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Although the best of the Kinks' early work is among the best British Invasion music, their initial pair of albums was far less consistent than those of the Beatles, Stones, and Who. Aside from the great "You Really Got Me," this was a shabby, disappointing set with surprisingly thin production. As R&B cover artists, the Kinks weren't nearly as adept as the Stones and Yardbirds; Ray Davies' original tunes were, "You Really Got Me" aside, perfunctory Merseybeat-ish pastiches, and a couple of tunes that producer Shel Talmy penned for the group ("Bald Headed Woman," "I've Been Driving on Bald Mountain") were simply abominable. The rave-up treatments of the R&B standards "Got Love If You Want It" and "Cadillac" were good, and the simple "Stop Your Sobbing" would eventually be covered by the Pretenders, but overall this is really patchy.© Richie Unterberger /TiVo

Flight retraces a life better than any CV. The life is James Francies'. Born in Houston and living in New York since 2013, this young piano virtuoso (acoustic and electric) is already playing alongside big names such as Pat Metheny, Chris Potter, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Stefon Harris, Eric Harland and Terrace Martin as well as hip-hop stars including Lauryn Hill, José James, Common, Nas and Chance the Rapper. Under the tutelage of Questlove, the drummer from The Roots, Francies made his first album for Blue Note with a range of influences. And like his stablemate Robert Glasper, he touches up his jazz with soul pop, an almost vintage jazz fusion and hip hop beats… Produced by Derrick Hodge, Flight revolves above all around rhythms and ambiances. The changes are smooth and natural with the progressions always following a solid sense of narrative. James Francies shares the stage with various guest performers including saxophonist Chris Potter, guitarist Mike Moreno, vibraphone player Joel Ross, bassist Burniss Travis II, drummers Jeremy Dutton and Mike Mitchell and vocalists such as YEBBA, Chris Turner and Kate Kelsey-Sugg. © Max Dembo/Qobuz

"How can we miss you when you won't go away?" It's a question that sounds as if it could be the title of an Aerosmith power ballad co-written by Diane Warren, but it's a sentiment that also applies to the Boston quintet themselves. 2012's Music from Another Dimension! may be their first album in eight years -- and their first record of original material in over a decade! -- but the band has never been far from the headlines during those missing years, and not just because Steven Tyler screeched his way into America's homes as Simon Cowell's replacement on American Idol. Joe Perry, the Keith Richards to Tyler's Mick Jagger, never was happy about Tyler's leap to the small screen but it was just one of many interpersonal squabbles that bled their way into the public. That schism can be heard on Music from Another Dimension!, particularly toward its conclusion when Perry muscles his way to the mike for a pair of bracing rockers reminiscent of the band at full flight, but more than anything, this big-budget blockbuster telegraphs that Aerosmith is indeed broadcasting from another dimension, a dimension where splashy kitchen-sink albums from rock bands could sell millions of copies on sheer momentum alone. Carrie Underwood may pop up for a duet on "Can't Stop Loving You," but that's the only nod to the present on an album that's living every day like it's 1997. Both the rockers and ballads are big, big, big, dressed in countless overdubs, so much clatter that it can be hard to hear hooks initially. This bright blare conveniently camouflages the raggedness of Tyler's voice as well, but Aerosmith truly show their age by the very nature of the album itself. Simply put, nobody makes albums like this any more. Nobody breaks the bank attempting to make a rock album that's everything to everyone, and Aerosmith sound entirely oblivious to this state of affairs, carrying on like it was 1997. And, in a sense, as an overall piece of product, Music from Another Dimension! is no worse than Nine Lives. It may lack a single as immediate as "Fallin' in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)" -- or the subsequent "Jaded" from 2001's Just Push Play -- but it faithfully follows Aerosmith's '90s blueprint, getting nothing wrong but never quite feeling right.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Six albums into his career, singer-songwriter Mason Jennings has developed enough famous fans to bring the talented Minnesotan towards the limelight. A year after he performed two songs on the sound track to Todd Haynes's indie hit film, I'M NOT THERE, Jennings released IN THE EVER on Jack Johnson's Brushfire label. Less aggressively mellow than Johnson, Jennings has an affable, shaggy folk-rock sound that's sharpened by a strong knack for pop hooks (i.e. the chorus of the opening "Never Knew Your Name") and the lyrical wit of songs such as the ecumenical "I Love You and Buddha Too," which features a cameo from Jack Johnson himself. © TiVo

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There's a perverse sort of fascination watching an artist who received substantial early plaudits piddle away his critical goodwill with a series of puzzling follow-up releases. Even looking at Lover-Fighter from the perspective of a fan, it's hard to know what Hawksley Workman was thinking with some of the heavy-handed production choices, though. Right off the bat, "We Will Still Need a Song" -- by any other measure a classic Workman song -- is polished to a glassy sheen more reminiscent of U2 than Workman, a situation that's also true with the first single "Anger as Beauty." That's not to say that either of them are particularly bad songs, but there's something oddly generic about them, which is why this is such a frustrating release: Workman has already proven that he's capable of releasing unique material, both lyrically and musically, while still having pop appeal, and the glossy 80s-style production seems misplaced both in terms of necessity -- it's most certainly not necessary -- but also in terms of style -- why pick a sound this dated? It's also worth noting that lyrically there's a certain repetitiveness here; Workman name-checks whiskey on three separate songs (four if you count the hidden bonus tracks) and talks about being drunk on three others (though thankfully not on the two songs about automobiles). Scattered throughout the album are the more subdued and thoughtful numbers you expect on a Workman release: "Wonderful and Sad," "The Future Language of Slaves," and the official album-closer "Autumn's Here," which, despite the horn and string section, still seems more restrained than the big ol' rock numbers. The enhanced portion of the CD features a video on the making of the album, which gives a much more natural view of Workman the person, rather than playing up Workman the rock star. It's a much more appealing persona and it's too bad there wasn't more of that side of Workman in the music.© Sean Carruthers /TiVo