Justin Timberlake

Man of the Woods

RCA

Pop/Rock

Neatly synchronized with another Super Bowl halftime performance, this muddled set is loosely inspired by the singer's Southern upbringing.

— Andy Kellman

Montgomery Gentry

Here's to You

Average Joe's

Country

The final album with Troy Gentry finds the duo holding true to their sturdy values.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rhye

Blood

Loma Vista

Pop/Rock

The second album of breathy sophisti-pop from Mike Milosh's now-primary outlet.

— Andy Kellman

Rae Morris

Someone Out There

Atlantic / EastWest

Pop/Rock

A bright, reinvigorated return from a singer who twists the confines of pop to match her personality.

— Liam Martin

John Oates

Arkansas

PS Records

Folk, Pop/Rock

John Oates returns to his folkie roots on this charming, relaxed album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Field Music

Open Here

Memphis Industries

Pop/Rock

The Brewis brothers show no signs of running out of ideas, crafting (yet) another brilliant album of smart and shiny pop.

— Tim Sendra

Hookworms

Microshift

Domino

Pop/Rock

The band trade in guitars and noise for synths and a beat, while staying as cathartic and powerful as before.

— Tim Sendra

Therion

Beloved Antichrist

Nuclear Blast

Pop/Rock

Already known for theatrical and musical excess, this Swedish metal outfit revels in indulgence with a brilliant fully orchestrated three-hour rock opera.

— Thom Jurek

Simple Minds

Walk Between Worlds

BMG / Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

Picking up where 2014's Big Music left off, Glasgow's stadium pop legends successfully revisit their early iconic sound in brand new music.

— Thom Jurek

James Hunter / The James Hunter Six

Whatever It Takes

Daptone

Pop/Rock

On his second album for Daptone, England's finest soul singer and his band deliver a fingerpopping collection of upbeat love songs.

— Thom Jurek

Poppy Ackroyd

Resolve

One Little Indian

Avant-Garde

The pianist and composer utilizes accompanists and a wonderfully canny set of digital editing skills to deliver her finest recording to date.

— Thom Jurek

Anna Burch

Quit the Curse

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

Michigan-based singer/songwriter Anna Burch makes her solo debut with an excellent set of startlingly direct observations.

— Paul Simpson

The Soft Moon

Criminal

Sacred Bones

Pop/Rock

A suffocatingly dense set of songs that connect the pain of the past to the present.

— Heather Phares

Red River Dialect

Broken Stay Open Sky

Paradise of Bachelors / Secretly Canadian

Pop/Rock

The London-via-Cornwall folk outfit offers a warm and deeply reflective sequel to 2015's Tender Gold & Gentle Blue.

— Timothy Monger

Roxy Music

Roxy Music [Super Deluxe Edition]

Virgin / Virgin EMI

Pop/Rock

Roxy Music's groundbreaking debut still sounds futuristic decades after its release.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Sunwatchers

II

Trouble in Mind

Pop/Rock

Second album of celebratory, unity-promoting jams from instrumental free music ensemble Sunwatchers.

— Paul Simpson

Julian Lage

Modern Lore

Mack Avenue

Jazz

The guitarist returns to his Telecaster and Arclight trio to explore the rootsy rhythms and textures of rock on this intimate, carefree outing.

— Thom Jurek

Death and Vanilla

The Tenant

Fire Records

Pop/Rock, Stage & Screen

In 2015, the Swedish band recorded a truly haunted original score for a live screening of the 1976 film The Tenant.

— Tim Sendra

Kyle Craft

Full Circle Nightmare

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

A rip-roaring follow-up to the rocker/storyteller's 2016 debut, recorded live in the studio with his band.

— Marcy Donelson

AWOLNATION

Here Come the Runts

Red Bull Records

Pop/Rock

Aaron Bruno's electro-rock project delivers a third helping of synth-laden pop anthems with soaring melodies.

— Rob Wacey

Bardo Pond

Vol. 8

Fire Records / Fire Vinyl

Pop/Rock

Bardo Pond continue their sporadic series of improvisational recordings with this set of sprawling excursions.

— Paul Simpson

Bat Fangs

Bat Fangs

Don Giovanni

Pop/Rock

A big, bold debut of '80s hard rock-inspired bangers from members of Ex Hex and Flesh Wounds.

— Bekki Bemrose

Montero

Performer

Chapter Music

Pop/Rock

The Melbourne musician and cartoonist returns with a vibrant slab of wry, well-crafted pop with '60s and '70s roots.

— Timothy Monger

DZ Deathrays

Bloody Lovely

Dine Alone

Pop/Rock

A riff-happy, tube-driven, late-night sweatfest that invokes everyone from Japandroids and Band of Skulls to the Vines and Jane's Addiction.

— James Christopher Monger

The Sheepdogs

Changing Colours

Warner Music

Pop/Rock

The Canadian prairie rockers deliver another perfectly executed set of sun-baked '70s-inspired highway jams and boogie rock anthems.

— James Christopher Monger

Fruition

Watching It All Fall Apart

LoHi Records

Pop/Rock, Country, Folk

Bittersweet breakup album that expands the Portland, Oregon quintet's folk-rock sound.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Grateful Dead

Road Trips Vol. 4, No. 3: Denver '73

Real Gone Music

Pop/Rock

The Dead are in a relaxed, mellow mood, yet they also sound unusually lithe.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Steve Tyrell

A Song for You

Atlantic / Elektra / New Design / Warner Music

Vocal

An urbane set of standards and pop favorites, marking the soulful crooner's 13th year performing at New York's Café Carlyle.

— Matt Collar

Various Artists

Changes: The Ru-Jac Records Story, Vol. 4: 1967–1980

Omnivore

R&B

The fourth volume of Omnivore's Ru-Jac Records Story chronicles the last years of the Baltimore soul label.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Various Artists

Finally Together: The Ru-Jac Records Story, Vol. 3: 1966–1967

Omnivore

R&B

The third volume of Omnivore's Ru-Jac Records Story finds the Baltimore label hinting at grittier Southern soul.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Changyong Shin

Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven

Steinway & Sons

Classical

Changyong Shin's album on Steinway & Sons is not just a promising debut but an unusually good recording of four repertory works.

— James Manheim

Various Artists

Stecher & Horowitz Commissions

Steinway & Sons

Classical

Melvin Stecher and Norman Horowitz not only founded the New York International Piano Competition, but also commissioned new works.

— James Manheim

Arcangelo / Jonathan Cohen

Bach Magnificats: Johann Sebastian, Johann Christian, Carl Philipp Emanuel

Hyperion

Classical

This release presents Magnificats by Johann Sebastian Bach and two of his sons, Johann Christian Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.

— James Manheim

Kirill Karabits / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Walton: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

Onyx / Onyx Classics

Classical

Kirill Karabits leads the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in committed performances of William Walton's two symphonies.

— Blair Sanderson

Seong-Jin Cho

Debussy

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical

For his third release on Deutsche Grammophon, Seong-Jin Cho plays Debussy's piano music with understatement and refinement.

— Blair Sanderson

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