It was do or die for Toto on the group's fourth album, and they rose to the challenge. Largely dispensing with the anonymous studio rock that had characterized their first three releases, the band worked harder on its melodies, made sure its simple lyrics treated romantic subjects, augmented Bobby Kimball's vocals by having other group members sing, brought in ringers like Timothy B. Schmit, and slowed down the tempo to what came to be known as "power ballad" pace. Most of all, they wrote some hit songs: "Rosanna," the old story of a lovelorn lyric matched to a bouncy beat, was the gold, Top Ten comeback single accompanying the album release; "Make Believe" made the Top 30; and then, surprisingly, "Africa" hit number one ten months after the album's release. The members of Toto may have more relatives who are NARAS voters than any other group, but that still doesn't explain the sweep they achieved at the Grammys, winning six, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year (for "Rosanna"). Predictably, rock critics howled, but the Grammys helped set up the fourth single, "I Won't Hold You Back," another soft rock smash and Top Ten hit. As a result, Toto IV was both the group's comeback and its peak; it remains a definitive album of slick L.A. pop for the early '80s and Toto's best and most consistent record. Having made it, the members happily went back to sessions, where they helped write and record Michael Jackson's Thriller.© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

Download not available

Her most fully realized and vulnerable effort to date, You & I carries Rita Ora into the future with a collection of songs that celebrate new love and self-acceptance. Following 2018's excellent sophomore set The Phoenix, the long gap between full-lengths results in a bevy of new experiences for Ora to sing about as she enters another phase of life. The front half of the album is loaded with the big pop moments, such as the one-two punch of the euphoric opening run "Don't Think Twice" and "You Only Love Me," peaking with album highlight "Praising You," which interpolates Fatboy Slim's "Praise You" to the intended joyous effect. "Waiting for You" hits a similar sweet spot, sounding like an Avicii chart-topper that could level a festival audience. Throwback synths shimmer on "That Girl" -- which borrows from Rick James' classic "Party All the Time" -- and haunt on the dark, confused "Unfeel It." For the closing run of You & I (almost a full half of the total tracks on the deluxe edition), most of the energy has been expended and it's time for the ballads and midtempo sentimentality. While the best of the bunch appeared earlier on track six as the dramatic but triumphant '80s ballad "You & I," songs like "Look at Me Now" and "I Don't Wanna Be Your Friend" push the emotion (and Ora's vocals) to the fore like a Sia production. Facing her fears and taking the plunge, Ora dances and pines her way through soulful depths and exciting highs. You & I is a nourishing, adult examination of love and relationships that matures the singer and her catalog in the process.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

For anyone who prefers Ellie Goulding on the dancefloor, Higher than Heaven is a welcome return to that space. Her fifth full-length and follow-up to 2020's Brightest Blue, this tightly packed set of synth-washed, neon bangers eschews the deep introspection and personal slant of its predecessor, barreling headlong into the club in search of healing through euphoria and release. Described by the artist as her "least personal" album to date, Heaven focuses on pure thrills and escapism like similarly reactive COVID-era energizers from Dua Lipa, Kylie Minogue, and Ava Max. The album's catchiest moments are produced by Koz (Dua Lipa, Lykke Li, Lights), who plucks the most addictive textures from across the decades -- disco, '80s pop, and '90s house -- for highlights such as "Midnight Dreams," "Cure for Love," the throbbing "Like a Saviour," and the shimmering title track. Meanwhile, "By the End of the Night" strikes an ideal balance between Goulding's fun and melancholy sides, delivering a yearning yet uncertain early peak. Elsewhere, both the hazy "Love Goes On" and the strutting "Easy Lover" with Big Sean benefit from warm R&B smoothness courtesy of co-writer/producer Greg Kurstin, just as the sensual "Waiting for It" dives deeper into sweaty slow jam territory. Heaven's most intense moment arrives in the second half with the standout single "Let It Die," an urgent earworm about a tragic split that finds the resolve to move on atop an infectious beat and Goulding's most impassioned, anguished performance here. One of her strongest albums to date, Higher than Heaven falls somewhere between the commercial blitz of Delirium and the fearless, electronic heart of Halcyon. While it may not cull from her deep well of personal experiences, Heaven still ends up being one of the most immediate and compulsively listenable efforts in her catalog.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Continuing their slow crawl toward middle age, Linkin Park opt for moody over metallic on A Thousand Suns, their fifth album. A clear continuation of 2007’s Minutes to Midnight, A Thousand Suns also trades aggression for contemplation, burying the guitars under washes of chilly synthesizers -- a sound suited for a rap-metal band that no longer plays metal but hasn’t shaken off the angst, choosing to channel inward instead of outward. So few rap-metal bands have chosen to embrace their age -- they fight against it, deepening their technical chops while recycling ideas -- that it’s easy to admire Linkin Park’s decision not to shy away from it, even if their mega-success gives them the luxury to pursue musical risks. The problem is, the subdued rhythms, riffs, and raps of A Thousand Suns wind up monochromatic, an impression not erased by the brief bridges between songs, sampled speeches, and easy segues, every element retaining moodiness without offering distinction. Brooding is a better vehicle for angst than rage for a group whose members are well into their thirties, but an album created on a grayscale is less than compelling for anybody lacking the patience to squint and discern the minute details.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Swedish DJ Avicii is a strange case. In 2011, he broke through with "Levels," a bleepy and bright bit of EDM that could have been his signature hit, but then his 2013 album, True, was a country-pop and folk-inspired affair that thrilled his fans with its inventiveness, but left others as cold as a meandering Mumford & Sons remix effort. Two years later, his LP Stories is another genre-busting affair that fits in better with mainstream radio than it does the club, but everything iffy about True has been perfected here, as the producer revisits the song-oriented album and lets the outside genres freely come and go. Country-pop is back in EDM remix form when "Broken Arrows" offers a spirited Zac Brown song with Avicii pumping it higher during the whirlwind bridge, but "Pure Grinding" is a highlight that would have never fit on True, and it lives up to its claim to be "funktronica" with double-dutch lyrics and '70s electro in support. "Touch Me" is a bell-bottomed delight that owes a debt to the disco movement, specifically Chic, and if the strange "City Lights" is the album's most arguable track, fans of Meco and Giorgio Moroder could argue it's spot-on with its robot vocals and tiny melody. "Talk to Myself," with Sterling Fox, steps into the '80s with a modern version of Matthew Wilder's "Break My Stride," and the rest of the prime moments come from the mainstream pop side of the spectrum, with the Martin Garrix and Simon Aldred (Cherry Ghost) feature "Waiting for Love" leading the pack. "Can't Catch Me," with Matisyahu and Wyclef Jean, is reggae, but the kind that Michael Franti and Radio Margaritaville can agree on, while "For a Better Day" is the same kind of electro and soul that Moby took to the top of the charts. Complaints that this isn't a dance album and doesn't sound like "Levels" may still be filed, but they're better applied to True. The pleasing, alive, and diverse Stories is a fine reason to think of Avicii as a producer of attractive music, with EDM, pop, and all other genres on a sliding scale.© David Jeffries /TiVo

In 1967 the world hadn’t fully digested the Doors’ astounding first album that they had already released Strange Days. Strange like these compositions that sounded like no other. Staggering, often dreamlike themes. And while Jim Morrison sang that people were strange, the same could be said about his Doors: incessant changes in rhythm, lyrics going back and forth between social critic and complete madness, and huge gaps between total trance and cabaret ballads… Months went by and Morrison was growing more and more out of control. In early 1968, the Doors nevertheless started working on their Waiting for the Sun. There are many anecdotes about these most chaotic weeks. Yet, upon its release in July, in the midst of the Vietnam War, fans appropriated pacifist anthem The Unknown Soldier and perky Hello, I Love You that opens this third album and propelled it to the top of the charts. Well aware of their leader’s unstable state, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore remained focused to create original and inspired parts. A notch below the two previous albums, Waiting for the Sun however approaches psychedelic music with the same unwavering originality. The use of acoustic instruments and refinement of some arrangements confirm the uniqueness of this band, even though it was on the verge of imploding…In celebration of the album’s 50th anniversary, this deluxe edition offers a new version of the album’s stereo mix, remastered by Bruce Botnick, the Doors’ long-time sound engineer and producer. Without omitting 14 bonus tracks: nine come from recently discovered rough mixes and five originate from a concert in Copenhagen in December 1968. The new stereo mix for Waiting for the Sun, remastered by Botnick, gives a new dimension to songs like The Unknown Soldier and Spanish Caravan. As for the rough mixes, his opinion is clear: “I prefer some of these rough mixes to the finals, as they represent all of the elements and additional background vocals, different sensibilities on balances, and some intangible roughness, all of which are quite attractive and refreshing”. © Max Dembo/Qobuz

With a few lineup changes at the start, and a couple hiatuses since, the Feelies have been together for over 45 years now. The band upended traditional rock 'n' roll cliches and structure to arrive at their own beautiful jingle-jangle mourning, propelled by a submerged and insistent force—oh, let's just call it Jersey motorik. Their music is characterized by strict attention to volume, repetition, and the implementation of subtle changes in tempo and dynamics. Fans of the band have longed for a full-length live album for years; with their Springsteen-length sets and seemingly endless bursts of energy, the Feelies are among the greatest live bands in the world, after all. But the group was too perfectionist to ever allow such a thing to happen with their own songs. Here's a great solution, then: Some Kinda Love, a sprawling set of 18 Velvet Underground songs, recorded at Jersey City's White Eagle Hall in 2018.We all know the adage that, while it didn't sell too well upon release, every kid who bought the Velvet Underground's first album later went and started a band. And from their start in the late 1970s in a Haledon, New Jersey garage, the Feelies showed themselves to be a particularly smart, suburban variant of the Reedophile. They were of the punk era, and absolutely informed by it, especially in their first recordings. But they did so without making too much of a fuss at the hairdresser. With their buttoned-up intensity, emphasis on those quiet-loud shifts, ironic lyrics, and the sort of harmonic guitar solos one could sing along to note-for-note, the Feelies were a clear template for what became known in the 1980s as indie-rock, and were a huge influence on a swath of acts who came later, from REM to Sonic Youth, and Yo La Tengo to Galaxie 500.This recording is such a treat. The album starts with "Sunday Morning," the first song on VU's first album, then closes out with "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'," the last song on their final studio album, Loaded. Such attention to detail shows you that you are about to get taken to school, so sit down, shut up, and listen loud. Different band members take charge on lead vocals depending on the song, which is swell and is a nod to their extended family of bands the Trypes, Yung Wu, and Speed the Plough. Glenn Mercer's vocals at times channel the exact timbre of mid-to-late period Reed (especially on "New Age") that it feels like a seance. The Feelies know these songs so well, and they simply appropriate the structures and chord changes with love enough to perform them straight ahead here ("Sweet Jane," "What Goes On"), and stretched-into-just-shy-of-oblivion there ("All Tomorrow's Parties," "Oh Sweet Nuthin'"). They absolutely steamroll through and inject new life into songs you've heard a million times, like "I'm Waiting For My Man," "Run Run Run," and especially an amped-up "White Light/White Heat." Some Kinda Love might prove to be the best tribute record of the 2020s. The only thing missing from it is a half hour version of "Sister Ray." © Mike McGonigal/Qobuz

Even the major dudes of Harry Potter can tell you: There are limits to wizarding. Consider the rarified realm of instrumental rock. For a long time the "holy grail" pursuits were mostly in the direction of mega technique – the ability to cram a zillion notes into spaces meant for four, the knack for creating intricate lines at speeds that register as brain-wave blurs. Joe Satriani has gone further and faster than most of his guitar peers (some of them former students); his "brand" is about facility and fluidity, and his records, starting with 1987's rightly acclaimed Surfing With the Alien, have displayed astounding command of the guitar. Yet somewhere along the way – most overtly at the turn of the century, with his still-underappreciated electronic-leaning Engines of Creation – Satriani shifted focus to long-tone melodies, asymmetrical post-rock rhythms, and more intimate musical gestures. This led to a "renewal" of sorts, a creative opening that continues on the remarkably varied Shapeshifting. Rather than dwell in a fixed genre, Satriani explores widely – several tracks travel dub spaceways, others (including the title track) situate everyday riff-rock phrases against fitful progressive grooves. But the most explicit clue to Satriani's intentions comes on track 4, "Ali Farka, Dick Dale, an Alien and Me." As drummer Kenny Aronoff pounds out a jaunty limbo-line pulse, the guitarist first conjures the fervent chants of legendary African bluesman Ali Farka Touré, then does some surf-rock hijinks a la Dick Dale, then takes off on lyrical, birds-soaring solo flights. It's a whiplash wizard journey that visits several completely different styles; Satriani masters all of them. © Tom Moon/Qobuz

The harsh hangover to Hollywood's Bleeding, Post Malone's fourth full-length outing, Twelve Carat Toothache, is a brutally honest confessional that hammers the point home that fame isn't all it's cracked up to be. He's working through a lot -- lamenting bad decisions, relationship woes, and struggles with drinking -- but, as usual, he delivers this less-than-chipper material with deceptively catchy hooks and engrossing production. "Emo rap" is too reductive a tag for his melodic skill and ability to craft an earworm, but Toothache does lean hard into that moody, self-pitying, and dour territory, a tortured and vulnerable point of view that is put on full display in opener "Reputation." With his signature quavering trill, he cries, "I'm the same damn fool.... I know I f*cked up and I can't make it right." No matter how many platinum plaques and chart-topping hits, Post is still human, flaws and all. That sentiment carries throughout the set to various extremes, but the variation comes mainly with his production choices, which shift from straight-ahead rap to mainstream pop and surprising guitar-backed dramatics. "Cooped Up" with Roddy Ricch and "I Cannot Be (A Sadder Song)" with Gunna will sate the old-school fans with thick, slapping beats and slick verses, while the haunted "Insane" is a hard-hitting burst of self-loathing and casual misogyny, with irresistibly hazy atmospherics reminiscent of Travis Scott. Meanwhile, "Euthanasia" rides a sparse heart-monitor blip-beat, building tension without ever providing a sweet release (a voice-memo demo of the track, "New Recording 12, Jan 3, 2020," closes the album). On the poppier, radio-friendly end of the spectrum, Post flexes his hitmaking muscles with the breezy, pop-punk-lite of "When I'm Alone"; the neon funhouse duet with Doja Cat "I Like You (A Happier Song)"; the Kid LAROI-featuring "Wasting Angels"; and the "Circles"-redux hit-in-waiting "Wrapped Around Your Finger." Of course, "One Right Now" with the Weeknd -- already a Top Ten, platinum-certified hit at the time of the album's release -- is also included. Beyond the mainstream-ready highlights and mournful rap, Toothache's most interesting moments continue to tease Post's potential shift to more guitar-based alternative, as heard on the downcast "Lemon Tree," a pensive acoustic number that drops country twang amidst sour lines like "Life is pretty sweet I'm told," and the standout track "Love/Hate Letter to Alcohol" featuring Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes. Through an eerie curtain of layered vocals and cinematic production, Post shares unflinching details of his inebriated setbacks and his complicated relationship with his vices. Teeth and booze on the floor, it's an exciting hint at what could be if he committed to this style for a future album. While the rap-preferring fans will still gravitate to his first two efforts, listeners with an appreciative ear for his genre-sampling maturation into the mainstream will find Twelve Carat Toothache to be a fascinating emotional exploration of a conflicted artist who can't help but churn out star-making hits at the expense of his own happiness.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

The frontman for post-grunge/alt-metal giants Staind digs deep into his country roots on Frayed at Both Ends. Featuring the fiery, right-wing-leaning single "Am I the Only One," which soared to number one on the country charts, as well as the rootsy "Goodbye Town" and "Pull Me Under," the 14-song set is Aaron Lewis' fourth full-length solo LP.© TiVo

Now that Waiting for the Sirens' Call has been officially declared part of New Order's history, only eight months after release, it's time once again to reassess the group in the form of a mostly redundant compilation. Rhino calls Singles the group's "first ever career-spanning two-disc retrospective," but it's more like the group's first compilation to contain tracks from Sirens' Call. Besides, 1987's Substance spanned the group's career upon release and remains the basis for most New Order compilations (this one included), so it's no big deal. Just as importantly, over a third of the contents date from 1993 onward; that's too high a percentage to make the set an ideal introduction. Considering its title, Singles has a clear-cut purpose, unlike 2002's International. Then again, each of the 14 tracks contained on International are also here -- what amounts to an inferior version of Substance with some crucial tracks squeezed out in favor of lesser, later singles. A proper sequel to Substance, covering Technique through Sirens' Call, would've made more sense, but the lure in dressing up a combination of oft-recycled classics with slightly varying surroundings has yet to lose its appeal. Substance remains, and will likely always remain, the release to get you started.© Andy Kellman /TiVo