Popular Music CDs for Adults
Hundreds of CDs are added to the Library's collection each month. Here are the most popular Music CDs for adults.
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You're the One
After winning the Pulitzer Prize in Music for Omar, her opera based on Omar ibn Said's 1831 autobiography A Muslim American Slave: The Life of Omar ibn Said, who could blame Rhiannon Giddens for wanting to loosen up a bit with You're the One, an album she recorded after the production's 2022 debut? After focusing on such a serious project, it makes sense that Giddens would want to shift gears with You're the One, an album that bears many musical connections to the former Carolina Chocolate Drops leader's body of work yet feels entirely different. Working with Jack Splash -- a producer whose résumé includes recordings by Alicia Keys, Solange Knowles, Jazmine Sullivan, Mayer Hawthorne, and Kendrick Lamar -- Giddens creates what is effectively her crossover album, touching upon pop and soul without ever losing sight of either her roots or her impeccable taste. Occasionally, Giddens focuses her attention on a specific sound, such as the folky "Way Over Yonder," but such streamlined excursions go against her very aesthetic: she thrives where cultures intersect, maybe even clash. You're the One is filled with such moments. "Too Little, Too Late, Too Bad" is a country-funk number, she steers the folk of the title track toward pop territory, the righteous anger of "Another Wasted Life" is wrapped in a lush, cinematic arrangement, the rural imagery of "Hen in the Foxhouse" is given a decidedly urbane treatment. It's remarkable how these fusions feel bright and lively and every bit as sharp as the Americana-leaning Freedom Highway. Giddens may be emphasizing a different side of her personality -- and perhaps courting a different audience -- but she's made no compromises. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (syndetics)
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Valley of Heart's Delight
(syndetics)
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The Maestro: Very Best of Leonard Bernstein
The Deutsche Grammophon made an unusual decision when it came to issuing soundtrack music for the film Maestro, starring Bradley Cooper as conductor Leonard Bernstein and based on episodes from Bernstein's marriage. The usual soundtrack album, with recordings and perhaps some bits of dialogue, has been split into two releases. One, entitled Maestro: Music by Leonard Bernstein, contains large excerpts of dialogue from the film, with music related to the scenes in which the dialogue appears. This is the other album of the pair, with no dialogue and featuring a variety of live performances conducted by Bernstein himself. All date from after 1980, and all are from the Deutsche Grammophon/Universal orbit, making it dubious that this represents "the very best of Leonard Bernstein." The label restriction allows only a few selections by the New York Philharmonic, the orchestra with which Bernstein was most closely associated, and nothing by Charles Ives, a composer whom Bernstein virtually rediscovered. This said, there is a lot of excellent Bernstein here, and the double album gives an idea of the breadth of his art. He offers crackling West Side Story excerpts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the surprisingly effective José Carreras and Marilyn Horne, and these are not commonly available. With that orchestra, he plays the Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue himself and does better than most. The Mahler Symphony No. 2 ("Resurrection") with soprano Barbara Hendricks and alto Christa Ludwig is nothing short of sublime. The Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schumann works with the Wiener Philharmoniker in the second part also remind one of what a fine Classicist Bernstein was and how productive his late-life association was with this great orchestra. Sample the Presto finale of the Mozart Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385 ("Haffner") for an excellent example of how to push the tempo excitingly and still hold things together. The remastering of diverse live sound sources is quite good, and the bottom line is that this release can serve as a good introduction to Bernstein for viewers of Maestro, even if it doesn't deliver quite exactly what was promised. ~ James Manheim (syndetics)
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Pink Friday 2
On her debut studio album, 2010's Pink Friday, Nicki Minaj made it clear she could do it all. The bloodthirsty rap powers she'd displayed on her earlier mixtapes were so abundant she had to organize them as separate characters, but she also had no problem singing sugary hooks or following scandalous diss tracks with bouncy pop tunes designed for the charts. Thirteen years later, Minaj is still striking out in all directions on Pink Friday 2, a sequel to her breakthrough that sees her continuing to stretch her range. First, there's the pop; several tracks reiterate a formula that's resulted in multiple hits for Minaj, that of building out on ubiquitous songs from the past. Her hypersexual rhymes on "Super Freaky Girl" are a tailored fit for the familiar groove of Rick James' "Super Freak" that the song is based on, while "Pink Friday Girls" leans heavily on Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and "My Life" samples Blondie's biggest song, "Heart of Glass." The seething rap tracks happen mostly in the album's first act, with concise burners like "Barbie Dangerous" and "FTCU" leading to more nuanced production on the moody J. Cole-aided "Let Me Calm Down" and the infectious meanness of "Big Difference." Minaj imprints herself onto bumpy, island-tinged R&B on "Needle" (featuring Drake, naturally), boisterous club on "Everybody," deep trap on the Future duet "Nicki Hendrix," and banging dancehall on "Forward from Trini," with help from Jamaican artists Skillibeng and Skeng. The swings between genres are less jarring than when Minaj lets her guard down emotionally. The album begins on a surprisingly mournful note with "Are You Gone Already," a song that reframes Billie Eilish's vaporous "when the party's over" as a vulnerable expression of loss. The album's closing moments are similarly glum, with the devotional track "Blessings" giving way to melancholic pop on the indie-flavored "Last Time I Saw You" and ending with the yearning sadness of "Just the Memories." ~ Fred Thomas (syndetics)
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A symphonic celebration: music from the Studio Ghibli films of Hayao Miyazaki
On this delightful collection of beloved hits from the Ghibli universe, Joe Hisaishi and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra bring these songs to life with equal parts whimsical wonder, choral heft, and lush orchestral layering. A Symphonic Celebration indeed, the spirits are unmistakably high on triumphant moments such as "Merry-Go-Round of Life" from Howl's Moving Castle and the bombastic introduction to Nausicaä's "The Legend of the Wind" and the percussion-heavy stomper "The Battle between Mehve and Corvette." The latter films receive the most representation here, while Kiki's Delivery Service, The Wind Rises, Ponyo, Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso, and, of course, My Neighbor Totoro all make their mark with familiar themes and deeper score cuts. While fan favorite Totoro has the honor of closing the show -- "Hey Let's Go" provides an ineffable amount of joy -- the grandeur and spiritual impact of the Princess Mononoke section is a definite standout (especially the shiver-inducing title track). Live vocals contribute to many of the highlights here, from the tender contemplation of Spirited Away's "One Summer's Day," whose English-language version benefits from the angelic voice of Grace Davidson to the uplifting force of "Nausicaa Requiem" and the childlike "The Distant Days," which both feature a full choir. That blend of sweeping triumph and innocence permeates this collection, as one would expect, and the master delivers all the hits and then some. Even though there are plenty of variations of these songs, each successive collection warrants a listen. A Symphonic Celebration is no different, with Hisaishi and the Royal Philharmonic delivering a performance for the ages. ~ Neil Z. Yeung (syndetics)
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Falling or Flying
During 2021, the year she released the intermediate and mostly downcast Be Right Back EP, Jorja Smith moved back to her native Walsall after determining that London -- where she had moved to establish her career -- was not the place for her. The return enabled her to slow down in a familiar setting as she made the true follow-up to Lost & Found, her Mercury Prize-nominated album debut. Created primarily with Barbara Boko-Hyouyhat and Edith Nelson, an emergent Walsallian duo known as DAMEDAME*, Falling or Flying also involves, in roughly one-third of its tracks, P2J -- a versatile producer known for his work with Beyoncé, Wizkid, and Burna Boy -- showing that the still-independent Smith can attract high-profile collaborators as if she were a major-label flagship act. The complete turnover of collaborators and her retreat from the spotlight result in a fresh progression from Lost & Found that sees Smith examine herself, her relationships, and the ways she herself is scrutinized. Compared to the debut, the songs are a little tighter in structure, communicate more, and bounce from style to style -- whereas Lost & Found presented an evolved, commercially minded brand of street soul -- with introspective R&B always somewhere in the mix. The farthest deviation is "Go Go Go," a strummy bit of light pop-punk for Smith to sweep aside a lover with a pouty belligerence she hasn't shown before. Two others seduce in different backdrops. The title song, lush sophisti-pop redolent of Jessie Ware's Devotion, sees Smith suggesting a rendezvous with an implied ellipsis or batting eyelash at the end of "I don't know where you are, but I don't wanna go to sleep, babe." Swift U.K. garage soundtracks Smith's chance romantic encounter on "Little Things." More compelling from a lyrical perspective is the greater number of inward-looking songs. Cinematic opener "Try Me," the darkly shimmering "She Feels," and the floating "Backwards" all come from a post-fame perspective but aren't so specific that they can't relate to the average person navigating early adulthood. ~ Andy Kellman (syndetics)
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The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection
While this three-CD, 75-song box set only has a half-dozen tracks actually credited to Burt Bacharach, it's certainly the best representation of his music likely to ever be assembled. Spanning the late '50s through a 1996 duet with Elvis Costello, this is the cream of his work as a composer (and, frequently, producer), properly concentrating mostly on the 1960s hit versions of his songs (usually, though not always, co-written with Hal David) by Dionne Warwick, Gene Pitney, Jackie DeShannon, Dusty Springfield, the Drifters, Chuck Jackson, and many others. Classics like "Baby It's You," "Walk On By," "What the World Needs Now Is Love," and "Wishin' and Hopin'" are here, of course. What really makes this exceptional by box set standards, however, is the deft intermingling of familiar smash hits with interesting minor hits and rarities. There are four cuts by the unknown Lou Johnson, who has been described as the male counterpart to Dionne Warwick; intriguing obscurities by Gene Pitney ("Fool Killer"), Jackie DeShannon ("So Long Johnny"), and others that even fans of the artists might not have heard; rare original versions of familiar classics (Tommy Hunt's "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself," for instance); hits by artists who only benefited grandly from the magic Bacharach/David touch once (Bobby Vinton's "Blue on Blue," Jack Jones' "Wives and Lovers"); and just plain off-the-wall things like the Five Blobs' novelty "The Blob," Manfred Mann's "My Little Red Book," Bobby Goldsboro's "Me Japanese Boy I Love You," and TV actor Richard Chamberlain's "Blue Guitar." Thankfully only a little of his subpar work from the '80s is included. Aficionados may find some things to carp about, particularly the absence of some small hits (quantity and licensing would have made it difficult to bring everything together) and the track choice when several singers made worthy versions; sometimes the big hit is used, sometimes it's a rare original version, sometimes it's a rare rendition that was neither the original nor the biggest hit. Certainly there's more Bacharach/David worth hearing; the first places to start after getting through this are vintage Dionne Warwick compilations. For a rich but manageable anthology of his best work, though, it could hardly be bettered, enhanced by nearly 100 pages of liner notes and track annotations. ~ Richie Unterberger (syndetics)
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Queen of Rock 'n' Roll
Delivered months after her May 2023 death, Queen of Rock 'N' Roll is the first comprehensive solo retrospective assembled on Tina Turner in many years. Spanning either three CDs or five LPs, the box set follows a chronological order, opening with a trippy reading of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" -- popularized in Disney's Cruella -- then swiftly running through several late-'70s tracks that didn't often appear on collections before the comp reaches her great comeback of 1984. By this point, the collection is seven cuts deep and there's another 48 songs to go, which means Queen of Rock 'N' Roll relies heavily on her international hits of the 1990s and beyond, building upon her basic hits with live cuts and re-recordings. It perhaps winds up getting a little too glossy and tasteful by the close of the collection, yet this, of all Turner compilations, paints a portrait of the entire arc of Tina's solo career. Her rawest, nerviest, and funkiest material is missing, but this depicts her comeback and reign in vivid detail. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (syndetics)
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Water Made Us
Jamila Woods' third album references Toni Morrison with its title and penultimate song, samples a discussion between Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin -- two more figures to whom Woods has previously paid tribute -- and counts many of her Chicago associates as contributors. In almost all other respects, Water Made Us is quite different from HEAVN and LEGACY! LEGACY!, her first two full-lengths. Having pushed herself to write prolifically over an extended period, Woods established a creative bond with Chris McClenney, a writer and producer behind Khalid's "Location" whose other connections include Mereba, CHIKA, and Joey Bada$$. The two collaborated remotely before Woods was able to join McClenney at his Los Angeles studio, where they saw to fruition a loosely chronological illustration of Woods' journey along the arc and aftermath of a romance -- with allusions to other past relationships in the mix. Not merely distinct from what Woods has made before, Water Made Us is unique in the way it examines and reflects on love with its philosophical and patient yet unconcealed perspective. She relates her experiences with poetic enumeration of details and fresh flips of common metaphors likening relationships and their various states to plant life, weather, and of course water. Her voice glows and just about flutters during moments of joy and optimism like "Tiny Garden," "Practice," and "Boomerang." When the conditions are choppy on a handful of other songs, Woods takes it in stride, neither despondent nor embittered; even "You did a number on me" and "I'm not your leather Everlast" are put forth with an even temper. The deep involvement of McClenney, assistance from additional producers such as Wynne Bennett and Alissia Benveniste, and the familiar presence of Peter CottonTale all nudge and stretch Woods' sound into new realms of left-field pop, folk, and funk without squeezing out a drop of soul. Another new recording partner is Biako (aka Itai Shapira), the one behind the song that features the album's title in its lyrics. Woods sounds just as comfortable in Biako's hallucinogenic, slow-motion funk, her measured vocal full of regret and resolve. It flows both sonically and lyrically into a spare McClenney-produced ballad, replete with a percussive splash, that finishes the album appropriately with kindhearted reassurances. ~ Andy Kellman (syndetics)
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Weathervanes
Jason Isbell's music rarely suggests that Bruce Springsteen is a major influence on his work, but since he hit his stride with the brave and brilliant Southeastern in 2013, he's grown into one of the strongest and most important artists in American rock, perhaps not a peer of Springsteen's, but certainly someone in the same worthy tradition. Like Springsteen, Isbell is a superb guitarist and songwriter with a keen eye for the details of working-class lives and an intuitive understanding of his part of the world, with a band that's every bit as gifted as he is. Isbell also shares Springsteen's belief in the value of hard work and the need to challenge himself, and just as his then-newfound sobriety pushed Isbell to up the creative ante with Southeastern, 2023's Weathervanes finds him shaking things up a bit to keep himself sharp. Isbell produced Weathervanes himself after regularly working with Dave Cobb from Southeastern onward, and if the sound of the album isn't radically different, the feel is leaner and more direct while still full-bodied and richly detailed. Isbell confidently takes the lead but makes room for some striking, soulful interplay with his band, especially guitarist Sadler Vaden, and they gently push one another into some of their finest work to date, especially on the seven-minute closing track "Miles." From his first recordings with the Drive-By Truckers, Isbell's talent as a songwriter has been a given, and he's applied his skill in the service of songs that reflect the challenges and uncertainties of the larger world with a tighter focus each time he goes into the studio. In some respects, Weathervanes feels like his Born in the U.S.A. -- on the surface a brilliantly crafted rock album with anthemic melodies and outstanding performances, but one that also speaks eloquently about the high stakes of American life. It's not as glossy as Born in the U.S.A. and it's built from rootsier materials, but it's every bit as well-made, and his songs of working-class addiction ("King of Oklahoma"), the aftershocks of mental illness ("Death Wish"), the struggle of what to do in a world going off the rails ("Change the World"), and even the personal anguish of daily life ("Middle of the Morning" and "This Ain't It") are not the grandstanding of a well-meaning sloganeer, but the observations of a man who has labored hard not to remove himself from the world he writes about, regardless of his success. Part of the subtext of Isbell's work from Southeastern onward is gratitude that he's been given the chance to do better work as a healthier man, coupled with the responsibility not to waste his opportunities on trivial themes. Both of these ideas are present on Weathervanes, as is his ability and drive to make music worthy of his fans' high expectations. This LP is a triumph, an outstanding set of songs and performances from someone who has already proved they're one of the strongest, truest voices in American roots rock. ~ Mark Deming (syndetics)
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