Fred Phillips’ Best of 2021 Hard Rock and Metal also includes Black Label Society, Durbin, Ad Infinitum, Cody Jinks, Unto Others and Iron Maiden, among others.

Released 45 years ago today, Muddy Waters’ ‘Hard Again’ marked the kind of comeback you expect from the great ones.

‘Tattoo You’ could easily be called the Rolling Stones’ last really good album of original material, given that ‘Blue and Lonesome’ was a covers project.

Mark Saleski offers an in-depth examination of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska,’ which was primarily recorded 40 years ago today.

The deeply underrated Nancy Wilson nails the sense of hopeful anxiety that surrounds Dec. 31 every year.

Preston Frazier’s Best of 2021 Rock, Pop and R&B also includes Henry Bateman, Toto’s Joseph Williams, Lucas Lee, Dire Straits’ Alan Clark, and others.

Released 55 years ago this month, ‘A Quick One’ saw the Who exploring unusual themes to great effect. ‘Tommy’ and ‘Quadrophenia’ were just over the horizon.

Asked to pick five favorite Yuletide songs (and only five), our panel of holly-jolly musical enthusiasts offered some occasionally offbeat suggestions.

Preston Frazier’s Best of 2021 jazz favorites also include terrific releases by Peter DiCarlo, Dan Wilson, Nate Smith, David Garfield and Andrew Green.

The holiday music of 2021 may not be plentiful, but there are a handful of very worthy new releases and reissues.