A year before his major-label debut, XO, was released, it seemed unlikely that Elliott Smith would even be on a major, let alone having his record be one of the more anticipated releases of 1998. He had certainly earned a great deal of critical respect with his low-key, acoustic indie records and was emerging as a respected songwriter, but he hadn't made much of an impression outside of journalists, record collectors, and indie rockers. An Oscar nomination can change things, however. "Miss Misery," one of Smith's elegantly elegiac songs for Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting, unexpectedly earned an Academy Award nomination, and he was immediately thrust into the spotlight. He was reluctant to embrace instant celebrity, yet he didn't refuse a contract with DreamWorks, and he didn't shy away from turning XO into a glorious fruition of his talents. Smith's songs remain intensely introspective, yet the lush, Beatlesque production provides a terrifically charming counterpoint. His sweetly dark melodies are vividly brought to life with the detailed arrangements, and they sell Smith's tormented songs -- it's easy to get caught up in the tunes and the sound of the record, then realize later what the songs are actually about. That's a sign of a good craftsman, and XO proves that not only can Elliott Smith craft a song, but he knows how to make an alluring pop record as well.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

A year before his major-label debut, XO, was released, it seemed unlikely that Elliott Smith would even be on a major, let alone having his record be one of the more anticipated releases of 1998. He had certainly earned a great deal of critical respect with his low-key, acoustic indie records and was emerging as a respected songwriter, but he hadn't made much of an impression outside of journalists, record collectors, and indie rockers. An Oscar nomination can change things, however. "Miss Misery," one of Smith's elegantly elegiac songs for Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting, unexpectedly earned an Academy Award nomination, and he was immediately thrust into the spotlight. He was reluctant to embrace instant celebrity, yet he didn't refuse a contract with DreamWorks, and he didn't shy away from turning XO into a glorious fruition of his talents. Smith's songs remain intensely introspective, yet the lush, Beatlesque production provides a terrifically charming counterpoint. His sweetly dark melodies are vividly brought to life with the detailed arrangements, and they sell Smith's tormented songs -- it's easy to get caught up in the tunes and the sound of the record, then realize later what the songs are actually about. That's a sign of a good craftsman, and XO proves that not only can Elliott Smith craft a song, but he knows how to make an alluring pop record as well.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Where janet., Ms. Jackson's third blockbuster album, implied sexuality with its teasing cover and seductive grooves, its sequel, The Velvet Rope, is sexually explicit, offering tales of bondage, body piercing, and bisexuality. Not that you'd necessarily know that from listening to The Velvet Rope, since the album sags with endless interludes, murmured vocals, and subdued urban grooves. Working with her mainstays Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Jackson essentially reworks the hushed atmosphere of janet., neglecting to put a new sonic spin on the material -- for an album that wants to push the limits, it sounds surprisingly tame. Similarly, Jackson's attempts to broaden her sexual horizons frequently sound forced, whether it's the references to piercing or her recasting of Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night" as a lesbian anthem. Furthermore, the album is simply too long, which means the best moments sink into the murk. And that's unfortunate, because there are good moments on The Velvet Rope, but at its running time of 70-plus minutes and 22 tracks, it's hard to work up the patience to find them.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Described by the band alternately as "a fresh new perspective" and "the beginning of a new era of Pea world domination" and "what is actually happening in the world right now," The Beginning inevitably follows The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies), which boasted the number one single in America -- either "Boom Boom Pow" or "I Gotta Feeling" -- during fully half of 2009, including every single summer day (and then some). Although the lead single here prominently samples an '80s touchstone, and on the cover the Peas are displayed as pixelated preteens, Nintendo fashion, The Beginning isn’t a nostalgia trip. Barring a Slick Rick or Chic sample here and a Mr. Roboto reference there (plus buckets of hi-res synth driving the productions), nothing else directly evokes the '80s. As on their last two LPs, it's heavily reliant on nightclub sloganeering and will.i.am’s purposefully (?) lame throwback rapping, alongside Auto-Tune harmonies and waves of synth. David Guetta appears on only one track, but his production job for 2009's "I Gotta Feeling" casts a long shadow on this record of don’t-stop-the-party jams and half-baked club-life anthems. It leads off with a pumping first single, "The Time (Dirty Bit)," oddly built off "(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life," the inescapably treacly duet by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes from 1987's Dirty Dancing. The album was announced in July 2010 and released four months later, but it still sounds as though it was rush-recorded and rush-released, the results of a string of late-nighters by will.i.am and co-producer DJ Ammo. (Perhaps their latest date with destiny, aka the halftime show of Super Bowl XLV, had something to do with it.) There are plentiful will.i.am vocals and comparatively few features for Fergie and the others, and the songs don't burrow into your head, earworm-style, like "My Humps" or "Boom Boom Pow." Still, there are scattered moments of respectability, including that lone David Guetta production, "The Best One Yet (The Boy)," and "Don't Stop the Party."© John Bush /TiVo

"Jeon Somi has long solidified herself as the one to watch in the K-pop world."© TiVo

Abel Tesfaye, aka the Weeknd, released three free mixtapes, aka albums, in 2011. Trilogy compiles them with remastered sound and adds three new songs. Supported by fellow Toronto native Drake, Tesfaye surfaced that March with House of Balloons, an impressive debut that merged his paradoxical approach -- sweet voice, poisonous words -- with gloomy but entrancing productions, most of which were provided by Illangelo and Doc McKinney. The duo produced the entirety of Thursday, released that August. It offered minor variations on the debut's themes of getting laid and high through plodding, thudding scenes of bleak malevolence. Anyone not magnetized to extended periods of intense wallowing and/or chemically-induced lethargy -- or the idea of experiencing either one of the two states -- could discern that Tesfaye could have used an editor. And then, in December, just after Drake released Take Care, an album featuring a handful of Tesfaye collaborations, Echoes of Silence completed the Weeknd trilogy in an equally excessive fashion. Emboldened by critical acclaim and an enthusiastic fan base, Tesfaye led the set, produced mostly by Illangelo, with a cover of "Dirty Diana," Michael Jackson's unintentionally comical groupie nightmare. Tesfaye not only matched the original's intensity but went so over the top with it that the top was no longer visible. He also continued to find slightly different, occasionally peculiar ways of expressing unapologetically sordid feelings about drugs, partying, drugs, bad girls, drugs, strippers, drugs, good girls gone bad, and drugs -- all of which serve an identical purpose and get the same level of consideration, though "Put that rum down, you don't wanna die tonight" is at least somewhat thoughtful. There are points throughout these works where Tesfaye is distinctively gripping, supplying deadly hooks and somehow singing for his life despite the cold blood flowing through his veins. More often, he needs restraint, as he is prone to repetitious whining that is more young boy than young Keith Sweat. (Check "Same Old Song," 20 percent of which features Tesfaye singing "You're the same old song," over and over, with the final "o" held for several seconds.) Now that he's with a label, he'll hopefully get some kind of filter that enables him to fulfill the promise heard in these 160 minutes of one-dimensional, occasionally exhilarating overindulgence. When this package was released, he was gaining mainstream momentum with appearances on Drake's "Crew Love" and Wiz Khalifa's "Remember You." His potential is as obvious as his lyrics are toxic.© Andy Kellman /TiVo

I Think You Think Too Much of Me is the second EP from Irish electronic artist EDEN (aka Jonathan Ng) and follows his acclaimed debut, 2015's End Credits. The first of his releases to be available physically, the EP was preceded by videos for the tracks "sex" and "drugs."© Rich Wilson /TiVo

After the steady release of EPs and mixtapes in the three years following their debut, Philadelphia rapper Lil Uzi Vert finally issued their first official studio full-length in 2017. A sequel to their 2015 mixtape, Luv Is Rage 2 celebrated Uzi's rapid ascent in the hip-hop world, marking their mainstream breakthrough with the single "XO Tour Llif3" and peaking at the top spot of the Billboard 200. While production -- courtesy of Don Cannon, TM88, Metro Boomin, WondaGurl, and more -- improved upon that of the mixtapes, the colorful lyrical content remained as dark, hedonistic, and candid as ever, with Uzi layering rhymes about sex and drugs atop vulnerable moments relating to a tough breakup. Despite featuring high-profile guests like Pharrell Williams ("Neon Guts") and the Weeknd ("UnFazed"), Uzi fares better on their own, their oddball personality and endearing uniqueness adding flavor to highlights like "Two®" and "Sauce It Up." A sample of Oh Wonder's "Landslide" elevates the single "The Way Life Goes," a melodic pop moment that finds Uzi in a tender and yearning state. The catchiness of the track is contrasted by its dour subject matter, giving Luv Is Rage 2 an appreciable depth. The hypnotic "For Real" bounces along a blipping beat; provided by DJ Plugg and Bobby Kritical, it's one of the best-produced moments on the album. For pure thrills, "Early 20 Rager" booms, a stomping standout that injects an undeniable energy into Luv Is Rage 2. Although Uzi's post-breakup pain rears its head throughout the entirety of the album, many of the tracks are too fun to get too bogged down in emotions.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Since 1985, the Jayhawks have treated us to their 70s folk-infused Americana; a roots sound that dares to dabble in power pop. In its early days, Gary Louris and Mark Olson’s band juggled with different influences such as Gram Parsons, Byrds, CSN&Y, Tom Petty and even Big Star… Since then, they’ve grown a few grey hairs, but their talent remains intact. In 2016, Paging Mr. Proust revived the values of their first albums. After leaving and rejoining several times, Olson once again left the fray, leaving Louris to humbly pick up the songwriting torch. Without Olson, the Jayhawks leant closer to pop than folk, which Paging Mr. Proust showed in 2016… This time around, Gary Louris integrates the ideas and compositions of his bandmates Karen Grotberg, Tim O’Reagan and the other survivor from the band's early days, Marc Perlman. He even hands over the microphone on some tracks. Jayhawks is a band after all, so why not act like one! Such an approach stimulates their melodic creativity (Homecoming) and style, as heard on some more melancholic acoustic tracks (Living in a Bubble and its Kinks/Harry Nilsson melody) and heavier electric ones (Dogtown Days). Bitter Pill, a very Jayhawks sounding track, has country flavours à la Flying Burrito Brothers, luxurious vocal harmonies and powerful choruses fit for campfires or dinner parties. A classic and confident record. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Where janet., Ms. Jackson's third blockbuster album, implied sexuality with its teasing cover and seductive grooves, its sequel, The Velvet Rope, is sexually explicit, offering tales of bondage, body piercing, and bisexuality. Not that you'd necessarily know that from listening to The Velvet Rope, since the album sags with endless interludes, murmured vocals, and subdued urban grooves. Working with her mainstays Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Jackson essentially reworks the hushed atmosphere of janet., neglecting to put a new sonic spin on the material -- for an album that wants to push the limits, it sounds surprisingly tame. Similarly, Jackson's attempts to broaden her sexual horizons frequently sound forced, whether it's the references to piercing or her recasting of Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night" as a lesbian anthem. Furthermore, the album is simply too long, which means the best moments sink into the murk. And that's unfortunate, because there are good moments on The Velvet Rope, but at its running time of 70-plus minutes and 22 tracks, it's hard to work up the patience to find them.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

The founder of Planet Mu, Mike Paradinas, otherwise known as µ-Ziq, was unfaithful to his label, one which became a real cult during the English electronic music wave in the 90s. He accepted the invitation of Balmat, the Catalan label launched in 2021 by Albert Salinas and Philip Sherburne. These two both gained immense pleasure signing one of their heroes for what was to be a somewhat sedate album, and one which was a world away from the dancefloors. Paradinas opens this project with the splendid 4am, a composed title, one which could almost be considered hyperpop, with floating vocals that set a whispering tone for the record. A majority of the songs flirt with an ambient sound (Eire, Allegro in particular) but the Briton wanted some artistic freedom for this contemplative record which contains some absolute gems; Houzz 13 showcases some very very deep house, and the only concession to the dance floor, Mesolithic Jungle, an extremely experimental jungle title. Even the brilliant finale Froglets combines funky and psyche elements. It’s a record which reveals a new side to Paradinas, and which shows that the English wizard still has the world at his feet © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz