Left without a drummer after Jimmy Chamberlin's dismissal, the Smashing Pumpkins took the opportunity to revamp their sound slightly -- which is what Billy Corgan claimed they were going to do on their fourth album anyway. Adore, however, isn't a drastic departure. Using dream pop ballads and the synthetic pulse of "1979" as starting point, the Pumpkins have created a hushed, elegiac album that sounds curiously out of time -- it's certainly an outgrowth of their previous work, but the differences aren't entirely modern. Whenever synthesizers are added to the mix, the results make the band sound like a contemporary of the Cure or Depeche Mode, not Aphex Twin. That's not necessarily a problem, since Adore creates its own world with layered keyboards, acoustic guitars, and a rotating selection of drummers and machines. There's none of the distorted bluster that cluttered Mellon Collie and none of the grand sonic technicolor of Siamese Dream. Adore recasts the calmer moments of those albums in a sepia tone, in an attempt to be modest and intimate. Only Billy Corgan would consider a 74-minute, 16-track album a modest effort, but compared to its widescreen predecessors, it does feel a bit scaled down. Still, Corgan's ambitions reign supreme. This is no mere acoustic album, nor is it electronica -- it is quiet contemporary art rock, playing like a concept album without any real concept. Its very length and portentousness tend to obscure some lovely songs, since all the muted production tends to blend all the songs together. But even with its flaws, Adore is an admirable record that illustrates the depth of the Pumpkins' sound, even if it ultimately isn't a brave step forward.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

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With their cult following growing, Morphine expanded their audience even further with their exceptional 1994 sophomore effort, Cure for Pain. Whereas their debut, Good, was intriguing yet not entirely consistent, Cure for Pain more than delivered. The songwriting was stronger and more succinct this time around, while new drummer Billy Conway made his recording debut with the trio (replacing Jerome Deupree). Like the debut, most of the material shifts between depressed and upbeat, with a few cacophonic rockers thrown in between. Such selections as "Buena," "I'm Free Now," "All Wrong," "Candy," "Thursday," "In Spite of Me" (one of the few tracks to contain six-string guitar), "Let's Take a Trip Together," "Sheila," and the title track are all certifiable Morphine classics. And again, Mark Sandman's two-string slide bass and Dana Colley's sax work help create impressive atmospherics throughout the album. Cure for Pain was unquestionably one of the best and most cutting-edge rock releases of the '90s.© Greg Prato /TiVo

ABoneCroneDrone is the third album of a trilogy produced by Real World, the two others being The Zen Kiss and Weaving My Ancestors Voices. In this third album, Sheila Chandra experiments at length with drones, harmonics, simple melodic lines, tone colors and more. She indicates that she wants the listeners to participate through their listening experience. This very unusual spiritual vocal drone music is so mesmerizing and spellbinding that one is unable to remain the distant observer/listener that we usually are; we are an unavoidably involved one for which one's experience is as important as the music. She reaches her goal. © Bruno Deschênes /TiVo

Before joining Prince's band during the 1980s as Sheila E, Sheila Escovedo spent almost a decade as a session and touring percussionist. She played with everyone, from her father Pete Escovedo's Afro-Latin jazz band to George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Billy Cobham, Flora Purim, Con Funk Shun, the Blackbyrds, and the Crusaders. During and after her tenure with Prince, Escovedo released a clutch of fine solo albums including 2017's Iconic: Message 4 America. Despite the fact she's been playing salsa most of her life, Bailar is her debut album in the genre. It was recorded in Miami and at several California studios. The program includes six originals, killer covers, and a star-studded studio cast. Opening number "Anacaona," by famed Puerto Rican composer Catalina Alonso, was arranged by Ramon Sanchez and features Rubén Blades on lead vocals. A burning salsa, the percussion interplay between Sheila E, Tony Succar, and Diego Camacho under Blades' soaring, soulful vocal and a backing chorus is breathtaking. The horn section offers excellent contrapuntal engagement with Livan Mesa's piano. The title track walks the invisible border between Cuban son and vintage Nuyorican salsa with vocalist Luis Enrique (though Sheila E inserts a completely unexpected rap breakdown near its close). The frenetic drumming and horn exchanges are underscored by fiery piano montunos and a strident, anthemic chorus of singers and chanters. Single "Bemba Colora" is a classic son associated with Cuban vocal icon Celia Cruz. Its three-part lead vocal is offered by Mimy Succar, Gloria Estefan, and Sheila E. The latter's rippling conga solo is one of the set's brightest moments. The reading of Tito Puente's "El Rey del Timbal" features salsero Gilberto Santa Rosa up front. Passionate, fiery, and hooky, Escovedo's galloping timbales solo is framed by driving montunos and swinging horns. Her own songs on this set include "Gente Buena" with Victor Manuelle on vocals. The happiest track here, it's a key playlist component for a beach or dance party. Her "The Way You Do," featuring Jean Rodriguez on lead vocals, is a gorgeous fusion of Latin soul, funk, and salsa. "Mi Amor" is a vehicle for Sheila E.'s lead vocals and Mykal Gabriel's Spanish guitar playing. It melds bolero, son, soul, and funk with hard-swinging horns and backing vocals. She takes another lead on the co-written "Playa Tequila," wedding Latin soul, funk, tropical, and salsa underscored by a transcendent vocal chorus. "Descarga" is an Afro-Latin jam that includes dad Pete, mom Juanita Escovedo, and Dominican salsa legend José Alberto "El Canario." Son, montuno, guaracha, and rhumba envelope one another as horns engage drums and chanting to close it out. The exceptional playing, arranging, songwriting, and joyous performances on Bailar easily register this album as an exceptional Sheila E. outing, certainly, but also one of the year's finest salsa albums.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

In 1985, a 25-year-old Sheila Escovedo, aka Sheila E., followed up her debut solo album, The Glamorous Life, with the equally Prince-influenced Romance 1600. The album cover found Escovedo and her band members sporting the attire of 17th century Europe, and the musicians were given such names as Dame Kelly, Benentino the Wizard, the Earl of Grey, and Sir Stephan. But once you get past the aristocratic imagery, Romance 1600 isn't much different from The Glamorous Life. Although Escovedo did most of the writing and producing herself, Prince's influence is strong throughout the album -- "Bedtime Story," "Sister Fate," and other selections all have that distinctive Minneapolis vibe. The only track that Prince co-wrote and co-produced with Escovedo is the funk gem "A Love Bizarre," which became a major hit and finds the two of them performing a vocal duet. As a vocalist, Escovedo never had Prince's range, but like Madonna and Janet Jackson, she demonstrates that singing can be meaningful even if the artist doesn't have the world's biggest voice. Although The Glamorous Life remains Escovedo's most essential album of the 1980s, Romance 1600 is a respectable follow-up and is also highly recommended to fans of Minneapolis funk-rock.© Alex Henderson /TiVo

Eric Church has called Ashley McBryde his favorite new artist, and he's sure to love the songwriter's second album, which is stamped with Church hallmarks: clever, poetic lyrics, sizzling guitars and a marked lack of any unnecessary frills. In fact, he might be downright jealous of "One Night Standards," with lines like "How it goes is/the bar closes/there's no king bed covered in roses." McBryde also shares Church's love of outlaw culture on tracks like the honky-tonk "First Thing I Reach For" and headbanging "Voo Doo Doll." And while country songs usually take the gospel as, well, gospel, on "Shut Up Sheila" a grieving McBryde dares to tell bible thumpers where they can shove their thoughts and prayers. The album runs the gamut from bittersweet ballads ("Sparrow") to John Cougar-style hip-shakers ("Hang In There"), haunting O Brother, Where Art Thou? simplicity ("Velvet Red") to the rocking "Martha Divine," which echoes Jason Isbell. Throughout, there's a streak of anger and pain over McBryde's brother's suicide; "Stone" is an absolute heartbreaker. Add it all up, and Never Will cements McBryde's place on Music Row for a long time to come. © Shelly Ridenour / Qobuz

When Sheila Escovedo started going by Sheila E. and soared to the top of the R&B charts with 1984's "The Glamorous Life," those who didn't know anything about her background assumed that she was just another Vanity or another Apollonia -- in other words, a sexploitive Prince disciple who was entertaining but had limited ability as a vocalist. It's true that the singer/drummer/percussionist doesn't have a great voice, but anyone who was hip to her work with Azteca, Pete Escovedo (her father), and George Duke knew that she was an excellent musician. As a drummer/percussionist, Escovedo has major chops -- and even though she doesn't have a mind-blowing vocal range, she has no problem getting her points across on her debut solo album, The Glamorous Life. Produced by Prince, this is one of the best albums that came out of the Purple One's Minneapolis funk-rock empire in the 1980s. The hit title song is a classic, and the same goes for the quirky, new wave-ish "Oliver's House," the Latin-tinged "The Belle of St. Mark," and the funky instrumental "Shortberry Strawcake." Although Prince's stamp is all over this LP, Escovedo did most of the writing herself. The Glamorous Life isn't the only excellent album that Escovedo provided in the 1980s, but it's definitely the most essential.© Alex Henderson /TiVo

Although Chandra had been recording for over a decade when Weaving My Ancestors' Voices was released, this may be the album where she truly found her creative voice. Most vestiges of the pop/dance/rock rhythms of Monsoon, and some of her early albums, are absent. Chandra is now a virtuoso of the voice, offering almost avant-garde presentations of vocal gymnastics on "Speaking in Tongues." More often, though, she presents explorations of various musical cultures: India, of course, but also Irish folk, a Spanish lullaby, and Islamic singing. The spiritual quality of the material is enhanced by the drone-like textures of much of the music, devised by Chandra and her writing/production partner, Steve Coe. © Richie Unterberger /TiVo

This is pretty much of a piece with her previous album (Weaving My Ancestors' Voices), continuing her eclectic forays into the forms and feelings of various Western and non-Western genres, and resuming her most avant-garde projects with the a cappella clucking/chanting of "Speaking in Tongues" (parts three and four). It's not a redundant repetition of the territory laid out on Weaving My Ancestor's Voices. It's more an extension of the mood, Chandra delving more deeply into June Tabor-styled British folk vocals in particular. © Richie Unterberger /TiVo

Left without a drummer after Jimmy Chamberlin's dismissal, the Smashing Pumpkins took the opportunity to revamp their sound slightly -- which is what Billy Corgan claimed they were going to do on their fourth album anyway. Adore, however, isn't a drastic departure. Using dream pop ballads and the synthetic pulse of "1979" as starting point, the Pumpkins have created a hushed, elegiac album that sounds curiously out of time -- it's certainly an outgrowth of their previous work, but the differences aren't entirely modern. Whenever synthesizers are added to the mix, the results make the band sound like a contemporary of the Cure or Depeche Mode, not Aphex Twin. That's not necessarily a problem, since Adore creates its own world with layered keyboards, acoustic guitars, and a rotating selection of drummers and machines. There's none of the distorted bluster that cluttered Mellon Collie and none of the grand sonic technicolor of Siamese Dream. Adore recasts the calmer moments of those albums in a sepia tone, in an attempt to be modest and intimate. Only Billy Corgan would consider a 74-minute, 16-track album a modest effort, but compared to its widescreen predecessors, it does feel a bit scaled down. Still, Corgan's ambitions reign supreme. This is no mere acoustic album, nor is it electronica -- it is quiet contemporary art rock, playing like a concept album without any real concept. Its very length and portentousness tend to obscure some lovely songs, since all the muted production tends to blend all the songs together. But even with its flaws, Adore is an admirable record that illustrates the depth of the Pumpkins' sound, even if it ultimately isn't a brave step forward.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Status Quo's debut album featured none of the band's better-known boogie rock of the mid-'70s. Picturesque... is a psychedelic effort that tries to imitate the sound bands like the Bee Gees or the Beatles were doing at the moment. With this record, Status Quo surprisingly had its first (and last) hit in America, the single "Pictures of Matchstick Men," which peaked at number 12 (it reached number seven on the British charts). Other highlights from the album are the second single, "Ice in the Sun," and the Bee Gees cover "Spicks and Specks." Even if this is not the most representative album from Status Quo, it is a good psychedelic pop exercise that sometimes includes very imaginative guitar phrases ("Ice in the Sun"), and some brilliantly unusual sounds (the epic "Paradise Flat").© Robert Aniento /TiVo

Sheila Jordan's debut recording was one of the very few vocal records made for Blue Note during Alfred Lion's reign. Accompanied by the subtle guitarist Barry Galbraith, bassist Steve Swallow, and drummer Denzil Best, Jordan sounds quite distinctive, cool-toned, and adventurous during her classic date. Her interpretations of Oscar Brown, Jr.'s "Hum Drum Blues" and 11 standards (including "Falling in Love With Love," "Dat Dere," "Baltimore Oriole," and "I'm a Fool to Want You") are both swinging and haunting. Possibly because of her originality, Sheila Jordan would not record again for over a dozen years, making this highly recommended set quite historic.© Scott Yanow /TiVo

With their cult following growing, Morphine expanded their audience even further with their exceptional 1994 sophomore effort, Cure for Pain. Whereas their debut, Good, was intriguing yet not entirely consistent, Cure for Pain more than delivered. The songwriting was stronger and more succinct this time around, while new drummer Billy Conway made his recording debut with the trio (replacing Jerome Deupree). Like the debut, most of the material shifts between depressed and upbeat, with a few cacophonic rockers thrown in between. Such selections as "Buena," "I'm Free Now," "All Wrong," "Candy," "Thursday," "In Spite of Me" (one of the few tracks to contain six-string guitar), "Let's Take a Trip Together," "Sheila," and the title track are all certifiable Morphine classics. And again, Mark Sandman's two-string slide bass and Dana Colley's sax work help create impressive atmospherics throughout the album. Cure for Pain was unquestionably one of the best and most cutting-edge rock releases of the '90s.© Greg Prato /TiVo