Al Green’s return-to-form ‘Lay It Down’ arrived a decade ago this month with new hip-hop producers and a bevy of guest R&B singers – but it was no sell out.

Glowing with beauty and lushness, Stephanie Angelini’s “A Secret Smile” whets the appetite for more great music.

Apart from his collaborator Arto Lindsay, Thiago Nassif’s ‘Três’ much unlike anything else you’re likely to hear from a very broadly defined pop realm that includes its rogue elements.

The underrated ‘Flavors of Entanglement,’ issued 10 years ago today, found Alanis Morissette in a moment of fearless introspection. Critics be damned.

Released 10 years ago this month, Avishai Cohen’s ‘Gently Disturbed’ made the case for a modern jazz trio – but from the bassist’s perspective.

Walter Becker could knock out a catchy jingle like “Just One Season” with probably about as much effort as it takes most of us to write something clever on a greeting card.

If there were any doubts about Toto’s future, they were resoundingly dispelled with the opening song on 1995’s ‘Tambu.’

‘Blow Your Mind’ doesn’t sound anything like what you might expect from someone who did a farewell tour not so long ago. This, in fact, is Wilko Johnson near his best.

It’s a shame this wonderful, mostly acoustic jazzy bonus cut from the late Terry Kath didn’t find itself on ‘Chicago X.’

It’s always a good indication that the music is working the way the artists intend for it to work when you struggle to pigeonhole it but can easily get a firm grasp of its emotional impact. Syrinx Effect ‘s ‘A Sky You Could Strike A Match On’ does just that.