While the Arctic Monkeys first two releases hit you upside the head with their hard-charging rock dynamism, staccato, spluttering melodies, and the superb wordsmithery of singer/lyricist Alex Turner, Humbug is quite a different affair. The tunes are slower and more spacious, with multiple parts replacing the standard verse/chorus/verse structure. Too, Turner's melodies are more stately and complex, and his wordplay, while still utterly original, now relies more on phrasing and meter than on catchy rhyme schemes. In a sense, this may not be unexpected as a band grows up, but the leaps taken here are many, and they are all executed superbly. Credit must be given to new producer Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age), who took the band to his desert studio to provide a change of atmosphere from their heretofore all-English recording surroundings. But make no mistake, this is still an Arctic Monkeys record. It's just that here the band relies less on short, sharp bursts and spit-out invectives and more on skillfully constructed songs and carefully considered dialogues. Drummer Matt Helders, in particular, has upped the musical ante considerably with his varied tom-tom patterns driving most of the songs in propulsive, yet unhurried directions, which adds considerably to their allure. Opener "My Propeller" is typical of what's on offer here, with Helders' rolling tom beat backing a more subdued Turner singing a gorgeous melody that recalls 60s movie music (a la John Barry), with lots of suspenseful sounding "ooh-ooh's" in the background. But then midway through, the Monkeys break into a march-like beat that rocks hard. "Secret Door" has a soft-focus melody that belies the fast flow of words, while "Cornerstone" brings to mind what the Zombies might have sounded like if they had been raised on punk. As for the lyrics, Turner is at the top of his game, as when, in "Dangerous Animals," he outlines his romantic dilemma by saying, "You should have racing stripes the way you keep me in pursuit/You sharpen the heel of your boot and you press it in my chest/And you make me wheeze/Then to my knees you promote me." And in the aforementioned "Cornerstone," Turner describes his desire to mold someone into the image of his old flame by crooning, "I thought I saw you in The Battleship but it was only a lookalike/She was nothing but a vision trick under the warning light/She was close, close enough to be your ghost/But my chances turned to toast when I asked her if I could call her your name." In sum, that difficult "third album" was apparently no obstacle for this band. Humbug is an album that rewards repeated listens, as each spin allows the melodies, structures, and wordplay to cohere into something both beautiful and original.

Fogerty's first solo album post-Creedence Clearwater Revival was simply titled The Blue Ridge Rangers and consisted of covers of country and gospel tunes. That was in 1973. Now, in 2009, he has decided to issue the follow-up. . . . Rides Again is also an album of covers, but the sources are more diverse, encompassing compositions by, among others, John Prine, the Everly Brothers, Rick Nelson, Ray Price, Pat Boone(!), even a 60s novelty song about aliens ("Haunted House"). .For the most part, Fogerty opts for a country/bluegrass feel, with fiddles, pedal steels, dobros, and mandolins dotting the musical proceedings. Too, Fogerty uses a crystal clear voice through most of the songs, eschewing the gruffness and rasp so indicative of his singing with CCR (the one exception to this is on the lone Fogerty original, "Change In The Weather"). Even when attempting a bluesy-pop number, such as Delaney and Bonnie's "Never Ending Song Of Love," the music emphasizes its country leanings, with nice fiddle and steel guitar solos, along with plenty of backgrounds yelps and exclamations to drive the proceedings along. Indeed, the general good-timey feel is so consistent that even guest appearances by Bruce Springsteen and Don Henley do nothing to distract from the record's many charms. While not blazing any new trails here, Fogerty does deliver an excellent tribute to the musical styles that shaped his own output, and it is a pleasure to lean back and accompany him on his journey.