Willfully existing simply on the surface, a surface that perhaps (or perhaps not) signifies a greater depth, ARTPOP is teasingly garish, its bright colors and brittle beats attacking with glee, the emphasis always on big, pulsating beats, shattered reflections, sound cascading over song in every instance.
This is Cyrus’ first non-Disney album, and in many ways it feels like a debut, an R&B and hip-hop-tinged coming-out party that introduces Miley as an A-list pop star.
This vicious, infectious, hilarious triumph is no nostalgia trip, just the 2013 version of Marshall the experienced maverick on a tear, dealing with the current state of events and kicking up dust with his trademark maniac attack while effortlessly juggling his over-40 wisdom with stuff you’d slap a teenager for saying.
Celine Dion’s first English-language album in seven years tries a little bit everything, ranging from duets with neo-R&B stalwart Ne-Yo to covers of Janis Ian’s “At Seventeen.”
With The 20/20 Experience, Justin Timberlake unleashed one of the biggest albums of 2013, with nearly one million copies sold the first week alone. Now he quickly returns with a follow-up that includes the hit single “Take Back the Night.”
The Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum hip-hop superstar’s third full-length album features the single “Hold On, We’re Going Home.”
Legendary singer-songwriter Elton John returns with his first new solo album in seven years. Produced by T-Bone Burnett, the album features twelve new songs co-written with longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin, as well as three piano interludes composed by John.
New lives up to its title, finding McCartney eager, even anxious, to engage with modern music while simultaneously laying claim to the candied, intricate psychedelia of latter-day Beatles.
Keith Urban’s first album in three years delivers a slicker, more sophisticated version of his solitary demo recording process as a radical sounding change in direction. Throughout, he melds drum machines, synths and samplers with his guitars, banjos, mandolins and voice.
Named after the Montana river valley where Mayer owns a cabin and spends much of his time when not touring, Paradise Valley continues in a more intimate country-folk style and often feels less like a stand-alone album and more like a companion piece to 2012′s Born and Raised.