With three albums in three years, Drake maintains a productivity on par with his status on the American music scene. He delivers an album with flow in line with the rap blockbusters of the early 2020s, which rely on the opulence of their tracks, almost like outward signs of wealth. Far from going into autopilot, Drake explores an incalculable number of sound paradigms, his finger on the pulse of the latest trends, venturing into the emo rants of Yeat, who he features on  “IDGAF,” and into loops of dark samples on the hard hitting single “First Person,” where J. Cole also spits fire. With a touch of playfulness and mischief, the Canadian turns himself into a grimey schoolboy, shooting at anything that moves to settle the score and establish his dominance, then gets in his feelings on the very boom bap “8am in Charlotte.” For All the Dogs is a wiry, complex album, a deep dive into the psyche and the innumerable artistic desires of its artist. © Brice Miclet/Qobuz

Little Simz's fourth album the biggest success of her career. Aptly dubbed Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (whose initials, SIMBI, are a reference to the rapper's first name), it is a superb exploration of intimacy. The Londoner mobilises big string arrangements, as on Standing Ovation or the long intro Introvert, while mixing the organic and the electronic with disconcerting skill. This album sketches different aspects of her personality, going back to her Nigerian origins with the tracks Point and Kill (featuring rising star Obongjayar) and Fear No Man, all the way to the decidedly English sounds on Rollin Stone, which verges on grime without diving fully into that sound. With an aesthetic that veers close to the American alternative rap of the late 1990s, she studs this record with welcome, relevant interludes, sonic breaks, dotted throughout the tracklist. In terms of her flow, the technique is the same. It is still all about playing with time, even when it gets more uniform on the excellent single Woman, or more full-frontal on Speed. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert stands out as one of the highlights of English rap in 2021, accomplished and enjoyable without denying its social message. A real success. © Brice Miclet/Qobuz

The biggest selling album of Barbra Streisand's career is also one of her least characteristic. The album was written and produced by Barry Gibb in association with his brothers and the producers of the Bee Gees, and in essence it sounds like a post-Saturday Night Fever Bee Gees album with vocals by Streisand. Gibb adapted his usual style somewhat, especially in slowing the tempos and leaving more room for the vocal, but his melodic style and the backup vocals, even when they are not sung by the Bee Gees, are typical of them. Still, the record was more hybrid than compromise, and the chart-topping single "Woman in Love" has a sinuous feel that is both right for Streisand and new for her. Other hits were the title song and "What Kind of Fool," both duets with Gibb. (The song "Guilty" won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal by Duo or Group.)© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

Steve Kuhn has excelled in many settings in a career spanning over five decades, but he is at his best leading a trio. Like many top pianists, Kuhn interacts with his musicians rather than relegating them exclusively to the role of accompanists. By the time of this 2011 record date, he had worked with bassist Steve Swallow at various times for over a half-century and with drummer Joey Baron for over 20 years, but this marked their first recording together as a trio. Swallow's sublime lyrical bass is always a welcome addition, while Baron has contributed to recordings by a diverse range of stylists. Kuhn contributed many of the songs, highlighted by his lyrical samba "Adagio" and the glistening, light-hearted "Morning Dew." He also revisits several of his best compositions recorded for previous projects: the lush ballad "Romance," the whispered "Pastorale" with Swallow playing lead in the introduction as Kuhn plays soft chords behind him and Baron's light touch on brushes providing the perfect accent, along with the mellow yet hip "Promises Kept." Swallow's compositions are frequently used by leaders with whom he works. His "Dark Glasses" opens with a mysterious air but shifts quickly into a bright bossa nova. One can only imagine the inspiration for the title to "Good Lookin' Rookie," and this breezy number doesn't disappoint, with Kuhn's driving piano and Swallow's intricate bass solo, along with Baron's drum breaks. Highly recommended!© Ken Dryden /TiVo

Damn the Torpedoes wasn't simply a culmination of Tom Petty's art; it happened to be a huge success, enabling him to call the shots on its successor, Hard Promises. Infamously, he used his first album as a star to challenge the record industry's practice of charging more for A-list artists, demanding that Hard Promises should be listed for less than most records by an artist of his stature, but if that was the only thing notable about the album, it would have disappeared like Long After Dark. Instead, it offered a reaffirmation that Damn the Torpedoes wasn't a fluke. There's not much new on the surface, since it continues the sound of its predecessor, but it's filled with great songwriting, something that's as difficult to achieve as a distinctive sound. The opener, "The Waiting," became the best-known song on the record, but there's no discounting "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)," "Nightwatchman," "Kings Road," "Insider," and "The Criminal Kind," album tracks that would become fan favorites. If Hard Promises doesn't have the sweep of Damn the Torpedoes, that's because its predecessor was blessed with good timing and an unusually strong set of songs. Hard Promises isn't quite so epochal, yet it has a tremendous set of songs and a unified sound that makes it one of Petty's finest records.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

After a bit of surprising and quite good genre exploration on his previous solo album, Honestly Nevermind, on 2023's For All the Dogs Drake slides back into his usual M.O. of slow-as-taffy pull beats, alternately aggressive and morose rapping, and topics that range from how great Drake is to how rich Drake is to how misunderstand Drake is, with the occasional bit of misogyny added in to put some rotten cherries on top. Instead of the possible future glimpsed on Honestly Nevermind where he wasn't a one-note trap miserablist with a bad attitude toward women, Dogs brings to mind Drake at his self-defeating worst. He indulges in corny Scarface samples, takes tired shots at Kanye and Pusha T, drops so many names and cultural references that it sounds like an episode of Family Guy as written by AI, and almost every line revolving around women falls flat. Either he berates them for being liars, celebrates them for being of age, or criticizes them for being educated, unsophisticated, or not up to his exacting standard. It's depressing, and it's an act that's completely played out. Any hopes that Drake might have matured with age or thanks to being a father -- his son drew the album cover and it's one of the best things about the record -- are dashed within a few songs. It's annoying that Drake can't get out of his own way lyrically because quite a few of the songs have interesting music. Tracks like "IDGAF" and "Away from Home" have warped samples, dubby techno synths, and dazed beats that could have made for good backing for something less toxic and over the top. Drake seems to be going out of his way to convince people once again that he's for real, that he's the GOAT, that he started from the bottom and he's so high now he can't even make it out through the smoke. It's exhausting and obvious, making it a chore to get to the end of the 26 songs. He does rope in his usual cadre of established stars (21 Savage, J Cole, Bad Bunny) and up-and-comers (Teezo Touchdown, Yeat) to help out. Most of them are just along for the ride, slotting into the gray grind of the record like interchangeable Lego pieces. SZA does bring some balance to "Slime You Out," though, and she and Sexyy Redd add some juice to the bass track "Rich Baby Daddy." Drake the vocalist guests on the R&B ballad "Bahamas Promises" and proves again that he knows his way around a baby-making jam. Too bad the lyrics are the usual steaming plate of self-serving self-pity. It is a respite from the trap overload, but the sheer weight of the familiar beats and similar moods, same old Drake lyrical stance, and unrelenting misogyny add up to an overall negative listening experience. It might not be the worst Drake album, but it's in the conversation for sure.© Tim Sendra /TiVo

Intelligent, tuneful adult pop with terrific female vocals and bluesy slide guitar work.© Steve Aldrich /TiVo

Shawn Mendes translated his Vine superstardom into genuine pop stardom in 2015 thanks to "Stitches," a lively piece of pop with a slightly soulful undercurrent. Wisely, Mendes and his team decide to play off these soulful inclinations on Illuminate, the album released almost 18 months after his 2015 debut Handwritten. This isn't to say that Mendes is a crooner, nor is he riding anything resembling a funky groove. Instead, Illuminate uses light R&B rhythms as a way to give a bit of grace and warmth, the airiness of "Ruin" and "Three Empty Words" spinning heartbreak into seduction. As it turns out, this wide-eyed puppy dog routine is the key to Mendes' appeal. He's not forceful, and whenever he slides into a loverman routine, there's never a sense that he's a player: his voice is so small and sweet, it feels as if he's whispering sweet nothings to his high school sweetheart. On Handwritten, such quivering sensitivity seemed tentative, but on Illuminate, it has gelled into his pop persona; he's charming because he embraces his ordinariness. Sometimes on Illuminate the songs are a bit too diffuse to benefit from these qualities -- whenever they lack a hook or pronounced melody, the tracks tend to drift -- but a lot of the record provides a good showcase for his tenderness. And these aren't necessarily ballads, either. Certainly, he feels at home on a nice slow-burning torch number like "Don't Be a Fool" -- an old-fashioned slice of swaying '60s soul -- but on the insistent pop of "Treat You Better" and sunny seaside vibes of "Honest," this boyishness is equally appealing, and those sly shifts in tone are why Mendes comes into his own on Illuminate.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

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The electric blues guitar boss -- only in his early twenties at the time of this release -- Christone "Kingfish" Ingram brought his tight quartet to London's Garage on June 6, 2023, for a standing-room-only crowd. Live in London, the guitar slinger's third album for Alligator, appeared just three months later. It's a beautifully recorded, incendiary gig captured in the moment. The 17-track program is equally split between selections from his first two albums: 2019's Kingfish and 2021's 662, plus new tunes and a cover.Kingfish leaves plenty of room for spontaneity live. Set opener "She Calls Me Kingfish" is introduced by DeShawn Alexander's reverbed, floating Rhodes piano that's replaced by a Hammond B-3 organ before Paul Rogers' bumping bassline and Chris Black's drum kit establish a funky shuffle. Ingram's playing crisscrosses jazz, prog rock, soul, and blues before it's time to solo. In contrast, his biting Stratocaster delivers a strolling break that melds the phrasing of B.B. King and Jimmy Johnson with an innate, deeply personal lyricism. Over seven minutes, its dynamic and intensity shift several times, drawing the enthusiastic crowd in. "Fresh Out" is even longer, a slow, wrangling, Chicago blues, it offers locked-on group interplay even during the solos by Ingram and Alexander. The tempo remains relatively laid-back through the poignant soul blues of "Another Life Goes By." (Interestingly, one can hear the influence of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson in the melody and lyric.) Michael "Iron Man" Burks' "Empty Promises" is Hendrixian in invention, drama, and tension. Its loss-laden lyric is underscored by the B-3 and sets a perfect frame for Ingram's arrestingly soulful singing on top. The nasty, gritty "Hard Times" is a keyboard and rhythm collision that Ingram elevates with his hip vocals and distorted wah-wah soloing. "Mississippi Night" is a previously unissued scorching ten-minute instrumental that puts all of Ingram's considerable improvising skills on display. The middle section offers two solo acoustic Delta jams. "Been Here Before" is an autobiography and tribute to his grandmother with canny fingerpickinging and percussive strumming. The other -- "Something in the Dirt" -- is also a testifying autobiography of person and place set to a celebratory I-IV-V shuffle with killer turnarounds. The second half commences with the swaying blue soul of "You're Already Gone," driven by B-3 as Ingram testifies with conviction in his vocal. His solo adds depth, dimension, and power. While "Rock 'n' Roll" remains a deeply moving tribute to his late mother complete with gospel overtones, "Not Gonna Lie" combines blues, funk, and rootsy rock in a personal manifesto. "Midnight Heat," another new song, is snarling and potent, as Ingram's lyric offers intimacy to a lover with a loose groove that crisscrosses electric Southern blues and Meters-esque R&B. Closer "662" is bursting with the uptempo dancehall Texas groove of Albert King, the Vaughan Brothers, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Live in London provides more evidence that Ingram is a force to be reckoned with: Not only can he play like the legends, but he's an original vocalist, a solid songwriter, and a disciplined bandleader.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

With his 6th studio album (1978), Eric Clapton broke a cycle in his solo career: it was the last time that he used the musicians he started with. On Blackless, JJ Cale came back to compose I’ll Make Love To You Anytime while Bob Dylan wrote two tracks. After many well made albums, Clapton seemed to be in a little lack of inspiration. Even if the majority of the songs are paradise for guitar players, they might not seduce people that do not care much about that instrument. © AR/Qobuz

Following his early 2010s work on the first Captain America and Avengers films, composer Alan Silvestri returned to the Marvel universe for 2018's blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War. Landing in the Top 100 on the Billboard 200 upon release, the Avengers: Infinity War original motion picture soundtrack featured an epic, Thanos-sized score to pair with the non-stop intergalactic action of the film (with song titles that gave away nothing of the major plot twists).© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Issued by the RCA label in 2007, this two-disc John Denver retrospective features a well-selected collection of the late folk-pop performer's finest songs. Like the excellent though not-as-comprehensive Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits, the set presents many of the amiable Colorado-based singer/songwriter's most recognizable tunes, including the shimmering "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and the vibrant "Rocky Mountain High." However, Essential digs further into Denver's catalog, offering up lesser-known numbers such as the delicate "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado" and the surprisingly energetic "I'd Rather Be a Cowboy (Lady's Chains)." Ideal for those wanting more than the Definitive compilation, but less than the weighty four-disc Country Roads Collection, Essential easily stands as one of the best Denver anthologies available.© Eric Schneider /TiVo