Two chords on the synthesiser and everything is said! More than enough to recognise the singular sound of Eurythmics, the emblematic band from the 1980s. The tandem of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart symbolises perfectly this new synth-pop wave (pop in essence, futuristic in form) so typical of this decade during which guitars had almost become personae non-gratae… And while the British duo topped the charts during the entire decade, Sweet Dreams remains their greatest work. On the partition, Dave Stewart dabbled in a darker new wave, a-la Bowie (Love Is A Stranger) and dared venturing into “krautrock” light (Sweet Dreams). He could go funky (I’ve Got An Angel) or even disco (Wrap It Up). On vocals, Annie Lennox is impressive, as always, switching from soul to a bleak singing voice at will. A true classic! © Clotilde Maréchal/Qobuz

This Life is the ninth studio album from original British boy band Take That and follows 2017's Wonderland. The record sees Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, and Howard Donald deliver a selection of grown-up pop cuts produced by Dave Cobb, Jennifer Decilveo, Ryan Carline, and Barlow himself. The singles "Windows," "Brand New Sun," and "This Life" are included.© Rich Wilson /TiVo

There is no overestimating the historical power and influence of Shania Twain's Come on Over. You can hear it in the music of Taylor Swift (all the way up through 1989, easily), as well as Carrie Underwood, Kelsea Ballerini, Carly Pearce, Kelly Clarkson, Maren Morris, latter day The Chicks, even Harry Styles. Its success—40 million copies sold and counting—freed up boundaries (for better or worse) for countless country acts, from Rascal Flatts to Dan + Shay, to be unashamed of going pop. The album's production, by Twain's now-ex husband Mutt Lange (who was previously best known for his work with AC/DC and Def Leppard), is an epoch in the country music timeline—much the way Chet Atkins' Nashville Sound was. While some of those production flourishes sound a bit dated on the three-disc remaster (including domestic and international versions plus a grab bag of collaborations and remixes) of Come on Over, these are still killer songs that would tear it up on country and/or pop radio today. "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" packs an even bigger dose of serotonin. Every aspect—guitar, fiddle, vocals—of "Love Gets Me Every Time" sounds so crisp and clear on both the US version and its international compatriot, famously stripped of the hollering fiddle at the front of the mix. Freshened-up "You're Still the One" glistens, the pedal steel sharp as ever against the gooey cloud of backing vocals. But want something different? There's also a fun 1999 live duet with Elton John turning his twang up to 11, as well as several thumping dancefloor remixes and a largely superfluous version from Twain's 2022 Las Vegas residency, with Coldplay's Chris Martin on piano. There's both the spirited and clicky original of "I'm Holdin' On to Love (To Save My Life)" and a more down-home take with Alison Krauss. The bluegrass queen makes a second appearance on a duet of "From This Moment On," from the Up! Close and Personal live album, offering a warmer, rounder take on the pristine original with Bryan White. A 1999 Miami concert collab on the song with Backstreet Boys puts everyone's vocal acrobatics on display. "Honey, I'm Home," always one of the most countrified tracks on the album, is slick as a whistle, and cowbell positively vibrates on "That Don't Impress Me Much" (and the line "OK, so you're Brad Pitt/ That don't impress me much" still holds up). And while remastering highlights how cheesy Lange's Eurovision-style production is on "Come On Over," Twain just sounds terrific. Viva Shania. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

A tie-in to the exhaustive 2013 box set Sound System, the 2013 compilation The Clash Hits Back is a novel approach to a career retrospective: it mirrors the 24-song set list for the band's July 19, 1982 concert at Brixton Fairdeal, then adds eight bonus hits at the end. The Clash Hits Back slightly tweaks the running order of the original set -- "Bankrobber" arrived five songs into the concert but appears eighth here -- but that doesn't matter much, as this swap doesn't alter the impact of the original set. The Clash were plugging Combat Rock so songs from that LP -- the singles "Rock the Casbah," "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" and "Straight to Hell," plus "Ghetto Defendant" and "Know Your Rights," adding up to just under half the album -- sit alongside a heavy chunk of London Calling and early hits, plus a few stabs at Sandinista!. What's added at the end is a mix of their high-octane early material ("White Riot," "Complete Control," "Clash City Rockers," Tommy Gun," "English Civil War") and their more adventurous studio recordings ("The Call Up," "Hitsville UK," "This Is Radio Clash"), adding up to a strong overview of all the band could do.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

During the late '50s, Ella Fitzgerald continued her Song Book records with Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book, releasing a series of albums featuring 59 songs written by George and Ira Gershwin. Those songs, plus alternate takes, were combined on a four-disc box set, Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book, in 1998. These performances are easily among Fitzgerald's very best, and for any serious fan, this is the ideal place to acquire the recordings, since the sound and presentation are equally classy and impressive.© Leo Stanley /TiVo

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Shania Twain's second record, The Woman in Me, became a blockbuster, appealing as much to a pop audience as it did to the country audience. Part of the reason for its success was how producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange -- best-known for his work with Def Leppard, the Cars, and AC/DC -- steered Twain toward the big choruses and instrumentation that always was a signature of his speciality, AOR radio. Come on Over, the sequel to The Woman in Me, continues that approach, breaking from contemporary country conventions in a number of ways. Not only does the music lean toward rock, but its 16 songs and, as the cover proudly claims, "Hour of Music," break from the country tradition of cheap, short albums of ten songs that last about a half-hour. Furthermore, all 16 songs and Lange-Twain originals and Shania's sleek, sexy photos suggest a New York fashion model, not a honky tonker. And there isn't any honky tonk here, which is just as well, since the fiddles are processed to sound like synthesizers and talk boxes never sound good on down-home, gritty rave-ups. No, Shania sticks to what she does best, which is countrified mainstream pop. Purists will complain that there's little country here, and there really isn't. However, what is here is professionally crafted country-pop -- even the filler (which there is, unfortunately, too much of) sounds good -- which is delivered with conviction, if not style, by Shania, and that is enough to make it a thoroughly successful follow-up to one of the most successful country albums by a female in history.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

It's taken three years from Brittney Spencer's attention-grabbing Compassion EP to her much-anticipated debut album, with a handful of singles and EPs between. And now that My Stupid Life is here, she's already transcended the "next big thing" label; Spencer is a star who just hasn't held the spotlight on her own yet.  She's part of the supergroup Highwomen family, has opened for artists like Jason Isbell, and made a big impression at the 2021 CMAS performing with Mickey Guyton and Madeline Edwards. "I'm doing something that is probably already going in the history books," Spencer recently told Rolling Stone of being a Black female artist in country music, "and not because it's me and my song, but because I'm part of something." She has so much to contribute, as proven by My Stupid Life, which feels both familiar and comforting but not like anything else out there. With her warm, honeyed voice front and center, songs like "Reaching Out"—about finding one's place in Nashville and beyond—embraces the Americana-folk-country hybrid championed by her sometime collaborator Brandi Carlile. She plays with countrified radio pop on easygoing "If You Say So," complemented by Fleetwood Mac-style guitar; and layers on both steel guitar and emo call-and-response for "Desperate." Spencer, the story goes, fell in love with the Chicks' music as a teenager in Baltimore and sang backup for gospel and R&B acts before moving to Nashville to chase her country dreams. That background makes a lot of sense when you hear the flirty "I Got Time," which channels the stomp and sass of Tuesday Night Music Club era Sheryl Crow, melds a '60s girl-group chorus, and adds in Southern-rock guitars and disco-diva notes. She effortlessly hits the high notes, too, on "My First Rodeo," a smoldering, soulful stunner that never feels the need to be showy. There are prominent themes at play, like making it in as a seeming outsider in Nashville (including the ballad "New to This Town," its bittersweet melody kissed with the optimism of birdsong). Both the title track, a pleasant romp, and "First Car Feeling" dream of youthful exhilaration: "Now I'm chasing down that first-car feeling … You never get back that first taste of freedom," Spencer sings on the latter, a finger-snapping bounce celebrating teenage adventure in an old Trans-Am. "Night In" starts with a cute phone call—Spencer making plans with Maren Morris, Fancy Hagood and other Nashville figures—before kicking into a joyous, karaoke-ready party song about keeping the party at home. Morris lends backing vocals (Grace Potter, Abbey Cone and Sarah Buxton also guest on songs), which is a pretty nifty IRL leap from Spencer's "Bigger Than The Song," about the power of music and how it soundtracks life:"Makes you wanna be fancy like Reba, a queen like Aretha/ In love like Johnny and June … put your love on top like Beyoncé at my church on Sunday/ When Maren starts singin' that tune." © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz