Paloma Faith

Fall to Grace [Bonus Track]

Epic

Pop/Rock

Produced mostly by Jake Gosling and Nellee Hooper, the theatrical Londoner's second album is filled with performance-over-song vocal showcases.

— Andy Kellman

El Perro del Mar

Pale Fire

The Control Group

Pop/Rock

This Swedish songwriter moves further away from the soft chamber pop of her earliest work, incorporating more electronic elements into her dark pop.

— Fred Thomas

Metric

Synthetica [Deluxe Edition]

Crystal Math / MMI

Pop/Rock

Picking up where Fantasies left off, Synthetica is another glossy modern pop gem filled with hooky songs brilliantly sung by Emily Haines.

— Tim Sendra

Kesha

Warrior

RCA

Pop/Rock

Ke$ha's second album Warrior is a gloriously tacky call to arms for freaks, burnouts, slackers, and white trash all around the world.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Wiz Khalifa

O.N.I.F.C.

Atlantic

Rap

The follow-up to this stoner MC's 2011 breakout Rolling Papers narrowly avoids becoming the dreaded sophomore slump, but still feels uninspired.

— Fred Thomas

Jools Holland / Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra

The Golden Age of Song

Rhino

Jazz

Jools Holland tackles the Great American Songbook in his signature boogie-woogie style.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Blur

Parklive

Virgin

Pop/Rock

Blur's concert at the conclusion of the 2012 London Olympics is captured on the triumphant Parklive.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Kiss

The Casablanca Singles: 1974-1982

Mercury

Pop/Rock

All of the group's 29 singles for the Casablanca label are collected on this fan-aimed and well-executed set.

— David Jeffries

The Smashing Pumpkins

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness [Deluxe Edition Box Set]

Virgin

Pop/Rock

Florida Georgia Line

Here's to the Good Times...This Is How We Roll

Island / Republic Nashville

Country

An aptly named album about drinking beer, taking shots, driving back roads, and the romance of endless summer nights spent looking for good times.

— Steve Leggett

Jeff Wayne

The War of the Worlds: The New Generation [Deluxe Edition]

Sony Music

Pop/Rock

34 years after the original, Jeff Wayne re-casts his War of the Worlds for a New Generation, winding up with something that sounds like the past.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Paul Wall

No Sleep Til Houston

SMC Entertainment / SMC Recordings

Rap

With help from Bun B and others, the rapper celebrates his hometown of Houston on this back-to-basics winner of a mixtape.

— David Jeffries

Chevelle

Stray Arrows: A Collection of Favorites

Epic

Pop/Rock

Chevelle hit the bull's-eye on their greatest-hits collection Stray Arrows: A Collection of Favorites.

— Gregory Heaney

The Prodigy

The Fat of the Land [Expanded Edition]

XL

Electronic

Prodigy's breakout delivers intense hip-hop-derived rhythms, imaginatively reconstructed samples, and anthemic shouting from Keith Flint and Maxim.

— John Bush

Gavin DeGraw

Sweeter Live [CD/DVD]

RCA

Pop/Rock

Gavin DeGraw's Sweeter Live is a surprisingly raw and energetic concert from the singer/songwriter.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Hinder

Welcome to the Freakshow

Republic / Universal

Pop/Rock

Hinder finally reaches the rehab portion in their extremely long reading of Mötley Crüe's The Dirt.

— James Christopher Monger

The Jam

The Gift [Deluxe Box Set]

Polydor

Pop/Rock

The super-deluxe edition of the Gift is a gorgeous tribute to the Jam's farewell album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Johnny Cash

The Complete Columbia Album Collection

Columbia / Legacy / Sony Legacy

Country

Mammoth 63-disc box containing all the albums Johnny Cash recorded for Columbia, along with his first Sun LP and two discs of non-LP singles.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Wayne Wonder

My Way

INgrooves / Singso

Reggae

The velvety-voiced reggae singer's first album in five years is a comfortable return to form and smooth as silk.

— David Jeffries

Olly Murs

Right Place Right Time

Epic

Pop/Rock

The 2009 X Factor runner-up's third album features catchy funk and soul-inflected pop that brings to mind a mix of Maroon 5 and the Wanted.

— Matt Collar

Mary Wells

Something New: Motown Lost & Found

Hip-O Select / Universal

Pop/Rock, R&B

This from-the-vaults collection finds a young Mary Wells cycling through smoky soul, energetic Motown sounds, and loungy standards.

— Fred Thomas

Gene Harris

The Three Sounds/Gene Harris of the Three Sounds

Dusty Groove / Real Gone Music / Real Music Records

Jazz

Two pivotal albums from the dawn of the '70s are packaged together that reveal the pianist in a period of exploration and transition.

— Thom Jurek

Bobbi Humphrey

Dig This!

Real Gone Music

Jazz

The sophomore effort from Blue Note’s first female signing is a stone killer example of jazz-funk in its prime, and one of her finest records.

— Thom Jurek

Jeremy Steig

Wayfaring Stranger

Real Gone Music

Jazz

The flute master’s only date for Blue Note reveals a chameleon-like balancing act between early jazz-funk and free improv.

— Thom Jurek

Gil Scott-Heron

The Revolution Begins: The Flying Dutchman Masters

BGP

R&B

This killer three-disc set features one disc each of music and poetry, plus a complete, totally unreleased alternate version of Free Will.

— Thom Jurek

Horace Andy

Say Who

Kingston Sounds

Reggae

This collection from one of roots reggae's best-known vocalists shows his distinctive talent touching his best-known hits and obscurities alike.

— Fred Thomas

John Hartford

Aereo-Plain/Morning Bugle: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings

Real Gone Music

Folk, Country, Pop/Rock

John Hartford's two 1970s Warner Bros. albums were alternative folk before anyone even had the notion of such a thing.

— Steve Leggett

The House of Love

The House of Love [Deluxe Edition]

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

Cherry Red's three-disc deluxe edition of this 1988 dream pop classic features heaps of live, demo, and alternate material.

— Andy Kellman

Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles

Advent at Ephesus

Decca

Religious, Classical, International

The nuns of the Priory of Our Lady of Ephesus sing Gregorian chants, hymns, and a few carols for the season immediately preceding Christmas.

— Patsy Morita

Ned's Atomic Dustbin

Anthology

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

A repackaging of best love songs and a few rarities from this U.K. group who experienced their cult-following glory days in the early '90s.

— Fred Thomas

Jennifer Koh

Bach & Beyond, Part 1

Cedille Records

Classical

Even though the program of this album is fairly routine, Jennifer Koh's eloquent playing makes it well worth hearing.

— Blair Sanderson

The Soup Dragons

20 Golden Greats

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

This generous collection features twenty tracks taken from the Scottish alt-rockers' 1988-1994 tenure with Big Life Records.

— Tim Sendra

Janine Jansen / Vladimir Jurowski

Prokofiev

Decca

Classical

Jansen's reading of No. 2, ably accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski, has a pearly quality throughout, a kind of bright ease, that comes only at the highest levels of technique.

— James Manheim

Natalia Pschenitschnikova / Alexei Lubimov

John Cage: As It Is

ECM New Series

Classical

John Cage's music for piano, prepared piano, and voice is quite approachable and affecting in these performances celebrating his centennial.

— Blair Sanderson

Mark Stewart

Exorcism of Envy

Future Noise Music

Electronic

Dub versions and reconstructions of material from The Politics of Envy, released earlier in 2012.

— Andy Kellman

Various Artists

Feeling High: The Psychedelic Sound of Memphis

Big Beat

Pop/Rock

This fun set features the psychedelic garage bands from Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi who tracked in Memphis in the late '60s and early '70s.

— Steve Leggett

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