Between 1988 and 2010, composer Hans Zimmer has had a hand in nearly every major action film, whether it’s him behind the keys or one of his numerous, Remote Control Productions (formerly known as Media Ventures) protégés like John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, or Klaus Badelt. His excellent work on director Christopher Nolan’s 2008 international blockbuster The Dark Knight, was disqualified for Oscar consideration due to too many cooks (composers) in the kitchen, a handicap that doesn’t apply to Nolan’s 2010 follow-up, Inception. Zimmer’s signature move, a four- to eight-chord round that builds from a subtle breeze to an F5 tornado, serves as the foundation for Inception’s dizzying score, and the addition of Smiths/Cribs guitarist Johnny Marr, who appears on eight of the twelve cuts, dutifully expands the layers of Zimmer’s melodies, much like the dream building that occurs onscreen. There are moments that bring to mind Vangelis' moody, jazz-kissed work on Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, but Inception's backbone is pure Zimmer. It’s beautiful and heroic, unhinged and unspeakably melancholy, and the finest and most fully realized soundtrack this prolific composer has crafted to date.© James Christopher Monger /TiVo

Forty years after they officially broke up, ABBA are back. Although sometimes it felt like they never really went away, thanks to the Mamma Mia! musical and movie, as well as the band's prominent placement in films like Muriel's Wedding and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and in the arsenal of every wedding DJ. Of course, the world can be divided into two camps: ABBA fans and ABBA haters. And fans, Voyage is a wonder. (And haters: What, you hate heaven-sent harmonies?) "Just a Notion" is just glorious —as feel-good as "Waterloo." Originally recorded in 1978, while the Swedish foursome were making their Voulez-Vous album, it was inexplicably cut despite its joyous handclaps and sax and piano. (It's not a bad thing to say this would be perfect for a Richard Simmons workout.) "Don't Shut Me Down" struts to a high-stepping marching beat and funky double bass, as Agnetha Fältskog—sounding pretty freaking incredible for 71—tells an old lover she wants to come home now that she's gotten her groove back: "Once these rooms were witness to our love/ My tantrums and increasing frustration/ But I go from mad/ To not so bad in my transformation." It's weird and wonderful, the kind of thing that could win Eurovision (which, of course, ABBA did in 1974). The irresistible hooks and soaring chorus of "No Doubt About It" should make bands five decades younger jealous. The epic ballad "I Still Have Faith in You," meanwhile, finds Anni-Frid Lyngstad singing in a surprising, and striking, lower register. The song could be the cousin of "Fernando" and builds to a chorus as majestic as any hair-metal weeper. There's an original Christmas carol, "Little Things," and "When You Danced With Me," a gleeful folk-ish number that wouldn't have been out of place in a dancing scene from the horror movie Midsommar. With a few instrumentation tweaks, "I Can Be That Woman" could be the kind of Nashville Sound countrypolitan ballad Lynn Anderson would've crooned: "You say you've had it, and you say 'Screw you'/ I say 'I love you' and I know it's true" go the lyrics, chronicling a lifetime of regrets and the pledge to be better. Speaking of country—"Keep an Eye on Dan" tackles subject matter rarely found in pop songs. Against slightly sinister strings and a funky bass that recall the "gotcha" scene of any '70s crime show unspools a story that seems to be about a divorcée reluctant to leave her son with his dad for the weekend: "Keep an eye on Dan … he gets out of hand if you let him … I'll be back on Sunday to get him." (The wild synths suggest maybe little Dan is … unhinged?) Yes, it's highly processed cheese, but it really hits the spot. All 10 songs are composed by band members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus who, respectively, divorced Lyngstad and Fältskog years ago. But you'd never know that from the harmony, in every sense of the word. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

With 2007's Because of the Times, Kings of Leon ventured out of the garage and into the arena. Tracks like "Black Thumbnail" and "Camaro" were bold, anthemic rock songs that built upon the barnyard stomp of Youth & Young Manhood, and Because of the Times topped the U.K. charts upon its debut, officially crowning the Kings as rock & roll royalty in the process. Only by the Night arrived one year later, marking the band's fastest turnaround between albums; it also furthered the epic sound that Times introduced, flaunting a set of ringing guitars and radio-ready melodies that pushed the band away from the Allman Brothers' camp. If anything, much of the album took up residence in U2's cathedral, particularly during the one-two-three punch of "Sex on Fire," "Use Somebody," and "Manhattan." Appropriately, Only by the Night became a U2-sized smash on both sides of the Atlantic, selling some six million copies worldwide while firmly pushing the band into the mainstream.Like many big-sounding albums, Only by the Night is a polarizing piece of work, one that targets new fans at the expense of those who wish Kings of Leon had never shaved their beards or discovered post-'70s rock. To rope in the skeptics, the strongest tracks are pushed toward the album's first half. "Crawl" flexes the band's rock & roll muscle, melding Led Zeppelin-styled crunch with the experimental guitar buzz of U2's Achtung Baby, while "Sex on Fire" makes up for its goofy title with a meteoric chorus tailored to Caleb's voice. (He sounds fantastic throughout the record, even if his vocals continue to be garbled by some untraceable accent, as if he's auditioning for the Jodie Foster role in a Broadway adaptation of Nell.) Rounding out the hit-filled segment are "Use Somebody" and "Manhattan," where Matthew Followill cloaks his guitar riffs in reverb and bassist Jared Followill takes the spotlight sporadically, popping up for quick melodic fills before ducking back into the mix. While past Kings of Leon albums concerned themselves with alcohol, women, and other hedonistic themes, those two songs are nothing but pop/rock grandeur, and Caleb howls their hopeful lyrics like Bono's American-born cousin. Only by the Night focuses on textures and experimentation during the album's latter half, but most songs still deliver some sort of Technicolor melody, from "Notion" (one of the only tracks featuring piano) to the unexpected chorus of "Be Somebody." Taken as a whole, Only by the Night targets the audience that approved Kings of Leon's sonic shift in 2007, leaving older fans free to damn these tracks for their consciously grand approach. Yes, the album is often cheesy. Yes, some of the more popular songs lost their luster after endless months of radioplay. But Only by the Night remains a potent Kings of Leon record, and the guys have never defined their ambition so clearly.© Andrew Leahey /TiVo

Upon first release, the Velvet Underground's self-titled third album must have surprised their fans nearly as much as their first two albums shocked the few mainstream music fans who heard them. After testing the limits of how musically and thematically challenging rock could be on Velvet Underground & Nico and White Light/White Heat, this 1969 release sounded spare, quiet, and contemplative, as if the previous albums documented some manic, speed-fueled party and this was the subdued morning after. (The album's relative calm has often been attributed to the departure of the band's most committed avant-gardist, John Cale, in the fall of 1968; the arrival of new bassist Doug Yule; and the theft of the band's amplifiers shortly before they began recording.) But Lou Reed's lyrical exploration of the demimonde is as keen here as on any album he ever made, while displaying a warmth and compassion he sometimes denied his characters. "Candy Says," "Pale Blue Eyes," and "I'm Set Free" may be more muted in approach than what the band had done in the past, but "What Goes On" and "Beginning to See the Light" made it clear the VU still loved rock & roll, and "The Murder Mystery" (which mixes and matches four separate poetic narratives) is as brave and uncompromising as anything on White Light/White Heat. This album sounds less like the Velvet Underground than any of their studio albums, but it's as personal, honest, and moving as anything Lou Reed ever committed to tape.© Mark Deming /TiVo

Forty years after they officially broke up, ABBA are back. Although sometimes it felt like they never really went away, thanks to the Mamma Mia! musical and movie, as well as the band's prominent placement in films like Muriel's Wedding and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and in the arsenal of every wedding DJ. Of course, the world can be divided into two camps: ABBA fans and ABBA haters. And fans, Voyage is a wonder. (And haters: What, you hate heaven-sent harmonies?) "Just a Notion" is just glorious —as feel-good as "Waterloo." Originally recorded in 1978, while the Swedish foursome were making their Voulez-Vous album, it was inexplicably cut despite its joyous handclaps and sax and piano. (It's not a bad thing to say this would be perfect for a Richard Simmons workout.) "Don't Shut Me Down" struts to a high-stepping marching beat and funky double bass, as Agnetha Fältskog—sounding pretty freaking incredible for 71—tells an old lover she wants to come home now that she's gotten her groove back: "Once these rooms were witness to our love/ My tantrums and increasing frustration/ But I go from mad/ To not so bad in my transformation." It's weird and wonderful, the kind of thing that could win Eurovision (which, of course, ABBA did in 1974). The irresistible hooks and soaring chorus of "No Doubt About It" should make bands five decades younger jealous. The epic ballad "I Still Have Faith in You," meanwhile, finds Anni-Frid Lyngstad singing in a surprising, and striking, lower register. The song could be the cousin of "Fernando" and builds to a chorus as majestic as any hair-metal weeper. There's an original Christmas carol, "Little Things," and "When You Danced With Me," a gleeful folk-ish number that wouldn't have been out of place in a dancing scene from the horror movie Midsommar. With a few instrumentation tweaks, "I Can Be That Woman" could be the kind of Nashville Sound countrypolitan ballad Lynn Anderson would've crooned: "You say you've had it, and you say 'Screw you'/ I say 'I love you' and I know it's true" go the lyrics, chronicling a lifetime of regrets and the pledge to be better. Speaking of country—"Keep an Eye on Dan" tackles subject matter rarely found in pop songs. Against slightly sinister strings and a funky bass that recall the "gotcha" scene of any '70s crime show unspools a story that seems to be about a divorcée reluctant to leave her son with his dad for the weekend: "Keep an eye on Dan … he gets out of hand if you let him … I'll be back on Sunday to get him." (The wild synths suggest maybe little Dan is … unhinged?) Yes, it's highly processed cheese, but it really hits the spot. All 10 songs are composed by band members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus who, respectively, divorced Lyngstad and Fältskog years ago. But you'd never know that from the harmony, in every sense of the word. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

Continuing with the folk inclinations of The Lonesome Jubilee, John Mellencamp recorded his most ambitious and serious-minded album with Big Daddy. Mellencamp produced the record himself, giving the album a concise and stripped-down sound, which help give his songs the appearance of being gritty statements of truth. Unfortunately, Mellencamp isn't saying nearly as much as he believes he is, since his lyrics tend to be clichéd and half-baked, making much of the album feel pompous and self-serving. This is only reinforced by the lack of rockers on Big Daddy, since he saves the most carefree moment -- a ripping cover of the Hombres' "Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)" -- for an unlisted bonus track. Still, when he does hit his target, like on the gentle "Jackie Brown," the stuttering, fiddle-driven "Sometimes a Great Notion," and even the self-pitying "Pop Singer," Mellencamp proves that his talents haven't abandoned him.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Always the iconoclast, here pianist Bley applies her keen musical skill on baroque and chamber styles with tongue firmly in cheek and a fine string section to set the mood. The opening track, "Wolfgang Tango," is a brooding romantic excursion with humorous undertones. "The End of Vienna" features subtle keyboard work by Bley in a beautiful panoramic melody. But the trickster in Bley can't help but mix things up with the more challenging angles of "Tigers in Training." The closing track, a moving and rather creepy "JonBenet," is presumably an homage to the murdered child beauty queen.© Tim Sheridan /TiVo

Old-school toaster Beenie Man, a.k.a. Moses Davis, has performed professionally since the age of 5, and at 26 he's long been considered a veteran in reggae terms. But his appeal is not founded as much in his experience as it is in his vocal and musical flexibility and his ability to balance hard-hitting rawness with feel-good commercial sense, which he proved with his '95 Blessed and again in '97 with Many Moods of Moses, yielding hits on both the R&B and country-western charts. His latest finds the Jamaican lyrical wizard working Rasta magic on a humorous pastiche of sexual posturing and socially conscious manifestoes, all nailed down on a canvas of ass-shakin' ragga, hip-hop, reggae, and dancehall jams. Beenie casts a wide net with the Latin dancehall beats of "Tumble," featuring Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval atop Beenie's raps in Spanish and English, and "I've Got a Date," which maintains a laid-back groove throughout by borrowing the bassline from the Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There." He switches gears to team with Wyclef Jean on the dancehall/hip-hop hybrid "Love Me Now," lacing the mellow funk of "Girls Them Sugar" with his trademark catch phrase "sim simma," and dropping slick rhymes against the whispered croonings of ghetto diva Mya. The rest of the album features fun midtempo reggae tracks like "9 to 5," "The Best I Got," and "Analyze This," along with the rap-savvy dissin' of "Haters and Fools" and the title cut's soulful homage to reggae harmony.© Derrick Mathis /TiVo

Melissa Auf der Maur floated through the background of post-commercial alternative music in the late '90s, joining Hole as a bassist after Kristen Pfaff's death in 1994, then jumping ship for the Smashing Pumpkins after Courtney Love's band imploded in the aftermath of Celebrity Skin. She became something of an alt-rock sex symbol during this time, with her wild, curly mane of hair and waifish goth look garnering far more attention than whatever musical contributions she lent to either Hole or the Pumpkins, and that sex symbol status gave her a small cult that eagerly awaited her solo debut, Auf der Maur, which was released in the U.K. in 2003 and made it to America in the summer of 2004. Those who had a crush on Auf der Maur might find listening to Auf der Maur something like meeting up with a college crush in the present day and finding that, while you've moved on, your object of attraction hasn't changed much. There's a certain nostalgic appeal to that, since it brings back forgotten memories, little details that have been lost in the passage of time. However, it's not quite the same as looking at old photos or listening to favorite albums, which are artifacts that haven't changed over the years. With Auf der Maur, the presentation has changed, and it's a little slicker and more polished than it was seven or eight years ago (witness how she over-enunciates "I'm gonna shuffle his deck clean" on "Followed the Waves"). Subjects that once were darkly mysterious and enthralling are now a little embarrassing and juvenile (the lyric "I need filling, my love" on "Taste You"). Ultimately, it's hard to avoid that Auf der Maur is living in the past, re-creating 1996 and acting like she's still 24 and not facing her mid-thirties -- something that doesn't always wear well, but sometimes, it's easy to succumb to Auf der Maur's relative charms. But even if you do succumb, it's a temporary thing, a brief indulgence in nostalgia, and not the foundation of a long-term relationship, nor is it quite as good as hauling out the old albums one more time.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Still riding high years after the success of "Green Onions," Hip Hug-Her is another 11-song solid session of Southern soul delivered by one of the best bands in the business. In an attempt to appeal to the up-and-coming mod movement, the cover features an alluring model flanked by fashionable faceless people. But not to judge the album by its cover, Hip Hug-Her finds the group diving deeper into soulful territories, no doubt aided by the addition of bassist Duck Dunn to the fold. The title track is clearly one of the stronger cuts on the album, but other tunes such as the midtempo Motown anthem "Get Ready" and the group's interpretation of "Groovin'" make this one of the strongest full-lengths in the Booker T. & the MG's catalog.© Rob Theakston /TiVo

At this point in music history, it's become a given that the Velvet Underground were one of the most important and innovative rock bands of their era, and that the four albums they released during their lifespan rank with the most challenging and satisfying work in the rock canon. For beginners and dabblers, though, this invites the question of where to start exploring the group's catalog, an especially vexing question since each of the Velvets' albums has a very distinct musical personality, from the approachable and upbeat surfaces of Loaded to the all-out assault of White Light/White Heat. While Gold, an installment in Universal's ongoing series of "best-of" albums, was doubtless intended as "the Velvet Underground's Greatest Hits Writ Large" (an ironic approach, since the group never had anything even approaching a hit when they were around), it's also one of the best introductions to the group's repertoire that's been released to date. Universal opted not to license any material from Loaded (the VU's final album, released by the Atlantic offshoot Cotillion) for this collection, but short of that, Gold offers a healthy overview of their first three albums, and doesn't shy away from the band's more abrasive material (including all 17 howling minutes of "Sister Ray" from White Light/White Heat). Some of the Loaded-era music is represented by live performances from the epochal 1969: Velvet Underground Live set, the key tracks from the so-called "lost album" (previously unearthed on the historical anthology VU) are present and accounted for, previously unheard versions of John Cale's last session with the group appear here for the first time, and Lou Reed's and Sterling Morrison's contributions to Nico's Chelsea Girl can also be found. The mastering is crisp and well detailed, and the booklet includes a handful of rare photos along with a well-considered history of the group by Scott Schinder. Anyone with a serious music library really ought to have the four original albums in total, and anyone planning a significant commitment to his Velvet Underground collection ought to simply pick up the outstanding box set Peel Slowly and See, which is all the VU most folks will ever need and then some. But if the Velvet Underground are one of those bands you've always heard about but never listened to, Gold offers a splendid road map to their brilliant and diverse demimonde, and offers more than two and a half hours of evidence why their music still matters so much. © Mark Deming /TiVo