Released in conjunction with Billy Joel's grand experiment with classical music, The Essential Billy Joel was a welcome reminder of Billy Joel's way with a pop song, improving on the previous Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 & 2 by extending into the '90s and delving deeper into his catalog. There were some casualties along the way -- it's easy for a fan to carp about the absence of personal favorites like "She's Right on Time" or "Travelin' Prayer," and it may even make some sense that "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" or "Shameless" didn't make the cut, but it's mind-boggling that "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" isn't here (we won't mention that the classical pieces that end the record, no matter how surprisingly good they are, are as out of place as Attila would have been) -- but for the most part, this has every one of Joel's heavy-hitters, and his craftsmanship, both as a songsmith and record maker, has never shone brighter. The biggest fault is that there is a notable drop-off in quality after 1986's The Bridge (which ends midway through disc two), but even so, this is as good a distillation of Joel's talents imaginable. In fact, as the first disc unfurls, even cynics may wonder why he's been dogged by the critics, since singer/songwriter pop doesn't come better than "Say Goodbye to Hollywood," "New York State of Mind," "Only the Good Die Young," "My Life," "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," "Don't Ask Me Why," "Allentown," and their seven companions.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Having scored three multi-platinum hits in a row, Billy Joel took a breather, releasing his first live album, Songs in the Attic, as he worked on his ambitious follow-up to Glass Houses. Joel wisely decided to use the live album as an opportunity to draw attention to songs from his first four albums. Apart from "Piano Man," none of those songs had been heard by the large audience he had won with The Stranger. Furthermore, he now had a seasoned backing band that helped give his music a specific identity -- in short, it was an opportunity to reclaim these songs, now that he had a signature sound. And Joel didn't botch the opportunity -- Songs in the Attic is an excellent album, ranking among his very best work. With the possible exception of the Turnstiles material, every song is given a fuller, better arrangement that makes it all spring to life. "Los Angelenos" and "Everybody Loves You Now" hit harder in the live setting, while ballads like "She's Got a Way," "Summer, Highland Falls," and "I've Loved These Days" are richer and warmer in these versions. A few personal favorites from these albums may be missing, but what is here is impeccable, proving that even if Joel wasn't a celebrity in the early '70s, his best songs of the era rivaled his biggest hits.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Early in their career, Caroline Rose favored an acoustic-driven sound hewing toward a more folk and Americana direction. But even then, the Long Island-raised songwriter resisted pigeonholing: The bruising "At Midnight," from 2014's I Will Not Be Afraid, cut closer to the scraping blues-rock favored by PJ Harvey or The Kills. When Rose embraced minimalist disco and dreamy electro on 2020's Superstar, the pivot felt completely logical—just another facet of themselves they're peeling away and exploring.Rose's stunning fifth studio album, The Art of Forgetting, arrives as they've settled into a groove that's even more ambitious and impossible to define. The release brims with spectral music where acoustic instruments are a foundation for surging strings, layered vocal arrangements, ornate piano and ethereal synths. "The Doldrums" resembles Kate Bush circa The Dreaming, while standout "The Kiss" is dark, intense synth-pop and "Stockholm Syndrome" is lo-fi folk filtered through what sounds like music from an antique gramophone. At times, these elements are often distorted or manipulated, creating a disorienting atmosphere—as on "Rebirth," where Rose's vocals are impacted by light digital retouching and moments of splintered synths.The Art of Forgetting arose during a time when Rose was weathering a breakup and delving back into themes revolving around family, childhood and memory. "I was writing songs the way that I used to when I was a kid," Rose said in the bio along with the album. "It was more like therapy, just sitting down on my bed and writing about what I was feeling. It sounds so simple but I had really gotten away from that." Understandably, a pervasive sense of melancholy and an awareness of life's fragility permeates The Art of Forgetting. For example, doting voicemails from their grandmother are sprinkled throughout the album, including serving as the foundation for the piano-driven "Better Than Gold," which wavers and shakes like a degrading cassette tape.But in between flashes of grief and loss, Rose is also figuring out how to move forward. "You've got to get through this life somehow!" they sing on "Miami," while on "Kiss," the line "I would do most anything for the kiss of someone new" is repeated as the song grows in intensity, underscoring the desire and urgency behind the wish. And even when Rose leans into more traditional pop arrangements, as on the dynamic "Everywhere I Go I Bring the Rain," the song defies expectations and grasps for something better. Rose switches between their high and low vocal range, and places an echoing bridge at a flashpoint in the song, setting up an ending that explodes like a burst of confetti and celebrates imperfection. © Annie Zaleski/Qobuz

No matter which way you look at it, Pop doesn't have the same shock of the new that Achtung Baby delivered on first listen. Less experimental and more song-oriented than Zooropa, Pop attempts to sell the glitzy rush of techno to an audience weaned on arena rock. And that audience includes U2 themselves. While they never sound like they don't believe in what they're doing, they still remove most of the radical elements of electronic dance, which is evident to anyone with just a passing knowledge of the Chemical Brothers and Underworld. To a new listener, Pop has flashes of surprise -- particularly on the rampaging "Mofo" -- but underneath the surface, U2 rely on anthemic rockers and ballads. "Discotheque" might be a little clumsy, but "Staring at the Sun" shimmers with synthesizers borrowed from Massive Attack and a Noel Gallagher chorus. Similarly, "Do You Feel Loved" and "If You Wear That Velvet Dress" fuse old-fashioned U2 dynamism with a keen sense of the cool eroticism that makes trip-hop so alluring. Problems arise when the group tries to go for conventional rock songs, some of which are symptomatic of the return of U2's crusade for salvation. Pop is inflected with the desire for a higher power to save the world from its jaded spiral of decay and immorality, which is why the group's embrace of dance music never seems joyous -- instead of providing an intoxicating rush of gloss and glamour, it functions as a backdrop for a plea of salvation. Achtung Baby also was a comment on the numbing isolation of modern culture, but it made sweeping statements through personal observations; Pop makes sweeping statements through sweeping observations. The difference is what makes Pop an easy record to admire, but a hard one to love.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo