lengthy jams, and a surprising, wry elegance to the three shorter, tightly arranged numbers (particularly the sumptuous "Peaches en Regalia"). Perhaps the biggest revelation isn't the straightforward presentation, or the intricately shifting instrumental voices in Zappa's arrangements -- it's his own virtuosity on the electric guitar, recorded during extended improvisational workouts for the first time here. His wonderfully scuzzy, distorted tone is an especially good fit on "Willie the Pimp," with its greasy blues riffs and guest vocalist Captain Beefheart's Howlin' Wolf theatrics. Elsewhere, his skill as a melodist was in full flower, whether dominating an entire piece or providing a memorable theme as a jumping-off point. In addition to Underwood, the backing band featured contributions from Jean-Luc Ponty, Lowell George, and Don "Sugarcane" Harris, among others; still, Zappa is unquestionably the star of the show. Hot Rats still sizzles; few albums originating on the rock side of jazz-rock fusion flowed so freely between both sides of the equation, or achieved such unwavering excitement and energy.© Steve Huey /TiVo

The twelfth album from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Unlimited Love, is notable for several reasons: Next year, the band will have been around for 40 years; it's their first since 2009 with on-again, off-again guitarist John Frusciante; and they've returned to producer Rick Rubin, who helmed their 1991 commercial breakthrough Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The old gang sounds like they're having more fun than ever. "Aquatic Mouth Dance" is at once undeniably RHCP and also like nothing they've done before: With a breezy R&B chorus and a vibrant wash of brass, it's almost an Earth, Wind & Fire song; it's also Flea at his finest, delivering super-funky bass that shows why he's gone from being seen as a party doofus to earning real respect. A wild tribute to 1980s LA nightlife, the song name-drops John Doe, the Misfits, Billy Zoom, "the old Starwood" and the long-closed Cathay club where the band got its start, and even offers a self-referential wink to an old album: "Spilling beer is a good fountain/ Like the milk from a mother's tit." The band is also in a nostalgic mood on loose-limbed "Poster Child," a wah-inflected wordplay buffet: "Melle Mel and Richard Hell/ Were dancing at the Taco Bell/ When someone heard a rebel yell … Lizzy looking mighty thin/ The Thompsons had another twin … Steve Miller and Duran Duran/ A joker dancing in the sand." With its "ayo-ayo" chorus, "One Way Traffic" already feels like classic RHCP, as Anthony Kiedis laments his friends getting older and settling down: "Now they read them catalogs." (His escape? Driving down the PCH, music turned up, to a killer surf spot.) There are heavy moments—"These Are the Ways" is pure grunge; "Here Ever After" feels ominous; and "The Heavy Wing" lives up to its name with eye-watering guitar—and dreamy ones that showcase Frusciante's fluid touch (ballad "Not the One," the Steely Dan chill of "Let 'Em Cry," the slip-and-slide R&B of "She's a Lover"). There's even a song that does both, as "Whatchu Thinkin'" flies from pretty, slightly psyched-out melody to blissed-out jam. The band is also, after all these years, still able to evolve and surprise. "Bastards of Light" gets almost country before it crests in a grunge breakdown; "White Braids & Pillow Chair" is a slice of experimental weirdness, weaving in bits of gospel and rumbling Western scores. (The verdict is still out on Kiedis' Hiberno-meets-pirate affectation on the stomper "Black Summer.") This is much, much more than a legacy band turning out the same old stuff. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

At the time of its release, much of the fuss surrounding 1984 involved Van Halen's adoption of synthesizers on this, their sixth album -- a hoopla that was a bit of a red herring since the band had been layering in synths since their third album, Women and Children First. Those synths were either buried beneath guitars or used as texture, even on instrumentals where they were the main instrument, but here they were pushed to the forefront on "Jump," the album's first single and one of the chief reasons this became a blockbuster, crossing over to pop audiences Van Halen had flirted with before but had never quite won over. Of course, the mere addition of a synth wasn't enough to rope in fair-weather fans -- they needed pop hooks and pop songs, which 1984 had, most gloriously on the exuberant, timeless "Jump." There, the synths played a circular riff that wouldn't have sounded as overpowering on guitar, but the band didn't dispense with their signature monolithic, pulsating rock. Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony grounded the song, keeping it from floating to pop, and David Lee Roth simply exploded with boundless energy, making this seem rock & roll no matter how close it got to pop. And "Jump" was about as close as 1984 got to pop, as the other seven songs -- with the exception of "I'll Wait," which rides along on a synth riff as chilly as "Jump" is warm -- are heavy rock, capturing the same fiery band that's been performing with a brutal intensity since Women and Children First. But where those albums placed an emphasis on the band's attack, this places an emphasis on the songs, and they're uniformly terrific, the best set of original tunes Van Halen ever had. Surely, the anthems "Panama" and "Hot for Teacher" grab center stage -- how could they not, when the former is the band's signature sound elevated to performance art, with the latter being as lean and giddy, their one anthem that could be credibly covered by garage rockers? -- but "Top Jimmy," "Drop Dead Legs," and the dense yet funky closer, "House of Pain," are full-fledged songs, with great riffs and hooks in the guitars and vocals. It's the best showcase of Van Halen's instrumental prowess as a band, the best showcase for Diamond Dave's glorious shtick, the best showcase for their songwriting, just their flat-out best album overall. It's a shame that Roth left after this album, but maybe it's for the best, since there's no way Van Halen could have bettered this album with Dave around (and they didn't better it once Sammy joined, either).© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Yello is above all the story of a hit: Oh Yeah. Released in 1985, Oh Yeah did extremely well thanks to its feature in a series of teen movies, from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to American Pie, and, of course, thanks to the Simpsons character, Duffman. The has always kept Dieter Meier and Boris Blank fresh in public memory and the Swiss duo shows no sign of fading as they release their sixteenth album dedicated to the sounds of the late 80s, but with a slightly modern twist. This is more or less the sole concept for this album which, as explained by the group, goes in multiple directions: “It’s part spy film, part Dali-painting, part strobe lit dance floor, part 4D car chase and part deep space torch song.” The twelve tracks sound very much like machines from the 1980s, from Way Down, a nod towards Funkadelic, to the flashy, pithy house explosion of Arthur Spark. Forty years later, Yello seem to still be with it.

This two-LP set is both a lot more and a bit less than what it seems. It is seven years' worth of mostly very high-charting -- and all influential and important -- songs, leaving out some singles in favor of well-known album tracks, and in the process, giving an overview not just of the Rolling Stones' hits but of their evolving image. One hears them change from loud R&B-inspired rockers covering others' songs ("Time Is on My Side") into originators in their own right ("Satisfaction"); then into tastemakers and style-setters with a particularly decadent air ("Get Off of My Cloud," "19th Nervous Breakdown"), and finally into self-actualized rebel-poets ("Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Midnight Rambler") and Shaman-like symbols of chaos. On its initial release, Hot Rocks sold well, not only as a unique compilation but also as a panorama of the '60s. The only flaw was that it didn't give a good look at the Stones' full musical history, ignoring their early blues and psychedelic eras. There are also some anomalies in Hot Rocks' history for the collector -- the very first pressings included an outtake of "Brown Sugar" featuring Eric Clapton that was promptly replaced. This is an exciting assembly of material.© Bruce Eder /TiVo

Whereas most great live rock albums are about energy, At Fillmore East is like a great live jazz session, where the pleasure comes from the musicians' interaction and playing. The great thing about that is, the original album that brought the Allmans so much acclaim is as notable for its clever studio editing as it is for its performances. Producer Tom Dowd skillfully trimmed some of the performances down to relatively concise running time (edits later restored on the double-disc set The Fillmore Concerts), at times condensing several performances into one track. Far from being a sacrilege, this tactic helps present the Allmans in their best light, since even if the music isn't necessarily concise (three tracks run over ten minutes, with two in the 20-minute range), it does showcase the group's terrific instrumental interplay, letting each member (but particularly guitarist Duane and keyboardist/vocalist Gregg) shine. Even after the release of the unedited concerts, this original double album remains the pinnacle of the Allmans and Southern rock at its most elastic, bluesy, and jazzy.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are having fun in 2022. After Unlimited Love, released seven months ago, the Californians are following up with Return Of The Dream Canteen, certainly their best album in a long time. Why? Because its raw, stripped-back vibes drop us right in the middle of a hefty, super-controlled jam session. Of course, the two records were recorded at the same time, but the band clearly wanted to deliver two distinct musical intentions—and it works. It’s obviously impossible to escape their adolescent ravings about ‘high school’, and tedious teachers on the single ‘Eddie’. But the main thing is that the second half is all Stratocaster, which entails a series of pretty adventurous ideas. For example, there are two tracks which use electronic drums: ‘My Cigarette’ (which is almost reminiscent of Prince) and the TR-808 cowbell-clad ballad that is ‘In The Snow’. These pleasantly surprising choices are mixed together with the usual irony of ‘Peace and Love’, the whispered pop delirium of ‘Shoot Me A Smile’, and of course the essential funk-rock urges on ‘Afterlife’ or on the single ‘Tippa My Tongue’. Like its predecessor, Return Of The Dream Cantine is produced by Rick Rubin, who clearly pushed the band to remove any sense of artifice and thus contributed to making this album such a great success in terms of its composition and arrangement. © Brice Miclet/Qobuz

In May 1968 the label Stax lost the rights to its entire back catalog after splitting with the distributor Atlantic Records — bought by Warner — and only a few months before its famous artist Otis Redding and four of the six members of the Bar-Kays disappeared in a plane crash… In a desperate act to save the activity, its director, Al Bell, bet on Isaac Hayes giving him a second chance after the commercial flop of his first studio album. A successful gamble which restored some colour to Stax as Hot Buttered Soul sold more than a million copies. Recorded at the Ardent Studios in Memphis (Tennessee) and Tera Shirma Studios in Detroit (Michigan), Hot Buttered Soul is mainly an album of covers. Only the title Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic is co-credited to Isaac Hayes (and Alvertis Isbell). Isaac Hayes played Hammond organ and sang the vocals live while conducting the tracking band The Bar-Kays (reconstituted since the drama). The public discovered a modern music, very different from the standards of the time, which gave a new impulse to the soul. A major album of the genre remaining over time an indisputable reference of black American music. © Qobuz

The recording of Black and Blue took place at the same time as the auditions for guitarist Mick Taylor’s replacement. It's for that reason that the sessions were stalled and dragged on long enough to see the departure of an exasperated Glyn Johns – one of the Stones’ most loyal sound engineers who was involved in the production of their most successful albums – and finally the official addition of Ron Wood. A former guitarist for Rod Stewart, Wood wasn't as virtuosic as Mick Taylor but he was still an experienced musician and most importantly, he got along marvellously with the original members of the band. While we often remember the kitsch and simple ballads, Fool to Cry, and Memory Hotel from Black And Blue, it's also worth mentioning the tracks that are closer to what the Rolling Stones originally envisaged when they made the album: an eclectic album with Funk influences (Hot Stuff), Reggae (Cherry Oh Baby), and sometimes even sophisticated Blues/Jazz (on the amazing Melody). That being said, it wouldn’t be a true Stones album if here and there they didn’t show off their talent for creating a unique musical identity with electric guitars (Hand Of Fate, Crazy Mama). © Iskender Fay/Qobuz