Beth Hart commands the stage with just one click of her fingers! The Californian tigress is still as feisty as ever without getting caught up in the clichés. In this live performance recorded on May 4th 2018 in London’s most prestigious setting, the Royal Albert Hall, she sets up her very own cabaret mixing blues, jazz and vintage soul. A woman who honours Nina Simone, Howlin’ Wolf, Dinah Washington, Buddy Guy and so many other key personalities of rhythm’n’blues, she shows us the full extent of her talent during this two-hour show. With a microphone to hand or sat behind her piano, what impresses us most is Beth Hart’s ability to mix all her musical influences and produce one very personal cocktail. Her secret? Her voice, of course. A kind of unstoppable magnet that pulls every word, every sentence, every chorus and which is made even more powerful by her contact with the audience. © Clotilde Maréchal/Qobuz

Biopic The Dirt tells the story of Mötley Crüe's wild ride through their time as one of the most popular and most debaucherous bands of the metal years. During a blistering run that lasted the entirety of the '80s, the L.A. band sold millions of records, toured the world, and challenged death constantly with reckless behavior, substance abuse, and the kind of mayhem that sometimes seems like it only existed in the time when hair metal reigned. Some of these misadventures were collected in the 2001 book The Dirt, and the 2019 film adaptation of the book further dramatizes some of the group's already unbelievable antics, as well as getting into the music that made it all happen. The soundtrack to the film is made up entirely of music by Mötley Crüe, but in addition to 14 selections from their early catalog, they recorded four entirely new tracks in 2018 especially for inclusion in the film. Rapper Machine Gun Kelly (who plays the role of drummer Tommy Lee in the film) features on the song "The Dirt (Est. 1981)," dropping a rapped coda about tattoos, girls, cars, and the rock & roll lifestyle into the song's pop-metal framework. Huge, hooky choruses were part of the Crüe's formula for success in the '80s, and they don't shy away from that formula here, either. In addition to two other new songs, "Crash and Burn" and "Ride with the Devil," the band offer an unlikely cover in the form of Madonna's 1984 smash hit "Like a Virgin." Die-hard metalheads might scoff at the idea of a band synonymous with '80s metal decadence taking a stab at one of the decade's most commercial artists, but 35 years later the context of the song (and of all the musicians in the equation, for that matter) has shifted to the point where the cover can be taken at face value. It's a revved-up version of an undeniably catchy song, delivered with an extra dose of menace and possibly a self-aware smirk at how ridiculous it is. The Dirt soundtrack pairs the nostalgia of well-loved favorites ("Home Sweet Home," "Kickstart My Heart," "Shout at the Devil") with the reinvigorated excitement of the raw newer songs for a collection that feels more like a companion to the film than a greatest-hits repackaging.© Fred Thomas /TiVo

A half-century after the release of Karen Dalton's cult classic second album, In My Own Time sounds as magical as it always has; it was never—despite the album's title—that she was ahead of her time, but rather not of this world. Which is not to say she was some ethereal creature. After a whole life lived in her teenage years, married twice and with two kids, Dalton moved from Oklahoma to New York City to be part of the Greenwich Village 1960s folk scene alongside the likes of Tim Hardin and Neil Young. Bob Dylan called her one of his favorites, saying "Karen had a voice like Billie Holiday." She reportedly hated the comparison, though you get why Dylan made it: it's the weary ache and that slim silver thread of hope that remains. You can hear it on her cover of George Jones' "Take Me;" the piano flutters like it needs a fainting couch, but Dalton turns the quiet plea into something wistful rather than desperate. "Take me to Siberia and the coldest weather of the winter time/ And it would be just like spring in California," she sings, drawing out that last word like it's some impossible oasis. (By then, Dalton had had two teeth knocked out in a fight between boyfriends.) It's in her jaunty delivery of the Holland-Dozier-Holland's "How Sweet It is" and her interpretation of Richard Manuel's psychedelic country-rock "In a Station," Dalton blowing like wind through some desolate space. And lord knows it's in her most famous song, the Scottish folk traditional "Katie Cruel." Helped along by high-lonesome banjo, it's as haunted as they come. "When I first came to town, they called me the roving jewel," Dalton sings, managing to make it sound like she's not broken by it all. "Now they've changed their tune, call me Katie Cruel." Credit her wavery, light-refracted voice and the way it reflects both a fragility of nature and a hardscrabble strength of circumstance. (While the story of folkie Fred Neil secretly recording Dalton's first album by not telling her the tape was running has been romanticized, it's also exploitative and manipulative.) Dalton, who would disappear after In My Own Time, battled heroin and alcohol addiction and died at age 55 after an AIDS diagnosis. But her influence carries on, in Angel Olsen, Lucinda Williams, Sharon Van Etten, Courtney Barnett and Nick Cave, to name a few. This new expanded and remastered edition includes alternate takes of "In My Own Dream," "Something on Your Mind" and "Katie Cruel." The latter two light a small fire under the beat, but find Dalton less declarative, like she's consoling a friend in hushed tones. There are also several live tracks. "Take Me," captured in April 1971 in Germany, is so intimate it's disarming, Dalton's voice cracking on the line "like heaven to me." But there is strength—an almost defiance—on the songs from her Montreaux performance a month later, even in "Blues on the Ceiling" when she predicts she'll "Never get out of these blues alive." © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985 is a historically significant recording, presenting Stevie Ray Vaughan in the biggest show of his life to that date, then three years later, once he had become a star. The 1982 show is essentially the show that got his career started. He met both Jackson Browne and David Bowie after his set, and they were so impressed that Browne volunteered use of his studio (for free!) for Stevie to record what would become his debut album, and Bowie recruited him as lead guitarist for the Let's Dance album and tour (alas, the tour was not to be). However, not everyone was so impressed. In fact, there are choruses of boos that follow nearly every tune. Vaughan was basically a nobody at the time, playing very electric blues at the end of a mostly acoustic program. But he had done enough bar gigs to completely rise above it, and he plays with the passion and hunger of a young musician getting his big chance. He's not really an engaging frontman at this point in his career, but man, can he play that guitar. And he simply never lets up. Even at this stage, his tone and style are pretty close to fully formed, and it's easy to see how he could become the guitar hero he ended up being. The 1985 show is quite a contrast. Vaughan had become a star, and it shows in so many ways. He had developed more of a stage persona, with showier moves and infinitely more presence as a frontman. Double Trouble also now included Reese Wynans on keyboards, which, along with Vaughan's addition of a wah-wah pedal, really expanded the sound. Vaughan has many fiery moments on this set as well, but he also loses focus during several solos, and seems more than content to share or even hand over the spotlight to fellow Texas guitar legend Johnny Copeland. Vaughan seems a bit worn out, and it wouldn't be long before he got sober. Even so, there are clear moments of brilliance and this time the audience is fully behind him. Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985 is a vital document for fans, showing the raw ingredients that would make him a star, then comparing it to what happened once he got there. It's a great look at the rise of one of rock's most revered guitar players.© Sean Westergaard /TiVo

There have been plenty of George Strait compilations, and most of have been very good, but none have been as good as 2004's 50 Number Ones. While the 1995 box set Strait Out of the Box illustrated the range and depth of Strait's musical achievement, it may have been too lengthy for some listeners, and shorter compilations like the two-volume The Very Best of Strait left too many hits behind -- and by 2004, all those compilations were out-dated, since Strait continued to top the charts until the release of 50 Number Ones. This double-disc contains all the big hits that he's had since Strait Out of the Box, along with all of his classics from the '80s and early '90s. The title might bend the truth a little bit -- at least according to the Billboard charts, such latter-day singles as "True" and "Run" only peaked at number two, not number one -- but it doesn't matter, since this contains all of his major singles in one convenient package. And it's not noteworthy just because it's one-stop shopping, it's also noteworthy because it proves exactly how consistent George Strait's body of work has been over the last twenty-some years. From start to finish, there's not a slow spot here -- it's a thoroughly entertaining collection that belongs in the ranks of country's greatest-hits albums.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Live at the Fillmore features retro-leaning pop crooner Chris Isaak performing a concert at the storied California venue. Backed by his longtime working band, the album is a nice showcase for both Isaak's melodic, romantic songs and his charming stage presence. In that sense you get to hear such popular Isaak numbers as "Somebody's Crying," "Wicked Game," and "San Francisco Days." Interestingly, Isaak also performs a few songs that, as he humorously points out, haven't made it onto album yet. While Live at the Fillmore is by no means a significant entry into his catalog, longtime fans will certainly enjoy this personable and enjoyable document of Isaak's live show.© Matt Collar /TiVo