Green Day

Revolution Radio

Reprise

Pop/Rock

Green Day shake off their infatuation with concept albums -- but not their debt to the Who -- on the back-to-basics Revolution Radio.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Norah Jones

Day Breaks

Blue Note

Pop/Rock, Vocal

Jones returns home to the jazzy singer/songwriter style of her debut Come Away with Me.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

OneRepublic

Oh My My

Interscope / Mosley / Polydor

Pop/Rock

The hitmaking group finds inspiration around the globe on another collection of catchy anthems and could-be smash singles.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Phish

Big Boat

Jemp Records

Pop/Rock

Vermont's jam titans have a second go with producer Bob Ezrin, resulting in another strong studio outing.

— Timothy Monger

Phantogram

Three

Republic

Pop/Rock

Working for the first time with outside producers and songwriters, the duo's third album is unapologetically pop.

— Tim Sendra

Sum 41

13 Voices

Hopeless Records

Pop/Rock

Triumphant comeback from the Canadian quintet that chronicles their frontman's near-death experience and subsequent road to recovery.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Joyce Manor

Cody

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

The band's fourth album is their first made in a studio, with venerable alt-rock producer Rob Schnapf at the helm.

— Tim Sendra

Melissa Etheridge

Memphis Rock and Soul

Concord / Concord Music Group / Stax

Pop/Rock

Straight-ahead, affectionate tribute to the sounds and songs of Southern soul in the '60s and 70s.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Barry Gibb

In the Now

Columbia / Sony Music

Pop/Rock

The former Bee Gee's long-awaited second solo album is a stylistic hodgepodge of modern rock, disco, and adult contemporary ballads, delivered with a lived-in vocal style.

— Tim Sendra

Goat

Requiem

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

Ecstatic world music meets swirling psychedelia on the mysterious Swedish group's fourth album.

— Tim Sendra

Julia Jacklin

Don't Let the Kids Win

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

Smoky vocals, discontent, and a presence that's mature beyond her twenty-something years distinguish this debut, which struggles with aging.

— Marcy Donelson

Hiss Golden Messenger

Heart Like a Levee

Merge

Pop/Rock

M.C. Taylor and friends expand their sound and embrace rootsy southern soul, R&B, and bluesy gospel in their finest set to date.

— Thom Jurek

Lou Reed

The RCA & Arista Album Collection

Legacy / RCA

Pop/Rock

Includes 16 memorable albums (released from 1972 to 1986), newly remastered under the supervision of the New York rock icon.

— Mark Deming

Evelyn "Champagne" King

The Complete RCA Hits and More

Real Gone Music

R&B

A two-disc overview containing all of the singer's charting 1978-1986 singles, including "Shame" and "Love Come Down."

— Andy Kellman

Eddie Money

The Complete Hits and More!

Real Gone Music

Pop/Rock

Two disc, 35-track set highlights an impressive chart run by the rock singer/songwriter and is appended by rarities and choice album cuts.

— Thom Jurek

Shovels & Rope

Little Seeds

New West

Pop/Rock

Americana duo keep getting better as performers, but a lack of fresh ideas and songs holds them back.

— Mark Deming

Slaves

Take Control

Republic / Virgin EMI

Pop/Rock

Sophomore album that is less concerned with progression and more interested in reinstating Slaves' indictment of society.

— Liam Martin

Takuya Kuroda

Zigzagger

Concord / Decca

Jazz

The trumpeter's kinetic funk-jazz and Afrobeat-infused follow-up to his 2009 breakthrough Rising Son.

— Matt Collar

Sonic Avenues

Disconnector

Dirtnap Records / Sonic Avenues

Pop/Rock

The Montreal band's fourth album finds them successfully adding some space and restraint to their poppy punk sound.

— Tim Sendra

Xylouris White

Black Peak

Bella Union

International, Pop/Rock

The duo's killer second album uses Cretan folkloric tradition to deliver a forceful balance of composition and improvisation.

— Thom Jurek

The Devil Wears Prada

Transit Blues

Rise / Rise Records

Pop/Rock

The Ohio band descends into darkness on its relentlessly bleak and blistering sixth metalcore attack.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Placebo

A Place for Us to Dream: 20 Years of Placebo

Rise Records

Pop/Rock

A Place for Us to Dream delivers the kind of easy, bullet point retrospective that newbies and casual fans can get behind.

— James Christopher Monger

Adrian Younge

Adrian Younge Presents the Electronique Void

Linear Labs

Electronic

With help from narrator Jack Waterson, the all-analog psych-soul specialist makes a fun, convincing turn toward vintage synthesizer manipulation.

— Andy Kellman

Loretta Lynn

White Christmas Blue

Legacy / Sony Music

Holiday, Country

Culled from the same sessions as 2016's Full Circle, White Christmas Blue is a warm, cozy traditional country Christmas album by the classic country singer.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Brent Cobb

Shine on Rainy Day

Atlantic / Low Country Sound

Country, Pop/Rock

A warmly crafted and poetic set rooted in the Deep South of the singer's native Georgia.

— Timothy Monger

BROOKZILL!

Throwback to the Future

Tommy Boy

Rap, International

Joyous blend of hip-hop and Brazilian music by a group including Prince Paul, Ladybug of Digable Planets, keyboardist Don Newkirk, and rapper Rodrigo Brandão.

— Tim Sendra

Colbie Caillat

The Malibu Sessions

PlummyLou

Pop/Rock

Colbie Caillat goes independent and gets back to her sunny, breezy roots on The Malibu Sessions.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Electric Six

Fresh Blood for Tired Vampyres

Metropolis Records

Pop/Rock

Motor City party monsters are still wailing hard on their 12th studio album in 13 years.

— Mark Deming

Eric Benét

Eric Benét

Jordan House

R&B

Among the singer's best work, a sturdy set of high-stepping sophisticated funk, impeccable slow jams, and moving ballads.

— Andy Kellman

Jamestown Revival

The Education of a Wandering Man

Republic

Pop/Rock

finds Lone Star State troubadours Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance deliver another slick and soulful set of T-crossing and I-dotting Texas Americana.

— James Christopher Monger

Lewis Del Mar

Lewis Del Mar

Sony Music

Pop/Rock

The duo's full-length debut is packed with idiosyncratic pop sculptures that should please fans of viral hit "Loud(y)" (included here).

— Marcy Donelson

Light Fantastic

Out of View

Spiritual Pajamas

Pop/Rock

The first LP from the Bay Area five-piece offers shimmering, beach-evoking indie pop informed by shoegaze, psychedelia, and surf.

— Marcy Donelson

Matt Chamberlain / Brian Haas

Prometheus Risen

Royal Potato Family

Avant-Garde

An ambitious improvised set of sci-fi and space-themed tracks from the keyboard-and-drum duo.

— Matt Collar

Mia Doi Todd

Songbook, Vol. 1

Virtual Label

Pop/Rock

On her second covers collection in a row, the L.A.-based singer/songwriter and her friends pay tribute to icons and peers.

— Thom Jurek

NOFX

First Ditch Effort

Fat Wreck Chords

Pop/Rock

Veteran punk rock goofballs get just a little bit serious (and make it work) on their 16th studio album.

— Mark Deming

Syreeta / Rita Wright

The Rita Wright Years: Rare Motown 1967-1970

Ace / Kent

R&B

An occasionally excellent assortment of demos and shelved recordings, along with the singer and songwriter's 1968 debut single.

— Andy Kellman

Springtime Carnivore

Midnight Room

Autumn Tone Records

Pop/Rock

A deep red sunset of an album that flirts with gothic Americana, dreamy west coast indie rock, and bubbling '80s synth-pop.

— James Christopher Monger

Suburban Living

Almost Paradise

6131 Records

Pop/Rock

The Philadelphia dream pop outfit builds on its debut with additional synth layers and more robust production values.

— Timothy Monger

Todd Snider

Eastside Bulldog

Agonia Records / Aimless Records

Pop/Rock, Country

The singer/songwriter's weird and rowdy alter ego takes center stage on this wild, greasy rock & roll session.

— Mark Deming

Yello

Toy

Polydor

Pop/Rock, Electronic

Swiss electronic pop legends reveal that three decades after "Oh Yeah," they still have new ideas up their sleeves.

— Mark Deming

Mary Lou Williams

Mary Lou Williams Plays in London

Legacy

Jazz

These '50s sides are placed in their proper release sequence with alternate takes. Both rhythm sections include Tony Scott on bongos.

— Thom Jurek

Tianwa Yang / JoAnn Falletta

Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale - Suite; Octet; Les noces

Naxos

Classical

Three transitional works by Igor Stravinsky -- L'Histoire du soldat, the Octet, and Les noces -- are presented on this 2016 Naxos release.

— Blair Sanderson

Vox Clamantis / Jaan-Eik Tulve

Arvo Pärt: The Deer's Cry

ECM

Classical

A marvelous Pärt collection, with flawless and entirely idiomatic sound from the Tallinn Transfiguration Church.

— James Manheim

Carolin Widmann / Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Robert Schumann

ECM

Classical

Widmann clarifies a good deal of the music and participates in the continuing case being made for Schumann's concerto.

— James Manheim

Christopher O'Riley / Pablo Ziegler

Tango Nuevo

Steinway & Sons

Classical

This is nuevo tango nuevo. Ziegler branches out, a few times following Piazzolla, but more often departing substantially.

— James Manheim

Alice Sara Ott / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Esa-Pekka Salonen

Wonderland: Edvard Grieg - Piano Concerto; Lyric Pieces

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical

Ott's gossamer, web-like technique in lyrical passages is never less than enjoyable to hear.

— James Manheim

Julie Albers / Joyce Yang / David Alan Miller / Albany Symphony Orchestra

Michael Torke: Three Manhattan Bridges

Albany Music Distribution / Albany Records

Classical

Michael Torke's Three Manhattan Bridges and Winter's Tale are post-minimalist concertos presented with high energy on this 2016 Albany release.

— Blair Sanderson

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