The Knockout Artist

Considering that Southern Accents took so much time and money to complete, finally hitting the stores two and a half years after Long After Dark, it wasn't surprising that Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers decided to release a double live album, Pack Up the Plantation: Live!, a mere eight months after its release. After all, Southern Accents was criticized from many corners for being too slick, too much in Dave Stewart's corner instead of the Heartbreakers', so it made sense to quickly return the focus to the band, showcasing the group as the rockers they are. Pack Up the Plantation does do that, even if it isn't quite the barnburner it should have been.

For a talent like Amy Winehouse, it's safe to say that a regular old "best-of" compilation doesn't feel like a proper encapsulation of a brilliant career that was cut tragically short in 2011. With a voice that contained so much passion, pain, and soul, the best way to experience her work is to just sit back and take it all in. Featuring her 2003 debut, Frank, as well as her R&B-charged 2006 follow-up Back to Black and the 2011 B-sides compilation Lioness: Hidden Treasures, The Album Collection provides the opportunity to do just that, packaging the singer's studio work into a neat little box set that gives you everything you need to take a journey through her discography.

The Distance was hailed as a return to form upon the time of its release and, in many ways, might be a little stronger, a little more consistent than its predecessor, Against the Wind. Still, this album has the slickest production Bob Seger had yet granted, and the biggest hit single on The Distance wasn't written by him, it was a cover of Rodney Crowell's "Shame on the Moon." Now, this wasn't entirely unusual, since Seger had been an excellent interpreter of songs for years, but this, combined with the glossy sound, signaled that Seger may have been more concerned with his status as a popular, blue-collar rocker than his music…

The Distance was hailed as a return to form upon the time of its release and, in many ways, might be a little stronger, a little more consistent than its predecessor, Against the Wind. Still, this album has the slickest production Bob Seger had yet granted, and the biggest hit single on The Distance wasn't written by him, it was a cover of Rodney Crowell's "Shame on the Moon."…