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

If grandiloquence could take the form of an album, it would undoubtedly arrive in the form of Bat Out Of Hell. It's a real sorcery that comes out of the hat of composer Jim Steinman and is served as an offering to us by a possessed Meat Loaf. An improbable anthology of "over the top" moments that have gone down in history. With forty three million units sold, Bat Out Of Hell is a unique experience, so much so that I'm sure many people remember where they were when they first heard it. From the pure orchestral moments on For Crying Out Loud (featuring the New York Philharmonic Orchestra), to the title track and its ten minutes of intensity that will make you shy away from any karaoke night (or not), it is a true moment in history that is offered to your ears. Paradise By The Dashboard Light, which sees Meat sharing the mic with Ellen Folley, is a lesson in execution and composition, never equalled in the vocalist's career and reason enough to listen to Bat Out Of Hell alone. Nor will we forget the apocalyptic last minutes of All Revved Up With No Place To Go, a rock manifesto that paves the way for the magnificent Heaven Can Wait or Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad: "You can't imagine how hard I had to work to sing this album in the studio, you can't imagine how much we had to give of ourselves to make this album authentic, in its humour and in all that it embodies. A lot of people realise that when they actually try it, and still they don't." Unique, funny, often misunderstood and always inspired, just like its singer, Bat Out Of Hell is reaching out to you. We already miss you Meat Loaf. Maxime Archambaud / Qobuz

If grandiloquence could take the form of an album, it would undoubtedly arrive in the form of Bat Out Of Hell. It's a real sorcery that comes out of the hat of composer Jim Steinman and is served as an offering to us by a possessed Meat Loaf. An improbable anthology of "over the top" moments that have gone down in history. With forty three million units sold, Bat Out Of Hell is a unique experience, so much so that I'm sure many people remember where they were when they first heard it. From the pure orchestral moments on For Crying Out Loud (featuring the New York Philharmonic Orchestra), to the title track and its ten minutes of intensity that will make you shy away from any karaoke night (or not), it is a true moment in history that is offered to your ears. Paradise By The Dashboard Light, which sees Meat sharing the mic with Ellen Folley, is a lesson in execution and composition, never equalled in the vocalist's career and reason enough to listen to Bat Out Of Hell alone. Nor will we forget the apocalyptic last minutes of All Revved Up With No Place To Go, a rock manifesto that paves the way for the magnificent Heaven Can Wait or Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad: "You can't imagine how hard I had to work to sing this album in the studio, you can't imagine how much we had to give of ourselves to make this album authentic, in its humour and in all that it embodies. A lot of people realise that when they actually try it, and still they don't." Unique, funny, often misunderstood and always inspired, just like its singer, Bat Out Of Hell is reaching out to you. We already miss you Meat Loaf. Maxime Archambaud / Qobuz

In 2015, Jamie xx had reached the peak of his career. His band The xx had become a touchstone for lovers of hybrid pop, and he had won success with his most prestigious project, the remix of Gil Scott Heron's final album, We're New here. That's not to say that his first (and in 2020, still the only) solo album was expected. And the English musician brilliantly met expectations by delivering one of the best albums of the year. In Colour, in addition to summing up the Zeitgeist of 2015, was also an authentically British record, with the broth of cultures that overflow on every track, from the opener, Gosh, which samples both the vocals of MC Strings on an old jungle track from 1995 and the drums of Lyn Collins' Think (About It), for an undefinable but formidable track, as well as the awesome Sleep Sound, somewhere between Burial and Four Tet, with little bits of Alicia Keys thrown in. Another great moment of the album: the hit I Know there's Gonna Be (Good Times), which highlights American rapper Young Thug and Jamaican star Popcaan, which would go on to record many international features after this success. And a perfect ending, with Girl, which borrows from Arthur Baker (the chorus "I want your love" from Freeez's super-80s hit I. O. U.), The Beach Boys and Erlend Øye's band, The Whitest Boy Alive. Quite a symbol. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

No sophomore jinx here. Of course, there are only two Wallflowers left from their first release, so this could be called a whole new band. No matter, because the music here is assured and contemporary with just enough of the past showing through to catch one's eye. Jakob Dylan has been polishing his compositional chops and it really shows on such cuts as "Invisible City," the hit "6th Avenue Heartache" and especially "One Headlight." A fine effort indeed. © James Chrispell /TiVo

With each album, Glass Animals' bright, ear-catching music has gotten more revealing and approachable. On 2014's ZABA, their bubbly mix of indie, electronic, R&B, and hip-hop influences sounded like pop from another planet, with abstract lyrics to match (who can forget "Gooey"'s "peanut butter vibes"?). They got a little more down-to-earth with the character studies of 2016's Mercury Prize-nominated How to Be a Human Being; now, on Dreamland, singer/songwriter Dave Bayley lets his listeners get even closer by studying his own character. It's a change that was years in the making: Bayley began writing more autobiographical songs with How to Be a Human Being's closing track, "Agnes," a tribute to a dear friend whose suicide affected him deeply. When Glass Animals' drummer Joe Seaward was seriously injured in a 2018 cycling accident, the band paused as he spent months learning how to talk, walk, and play music again. During this time, Bayley sharpened his songwriting and production skills by collaborating with Flume and 6LACK, and his growing experience -- as well as the emotions stirred by Seaward's healing process -- convinced him to dig into his own life and feelings for inspiration. His transformation into a more specific songwriter only makes Dreamland's music richer, grounding his band's genre-defying approach with his own chameleonic past. Before moving to England, Bayley spent his early adolescence in Texas and immersed himself in '90s American pop culture that pops up in unexpected ways on these songs. On "Space Ghost Coast to Coast," he juxtaposes cartoon imagery, the sound of 2000s hip-hop, and memories of a childhood friend who later attempted a school shooting. Once again, Bayley's fluency at melding R&B and hip-hop elements into Glass Animals' music makes it clear how deep his love for those genres is. The martial beat of "Your Love (Déjà Vu)" was inspired by Timbaland and the Neptunes as well as Beyoncé's Coachella performance, while "Tokyo Drifting," a low-slung collaboration with Denzel Curry, introduces Bayley's own Sasha Fierce, a character called Wavey Davey. Elsewhere, Dreamland is just as musically layered and engaging as ever, with plenty of wiggly synths and bouncy beats on tracks such as "Tangerine" and "Melon and the Coconut" and slinky sensuality on "Hot Sugar." Glass Animals' most cohesive and satisfying album to date, Dreamland is a well-deserved triumph that's as rewarding for fans to hear as it was for the band to make.© Heather Phares /TiVo

At only 24, Nia Archives (née Hunt) is reinventing an old rave favorite: jungle. She's even been anointed by the king of the '90s, Goldie, who intros the fuzzy, busy cut "Tell Me What It's Like?" off her debut LP Silence Is Loud. It's a passing of the baton that marks how far things have come; Goldie and DJs like Roni Size presided over a decidedly male scene, while Archives is part of an inclusive drum 'n' bass resurgence that includes Pink Pantheress and Piri. Both a DJ and a singer, Archives oversees rollicking beats layered them over soulful melodies—Amy Winehouse is a big influence—and bedroom-pop lyrics about unrequited love and looking for real connections. (Her merch includes a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Emotional Junglist.") She has already played Glastonbury and opened for Beyoncé's Renaissance tour, and captured attention in the summer of 2023 with "Off Wiv Ya Headz," a sonic blast that chopped up the Yeah Yeah Yeahs with breakbeats. After a flurry of singles and EPs, Silence Is Loud lives up to Archives' potential. The title track is a joyride time machine right back to '90s rave thrills. "Forbidden Feelingz" samples the 1970s Peter Falk detective show Columbo, adding a dash of dub and a trip-hop feel. Soulful thriller "F.A.M.I.L.Y." is a whirlwind of ominous deep-ditch bass, raucous beats, a ghoulish shriek and sound of gasping for breath. "Unfinished Business" delivers an unexpected blend of caffeinated emo-pop bounce, trilling woodwind and jungle breaks. "Crowded Roomz" freely pairs a soulful Winehouse vibe and skittering, can't-catch-me beat, as Archives mourns the paradox of feeling isolated at her shows, even as there are people everywhere: "I feel so lonely, especially in crowded rooms/ It's a facade, my persona is my costume … Misunderstood by everybody/ The party girl who's all alone, see." If you removed the beats, songs like "Cards on the Table" and string-enchanted "So Tell Me…" would sound a whole lot like folk-pop, while flute-laden "Out of Options"  and "Blind Devotion"—which borrows a bit of dancehall melody—channel Frank era Winehouse. And Archives is a deeply appealing singer, as shown on feel-good "Nightmares" and "SIlence Is Loud (Reprise)," which actually strips away the mad beats to expose a Coldplay-style piano ballad. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

Smarting from Dazzle Ships' commercial failure, the band had a bit of a rethink when it came to their fifth album -- happily, the end result showed that the group was still firing on all fours. While very much a pop-oriented album and a clear retreat from the exploratory reaches of previous work, Junk Culture was no sacrifice of ideals in pursuit of cash. In comparison to the group's late-'80s work, when it seemed commercial success was all that mattered, Junk Culture exhibits all the best qualities of OMD at their most accessible -- instantly memorable melodies and McCluskey's distinct singing voice, clever but emotional lyrics, and fine playing all around. A string of winning singles didn't hurt, to be sure; indeed, opening number "Tesla Girls" is easily the group's high point when it comes to sheer sprightly pop, as perfect a tribute to obvious OMD inspirational source Sparks as any -- witty lines about science and romance wedded to a great melody (prefaced by a brilliant, hyperactive intro). "Locomotion" takes a slightly slower but equally entertaining turn, sneaking in a bit of steel drum to the appropriately chugging rhythm and letting the guest horn section take a prominent role, its sunny blasts offsetting the deceptively downcast lines McCluskey sings. Meanwhile, "Talking Loud and Clear" ends the record on a reflective note -- Cooper's intra-verse sax lines and mock harp snaking through the quiet groove of the song. As for the remainder of the album, if there are hints here and there of the less-successful late-'80s period, at other points the more adventurous side of the band steps up. The instrumental title track smoothly blends reggae rhythms with the haunting mock choirs familiar from earlier efforts, while the elegiac, Humphreys-sung "Never Turn Away" and McCluskey's "Hard Day" both make for lower-key highlights.© Ned Raggett /TiVo

The pressure was on Kiss for their fifth release, and the band knew it. Their breakthrough, Alive!, was going to be hard to top, so instead of trying to recreate a concert setting in the studio, they went the opposite route. Destroyer is one of Kiss' most experimental studio albums, but also one of their strongest and most interesting. Alice Cooper/Pink Floyd producer Bob Ezrin was on hand, and he strongly encouraged the band to experiment -- there's extensive use of sound effects (the album's untitled closing track), the appearance of a boy's choir ("Great Expectations"), and an orchestra-laden, heartfelt ballad ("Beth"). But there's plenty of Kiss' heavy thunder rock to go around, such as the demonic "God of Thunder" and the sing-along anthems "Flaming Youth," "Shout It Out Loud," "King of the Night Time World," and "Detroit Rock City" (the latter a tale of a doomed concert-goer, complete with violent car-crash sound effects). But it was the aforementioned Peter Criss ballad, "Beth," that made Destroyer such a success; the song was a surprise Top Ten hit (it was originally released as a B-side to "Detroit Rock City"). Also included is a song that Nirvana would later cover ("Do You Love Me?"), as well as an ode to the pleasures of S&M, "Sweet Pain." Destroyer also marked the first time that a comic-book illustration of the band appeared on the cover, confirming that the band was transforming from hard rockers to superheroes.© Greg Prato /TiVo

There's something strangely melancholic about Ratatat's sophomore record, Classics. Something that rests behind the dancey drum machine beats and the quirky synths, or even the alternating guitars. Outwardly it's a fun album, triumphant and full of majestic refrains and riffs -- you could play it for your indie rock friends if you wanted to get them to dance a little and were too afraid to play Daft Punk or Juan Atkins -- but there's still something in it, introspection gracenoted between the intricate (but never too ornate or over-complicated or even lush) instrument layers and classical arpeggios, contemplation sitting in bittersweet descents and acoustic guitar chords, French cinema- and IDM-induced reflection, that makes it somehow all very sad. It's music for the soundtrack of a film in which even though the sky is clear -- there is sun, an open road perhaps -- the characters have difficulty smiling. Even the more "upbeat" songs, "Lex," "Tropicana," or "Wildcat," for example, never completely shed their pensive skins, rub off the dirt that smudges their bellies and faces. Classics is a record that demands a bit of attention, something to assure it that you hear each phrase, each contradiction, each sound as it enters and leaves. Something to assure it that you know the spaces in which little happens are as important as those that are full. There are no solos here: just the comings and goings of thoughts and feelings and sounds, and though there is a circularity to the album, it's not boring; rather it just allows time for everything that Ratatat are trying to convey to manifest itself fully. Through its subtlety, Classics celebrates the nature and resilience of the human spirit while simultaneously acknowledging its defects, everything and anything you could ever ask an album to be, and nothing more, which is just enough.© Marisa Brown /TiVo

Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt, HWV 54, bombed at its first performance in 1739 and was heavily revised by Handel. The revisions go even further here, in what is marked as an adaptation by Apollo's Fire director Jeannette Sorrell. She makes wholesale cuts, removing numerous arias, consolidating others, and leaving only a few recitatives. Sorrell retains, however, the three-part structure of Handel's first attempt (the librettist was probably Charles Jennens of Messiah), consisting of the "Lamentations by the Israelites for the Death of Joseph," "Exodus," and "Moses' Song." She also keeps the chorus-heavy quality of Handel's originals. The nearly three-hour oratorio usually heard is sliced to just over 74 minutes. All this might seem an unwarranted intrusion, but Handel himself obviously struggled with the material of this oratorio, which isn't one of his more commonly heard works. And lo, Sorrell's reworking succeeds solidly, creating convincing dramatic arcs where they previously existed only in outline. The ten plagues are shortened considerably but make more of an impact in their abbreviated form. The greatest strength here is the choral writing, in many places the equal of anything in Messiah. Apollo's Fire is a rather underrated choral-orchestral group from the U.S. Midwest that offers a satisfyingly good-sized choir with clear text articulation and a fine sense of expressing what they are singing about. A strong offering that will be appreciated by Handel lovers during the 2023 holiday season and beyond.© James Manheim /TiVo

With each album, Glass Animals' bright, ear-catching music has gotten more revealing and approachable. On 2014's ZABA, their bubbly mix of indie, electronic, R&B, and hip-hop influences sounded like pop from another planet, with abstract lyrics to match (who can forget "Gooey"'s "peanut butter vibes"?). They got a little more down-to-earth with the character studies of 2016's Mercury Prize-nominated How to Be a Human Being; now, on Dreamland, singer/songwriter Dave Bayley lets his listeners get even closer by studying his own character. It's a change that was years in the making: Bayley began writing more autobiographical songs with How to Be a Human Being's closing track, "Agnes," a tribute to a dear friend whose suicide affected him deeply. When Glass Animals' drummer Joe Seaward was seriously injured in a 2018 cycling accident, the band paused as he spent months learning how to talk, walk, and play music again. During this time, Bayley sharpened his songwriting and production skills by collaborating with Flume and 6LACK, and his growing experience -- as well as the emotions stirred by Seaward's healing process -- convinced him to dig into his own life and feelings for inspiration. His transformation into a more specific songwriter only makes Dreamland's music richer, grounding his band's genre-defying approach with his own chameleonic past. Before moving to England, Bayley spent his early adolescence in Texas and immersed himself in '90s American pop culture that pops up in unexpected ways on these songs. On "Space Ghost Coast to Coast," he juxtaposes cartoon imagery, the sound of 2000s hip-hop, and memories of a childhood friend who later attempted a school shooting. Once again, Bayley's fluency at melding R&B and hip-hop elements into Glass Animals' music makes it clear how deep his love for those genres is. The martial beat of "Your Love (Déjà Vu)" was inspired by Timbaland and the Neptunes as well as Beyoncé's Coachella performance, while "Tokyo Drifting," a low-slung collaboration with Denzel Curry, introduces Bayley's own Sasha Fierce, a character called Wavey Davey. Elsewhere, Dreamland is just as musically layered and engaging as ever, with plenty of wiggly synths and bouncy beats on tracks such as "Tangerine" and "Melon and the Coconut" and slinky sensuality on "Hot Sugar." Glass Animals' most cohesive and satisfying album to date, Dreamland is a well-deserved triumph that's as rewarding for fans to hear as it was for the band to make.© Heather Phares /TiVo

"There's a flavor to the sound of walking no one ever noticed before," Julia Holter sings at one point on her third album, Loud City Song, and if anyone could notice that, it would be her. Holter excels at bringing emotional depth to her high-concept music and never more so than on this set of songs, which feels as ambitious as Tragedy and Ekstasis, but more down to earth. This may be her most accessible work yet, perhaps because of its relatively contemporary setting: drawing from Colette's 1944 novella Gigi (as well as the 1958 musical film it inspired), Loud City Song explores the city, celebrity, the individual, and love in fin de siècle Paris and 21st century Los Angeles, blurring them together in ways that get at more universal truths. In Gigi's time or Holter's, there are people who love spectacle, celebrity, and gossip, and Holter examines this brilliantly in the two-part "Maxim's." Named for the famed Parisian restaurant, the first part fades in like a glittering mirage coming into view, and as she breathlessly wonders, "Into Maxim's we will see them walk/Will they eat a piece of cheese or will they talk?," Holter captures the banal curiosity of the celebrity-obsessed. "Maxim's II" goes a step further, with woozy brass sliding from old-school musical charm into free jazz chaos that implies Holter made good on her threat: "Say it to my face/If you want to be starting something." Even at its noisiest, Loud City Song sounds expensive; this is the first album Holter recorded in a professional studio (which is noteworthy, considering how sophisticated the home-recorded Tragedy and Ekstasis sounded). Gorgeously arranged strings, brass, and harpsichords grace songs like "World," which gently and poignantly introduces the claustrophobia that fully emerges on the stunning "Horns Surrounding Me," where hurried footsteps and insistent brass give the impression of a stylized hunt. The lavish surroundings also bring some of Holter's catchiest songs yet to life: rustling flutes add to "This Is a True Heart"'s bittersweet sophistication while a jaunty acoustic bass provides the backbone for the fascinating "In the Green Wild," which sounds like the perfect blend of Joni Mitchell and Laurie Anderson. Cerebral pleasures like these are balanced by emotional ones such as the torchy snippet "He's Running Through My Eyes" and an ethereally sensual cover of Barbara Lewis' "Hello Stranger" that slows everything down to bask in the beauty of Holter's voice, which is often overlooked given all the other things going on in her music. In that regard, this album is no exception; with all the intriguing details in the words and music, there's a lot to digest. Loud City Song is Holter's most polished work to date, and another example of how she upholds and redefines what it means to be an avant-garde singer/songwriter. © Heather Phares /TiVo

For Kiss' breakthrough 1975 release Alive!, the band had a total of three studio albums from which to select their in-concert repertoire. By mid-1977, Kiss had released another three studio recordings (Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over, and Love Gun), and with a new Kiss album needed for the holiday season, a second live album, Alive II, was assembled. Three sides were recorded live in concert at the Los Angeles Forum (with a few tracks recorded in Japan), while the fourth side featured five new studio recordings. Like its predecessor, there's been quite a lot of speculation concerning extensive overdubbing (the proof being that you can often hear several Paul Stanley voices singing backup simultaneously!), but Alive II shows that Kiss was still an exciting live band despite all the hype. Adrenaline-charged versions of "Detroit Rock City," "Love Gun," "Calling Dr. Love," "Shock Me," "God of Thunder," "I Want You," and "Shout It Out Loud" are all highlights. On the fourth side, Ace Frehley only plays on a single song (his self-penned classic "Rocket Ride") for reasons unknown, while session guitarist Bob Kulick filled in for the AWOL Frehley. Among the studio tracks is the made-for-the-stage anthem "Larger Than Life," which the band surprisingly never performed live.© Greg Prato /TiVo

An amazingly bombastic concept album about the Apocalypse of St. John seen as a rock spectacle. Demis Roussos wails the lyrics in a frantically operatic falsetto, while the band pound fiercely through Vangelis' furiously complex music. It certainly has its moments, but the entire set eventually becomes too overwhelming to sit through.© Steven McDonald /TiVo