In the 20th century’s final decade, so-called alternative rock—an emphatic repudiation of arena rock and hair bands—was changing the definition of rock music forever. But did anyone in 1991 ever dream that Nirvana's Nevermind, which made alt-rock mainstream and immortalized the word "grunge" would become the last great rock record? With the music world too fragmented today to ever empower a Nevermind or even a Thriller, Nirvana's opus remains, along with Metallica's "Black Album" released the same year (and technically metal), the last rock album to sell somewhere over 20 million copies while becoming a widely beloved and influential landmark. But does all that mean a celebration with another multi-volume boxed set is needed every ten years? For Kurt Cobain fans the answer is obviously, yes please! And with the 30th anniversary set, they won't be disappointed; along with the remastered original album, four live shows have been officially released. Although they have a similar energy and nearly identical set lists that focus on Nevermind, the live shows, some of which have been famously bootlegged, do differ in sound quality. While the 1991 Amsterdam show has good depth and a natural resonance, a show from the same year in Del Mar, California has some speed issues, and while better than the original bootleg, is still dynamically limited. The 1992 Melbourne, Australia show has the best sound quality but a Tokyo show from the same year is clearly the worst sounding, obviously an audience tape that despite sonic restoration work has the familiar limited, recorded-in-a-jar fidelity of most cassette bootlegs. For fans of the original record—and also improved fidelity—this version of Nevermind, newly remastered from the original half-inch stereo analog tapes by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound, can now be heard in high resolution 192kHz 24-bit sound. While the original Nevermind, produced by Butch Vig, recorded by Vig, Craig Doubet and Jeff Sheehan, and mixed by Andy Wallace was never a sonic disaster, the new high resolution is a noticeable improvement, though maybe one that Kurt Cobain wouldn't appreciate. Uncomfortable with the album's success and his subsequent celebrity, Cobain, who famously called the music on Nevermind, "the Knack and the Bay City Rollers getting molested by Black Flag and Black Sabbath," routinely criticized the original album as overproduced and not punk rock enough. The album's sonics have also been controversial with listeners, some of whom agreed with Cobain that compared to the band's 1989 debut Bleach, it was too accessible, too punchy, and ruined by what they perceived to be unnecessary gloss. Diametrically opposed though were the alt-rock haters for whom Nevermind was too sludgy, too loud, and disgustingly ill-defined. The crisper sound of the new high resolution transfer accentuates the clean pop production Wallace gave to the original album, and which despite Cobain's misgivings, played no small part in the album's massive success. Clarity, even when played loud, is where the high resolution is most obvious. And then there are the details. The swirling, side-to-side guitar part in "Come as You Are," for example, has never been clearer or more assertive. "Breed," the album's hit that never was, has been cleaned up in ways that Cobain would surely have thought were too pretty. His guitar part, which was repeatedly panned left and right, is more forward and defined. Dave Grohl's cymbals on the opening of "Lithium" have the edge of a jazz record. And in "On a Plain" Cobain's doubled vocals and the overdubs where he sings harmony with himself have never been clearer. Overall, the high resolution Nevermind has a lighter tone, an airier presence. Does a cleaner sounding Nevermind betray the band's punk rock intentions or subvert their grunge cred? A new Nevermind controversy is born. © Robert Baird/Qobuz

Just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Green Day released Father of All… -- an album co-produced by Butch Walker that found the punk-pop veterans ratcheting up the glam as they tightened their song structures. It's difficult to separate the album's short shelf-life from the culture's sudden lockdown but in any case, Father didn't open up a new horizon for Green Day, so they went back to what they know works: heavy, hooky power pop given crunch and weight by Rob Cavallo, the producer who helped beef up their sound 30 years prior on their major-label debut Dookie. Saviors follows the same rough blueprint as its forefather -- garagey rockers are countered by exuberant melodies and wistful ballads -- but the trio is smart enough to not attempt to mimic either the snottiness or their frenetic rhythms here. Green Day sound exactly like what they are: rock & roll lifers settling into middle age, irritated by some shifts in culture but still finding sustenance in the music they've loved for decades. They may rhapsodize about a "Corvette Summer" in a salute to the glory days of pre-MTV AOR but age hasn't made them crankily conservative or excessively nostalgic. Green Day send certain catchy rock styles from the past through a loud, muscular filter, an execution that tempers their lingering punk influences without seeming lumbering or slow. The ballast makes Saviors seem streamlined and steady, a shift in emphasis that is impossible to ignore on first listen; they seem as if they're retracting. After that initial impression fades, Saviors sounds cleaner, stronger, and purposeful, all due to the still-sharp pop instincts of Bille Joe Armstrong. Age may dampen Green Day's roar, but it has also heightened their songcraft, and that's reason enough to give Saviors time to let its hooks sink in.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

When Meteora landed in 2003, Linkin Park were on top of the rock world with a debut that would go on to become one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century and a mountain of pressure for a follow-up. So when critics got hold of what they considered Hybrid Theory 2.0, it might have seemed like the group couldn't live up to the early hype. However, Meteora was another globe-dominating smash that expanded their sonic boundaries and added a slew of hits to their repertoire, offering a matured, fully realized vision of the Linkin Park sound. That winning collision of alternative metal, electronic production, and old school hip-hop was expanded to epic scope, taking everything that worked on the first pass, amplifying it, and setting the stage for their various forays in the decade to come. In the eye of the storm whipped up by drummer Rob Bourdon, guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, and producer/artistic mastermind Joe Hahn, the band's heart -- vocalist Chester Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda -- delivers what are arguably the finest examples of their trademark vocal back-and-forth. On lead single "Somewhere I Belong," Bennington pivots between pensive whispers and anguished cries as Shinoda tries to cleanse himself of the relatable self-doubt and fear that connected the band to a legion of listeners. That inner turmoil was key to making them such a generational voice, and those emotions were pushed to further extremes across tracks like the towering "Lying from You" (home to one of Bennington's bloodiest throat-shredders); the menacing, riff-packed assault "Hit the Floor"; and the soaring "From the Inside," a stadium-sized combo of "Crawling" and "My December." Beyond these familiar moments, the band also made fearless jumps into new territory, dropping an East Asian shakuhachi flute into the Shinoda rap showcase "Nobody's Listening," joining strings and programmed loops on the skittering, near-electronica "Breaking the Habit," and hinting at future soundtrack work with the atmospheric turntable extravaganza "Session." Two tracks in particular have made this a classic in the Linkin Park catalog. From the first notes of the sampled string loop, it was clear that "Faint" was unlike anything they'd done before. Atop galloping riffs and that repeated melody, it energized Meteora with a bright freshness that was smashed by a lurching drop and another one of Bennington's toe-curling death roars. On the other end of the spectrum, "Numb" built upon the desperation and frustration of "In the End," amplified by a melodic keyboard riff, pensive production, a chest-caving guitar-and-drum attack, and one of Bennington's most impassioned deliveries. As every element gels together at the close, he wails, "And I know I may end up failing too/But I know you were just like me with someone disappointed in you," releasing a pain so palpable that the catharsis almost feels good. Selling that pain with a side of hope generated another international hit that cemented the group as one of the top acts of their generation. Although they'd soon switch things up with far different results, Meteora stands tall as the most refined representation of the "classic" Linkin Park sound, an enduring statement that helped the young band capture lightning in a bottle for a second time.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

The new GoGo Penguin has arrived! The iconoclastic Mancunian combo (piano, bass, drums, and electronic sounds) was first noticed by Blue Note, who are forever on the lookout for “jazz-ish” groups to expand their audience; however, their dream was not to emerge unscathed. During the pandemic, the group separated from the great house to join XXIM Records, one of Sony Masterworks’ labels and this major company’s classical/jazz stable. Another change: the departure (amicably, it is said) of drummer, Rob Turner.To replace him, the pianist Chris Illingworth and bassist Nick Blacka turned to Jon Scott, who played with the Kairos 4tet and Mulatu Astatke, aka the godfather of ethio-jazz. We do end up finding a little less jazz on this sixth album, however. It instead offers short pieces that veer towards a more ambient and contemplative sound (the comforting Glimmerings opening), and cinema soundtracks, i.e., You're Stronger Than You Think , culminating with Parasite, an instrumental medley that gets carried away. It plays like a lounge jam session while the children sleep soundly upstairs. Elegant and cinematic, the GoGo Penguins’ music has, despite some turmoil, lost nothing of its feel-good nature. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

After brilliantly surveying the social, political, and spiritual landscape with What's Going On, Marvin Gaye turned to more intimate matters with Let's Get It On, a record unparalleled in its sheer sensuality and carnal energy. Always a sexually charged performer, Gaye's passions reach their boiling point on tracks like the magnificent title hit (a number one smash) and "You Sure Love to Ball"; silky and shimmering, the music is seductive in the most literal sense, its fluid grooves so perfectly designed for romance as to border on parody. With each performance laced with innuendo, each lyric a come-on, and each rhythm throbbing with lust, perhaps no other record has ever achieved the kind of sheer erotic force of Let's Get It On, and it remains the blueprint for all of the slow jams to follow decades later -- much copied, but never imitated.© Jason Ankeny /TiVo

In the 20th century’s final decade, so-called alternative rock—an emphatic repudiation of arena rock and hair bands—was changing the definition of rock music forever. But did anyone in 1991 ever dream that Nirvana's Nevermind, which made alt-rock mainstream and immortalized the word "grunge" would become the last great rock record? With the music world too fragmented today to ever empower a Nevermind or even a Thriller, Nirvana's opus remains, along with Metallica's "Black Album" released the same year (and technically metal), the last rock album to sell somewhere over 20 million copies while becoming a widely beloved and influential landmark. But does all that mean a celebration with another multi-volume boxed set is needed every ten years? For Kurt Cobain fans the answer is obviously, yes please! And with the 30th anniversary set, they won't be disappointed; along with the remastered original album, four live shows have been officially released. Although they have a similar energy and nearly identical set lists that focus on Nevermind, the live shows, some of which have been famously bootlegged, do differ in sound quality. While the 1991 Amsterdam show has good depth and a natural resonance, a show from the same year in Del Mar, California has some speed issues, and while better than the original bootleg, is still dynamically limited. The 1992 Melbourne, Australia show has the best sound quality but a Tokyo show from the same year is clearly the worst sounding, obviously an audience tape that despite sonic restoration work has the familiar limited, recorded-in-a-jar fidelity of most cassette bootlegs. For fans of the original record—and also improved fidelity—this version of Nevermind, newly remastered from the original half-inch stereo analog tapes by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound, can now be heard in high resolution 192kHz 24-bit sound. While the original Nevermind, produced by Butch Vig, recorded by Vig, Craig Doubet and Jeff Sheehan, and mixed by Andy Wallace was never a sonic disaster, the new high resolution is a noticeable improvement, though maybe one that Kurt Cobain wouldn't appreciate. Uncomfortable with the album's success and his subsequent celebrity, Cobain, who famously called the music on Nevermind, "the Knack and the Bay City Rollers getting molested by Black Flag and Black Sabbath," routinely criticized the original album as overproduced and not punk rock enough. The album's sonics have also been controversial with listeners, some of whom agreed with Cobain that compared to the band's 1989 debut Bleach, it was too accessible, too punchy, and ruined by what they perceived to be unnecessary gloss. Diametrically opposed though were the alt-rock haters for whom Nevermind was too sludgy, too loud, and disgustingly ill-defined. The crisper sound of the new high resolution transfer accentuates the clean pop production Wallace gave to the original album, and which despite Cobain's misgivings, played no small part in the album's massive success. Clarity, even when played loud, is where the high resolution is most obvious. And then there are the details. The swirling, side-to-side guitar part in "Come as You Are," for example, has never been clearer or more assertive. "Breed," the album's hit that never was, has been cleaned up in ways that Cobain would surely have thought were too pretty. His guitar part, which was repeatedly panned left and right, is more forward and defined. Dave Grohl's cymbals on the opening of "Lithium" have the edge of a jazz record. And in "On a Plain" Cobain's doubled vocals and the overdubs where he sings harmony with himself have never been clearer. Overall, the high resolution Nevermind has a lighter tone, an airier presence. Does a cleaner sounding Nevermind betray the band's punk rock intentions or subvert their grunge cred? A new Nevermind controversy is born. © Robert Baird/Qobuz

J.J. Cale was the embodiment of cool blues. With his atypical blend of rock, folk, country, blues and jazz, he was one of the most influential figures in rock'n' roll. Worshipped by Clapton, the Cocaine writer who spent most of his time in a mobile home remains the essence of a laid-back and relaxed musical style. For his fans, Stay Around is a gift from heaven. This posthumous record from April 2019 brings together fifteen unreleased songs mixed and produced by Cale himself and compiled by his widow, Christine Lakeland, and his old collaborator and manager Mike Kappus. "I wanted to find stuff that was completely unheard to max-out the ‘Cale factor'," says Lakeland, "using as much that came from John’s ears and fingers and his choices as I could, so I stuck to John’s mixes. You can make things so sterile that you take the human feel out. But John left a lot of that human feel in. He left so much room for interpretation.” Obviously, all these gems - from the stripped back Oh My My My to the more elaborate Chasing You - do not change anything at all about what we knew and loved about this king of cool. The quality of Stay Around, which never sounds slap-dash, proves that the man took every second of his art seriously. And as always with him, we come out of this posthumous album with the feeling of having fully lived a human and warm encounter. A sincere and engaging experience, connected to the soul and the gut. Marc Zisman/Qobuz

1989 is the record on which the onetime country star fully embraced electro-pop—vocal reverb, ice-cold drums and all. Excitable opener "Welcome to New York" is as big and shiny as the city's skyscrapers on a summer morning. It has zero chill, but Taylor Swift insists she's in on the joke with the haters-be-damned "Shake It Off," a spinning cartwheel of horn skronk, drum splashes and Motown backing vocals. That self-awareness continues on the slinkily baroque "Blank Space" (which cheekily addresses the singer's man-eater reputation) and "Bad Blood" ("still got scars in my back from your knives," she slings at a rival). But at a certain point, it's better to stop analyzing and dance. "Style" and "All You Had to Do Was Stay" sparkle with disco-ball shimmer. With its Minimoog hum and vocal loops, "Out of the Woods" could be an '80s movie soundtrack gem. The last few tracks wind down like the end of a long night, and it's closer "Clean," that offers the biggest surprise of 1989 with its lush, Roxy Music sprawl. The deluxe version adds three new originals and three voice memos of Swift discussing her songwriting process. © Qobuz

Switzerland’s most famous electronic music group is celebrating its 40th birthday with an XXL retrospective release. These four discs pay tribute to a body of work that has wandered every which way over the last four decades, but has always remained faithful to the dancefloor. The core of this best-of compilation is in the first two discs, which contain all the great classic tunes from Dieter Meier and Boris Blank, including the seminal Oh Yeah, which was released in 1985 and went down in history thanks to a series of teen movies and the Simpsons' beer mascot, Duffman. We also find hits like Bostich, a live version of The Race, Vicious Games, I Love You or the funky/psychedelic Tied Up. The third CD, curated by Boris Blank, foregrounds Yello's "mellow" side, and it highlights some lesser-known tracks such as Capri Calling or Otto di Catania. Finally, the last disc features a dozen remixes, with a hypnotic Carl Craig on Electrified II and Hell DJ in cosmic form on Bostich. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

Refreshing and free, Something to Give Each Other is the sound of a maturing artist taking a bold step into the spotlight. Three years after his last EP and a full half-decade since his previous full-length, Troye Sivan finally does what he came to do, delivering an effervescent dose of pop that is all-at-once endearing, explicit, and exciting. In addition to the horny lead single "Rush" -- one of the most memorable singles of 2023 -- Something... is packed with a wide range of gems that range from club-friendly dance anthems ("Got Me Started," "Silly," and "What's the Time Where You Are?") to romantic, midtempo sweetness ("In My Room," "One of Your Girls"). The young artist responsible for his earlier, more introspective bedroom pop material is still at work here, while that liberated spirit that began to "Bloom" in 2018 has taken the reins and successfully reached a place where he can be himself. As such, Something to Give Each Other succeeds because Sivan has been freed: to be who he wants to be and express that through his most engaging and addictive album to date.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Arriving with the force of a hurricane, Oasis' third album, Be Here Now, is a bright, bold, colorful tour de force that simply steamrolls over any criticism. The key to Oasis' sound is its inevitability -- they are unwavering in their confidence, which means that even the hardest rockers are slow, steady, and heavy, not fast. And that self-possessed confidence, that belief in their greatness, makes Be Here Now intensely enjoyable, even though it offers no real songwriting breakthroughs. Noel Gallagher remains a remarkably talented synthesist, bringing together disparate strands -- "D'You Know What I Mean" has an N.W.A drum loop, a Zeppelin-esque wall of guitars, electronica gurgles, and lyrical allusions to the Beatles and Dylan -- to create impossibly catchy songs that sound fresh, no matter how many older songs he references. He may be working familiar territory throughout Be Here Now, but it doesn't matter because the craftsmanship is good. "The Girl in the Dirty Shirt" is irresistible pop, and epics like "Magic Pie" and "All Around the World" simply soar, while the rockers "My Big Mouth," "It's Getting Better (Man!!)," and "Be Here Now" attack with a bone-crunching force. Noel is smart enough to balance his classicist tendencies with spacious, open production, filling the album with found sounds, layers of guitars, keyboards, and strings, giving the record its humongous, immediate feel. The sprawling sound and huge melodic hooks would be enough to make Be Here Now a winner, but Liam Gallagher's vocals give the album emotional resonance. Singing better than ever, Liam injects venom into the rockers, but he also delivers the nakedly emotional lyrics of "Don't Go Away" with affecting vulnerability. That combination of violence and sensitivity gives Oasis an emotional core and makes Be Here Now a triumphant album.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Allison Russell's second solo album is a jaw-dropper—and a heart-pumper, thought-provoker and ass-shaker. The charm turns on right away with enchanting and syncopated "Springtime" and its sound of shedding burden: "So long, farewell, adieu, adieu/ To that tunnel I went through/ And my reward, my recompense?/ Springtime of my present tense." The song is further warmed by the sound of Russell's clarinet opening up the gates for a full-throated musical expanse featuring Sista Strings and Wendy & Lisa on guitar and piano, respectively. The former Revolution members, who play on nearly every song, belong here—much of Returner boasts a Prince vibe, circa groovy Around the World in a Day. Russell, whose Outside Child won Album of the Year at the 2022 Americana Awards and who is known for her folksy/mountain music work with Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago, has said it's the sound of her "busting out of the roots ghetto." "All Without Within" is a supremely funky celebration of love. "Snakelife" taps into "Living for the City" drama. "Shadowlands" serves up soulful Philadelphia Sound. Stunner "Stay Right Here" is a glorious shock to the system, its insistent piano rock soaring into disco liberation as Russell sings about resisting the horrors of the past in order to live joyfully in the present ("Something that I learned when I was three/ How to leave my body ... No, no, I'll stay right here/ Wanna hear my daughter laughing"). And Russell sounds fabulous on "Demons," a Prince-kissed slice of gospel-soul-funk with a whole choir of diverse voices wailing and making you feel what it's like to take agency over your demons: "Turn around/ Look 'em in the face/ They don't like how sunlight tastes, no no!"  Russell has said that the record, written with her husband and longtime musical partner JT Nero, is all about "survivors' joy"; her own horrific history of childhood abuse is well-documented and she calls Returner "a celebratory soundtrack for getting tired of hating yourself and deciding you're worthy." But it's also a reference to one of her heroes, fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell. Russell took part in both the singer's 2022 Newport Folk Festival return and 2023's epic Joni Jam at Washington State's Gorge Amphitheatre. "I thought about how much grit and grace that she has as a human being to be able to come back from death, not once, but three times, and to relearn not just how to sing and play, but how to walk and talk," Russell has said of Mitchell. And Russell doesn't totally abandon her roots, putting a soulful spin on them with the title track and gracing "Eve Was Black" with a blues feel. It all ends with "Requiem," creamy Americana that finds Russell, supported in harmony by Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark and Hozier, reaching for the rafters. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

The only true Purcell opera – the others considered to be semi-operas, a format closer to musical theatre – Dido & Aeneas is a masterpiece that offers such musical density that the piece was destined to radically influence the tastes of English society, which quickly embraced the arrival of entirely sung operas. The work was created in London in 1896, in a version that was surely more complete than the one that we possess today, according to the libretto by Nahum Tate which mentions a prologue of music that has since been lost. Taking on the myth of The Aeneid, the opera is a loose adaptation of Book IV of the work by Virgil. The British ensemble La Nuova Musica – whose recording of Couperin’s “Tenebrae Readings for Holy Wednesday” on harmonia mundi we so admired in 2016 – offers us a luminous and balanced version of the work, accompanied by a cast of top-notch soloists, Fleur Barron and Matthew Brook being first in line. A record released by PentaTone, this sneak preview is presented exclusively by Qobuz for download until September 21, 2023. © Pierre Lamy/Qobuz

For their first album in 18 years, Tears for Fears sound completely revitalized and as beautiful and engaging as ever. Remarkably, it's fueled in part by the 2017 death of Roland Orzabal's wife and partner of many years and his denial about losing her. "I think that when you've been close to someone for decades, they are living within you as well as without," he has said. "And consciously I did not believe she would die, though subconsciously I was, without doubt, preparing for the inevitable, arming myself against the future shock." The title track is shimmering and mysterious, with strident drums and alien beeps but also vocals like a soothing balm. "Winter done, they'll soon be gone/ From this unforgiving place/ To that vague and distant void/ Where the sunlight splits the eye," Orzabal sings of that threshold from life to death. It is heartbreaking, but also hopeful. "Please Be Happy" is incredibly candid—and one of their prettiest tracks: "These days it's like a wave is breaking over you/ Dragging you in with the undertow/ If you lay among the graves you will see other ghosts." And "No Small Thing," about facing the heartbreak of losing your love, is a stunner. Stripped-back acoustic guitar builds to the dreamy psychedelia Tears for Fears has always done so well, the whole thing swelling to a bursting-the-seams crescendo by the end. "Long, Long, Long Time" shows how the duo have always been masters of dynamics, its hymn-like organ giving way to a monster chorus; the song also reminds you just how much Sam Smith owes Curt Smith for their angelic style. "Master Plan" giddily dips into the band's longtime love of Sgt. Pepper-era Beatles, and "Break the Man" is catchy jangle pop touched with moody strings. "My Demons," meanwhile, is a nasty piece of work, in the best way (one akin to Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus"), with Orzabal drilling the doomed lyrics: "Why is my name in lights when my name is spelled wrong … People always find you when your cell phone is on." Smith comes in to sweeten up the chorus, but he sounds thrillingly stretched to his limits as the rhythm gallops like a sweating horse. Put The Tipping Point on the shelf next to Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking for times of crisis. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz