Minimal to the point of sounding monumental, this Detroit guitar-drums-voice duo makes the most of its aesthetic choices and the spaces between riffage and the big beat. In fact, the White Stripes sound like arena rock as hand-crafted in the attic. Singer/guitarist Jack White's voice is a singular, evocative combination of punk, metal, blues, and backwoods while his guitar work is grand and banging with just enough lyrical touches of slide and subtle solo work to let you know he means to use the metal-blues riff collisions just so. Drummer Meg White balances out the fretwork and the fretting with methodical, spare, and booming cymbal, bass drum, and snare cracks. In a word, economy (and that goes for both of the players). The Whites' choice of covers is inspired, too. J. White's voice is equally suited to the task of tackling both the desperation of Robert Johnson's "Stop Breakin' Down" and the loneliness of Bob Dylan's "One More Cup of Coffee." Neither are equal to the originals, but they take a distinctive, haunting spin around the turntable nevertheless. All D.I.Y. punk-country-blues-metal singer/songwriting duos should sound this good.© Chris Handyside /TiVo

Oasis was always a two-head hydra that needed both parts to work: Noel Gallagher's songwriting—deceptively simple, inescapably catchy—and brother Liam's lightning-in-a-bottle charisma. Individually, neither has been able to match the heights of Oasis since their contentious split in 2009. The siblings' solo work isn't just missing the hooks and the big singalong choruses. It's also absent the competitive foil that only came from being in the same hothouse: the aim to be the star of their own band rather than rock 'n' roll in general (despite efforts to pick feuds with Blur and others, it was really always about the competition between the brothers Gallagher). Now, Liam has finally made a record that's up to snuff—full of provocative twists and killer melodies. For one thing, he's gotten really good at choosing collaborators. Three records in, he's hit on an intriguing place with producers/songwriters Andrew Wyatt (Lorde, Miike Snow) and Greg Kurstin (Adele, Maren Morris, Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney).And after decades of Beatles worship, Liam has discovered the Rolling Stones. "More Power" is a memorable ballad that builds to an epic climax, referencing "You Can't Always Get What You Want" in its opening children's choir, the lyric "You won't get the girl you want/ But you get the girl you need," and flammable blues guitar. "How I wish I had more power," Liam sings, the fire in his belly seemingly renewed. "Is this what you came for?" Why yes, sir, it certainly is. The title track strips the Stones' gospel choir flare-ups and sinister bluesy stomp and runs them through the Britpop filter, to great effect. Age has robbed Liam's nasal tone of some clarity, with Hashimoto's disease—which affects the thyroid gland—adding a slight hoarse quality, but he soars on the '70s street soul of "The Joker." All that is not to say Liam has given up on Lennon and McCartney: With its chunky drums and psych-lite flourishes, "Don't Go Halfway" has Rubber Soul vibes. "Everything's Electric" grows exponentially with each bar, piling on big spaced-out vocals and Dave Grohl on drums. There are echoes of Arctic Monkeys in the slithering "Diamond in the Dark" and bad-ass guitar of "Wave," and ELO chorus grandiosity on "Oh Sweet Children." But there's plenty of unexpected experimentation, too. "It Was Not Meant to Be" is a jolly retro jaunt, and "Moscow Rules," a collaboration with Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, is positively baroque. And "I'm Free" veers from mod stomp to psych-out to a bit of dancehall reggae. Meanwhile, the piano ballad "Too Good for Giving Up" sounds like nothing so much as an Oasis classic: capturing that weird alchemy of egotistic smarm melted to school-boy sincerity by a gorgeous melody and swan-graceful strings. Earlier this year, Liam commented that it was a "shame" Oasis broke up and that he is open to reuniting—this song could serve as an olive branch to his brother. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

After nearly a year of solid touring, the Spin Doctors scored a huge, unexpected success with the incessantly catchy "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong." The rest of Pocket Full of Kryptonite will please fans of that song; the album is full of the loose, leisurely three-chord pop/rock jams the Spin Doctors specialize in. It may be unfair to compare them to the Grateful Dead, but the Doctors often suggest a lighter, more pop-oriented version of that band. While all of the best tracks were issued as singles ("Jimmy Olsen's Blues," "Two Princes," and "Little Miss"), there are still enough good moments on the rest of the album to please anyone who loves the hits.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

If the reggae legend's 2004 effort Black Magic was like Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett's Duets albums --late-era, star-filled, and somewhat flat -- Rebirth is Jimmy Cliff's American Recordings (Johnny Cash) or Praise & Blame (Tom Jones), where a veteran artist goes raw and relights the fire with the help of a kindred spirit/knowing producer. For Cash and Jones, it was Rick Rubin and Ethan Johns respectively, while here it’s a bit of a surprise with Rancid frontman and Clash devotee Tim Armstrong delivering something well above the expected punky reggae party. "Guns of Brixton" is a natural, and Cliff's take on Rancid's "Ruby Soho" is a ska recreation to behold, but when the sometimes poptacular reggae singer dons a wild, Lee "Scratch" Perry persona for the carnival song "Bang" ("I came into this life, I came in with a bang/I'm living my life, I live it with a bang"), deep reggae fan Armstrong knows what to do, surrounding his man Upsetter-style with a whirling dervish of ska while adding a searing guitar solo as well. When the singer gets nostalgic on "Reggae Music" ("1962, Orange Street, Kingston Jamaica/I sang my song for Leslie Kong, he said…") the backing track is alive with that roots based magic and one drop power, yet Cliff's the one who seals the deal here and throughout the album, performing like a young buck while packing his years and wisdom into the songwriting. On that front, there's the Occupy Movement theme "World Upside Down" and the powerful single "One More", while the sweetness comes from the sentimental "Ship Is Sailing", a nautical metaphor so warm it could be slipped into a Jimmy Buffett set easily, even as the tinkling keyboards honor reggae legend Jackie Mittoo, thus nominating Armstrong's loving recreation as one of the most loved. It's a return to form and just what fans of Cliff's early work could ask for, but it's vital too, putting it on the man's top shelf, somewhere in the vicinity of The Harder They Come soundtrack and Wonderful World, Beautiful People.© David Jeffries /TiVo