American Idiot was a rarity of the 21st century: a bona fide four-quadrant hit, earning critical and commercial respect, roping in new fans young and old alike. It was so big it turned Green Day into something it had never been before -- respected, serious rockers, something they were never considered during their first flight of success with Dookie. Back then, they were clearly (and proudly) slacker rebels with a natural gift for a pop hook, but American Idiot was a big album with big ideas, a political rock opera in an era devoid of both protest rock and wild ambition, so its success was a surprise. It also ratcheted up high expectations for its successor, and Green Day consciously plays toward those expectations on 2009's 21st Century Breakdown, another political rock opera that isn't an explicit sequel but could easily be mistaken for one, especially as its narrative follows a young couple through the wilderness of modern urban America. Heady stuff, but like the best rock operas, the concept doesn't get in the way of the music, which is a bit of an accomplishment because 21st Century Breakdown leaves behind the punchy '60s Who fascination for Queen and '70s Who, giving this more than its share of pomp and circumstance. Then again, puffed-up protest is kind of the point of 21st Century Breakdown: it's meant to be taken seriously, so it's not entirely surprising that Green Day fall into many of the same pompous tarpits as their heroes, ratcheting up the stately pianos, vocal harmonies, repeated musical motifs, doubled and tripled guitars, and synthesized effects that substitute for strings, then adding some orchestras for good measure. It would all sound cluttered, even turgid, if it weren't for Green Day's unerring knack for writing muscular pop and natural inclination to run clean and lean, letting only one song run over five minutes and never letting the arrangements overshadow the song. Although Green Day's other natural gift, that for impish irreverent humor, is missed -- they left it all behind on their 2008 garage rock side project Foxboro Hot Tubs -- the band manages to have 21st Century Breakdown work on a grand scale without losing either their punk or pop roots, which makes the album not only a sequel to American Idiot, but its equal.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

From the start, Panic! At the Disco was an oddball in the emo-pop court. The band had the mid-aughts haircuts and eyeliner but less in common with peers Fall Out Boy and Good Charlotte than Queen and Meat Loaf. And let that be a warning: It's impossible to describe P!ATD's seventh record without a ton of name-dropping. The title track combines Beach Boys harmonies with Attractions-era Elvis Costello giddiness; "Middle Of A Breakup" offers upBrian May-like guitar and lines like "Keep your disco/ Give me T. Rex." "Sugar Soaker" references Sweet's shameless glam metal, Nazareth's cowbell and The Archies on espresso and whiskey, with frontman Brendon Urie showing off horndog wordplay: "Lil' sugar soaker/ Breaking my bed/ Red tail lights in the back of her head/ Such a cherry leather looker." Although started as a band of teenage friends from Las Vegas, P!ATD has evolved over the past 17 years into a solo project for frontman Urie, who is apparently feeling musically and personally nostalgic. "Star Spangled Banger"—which liberally borrows Phil Lynott's vocal delivery of Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town" for the verses—finds him summoning up high-school memories: "We are the kids from the underground," going to the mall for a lip ring and photo-booth makeout. Ditto "God Killed Rock and Roll," which spotlights "A little dreamer in the glow of the receiver … Blew out the speakers dancing in his sneakers." It credits Argent's Russ Ballard because the chorus interpolates "God Gave Rock and Roll to You" (made famous by KISS) but, structurally, the song copies the segments of "Bohemian Rhapsody" to a T. A lot of credit for this joyousness goes to co-writer Butch Walker, who had his own foray into glam-pop with 2006's The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Let's-Go-Out-Tonites; and producer Mike Viola, whose recent work in folksy tunes (Mandy Moore, Johnathan Rice, Watkins Family Hour) belies his exuberant pop-rock background—with his underrated band Candy Butchers and singing the theme to the 1996 movie That Thing You Do!. But back to P!ATD: Excellent "Don't Let the Light Go Out" gives melodic credit to Janis Ian's "At Seventeen," and Urie is in the mood to offer hope to outcast teens biding their time in small-town claustrophobia, both on "Say It Louder" and "All by Yourself." That power ballad is his version of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" or Pink's "Raise Your Glass"—"You always hated sports/ You buzzed your hair short/ Dyed it pink to piss them off ...They made a monster outta you/ But you're beautiful, you're tough ...You can change everything all by yourself." Even if you're decades past that period, it taps into a nostalgic insecurity and longing that never fully goes away. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

The first recording of opera arias from Freddie de Tommaso. Following his chart-topping debut album, "Amore e morte" (Love and Death) celebrates the greatest tenor hits by Puccini and Bizet including "Nessun dorma", "E lucevan le stelle" and "The Flower Song" from Carmen. Veteran Italian conductor Paolo Arrivabeni conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra, with guest appearances from three outstanding singers: sopranos Lise Davidsen and Natalya Romaniw and the sensational mezzo Aigul Akhmetshina as Carmen. 'It was a rare thrill to hear a tenor voice of this ease and brilliance. The new Pavarotti? We've heard that before. This time it might just be true" (The Observer). © Decca Records

Fresh and funky, female and Japanese, the trip-hop/rap duo Cibo Matto has been the recipient of a lot of hype. Fortunately, it's well-founded; all trendiness aside, Viva! La Woman is an innovative and catchy mix of eclectic samples and stream-of-consciousness lyrics. The likes of Paul Weller, Ennio Morricone, and Duke Ellington combine with observations like "My weight is three hundred pounds/My favorite is beef jerky" (from "Beef Jerky") and "Shut up and eat! You know my love is sweet!" from ("Birthday Cake") in a fun and refreshing way. The tone of the album varies with each song; on tracks like "Sugar Water" and "Artichoke," Cibo Matto plays it spooky and ethereal, while "Birthday Cake" and the single "Know Your Chicken" find them as a couple of cryptic Beastie Girls, tossing off wacky non sequiturs over found soundscapes. Cibo Matto cooks up a tasty appetizer of their talent with Viva! La Woman. Like their tongue-in-cheek cover of "The Candy Man," Cibo Matto makes everything they bake satisfying and delicious. A diverse and entertaining album, Viva! La Woman leaves the listener hungry for more of their crazy food for thought.© Heather Phares /TiVo

Riccardo Chailly, the esteemed music director of La Scala Theater in Milan since 2015, leads the Theater's Chorus and Orchestra in a recording of choruses from Verdi's operas, which, of course, are practically interwoven into the fabric of the famous theater. This 2023 release is celebratory in several regards: it was issued to mark Chailly's 70th birthday and the 45th anniversary of his debut at La Scala. Verdi's operas provide numerous choruses that are among the most popular and beloved in the genre, including the present "Va, pensiero" ("Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves") from Nabucco, the "Anvil Chorus" from Il Trovatore, and the Triumphal March and Chorus from Aida. Chailly's program covers operas spanning the composer's career and includes several selections that will be less known to general audiences. Among these, and a good example of the full might of the Orchestra and Chorus, is the "Gerusalem!" from I Lombardi alla prima Crociata. Recorded at the La Scala Theater in Dolby Atmos surround sound, the listener is fully immersed and is treated to the theater's legendary acoustics: consider the "Spuntato ecco il di d'esultanza" from Don Carlo, where the hall's resonance is highlighted between the chorus, orchestra, and offstage brass ensemble. This release will be attractive to those with varying degrees of familiarity with Verdi's music and is sure to leave many whistling a tune. © Keith Finke /TiVo

Jazz critic Gary Giddins once described early bebop as music that was "giddy with its own virtuosity." A variety of different things came after that period of giddiness -- the introspection of cool jazz, the deep-thinking spirituality of modal post-bop and avant-garde jazz, the rock-influenced intensity of fusion -- but bebop and hard bop did, in fact, have more than their share of performances that thrived on both giddiness and virtuosity. Post-bop, even at its most optimistic and exuberant, is seldom described as flat-out giddy, but giddiness definitely characterizes much of Hiromi's acoustic post-bop pianism on Place to Be (which finds the Japanese improviser playing unaccompanied solo piano). On this 2009 recording, Hiromi often sounds like she is, to borrow Giddins' phrase, giddy with her own virtuosity. But she isn't giddy in a bebop/hard bop way. This is essentially post-bop, although Hiromi incorporates elements of everything from European classical music to stride piano and ragtime. She even quotes Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" on "Show City, Show Girl," but Place to Be -- unlike some of Hiromi's other albums -- never really ventures into fusion territory. And even though Place to Be has its reflective moments ("Somewhere" and "Daytime in Las Vegas," for example), Hiromi's playful, capricious exuberance prevails on many of the selections. She can be cerebral, but she isn't cerebral in an elitist, exclusionary way; instead, she gives the impression that her virtuosity is giving her a great deal of elation, and she sincerely wants to share that elation with the listener. As it turns out, playing unaccompanied is perfect for Hiromi; the acoustic solo-piano format gives her plenty of room to explore her creative impulses. Hiromi can be quite self-indulgent at times, but she is never self-indulgent in a bad way -- and the lack of accompaniment yields excellent results for her on Place to Be.© Alex Henderson /TiVo

Chapter Three: Viva Emiliano Zapata is the third of the four excellent "chapters" in saxophonist and composer Gato Barbieri's four-part "Latin America" series for Impulse, and released in 1974 with the core of a band he would use for his live outing on Chapter Four: Alive in New York. Produced by Ed Michel, this is a large group that included bassist Ron Carter, drummer Grady Tate, percussionists Ray Mantilla, the ubiquitous -- and brilliant -- Portinho, Ray Armando, and Luis Mangual, guitarists George Davis and Paul Metzke, and a large horn section. The session was arranged and conducted by the legendary Chico O'Farrill. There are six tunes on the set, divided between four Barbieri originals, and two covers including the legendary "Milonga Triste," and "What a Difference a Day Makes." While the former became a staple of Barbieri's live sets, it's his own compositions that are of most interest here, such as the complex horn charts in "El Sublime," with its funky Latin backbeat and his gorgeous, impassioned, hard-edged blowing over the top. The groove is irresistible. The title track begins as a rhumba with a killer piano introducing the claves and other percussion before the popping brass underscore that unmistakable Afro-Cuban rhythm. O'Farrill colors his arrangement with lithe flutes finding spaces to be heard in the dense, building intensity of the horns and the drums and percussions playing counter rhythmic statements. What initially sounds like one statement being played continuously is gradually revealed to be a subtly shifting set of tones, rhythms, and even modalities. Barbieri blows against the entire mess initially, driving right into the enormous harmonious storm and eventually rising above it with enormous squeals and squawks, while never losing the lyric bent in the tune. It's a breathtaking finish to a stellar recording, and of the four chapters in the series, the one most accessible to most jazz fans.© Thom Jurek /TiVo