Cat Power—Chan Marshall—wanted to mark the moment in 1966 that "informs everything …  this precipice of time that changed music forever": Bob Dylan's "Royal Albert Hall Concert" (actually played at the Manchester Free Trade Hall), the one when he switched from acoustic to electric midway through—prompting an incensed folk purist to yell out "Judas!" Fifty-six years after that concert, Marshall delivered a sublime song-for-song re-creation of the set, at the actual Royal Albert Hall. "I'm not being Bob … I'm just recreating it, that's all. But not making it mine," she has said. Inevitably, though, the songs do become hers. It's evident right away, from "She Belongs to Me" (and shortly after, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"), the influence Dylan has long had on Cat Power's music. But with her husky voice, so like Nico's now and far from Dylan's youthful reediness, revealing traces of her Georgia upbringing ("She don't look baaaaack") and contrasting the clean acoustic guitar and shiny harmonica, she owns it. "Desolation Row" is a twelve-and-a-half minute marvel. The guitar is not blindingly bright like Charlie McCoy's flamenco flavor, but that works well with Marshall's more serious/less jaunty air here. Without aping Dylan, she hits his inflections, putting exuberant emphasis on the ends of lines ("And the good Samaritan! He's dressing!"). Her "Visions of Johanna" underscores the prettiness of the melody, while the way she sings the name "Jo-hanna" make it feel so much more exotic than it is. She gets playful with the familiar phrasing on the chorus of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and sings "Just Like a Woman" beautifully, offering a softer, less angular version of Dylan's classic. At 50, she was twice the age of Dylan when he recorded the song for Blonde on Blonde, and you can hear—feel—the extra tread on her heart. When electrified "Tell Me Momma" kicks in like the Wizard of Oz Technicolor moment, it's as thrilling as it's supposed to be, the first word of the titular line bitingly crisp each time. "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)" plays up the soulful grooviness that always feels a little buried on Dylan's live recording, while "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" expertly captures his wild-eyed edginess. Marshall's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is more elegant, even with its raw edges, than Dylan's young-man machismo. She does not recreate things down to the between-song patter but there is a moment, just before "Ballad of a Thin Man" (so slinky, so powerful), when someone yells out "Judas!"—and Marshall, serenely, responds, "Jesus." "I wasn't expecting the audience to recreate their part of the original show as well, but then I wanted to set the record straight—in a way, Dylan is a deity to all of us who write songs," she has said. And, as it did in 1966, closer "Like a Rolling Stone" sounds like liberation; maybe even like Marshall knows some part of this is hers now. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

The Complete Budokan 1978 captures some of Dylan's very first concert appearances in Japan and is an essential release for diehards, while an intriguing curio for the casual listener. Complete Budokan encompasses all of the material originally issued as a double LP in 1978, plus three dozen additional tracks. This lovingly remastered album, sourced from the original 24-channel multi-track analog tapes, sounds far crisper than the original release (especially the vocals). Released to coincide with the 45th anniversary of the original eight-show run at the infamous Budokan auditorium, we hear the entirety of two shows from February 28 and March 1, 1978. Bob Dylan is at a fascinating crossroads in his career here, and in fine voice. The album finds our hero in between the traveling circus that was the mid 1970s Rolling Thunder tour, and one year before his conversion to Christianity. Dylan shows us what a traditional American great he is, with a near-orchestral band and dramatically reworked takes on classic songs. Some of these arrangements are wonky, especially to modern ears. But they're always intriguingly put together, and intricately executed takes—the highlight being a knockdown, muscular "The Man in Me." It's clear from the start that this is not your grandpa's Dylan. Stirring leads on saxophone, mandolin, and fiddle deliver the vocal melodies to "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." "Shelter from the Storm" is given a halting, reggae-ish tempo, a positively E Street-worthy sax solo, and the delightful touches one would expect from the Dead. Other tunes stray closer to a Vegas revue. "I Threw It All Away" is transformed into a full-blown showtune, as the backing vocals take center stage. One wonders if a line of chorus dancers were onstage for this or the lilting, tango-esque take on "Love Minus Zero." There is occasional flute, notably on "Mr. Tambourine Man," which we weren't sure about at first, but by the third listen we were absolutely digging it, even as it takes the tune straight to Margaritaville. © Mike McGonigal/Qobuz

In 2021, Bob Dylan was on the road for his Never-Ending Tour – his tours have been going by the same name since the late 80s. However, it ultimately came to an abrupt end due to a health crisis. Dylan started livestreaming the same year due to his inability to play in public, holding an intimate virtual concert filmed and broadcasted for just a few days. The performance is now known as the Shadow Kingdom, and is accessible to a large number of people despite remaining shrouded in mystery. Subtitled "The early songs of Bob Dylan", this album does not draw on the first albums of the indestructible folk-rock bard. Instead, he plays songs from the 70s and 80s. But the acoustic style, hovering between blues, folk and tipsy crooner songs, is from the time when Dylan made his debut.Mandolins, accordions, guitars, harmonicas, double bass, stories, and the exquisite voice that sings old songs that you can’t help but listen to and share. At 80 years of age, Dylan is completely at ease in this wooded and retro setting. The sound is acoustic, but there is still electricity in the air; the original rock'n'roll is never too far away. Recognisable anywhere, his instrument-like voice undulates around the melodies, before covering and transfroming them into pure dylanries, little pastoral epics. On Sierra's Theme, the unreleased instrumental that closes the album, we find ourselves humming like Dylan, almost as if we’d always known the song. © Stéphane Deschamps/Qobuz

After Reprise, which revisited its greatest hits in 2021 with the Budapest Art Orchestra string quartet, Moby is diving back into its archives for this new album with Deutsche Grammophon. It's not just any old music, however: “I made a point of only selecting music that was written or recorded in New York.” Once again, it is a question of taking pieces from his catalogue and transposing them into the orchestral world. It is here that we can see the importance of having a label like Deutsche Grammophon; they sent a chamber ensemble to the studio and managed to include a great cast of guests. In particular we find the American star Gregory Porter on In My Heart, as well as the Australian rocker Dougy Mandagi of The Temper Trap on a very classy version of Extreme Ways, which is taken from his 2002 ‘18’ album and also on the soundtrack to the famous film series Jason Bourne. The version of South Side with Ricky Wilson (Kaiser Chiefs) is noteworthy too; Gwen Stefani featured on the original. A Moby gala! © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

With Iechyd Da - “good health” in Welsh as he comes from West Kirby, a small town nestled in the Wirral peninsula between Wales and Liverpool - Bill Ryder-Jones begins 2024 with grace. This fifth record follows the hazy shoegaze of Yawn, released 5 years earlier, and Yawny Yawn, his stripped-back piano version. The ex-guitarist of The Coral embarked on his solo journey in 2008 with a definitive departure from the rock quintet, whose glory had become as overwhelming as its stresses. These difficulties and his own melancholy have formed the basis, throughout his career, of the Englishman’s intimate music of languid, chamber-like folk ballads.They roll out here with an immensity that is more organic and luminous, releasing the pain of thwarted love with soaring strings. Opting for orchestral pop, sometimes reminiscent of the 60s, the gritty songwriter always writes of his struggles but is now fuelled by hope. Mirroring contortions of the heart and mind, the rhythms speed up and fade out, and the orchestration builds and diminishes, illustrating his emotions with melodic precision and luxury. In this optimistic production, the mixing once again entrusted to James Ellis Ford, we hear for the first time a village children’s choir (“We Don’t Need Them”, “It’s Today Again”), which brings an innocent warmth. The whole thing gently closes with the delicate notes of the instrumental song “Nos Da” (“good night” in Welsh). Astounding. © Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz

Though sounding completely different from one another, Gov't Mule's Peace...Like a River is a companion album to 2021's Heavy Load Blues. The dates were actually recorded simultaneously in different spaces inside the same studio. In different rooms, the band -- guitarist / vocalist Warren Haynes, drummer Matt Abts, bassist Jorgen Carlsson, and keyboardist Danny Louis -- and co-producer John Paterno set up two entirely different recording areas with amps, guitars, keys, and microphones, with the intention of giving each album its own sonic and musical identity. While Heavy Load Blues is an epic blues-rock date, Peace...Like a River is a labyrinthine trek through original songs that nod at the band's classic rock influences, creating an album that sounds like it was written and recorded during the 1970s. Opener "Same as It Ever Was" offers poetic lyrics about life's difficulties and revelations during and in the aftermath of the pandemic. The fingerpicked lead guitar, psychedelic production, lilting melody, and thunderous rhythm section crescendo buoy Haynes' emotionally resonant vocal. "Shake Our Way Out" is an exercise thundering, riff-centric, distorted blues-rock with Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top) joining on second guitar and vocals. While "Made My Peace" introduces itself as a midtempo, swaggering blues boogie, it quickly shifts gears to reflect Pink Floyd's deep influence on Gov't Mule. The vocal harmonies, melody, and dynamics recall both the Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here eras. "Dreaming Out Loud" is a jazzy rock cum R&B production. Ruthie Foster and Ivan Neville join the crew for the souled-out, steamy, bluesy, jazzy, NOLA-inspired funk on the poignant "Dreaming Out Loud" complete with soaring horns. Its lyrics were compiled from writings and speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King, Robert F. Kennedy, congressman/activist John Lewis and John F. Kennedy. Billy Bob Thornton contributes vocals to the swampy, spooky dubwise reggae of "The River Only Flows One Way." "After the Storm" cooks, but it's just a little too derivative of the L.A. Woman-era Doors due to Haynes trying too hard to imitate Jim Morrison in the first verse. That said, Louis' fine organ work owes more to the exploratory grooves of Larry Young and Garth Hudson than Ray Manzarek. "Just Across the River" is a slow-rolling, R&B-inflected blues featuring excellent playing and singing from New York-based guitarist and vocalist Celisse Henderson (Brandi Carlile, Joni Mitchell). "Long Time Coming" is a righteous, horn-drenched, soul-blues rave-up with a powerful vocal from Haynes. Peace...Like a River closes with the slide guitar Southern-fried rock of "Gone Too Long," which nods simultaneously at Neil Young with Crazy Horse and Lynyrd Skynyrd. This set reaffirms Gov't Mule's place as one of the most musical, stylistically ambitious bands out there.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

After the catharsis of 2021's Act 1, Imagine Dragons complete the story with Mercury: Act 2, a whopping 18-track journey that examines the time after the shock and grief of loss has begun to settle. While part one processed those messy emotions with some of the rawest and most vulnerable moments in the band's usual radio- and gym-friendly catalog, part two loses focus by biting off more than they can chew. There are plenty of great songs here -- fully expected for a band as hook-savvy as Imagine Dragons -- but there's simply too much going on and not enough editorial trimming to make this as impactful an experience as Act 1. Starting strong with irresistible singles "Bones" and "Sharks," Act 2 soon takes a turn to the pensive and reflective, with frontman Dan Reynolds lamenting his shortcomings on "I Don't Like Myself" and pleading for relief on "Take It Easy." The second half of the album is weighed down by similar moments, snuffing the momentum of the handful of classic stompers peppered throughout. Of this introspective bunch, the country-dusted acoustic gem "Crushed" is on par with "Wrecked" as a tearjerking standout, as "Sirens" merges the group's usual radio-friendly ear with a deep well of emotion. While the buoyant handclaps-and-synths highlight "Younger" and the riffs-and-breakbeats blazer "Blur" come closest to joining their array of mainstream smashes on a future Greatest Hits set, the bulk of Act 2 is truly for the dedicated fans who care to patiently sit with Reynolds and his feelings until everyone's ready to pump out a more focused and immediate set. [Compiling both parts on Mercury: Acts 1 & 2, the band presents the full experience across an expansive 32 tracks, which joins Act 1 and 2 as well as the hit single "Enemy" with JID from the Arcane League of Legends soundtrack.]© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Long known as the steady diplomat who kept together the oft on-the-brink alliances of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young—until he couldn't—Graham Nash sounds, at 81, feisty on his seventh solo album. There's an edgy urgency to the music and his famous high tenor on the vibrant "Right Now." "Now that I realize just how I am/ When all is said and done/ What a life I've lived ... Here I am/ Still living my life/ Right now/ Right now!" he declares. And his life is not one of easy chairs. "Golden Idol" takes on the politicians who turned the other cheek in the Capitol insurrection of January 6, 2021. "I know they're lying/ 'Cause their lips are moving," Nash sings. "They're trying to rewrite recent history/ When the MAGA tourists took the hill/ They will not stand up/ 'Cause they're bought and paid for." "Stars and Stripes" is jangling folk with excellent harmonies that finds Nash poking at the root of American divisiveness: "Sometimes I wonder why the world is like it is/ Frozen by the fear of change/ If we keep believing all the lies meant to divide us/ There's no one else that we can blame." And while he aims to keep moving forward, he's not exactly looking to reinvent himself. "A Better Life" is imbued with that easy Laurel Canyon familiarity on which he made his bones in America. It almost feels like a follow-up to "Teach Your Children" told from the other side, with Nash singing, "We're going to make it a better life/ Leave it for the kids ... one we can be proud of/ So at the end of the day, we can laugh and say that we left them a better life." Sweet and simple, "It Feels Like Home" is like an echo of "Our House." It's one of several songs written for his new wife of only a few years, along with "Love of Mine," a bit of a heartbreaker with high and lonesome harmonica accompanying an apology for hurt feelings. Sharply bowed strings lead the way for "I Watched It All Come Down," as the singer recalls, "I watched it all come down/ To a rock and roll parade … I watched it all come down/ To a paperweight at the business end of town/ Loaded up and loaded down/ It's a mess." Nash has said that the song is about the thrill of making music with David Crosby, Stephen Still, and Neil Young, but also sadness that they let emotions (and, let's be honest, substances) get in the way of them making more. And looking fondly back on another part of his history is "Buddy's Back," a sweet tribute both to Buddy Holly—complete with a "Peggy Sue"-inspired riff—and his old pal in the Hollies, Allan Clarke. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

With Wallflower, Diana Krall has made a journey to the wellspring of pop. For this album, coming out on Verve, the Canadian singer and pianist revisits tracks that were made famous by The Mamas & The Papas, Elton John, the Eagles, the Carpenters, Gilbert O’Sullivan, 10CC, Randy Newman, Crowded House, Bob Dylan and the Beatles. Diana Krall lends this collection charm, class and refinement which are all her own… © CM/Qobuz

Behind the eponymous title song for the film by Richard Lester, Help! shows the Fab Four in full artistic development. Throughout this fifth album, which was released in August 1965, the Beatles’ art is increasingly diverse, their texts are far from the simplicity of their humble beginnings and their instrumentalism has undeniably evolved as well. Alongside the eternal and exalted ‘hit’ songs contained on Help!, we also encounter such sublime ballads as Yesterday or You've Got To Hide Your Love Away. Even Ticket To Ride offers that ‘new’ punchy rhythm coupled with a sharp guitar sound. A major foundation was laid down here for the discographic masterpieces to come, including Rubber Soul and Revolver. ©MZ/Qobuz, Translation/BM

A number one album in both the Top 200 and country album charts in early 1975, this was Ronstadt's breakthrough into wider stardom, spawning hit singles on both the country and pop charts. When describing the string of mid-70s albums that were the fruit of the partnership between singer Linda Ronstadt and producer Peter Asher, the word "curated" seems to fit best. The Ronstadt/Asher song choice alchemy here reached perfection for the first time. Every track feels and sounds exactly right, the sonics are stellar, and the arrangements and playing are transcendent. Here the talented pair mix songwriters, tempos and a range of emotions stretching from the accusatory opening blast of "You're No Good" to a somber, slow duet with Maria Muldaur on the Anna McGarrigle-penned title track. Ronstadt is again backed by a crowd of supremely musical players, led this time by multi-instrumentalist Andrew Gold. Never afraid to wade into deep waters and add her own reading to songs indelibly associated with another singer, Ronstadt here turns in a compelling take on the Dan Penn/Spooner Oldham classic, "Dark Side of the Street," (otherwise best known as the signature hit for baritone soul singer James Carr). Further on, the trio of The Everly Brothers' "When Will I Be Loved," through Lowell George's "Willin" to a duet with Emmylou Harris on Hank Williams' "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)," is a quintessential example of the carefully calibrated, track-by-track mix of styles and arrangements that made Ronstadt's best 70s albums so listenable and their star into such a towering artist. © Robert Baird / Qobuz

When Alice in Chains' debut album, Facelift, was released in 1990, about a year before Nirvana's Nevermind, the thriving Seattle scene barely registered on the national musical radar outside of underground circles (although Soundgarden's major-label debut, Louder Than Love, was also released that year and brought them a Grammy nomination). That started to change when MTV jumped all over the video for "Man in the Box," giving the group a crucial boost and helping to pave the way for grunge's popular explosion toward the end of 1991. Although their dominant influences -- Black Sabbath, the Stooges -- were hardly unique on the Seattle scene, Alice in Chains were arguably the most metallic of grunge bands, which gave them a definite appeal outside the underground; all the same, the group's sinister, brooding, suffocating sound resembled little else gaining wide exposure on the 1990 hard rock scene. Neither hedonistic nor especially technically accomplished, Alice in Chains' songs were mostly slow, oppressive dirges with a sense of melody that was undeniable, yet which crept along over the murky sludge of the band's instrumental attack in a way that hardly fit accepted notions of what made hard rock catchy and accessible. Although some parts of Facelift sink into turgid, ponderous bombast (particularly over the erratic second half), and the lyrics are sometimes immature, the overall effect is fresh, exciting, and powerful. While Alice in Chains would go on to do better and more consistent work, Facelift was one of the most important records in establishing an audience for grunge and alternative rock among hard rock and heavy metal listeners, and with its platinum sales certification, it also made Alice in Chains the first Seattle band to break through to a wider, less exclusively underground audience.© Steve Huey /TiVo

Sinéad O'Connor's debut, The Lion and the Cobra, was a sensation upon its 1987 release, and it remains a distinctive record, finding a major talent striving to achieve her own voice. Like many debuts, it's entirely possible to hear her influences, from Peter Gabriel to Prince and contemporary rap, but what's striking about the record is how she synthesizes these into her own sound -- an eerie, expansive sound heavy on atmosphere and tortured passion. If the album occasionally sinks into its own atmospheric murk a little too often, she pulls everything back into focus with songs as bracing as the hard-rocking "Mandinka" or the sexy hip-hop of "I Want Your (Hands on Me)." Still, those ethereal soundscapes are every bit as enticing as the direct material, since "Troy," "Jackie," and "Jerusalem" are compelling because of their hushed, quiet intensity. It's not a perfect album, since it can succumb to uneven pacing, but it's a thoroughly impressive debut -- and it's all the more impressive when you realize she only topped it with its immediate successor, before losing all focus. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Four years after the pinnacle of Stevie Wonder's mid-'70s typhoon of classic albums, Hotter Than July was the proper follow-up to Songs in the Key of Life (his Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants concept record was actually a soundtrack to an obscure movie that fared miserably in theaters). It also found Wonder in a different musical climate than the one that savored his every move from 1972 to 1977. Disco and new wave had slowly crept their way into the mainstream record-buying public, and hindered the once-ample room for socially and politically charged lyrics. However, Wonder naysayed the trends and continues to do what he did best. Solid songwriting, musicianship, and production are evident in the majority of Hotter Than July. Wonder also carries on his tradition of penning songs normally not associated with his trademark sound, from the disco-tinged "All I Do" (originally planned to be released by Tammi Terrell almost ten years previously) to the reggae-influenced smash "Master Blaster (Jammin)," which went straight to the top of the R&B charts. While admittedly there are a few less-than-standard tracks, he closes the album on an amazing high note with one of the most aching ballads in his canon ("Lately") and a touching anthem to civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King, Jr. ("Happy Birthday"). While most definitely not on the same tier as Innervisions or Songs in the Key of Life, Hotter Than July is the portrait of an artist who still had the Midas touch, but stood at the crossroads of an illustrious career.© Rob Theakston /TiVo

John Mayer sang on his 2001 debut Room for Squares, released when he was 22, about his "quarter-life crisis." Now he's 43 and his latest, Sob Rock, is right on time for the mid-life one. There's a whole lot of taking stock on songs like the what-if ballad "Shouldn't Matter But It Does," which finds him thinking of a former love: "It could've been always, it could've been me/ We could've been busy naming baby number three." The incredibly catchy "New Light" (produced by Kanye West collaborator No ID, it's all upbeat yacht rock and blue-eyed soul), actually feels like a throwback to the lonely-boy longings of Mayer’s debut, only now he's "pushing 40 in the friend zone." Meanwhile, "I Guess I Just Feel Like" is pure existentialism: "I guess I just feel like nobody's honest, nobody's true ... I guess I just feel like I'm the same way too," he sings along with slow-burn blues guitar. Mayer has said that pandemic stress pushed him to reach for the "security-blanket" '80s soft rock of his childhood, and the record is at once FM-radio familiar but not a punchline. Credit producer Don Was, who knows from delicious processed cheese, having steered Glenn Frey, Michael McDonald and Paul Young, among others. On the terrific "Last Train Home," Mayer enlists a seen-it-all veteran in the form of Toto percussionist Lenny Castro, but also brings in contemporary country-pop heroine Maren Morris to stand up to the sizzle tone of his PRS Silver Sky guitar. "Til the Right One Comes" bounces like a Christine McVie cut, and the delightful "Wild Blue" never lets you forget that he's a touring guitarist with the Grateful Dead. Mayer's warm rasp—always walking the line of sultry and sad—shines on "Shot in the Dark" and the gently pulsing "Carry Me Away." His offbeat sense of humor, which was entertainingly on display during his lockdown Instagram TV series, doesn't usually make its way into songs. But one of the catchiest on Sob Rock is also one of the most confounding: The music is smooth as silk, the delivery sounds sincere, yet there's Mayer singing Yoda-like lyrics for "Why You No Love Me": "Why you no even care?..." © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

Her sensual voice is irresistible. Elizabeth Grant, aka Lana Del Rey, could sing the instruction manual for a wireless vacuum cleaner and she would still have our full attention. Even when she invites the whole world to join her (A$AP Rocky, The Weeknd, Stevie Nicks and Sean Lennon all featured on Lust For Life, her album released in 2017), she lives in her own little world where time moves slow and melancholy reigns supreme. Making music is her way of talking about her era, her contemporaries, the American Dream and, as far as we can tell, herself... With its shocking title, stylised album cover (featuring Duke Nicholson, Jack Nicholson’s grandson, aboard a boat sailing away from a burning coast) and her particularly slow tempos (only ballads here), Norman Fucking Rockwell! is largely rooted in folk. Del Rey roams around this great soundscape, more melancholic and evanescent than ever. She closely collaborated with Jack Antonoff on this album (a sought-after producer for pop stars such as Taylor Swift, St. Vincent, Lorde, Carly Rae Jepsen and Pink) and the producer shapes her melancholy with equal amounts of sobriety and slickness. The slow rhythms on this beautiful record offer a welcome break from the turbulence of today. One of the tracks that stands out is a cover of Sublime’s Doin’ Time (1996), itself a new interpretation of Gershwin’s Summertime, offering further proof of Lana Del Rey’s originality, something which is much more complex than some would have us believe... © Marc Zisman/Qobuz