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Rolling Stone | 87

A NICER TYLER The once-trolly rapper-

producer lets down his guard on a rich

and messy mélange of R&B, funk and rap

that has a luminous sheen and a surprising

amount of bittersweet emotion.

4

Tyler, the Creator

Igor

Columbia

GEMS FROM THE VAULT Long-bootlegged

demos of songs Prince gave to other

artists. Some rival the covers (see his takes

on “The Glamorous Life,” “Manic Mon-

day”), and every one is fascinating.

4

Prince

Originals

NPG

SWEET SADNESS Singer-songwriter David

Berman made brilliant indie rock in the

Nineties with the Silver Jews. His first LP

in 11 years is a rich bummer, full of literary

genius and deadpan country heartache.

LATIN BLEND Madonna and original

crossover star Ricky Martin help Colom-

bian reggaeton singer Maluma chase his

American dreams as he goes from R&B to

dancehall and English-language club jams.

REAL EASY Willie’s son leads his road-test-

ed band through a set of pastoral fantasies

steeped in Tom Petty melodies. What

Nelson’s lyrics lack in depth is made up for

by his group’s breezy SoCal grooves.

L.A. GUNS The supergroup led by Alice

Cooper, Johnny Depp and Joe Perry

returns. Cooper sings about diamond

selfie sticks and spiders, and Depp does a

decent version of David Bowie’s “Heroes.”

OFF HIS GAME The West Coast rapper who

gave us “FDT” (a.k.a. Fuck Donald Trump)

gets credit for honoring the late Nipsey

Hussle, but his fourth LP is a flexing, taunt-

ing letdown that lacks self-awareness.

DJ’S FAREWELL This posthumous LP,

reportedly near-complete before Tim

Bergling’s death, suggests a talent

constrained by EDM culture. One verse lin-

gers: “Can you hear me, S.O.S.?” Haunting.

STAPP UP The Creed singer was the voice

of early-’00s grunge. Vocally, he now lacks

the rumbling power of old, and his first

album in six years is marred by mook-rock

production and self-help aphorisms.

# 3 3 @ @ 2

DEEP GROOVES This U.K. quintet weave

introspective melodies and lush synths

over electro-bubble beats on their seventh

album as they ponder love’s ebb and flow.

It’s erotic one moment, neurotic the next.

4

Hot Chip

A Bath Full

of Ecstasy

Domino

Purple Mountains

Purple

Mountains

Drag City

Maluma

11:11

Sony

Lukas Nelson and

Promise of the Real

Turn off the News

(Build a Garden)

Fantasy

Hollywood Vampires

Rise

earMUSIC

YG

4Real, 4Real

Def Jam

Avicii

Tim

Avicii

Scott Stapp

The Space Between

the Shadows

Napalm

CONTRIBUTORS: JONATHAN BERNSTEIN, JON DOLAN, SUZY EXPOSITO, KORY GROW, WILL HERMES, JOE LEVY, DANNY SCHWARTZ

Ten new albums you need to know about now

Rock

& Roll

Recovery

There are comebacks in rock

& roll. Then there is Scott

McCaughey. In November 2017,

the singer-guitarist-songwriter of

the Minus 5 suffered a near-fatal

stroke, erasing a life of songs

with the Young Fresh Fellows, the

Baseball Project and R.E.M. The

Minus 5’s Stroke Manor is a crisp-

ly melodic, jubilantly played ac-

count of how McCaughey — with

R.E.M.-Minus 5 guitarist Peter

Buck and friends like Wilco’s Jeff

Tweedy — fought to regather his

powers of speech and pop. The

latter came back fast (“Well in

Fact She Said”). The free-associa-

tive lyrics read like Beefheart in

a blender, but when McCaughey

sings, “We want complete

what must be missing,” in the

fuzz-lined gem “My Collection,”

it’s the sound of recovery....

Also back in action: the Dream

Syndicate, a central band in the

Eighties’ Paisley Underground.

These Times, their second LP

since re-forming in 2012, retains

the original caustic drive — like

Lou Reed running Crazy Horse —

while moving forward with more

textured force. “You know that

I’m the man/Who’s on a mission,”

founding guitarist Steve Wynn

sings in “The Way In,” picking up

like he never left off.

Two comeback LPs

show great bands

fighting long odds

to keep rocking

DAVID FRICKE

FRICKE’S PICKS

Maluma