The Chronicle’s curated list of notable music releases this month.
NEW ALBUMS
Gorillaz,“Cracker Island” (Warner Records)
The latest album from the world’s greatest cartoon band (sorry, Archies), out Feb. 24, features high-profile guests includingStevie Nicks, Tame Impala, Beck,Bad Bunny, Thundercat, Adeleye Omotayo and Bootie Brown, among others.
Gorillaz’s musical mastermind,Damon Albarn,continues turning out slinky, compellingly original pop hits with a rotating cast on the follow-up to the 2020 compilation “Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez” and 2018’s “The Now Now.”
Gorillaz is scheduled to perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 14 and21.
Pink,“Trustfall” (RCA)
Pink’s ninth studio album, “Trustfall,” due Feb. 17, finds her reaching for authenticity after facing a family health scare and uncertain times. Even though the lead single, “Never Gonna Not Dance Again,” found her in a playful mood, the dramatic title track better reflects where the singer is at these days.
“It’s very, very true to what I believe and where I am and what I’m feeling and what I think a lot of people are feeling,” the singer toldGood Morning Americaabout the album last year, a few months afterheadlining BottleRock Napa Valley.“My son and I got really sick with COVID. That sort of distilled down for me what actually matters.”
COMEBACK KIDS
Shania Twain,“Queen of Me” (Republic Nashville)
Following the 25th anniversary reissue of her 1995 breakthrough album, “The Woman in Me,” the best-selling female country music artist of all time is set to return with “Queen of Me” on Feb. 3.
Shania Twain’s sixth studio album and first since 2017 release, “Now,” is said to be a throwback to her glory years. It comes following a difficult stretch during which the Canadian singer-songwriter nearly lost her voice due to Lyme disease, and broke up with her longtime producer and husband, Robert John “Mutt” Lange.
“I don’t have anything to prove anymore,”she told Peopleahead of its release.
Twain is scheduled to perform at theShoreline Amphitheatrein Mountain View on May 26.
Paramore,“This Is Why” (Atlantic)
The former emo poster band fronted by Haley Williams is set to release its first专辑自2017年以来,10-song收集记录Los Angeles with producer Carlos de la Garza. Out Feb. 10, the first single and title track fromParamore’s latest offers a taste of the angst bubbling through its bright pop melodies.
“It summarizes the plethora of ridiculous emotions, the rollercoaster of being alive in 2022, having survived even just the last 3 or 4 years,” Williams said in a statement. “You’d think after a global pandemic of f—ing biblical proportions and the impending doom of a dying planet, that humans would have found it deep within themselves to be kinder or more empathetic or something.”
Paramore is scheduled to playSan Francisco’s Chase Centeron July 22.
FROM THE VAULTS
The Rolling Stones,“GrrrLive!” (Mercury Studios)
A decade after theRolling Stonescapped off their 50th anniversary tour with a star-studded show at the Prudential Center New Jersey on Dec. 15, 2012, the band offers fans a souvenir from that epic gig.
Originally available as a pay-per-view broadcast, “GrrrLive!” — out Feb. 10 — boasts Bruce Springsteen welcoming the band to his home turf with a duet on “Tumbling Dice,” while other guests include Lady Gaga (“Gimme Shelter”), John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr. (“Going Down”), and the Black Keys (“Who Do You Love?”).
“Weird Al” Yankovic,“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (Legacy Recordings)
This retrospective music set, out Feb. 3, accompanies the heavily fictionalized “Weird Al” television biopic of the same name and packs in 46 tracks, including newly recorded versions of classic pop music parodies such as “Eat It” and “Amish Paradise,” as well as a new original called “Now You Know” and the film’s orchestral score by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson.
“Weird Al,” starring Daniel Radcliffe, isstreaming nowon Roku.
Mötley Crüe,“Crücial Crüe: The Studio Albums 1981-1989” (BMG)
This set, out Feb. 17, brings togetherMötley Crüe’s first five platinum-selling albums in chronological order. Yes, the archetypal Los Angeles hair metal band started with an explosive glam-rock bang with its 1981 debut, “Too Fast For Love,” which includes hip-swiveling singles like “Live Wire” and “Public Enemy #1.” But as the hits got bigger, guitars louder, makeup heavier, pyrotechnics more elaborateand debauchery more debaucherous, there was a tangible decline in the quality of the music that ran through the subsequent releases, 1983’s “Shout at theDevil,” 1985’s “Theatreof Pain,” 1987’s “Girls, Girls, Girls” and 1989’s “Dr. Feelgood.”
BIG-BUDGET KARAOKE
Adam Lambert,“High Drama” (BMG)
Queenfrontman Adam Lambert reverts to his “American Idol” roots for his latest album, out Feb. 24. “High Drama” is a collection of cover songs featuring self-explanatory takes on pop classics such asDuran Duran’s “Ordinary World,” Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” and Ann Peebles’ “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” plus a few more contemporary trackslike Billie Eilish’s “Getting Older” and Sia’s “Chandelier.”
But Lambert’s version of Bonnie Tyler’s 1984 hit “Holding Out for a Hero” might best exemplify his approach — blustery, loudand unapologetically over-the-top.