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.
-
Hackney Diamonds
Sometime after the Rolling Stones wrapped up their 2022 tour -- the second they completed since the 2021 death of their drummer Charlie Watts -- Mick Jagger decided the band had spent enough time working on their first record of original material since 2005's A Bigger Bang. Jagger gave Keith Richards, the only other surviving founding member of the Stones left in the band, a deadline of Valentine's Day 2023 for wrapping up the sessions that had been dragging on for years. The ultimatum worked: by October of that year, the Stones released Hackney Diamonds, their first collection of new songs in 18 years. The album doesn't entirely consist of material the Stones cut early in 2023 -- two tracks feature Charlie Watts, including "Live by the Sword," which has original bassist Bill Wyman guesting on a Stones record for the first time in 30 years -- yet it bears the unmistakable imprint of a record delivered on a deadline. There's little hesitation, no thoughtful pondering here: Hackney Diamonds just barrels ahead with a clean efficiency. Although they're largely working with a new producer -- Andrew Watt, who came recommended by Paul McCartney -- the Rolling Stones don't attempt new tricks anywhere on Hackney Diamonds, save maybe "Whole Wide World," whose bizarre neo-new wave vibe gets odder thanks to Jagger singing in an exaggerated cockney accent. Even that is a slight nod to the band's mall-rat rock of the early '80s, one of many different guises the Rolling Stones adopt over the course of Hackney Diamonds. While a good portion of the record is devoted to straight-ahead rock & roll, they also find space for ragged country ("Dreamy Skies") and acoustic blues ("Rolling Stone Blues"), not to mention "Sweet Sounds of Heaven," a showstopping ballad featuring Lady Gaga. That track is a good indication of how Hackney Diamonds plays. At first, it seems like a solid evocation of "Beast of Burden," but it's a slow burn, a song that sounds stronger with each repeated listen. So is of the rest of Hackney Diamonds. Because it has no grand conceptual hook and because the Stones so thoroughly integrate their superstar guests -- not only are Gaga and Wyman here but so are Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and McCartney -- it doesn't overwhelm upon an initial listen the way the lengthy Voodoo Lounge or A Bigger Bang do; that small scale is its strength. At its heart, it's nothing more than the Rolling Stones knocking out some good Rolling Stones songs, which seems like a minor miracle after such a long wait. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (syndetics)
Format: Music CD
Availability: All copies in use
View Hackney Diamonds -
1989: Taylor's Version
While Taylor Swift transitioned cautiously from country to pop on 2012's Red, she became the face of mainstream pop music with the monumental synth-driven hit parade of her next album, 1989. Released in October of 2014, the album was named after Swift's birth year as well as the era of synth pop radio hits that provided partial inspiration for the dancy, hyper-produced material. 1989 [Taylor's Version] continues Swift's series of re-recording her albums for purposes related to licensing rights, and more than any of the revised versions that preceded it, illuminates the moment when she became a timeless songwriter. At the time of its original release, 1989 was a grand slam, moving platinum numbers, producing seven hit singles (three of which were number ones), and remaining in the charts internationally for more than a year. Returning to this material exactly nine years later, one would expect songs played to death on the radio for nearly a decade to feel a little dated, or for the Jack Antonoff or Max Martin and Shellback co-written tunes to sound especially formulaic in hindsight. Instead, the re-recorded versions (like all of Taylor's Versions, aiming for faithful re-creation of the originals more than artistic updating) sound fresh and vital, perhaps even more powerful in light of Swift's often-shifting artistic progress since. Songs that may have come across shallow or substanceless in 2014 (the cheerleader-y bounce of "Shake It Off" or Swift's PG-rated Lana Del Rey mirroring on "Wildest Dreams") now make more sense as part of the unfettered celebration of pop -- in all its self-indulgence and escapism -- that 1989 was intended as. The album's homage to the gated reverb and MIDI keyboard tones of late-'80s radio comes into full view on the five additional tracks that were kept in the vault from the time the album was initially made. There are echoes of the Outfield's 1986 hit "Your Love" in the verses of "Say Don't Go" before a decidedly 2010s chorus washes up on a cascade of bubbly synth notes, and both "Suburban Legends" and the magnetic hooks of "Slut!" offer a more subdued counterpoint to the overenthusiastic electro-pop exclamation Swift got into on "New Romantics." Fleshed out by these extra tracks, 1989 [Taylor's Version] confirms the lasting strength that Swift's songwriting was achieving in this one of many blooms, and serves as a lovely reminder of when she officially stepped into her place in the pop culture continuum. ~ Fred Thomas (syndetics)
Format: Music CD
Availability: All copies in use
View 1989: Taylor's Version -
Rockstar
Upon receiving a nomination to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, Dolly Parton demurred, claiming that she wasn't rock & roll. The Rock Hall wound up inducting her, and she accepted the honor, deciding to deliver her first full-fledged rock album in return. Hence, Rockstar -- a star-studded double album where Dolly attempts every sound under the rock & roll sun. Parton splits her time covering (very) familiar classic rock tunes and writing made-to-order originals, only occasionally shutting the studio door so she can sing on her own. The combination of overblown renditions of songs you know by heart and cuts that feel as if they were tailored for album rock radio in 1990 does have some charms, especially because Dolly embraces the goofiness of the entire project: the album opens with a sketch of Parton "shredding" on guitar, as if it was a dangerous thing to do in 2023. Occasionally the cornball patter can be a bit much, especially on "What Has Rock and Roll Ever Done for You," an otherwise amiable rocker bookended with Stevie Nicks and Dolly exchanging canned barbs, but the silliness is preferable to playing it straight; the po-faced preaching of "What's Up?" falls flat. Parton proves to be a generous host at her party, yucking it up with both Ronnie McDowell and Rob Halford and crooning sweetly with Peter Frampton and Chris Stapleton alike; she even deigns to spend some time with Kid Rock. By the time Rockstar reaches "Free Bird," the party has been rolling on for two hours and is starting to feel a little tired -- it doesn't help that Parton is duetting with the ghost of Ronnie Van Zant, either -- but that doesn't erase the good spirits created by the rest of the record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (syndetics)
Format: Music CD
Availability: All copies in use
View Rockstar -
I/o
Peter Gabriel hid I/O, his first album in 21 years, in plain sight. Over the course of 2023, he released every one of its 12 songs as a single, each in two separate mixes (one "Bright," one "Dark"), and then toured the record -- all before its December release. A steady drip of singles didn't build anticipation for I/O -- many of the tracks didn't attract much chatter -- so much as get his audience accustomed to listening to new Peter Gabriel music again, allowing them to focus on a song at a time instead of immediately immersing themselves in an album that has its own intricate clockwork. Gabriel took his time crafting I/O, so listening to it slowly and steadily lets the record unfold and lets the distance between the decades narrow. In many ways, I/O picks up where Up ended, sounding a bit like a relic from the height of the CD era when albums were crafted as a long, continuous experience showcasing the outer limits of high-end audio. It also follows a recognizable template, balancing its innate moodiness with a few sprightly numbers that relieve the tension -- a blueprint that's been in place since So. The familiar approach helps illuminate how I/O does mark an emotional progression, finding Gabriel curiously optimistic as he searches for new beginnings, discovering glimmers of hope within the darkness. This shift isn't merely evident in the "Bright Side" mix, either. There's an inherent openness to the songs Gabriel completed for I/O, a spirit evident in such titles as "Road to Joy," "Love Can Heal," "This Is Home," and "Live and Let Live." Some of these songs surge, some simmer, but they all return to an idea essayed on the title track: "stuff coming out, stuff going in/I'm just a part of everything," a worldview that's intimate and all-encompassing. What makes I/O unique, even special, is that the process of searching isn't central to the finished product. There's no restlessness here, only acceptance, a quality that gives I/O a quiet power that can't help but build over time. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (syndetics)
Format: Music CD
Availability: All copies in use
View I/o -
Little Rope
Partway through the recording of Little Rope, Sleater-Kinney's second album in the wake of the 2019 departure of drummer Janet Weiss, Carrie Brownstein received word that her mother and stepfather had died in a car accident in Italy. Little Rope is shaped by that tragedy not in content -- much of the record had already been composed -- but in execution. Aided by longtime friend and bandmate Corin Tucker, Brownstein finds solace within the creation of music, fusing the group's recent post-punk explorations with the urgency of their punk beginnings. The focus of Little Rope is bracing, particularly as it arrives after a pair of exploratory albums where Brownstein and Tucker searched on how to usher Sleater-Kinney into middle age. Those lessons are absorbed, not discarded; compared to the flinty records Sleater-Kinney made in the 1990s, there's an expanded aural palette, one that sounds vibrant on both the fringes and at its pulsating heart. Guitars remain central to Brownstein and Tucker's vision, yet they don't necessarily provide the focus. Instead, Little Rope coheres around songs and expression, the two halves of Sleater-Kinney finding sustenance in the creation of music. Sadness lurks upon the edges of the record, as does rage, but Little Rope ultimately feels cathartic: by processing Brownstein's loss and dwelling upon their shared bonds, Sleater-Kinney once again feels united and purposeful. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (syndetics)
Format: Music CD
Availability: On order
View Little Rope -
'Saviors'
Just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Green Day released Father of All… -- an album co-produced by Butch Walker that found the punk-pop veterans ratcheting up the glam as they tightened their song structures. It's difficult to separate the album's short shelf-life from the culture's sudden lockdown but in any case, Father didn't open up a new horizon for Green Day, so they went back to what they know works: heavy, hooky power pop given crunch and weight by Rob Cavallo, the producer who helped beef up their sound 30 years prior on their major-label debut Dookie. Saviors follows the same rough blueprint as its forefather -- garagey rockers are countered by exuberant melodies and wistful ballads -- but the trio is smart enough to not attempt to mimic either the snottiness or their frenetic rhythms here. Green Day sound exactly like what they are: rock & roll lifers settling into middle age, irritated by some shifts in culture but still finding sustenance in the music they've loved for decades. They may rhapsodize about a "Corvette Summer" in a salute to the glory days of pre-MTV AOR but age hasn't made them crankily conservative or excessively nostalgic. Green Day send certain catchy rock styles from the past through a loud, muscular filter, an execution that tempers their lingering punk influences without seeming lumbering or slow. The ballast makes Saviors seem streamlined and steady, a shift in emphasis that is impossible to ignore on first listen; they seem as if they're retracting. After that initial impression fades, Saviors sounds cleaner, stronger, and purposeful, all due to the still-sharp pop instincts of Bille Joe Armstrong. Age may dampen Green Day's roar, but it has also heightened their songcraft, and that's reason enough to give Saviors time to let its hooks sink in. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (syndetics)
Format: Music CD
Availability: On order
View 'Saviors' -
Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert
As revealed on this album, Marshall approached every song in the setlist with both heartfelt reverence and a deep understanding of the delicate nature of song interpretation. And while Marshall admits to a nervous anticipation prior to the show, a certain sense of devotion helped to carry her through the night. (syndetics)
Format: Music CD
Availability: All copies in use
View Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert -
WALL OF EYES (CD)
The Smile's new album was recorded between Oxford and Abbey Road Studios, and is produced and mixed Sam Petts-Davies. It features string arrangements by the London Contemporary Orchestra. Wall Of Eyes is the follow up their 2022 debut LP A Light For Attracting Attention.
Format: Music CD
Availability: On order
View WALL OF EYES (CD) -
![Oath and Honor: [a Memoir and A Warning]](https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781668640432/MC.GIF&client=sepup&type=sepup&oclc=)
Oath and Honor: [a Memoir and A Warning]
This first-hand account of the January 6 events tells of those who helped Trump spread the stolen election lie, those whose actions preserved our constitutional framework, and the risks we still face.
Format: Audiobook CD
Availability: All copies in use
View Oath and Honor: [a Memoir and A Warning] -
LOSS OF LIFE (CD)
Descriptors from the band include bold, flavorful, playful, sincere, optimistic, perceptive. The album includes the first ever MGMT song with a feature, courtesy Christine and the Queens. The album artwork has been licensed from John Baldessari's estate and is an artwork titled Noses & Ears, Etc. (Part Two). Formed in 2002, MGMT released their era-defining debut album Oracular Spectacular in 2007. It gave the world evergreen hits such as "Kids," "Electric Feel" and "Time to Pretend" which have inspired and continue to inspire new generations of artists and music fans alike to this day, those three songs combined have been streamed over two billion times on audio streaming platforms since released. Always taking an unexpected creative turn at every new record, but always maintaining their cultural and commercial relevance over the subsequent fifteen years. (4/18/2024 6:43:58 PM)
Format: Music CD
Availability: On order
View LOSS OF LIFE (CD)