Fun.'s debut album Aim and Ignite was an interesting blend of seemingly divergent styles topped by a healthy dose of grandiose ambition and performed with a precise abandon. The trio made an album that was truly progressive and also super catchy and fun. The follow-up, Some Nights, ramps up the ambition and sonic bombast, but also manages to be even more powerful and impressive. While writing and planning the album, singer Nate Ruess, guitarist Jack Antonoff, and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Dost were heavily influenced by both the sound and scope of Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and made every attempt to achieve something similar, even to the point of hiring that album's co-producer Jeff Bhasker to produce and craft beats for them. (Also Emile Haynie, who has worked with Eminem among others) Though the album has more of a hip-hop influence than Aim and Ignite did, there are still large doses of Queen and ELO coursing through the band's blood, both in the machine-crafted vocal harmonies and the ornate bigness of the sound. The album is overloaded with strings and horns, backing vocals, keyboards, and programmed drums surrounding Ruess like a clamoring crowd, but never drowning out his innately sincere vocals and painfully honest lyrics. He has the kind of voice that could cut through any amount of noise, not by using volume but honesty. Even when he's fed through Auto-Tune, you know he's telling you the truth all the time. On songs like the lead single "We Are Young" or the rollicking "All Alone," he provides a very human core that grounds things even as the music builds to ornate crescendos. Indeed, the album is really, really big sounding and could easily have ended up collapsing under its own weight and pretension, but the opposite happens and Some Nights takes flight instead. The songs are both anthemic and human-sized, the heartfelt words and naked emotions are never buried, and the music is uplifting, not overpowering. The trio has crafted a record that measures up to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy musically and delivers enough emotional charge to power a small town for a month. It's an impressive achievement and Fun. deserves every bit of acclaim that comes its way because of it.© Tim Sendra /TiVo

A native of Nigeria who landed in London as a teenager, Obongjayar made his debut on SoundCloud in 2016. A few years, EPs and well-matched collaborations later (Richard Russell, Little Simz, Pa Salieu…), Steven Umoh (his legal name) has released his first album: Some Nights I Dream of Doors. And what an album it is! This man was always destined for a career as a rapper, and this release proves he’s going above and beyond his destiny. Meeting musicians from all walks of life when he worked in a record store helped him make his dream a reality. As a result, “OB” now has an incredibly large vocal palette, which he puts to good use on this album.Don’t be fooled by the Afrobeat single Tinko Tinko (Don’t Play Me for a Fool); this is just one tree growing in a forest full of brilliant ideas, like Message in a Hammer, a totally out-of-control track which fuses synths and techno beats with African diva vocals. He goes from feel-good pop (All the Difference, where he relies on his voice to make the melody) to gospel (Some Nights I Dream of Doors), while on New Man he effectively duets with himself, alternating sung passages with rap. He later returns to his home turf of Afrobeat on the incredible Sugar. However, his music always comes with a twist. In this case it’s tap drums. As the album progresses, it becomes more than simply refreshing. In fact, it’s almost avant-garde in its sound, playing around with different genres (pop, soul, jazz, R&B, rap, electro…) with an accuracy that will blow your mind. Everyone will undoubtedly have their favourite side to Obongjayar, but one thing’s for sure… he’s a cut above the rest. © Smael Bouaici/Qobuz

Fun.'s debut album Aim and Ignite was an interesting blend of seemingly divergent styles topped by a healthy dose of grandiose ambition and performed with a precise abandon. The trio made an album that was truly progressive and also super catchy and fun. The follow-up, Some Nights, ramps up the ambition and sonic bombast, but also manages to be even more powerful and impressive. While writing and planning the album, singer Nate Ruess, guitarist Jack Antonoff, and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Dost were heavily influenced by both the sound and scope of Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and made every attempt to achieve something similar, even to the point of hiring that album's co-producer Jeff Bhasker to produce and craft beats for them. (Also Emile Haynie, who has worked with Eminem among others) Though the album has more of a hip-hop influence than Aim and Ignite did, there are still large doses of Queen and ELO coursing through the band's blood, both in the machine-crafted vocal harmonies and the ornate bigness of the sound. The album is overloaded with strings and horns, backing vocals, keyboards, and programmed drums surrounding Ruess like a clamoring crowd, but never drowning out his innately sincere vocals and painfully honest lyrics. He has the kind of voice that could cut through any amount of noise, not by using volume but honesty. Even when he's fed through Auto-Tune, you know he's telling you the truth all the time. On songs like the lead single "We Are Young" or the rollicking "All Alone," he provides a very human core that grounds things even as the music builds to ornate crescendos. Indeed, the album is really, really big sounding and could easily have ended up collapsing under its own weight and pretension, but the opposite happens and Some Nights takes flight instead. The songs are both anthemic and human-sized, the heartfelt words and naked emotions are never buried, and the music is uplifting, not overpowering. The trio has crafted a record that measures up to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy musically and delivers enough emotional charge to power a small town for a month. It's an impressive achievement and Fun. deserves every bit of acclaim that comes its way because of it.© Tim Sendra /TiVo

Austin's famed dancehall the Broken Spoke adorns the cover of Honky Tonk Time Machine, George Strait's 30th album. Look closely and it's possible to see a hint of the new apartment buildings that crowd this historic landmark: it's there on the right side, peeking into a frame that deliberately cuts out these modern monstrosities. This is all the better to present the Broken Spoke as the physical embodiment of the titular Honky Tonk Time Machine, a place that sends the listener back to another era. Strait's music -- always the same, always changing -- is a honky tonk time machine of its own, of course, adhering to traditions that seemed old-fashioned even when he delivered his debut, Strait Country, back in 1981. Honky Tonk Time Machine belongs in the same universe as Strait Country -- it may not have much in the way of Western Swing, but it's filled with barroom ballads, twanging shuffles, and a hint of Old Mexico -- but it's clearly and proudly the work of a veteran, one who isn't concerned with keeping up with trends. Working again with producer Chuck Ainlay and singing many songs co-written with his son Bubba and Dean Dillon, Strait doesn't attempt much new -- the biggest wrinkle is how he finally gets to "Sing One with Willie," a knowing, overdue, and delightful duet with Nelson, the other undisputed king of Texas country -- and in some respects, he trumpets that he's out of step with the times. Strait celebrates "God and Country Music," a sentimental ballad that gets sticky when kids are brought in for a chorus, and he sings about "The Weight of the Badge," a plaintive tribute to police that could be read as a protest within the charged climate of 2019. Of course, Strait doesn't throw bombs: "The Weight of the Badge" is nuanced and humanistic, qualities that animate the entirety of Honky Tonk Time Machine. Whether he's performing an ode to tequila, juke joints, or covering Johnny Paycheck's "Old Violin," Strait sings with humor, tenderness, and ease, qualities that lend the deliberately nostalgic Honky Tonk Time Machine grace, resonance, and depth. Perhaps this isn't a new trick for Strait, but it's one to be cherished nonetheless.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

The Motels' volume of Capitol's Classic Masters series does an excellent job of summarizing the group's hit-making peak in the early '80s. Not only are their big hits "Only the Lonely," "Shame," and "Suddenly Last Summer" here, so are MTV favorites like "Take the L" and select album tracks, plus a nice representation of their nervy, early days as an underground L.A. new wave band. In addition to this, leader Martha Davis contributes the track-by-track liner notes and the sound is first-rate, making this arguably the best Motels hits package assembled to date.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

This 1990 debut solo offering from Don Dokken is perhaps the softest, most middle-of-the-road collection in the singer's long melodic rock career. Fans of '80s hair metal certainly count the band that carried Dokken's name as one of the premier outfits of the decade. But when their guitar-slinging histrionics, sad-faced ballads, and colorful outfits became highly unfashionable, the group couldn't sustain themselves through the constant fighting between the singer and guitarist George Lynch. The on-again off-again relationship was off for five years during the early '90s. Lynch made some noise with his own band, Lynch Mob (proving that he could write decent songs without the help of Dokken), and Dokken released Up from the Ashes, a collection of near-balladry. Joining the vocalist on this disc are guitarist/songwriter John Norum (most notable for his work with Europe), guitarist the Billy White, bassist Peter Baltes, and drummer Mickey Dee. The record is well-produced, and the performances (especially Norum's soloing) are quite polished.© Vincent Jeffries /TiVo

Fun.'s debut album Aim and Ignite was an interesting blend of seemingly divergent styles topped by a healthy dose of grandiose ambition and performed with a precise abandon. The trio made an album that was truly progressive and also super catchy and fun. The follow-up, Some Nights, ramps up the ambition and sonic bombast, but also manages to be even more powerful and impressive. While writing and planning the album, singer Nate Ruess, guitarist Jack Antonoff, and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Dost were heavily influenced by both the sound and scope of Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and made every attempt to achieve something similar, even to the point of hiring that album's co-producer Jeff Bhasker to produce and craft beats for them. (Also Emile Haynie, who has worked with Eminem among others) Though the album has more of a hip-hop influence than Aim and Ignite did, there are still large doses of Queen and ELO coursing through the band's blood, both in the machine-crafted vocal harmonies and the ornate bigness of the sound. The album is overloaded with strings and horns, backing vocals, keyboards, and programmed drums surrounding Ruess like a clamoring crowd, but never drowning out his innately sincere vocals and painfully honest lyrics. He has the kind of voice that could cut through any amount of noise, not by using volume but honesty. Even when he's fed through Auto-Tune, you know he's telling you the truth all the time. On songs like the lead single "We Are Young" or the rollicking "All Alone," he provides a very human core that grounds things even as the music builds to ornate crescendos. Indeed, the album is really, really big sounding and could easily have ended up collapsing under its own weight and pretension, but the opposite happens and Some Nights takes flight instead. The songs are both anthemic and human-sized, the heartfelt words and naked emotions are never buried, and the music is uplifting, not overpowering. The trio has crafted a record that measures up to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy musically and delivers enough emotional charge to power a small town for a month. It's an impressive achievement and Fun. deserves every bit of acclaim that comes its way because of it.© Tim Sendra /TiVo

In 1995 -- 21 years after Funk, Inc.'s breakup -- organist and Jimmy Smith disciple Bobby Watley decided to assemble a new edition of his gritty soul-jazz quintet. Two original members -- conga player Cecil Hunt and Watley himself -- were joined by saxman Teddy Patterson, guitarist Doug Swanigan and drummer Phil Brines. Watley unveiled his new Funk with Urban Renewal, a solid effort that, like such classics as Chicken Lickin' and Hangin' Out, effectively combines the immediacy of soul and funk with the spontaneity of jazz. Before its demise, the original Funk had deteriorated quite a bit by smothering itself with overproduction; but that's not a problem here. From the earthy, down-home blues themes of "Sneaky" and "Get Some More" to a commanding interpretation of Herbie Mann's "Memphis Underground," Renewal makes it clear that accessibility and artistic integrity aren't mutually exclusive.© Alex Henderson /TiVo

John Pizzarelli lays it all out in the title of his 2015 album: this tribute to Paul McCartney is designed for play in the smoky late-night hours, when everything turns sweet and mellow. Furthermore, this is a tribute to McCartney, not the Beatles. There isn't a Fab song to be found here, as Pizzarelli focuses entirely on Paul's solo work (for these intents and purposes, this includes Wings records), concentrating on the '70s but also sliding McCartney's Great American Songbook wannabe "My Valentine" into the mix. Pizzarelli digs up a few other obscurities -- the early Wings song "Some People Never Know," the Speed of Sound deep cut "Warm and Beautiful" -- and he also plays around with expectations, making "Let 'Em In" swing like mad and relaxing "Hi Hi Hi" so it doesn't rock, it grooves. He also invites Michael McDonald to sing on "Coming Up," which swaggers like Sinatra in Vegas, but for as delightful as that is, the key to the record's success is Pizzarelli himself, who delivers upon the laid-back promise of the title but is savvier than he needed to be, which is why Midnight McCartney satisfies.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

The posthumously released all-star Jeff Golub benefit album, The Vault, brings together reworked and previously unreleased versions of songs the guitarist recorded prior to being diagnosed with the rare brain disease progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) in 2014. A debilitating condition, PSP robbed Golub of his eyesight and left the adept, genre-bending blues and jazz musician unable to play his guitar. Tragically, complications from the disease also led to his death in January 2015. Prior to his passing, however, several of Golub's longtime friends and collaborators, including trumpeter Rick Braun, music executive Bud Harner, and producer/engineer Steven Miller, assisted Golub in compiling these tracks. Golub then handpicked many of his favorite artists to add their own contemporary style to the recordings and create something fresh. Although many of the songs on The Vault, such as "Funky Is as Funky Does," off 1994's Avenue Blue and "Groanin'," off 1999's Out of the Blue, will be familiar to Golub's longtime fans, these are not the same tracks featured on the original albums. On the contrary, these are alternate versions reworked with newly recorded additions from such artists as Dave Koz, Mindi Abair, Kirk Whalum, Boney James, Jeff Lorber, Gerald Albright, Peter White, Richard Elliot, and others. Released on the heels of a live benefit concert held in New York City to raise funds to pay for Golub's expenses, proceeds from sales of The Vault also go to Golub's family. Ultimately, The Vault works as both a farewell from Golub and a soulful, uplifting tribute to his musical gifts. © Matt Collar /TiVo

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