COUNTRY
Tim McGraw, "Sundown Heaven Town" (Big Machine)
One of the 13 tracks on McGraw's new album features — no surprise — his wife, Faith Hill. This superstar summit, however, is not the bombastic power ballad you'd expect. "Meanwhile Back at Mama's" is a rustic, understated number about the age-old allure of home. While this album has it's share of radio-ready pieces driven by big, loud choruses, most of the songs take their cue from "Mama's": somber and substantive, dealing with adult issues with little melodrama. For all his hunkiness, McGraw is approaching elder-statesman status. Here, with the rare exception of piffle such as "Looking for That Girl," he shows he can age gracefully, whether he's following the Nashville production formula or stripping things back to rootsier levels, as with the killer hard-country ballad "Diamond Rings and Old Barstools."
Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer
POP
Gaga and Tony Bennett, "Cheek to Cheek" (Interscope/Columbia)
Those expecting a weird culture clash or cross-generation battle of wills will be disappointed. "Cheek to Cheek" is a straightforward jazz album, gorgeous and well crafted, with Gaga supporting the masterful Bennett at every turn. Perhaps the biggest surprise is how well Mother Monster keeps up on classics such as "Anything Goes" and the title track, with Gaga's brassy harmonies punctuating the way a horn section normally would. But the best song, an understated "Don't Wait Too Long," belongs to Bennett.
GLENN GAMBOA, Newsday
Leonard Cohen, "Popular Problems" (Columbia)
Just turned 80, Cohen seems to be picking up the pace creatively with his 13th album, coming only two years after the exemplary "Old Ideas" arrived following an eight-year wait. But the Zen versifier preaches infinite patience. "I'm slowing down the tune, I never liked it fast. You want to get there soon, I want to get there last," he sings on the opener "Slow." While Cohen's degraded rasp is no longer an attractive instrument, he still writes pretty, witty, worldly-wise songs that, with the help of producer Patrick Leonard, a frequent Madonna collaborator, are presented with uncluttered, stately grace. Some lean toward Arabic or country or Memphis soul textures. All respond to a world full of popular problems — war, famine, heartbreak — with the intelligence and style expected from a sage singer who specializes in songs that, to borrow one of his own titles, are "Almost Like the Blues."
