Masters Volume 2

The fifth full-length from singer Inara George and multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin, Interpreting the Masters, Volume 2: A Tribute to Van Halen both sheds new light on the glory of classic VH and further proves the playful brilliance of the bird and the bee. The album follows Interpreting the Masters, Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates, a 2010 release hailed as “wink-free pop bliss” by Entertainment Weekly. This time around, George and Kurstin find common ground with their source material in a shared affinity for fantastically intricate rhythms, unforgettable melodies, and—most essentially—a certain ecstatic spirit imbued into every song.

When Capitol decided to release the original British editions of the Beatles' albums instead of the bastardized American versions, they were left with a bit of a quandary. Since the Beatles had an enormous number of non-LP singles, some of their greatest hits – from "I Want to Hold Your Hand" through "Hey Jude" – would not be included on disc if Capitol simply served up straight reissues. They had two options: they could add the singles as bonus tracks to the appropriate CDs, or they could release a compilation of all the non-LP tracks…

Picking up in 1965 where Past Masters, Vol. 1 left off, Past Masters, Vol. 2 collects the 15 non-LP tracks that the Beatles released in the last five years of their career (not counting the singles that were released on Magical Mystery Tour). If Vol. 2 is more eclectic than its predecessor, it isn't quite as thematically consistent, but it does hit greater highs with a greater frequency…