The Ninja Immovable Heart (2014)

If truth be told, the Allman Brothers Band have always been the quintessential American rock band, shaping a rootsy mix of blues, jazz, country, and rock into an elegant, nuanced sound that single-handedly created what became known as Southern rock. Full of beautiful dual guitar leads and driven by double drummers, and possessing a lead singer who, when he was on his game, had as much soul as anyone around, the Allman Brothers Band were also an improvisational band who found all kinds of new corners in their classic catalog when they played live, no matter what the configuration of the band was at the time.

The second long-player from Christina Perri, the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter responsible for penning the surprise 2010 hit "Jar of Hearts," Head or Heart picks right up where 2011's rushed yet brimming-with-potential Lovestrong left off. More confident than her debut, yet retaining much of its vulnerability, Perri, along with a quartet of producers who include Martin Johnson, Jake Gosling, John Hill, and Butch Walker, explores familiar singer/songwriter themes with a keen pop ear, wrapping big, radio-ready choruses inside folksy verses, effectively bridging the gap between the laid-back folk-pop of a Jewel or Norah Jones and the slick, American Idol montage-ready showboating of a Katy Perry or Sara Bareilles.

Hot on the heels of the excellent ‘live in Cologne’ CD/DVD set, Jaded Heart are back with a new album and a new line-up, co-founder and drummer Axel Kruse having departed and been replaced by Bodo Stricker (Callejon) whilst live guitarist Masa Eto has also been bought into the fold to thicken up the band’s sound. The result is a full-on blast of melodic and heavy hitting metal with hints of Tank, Queensryche and Europe working their way through the album’s eleven songs. For classic metal fans, there is no doubt that ‘fight the system’ should be high on your list of albums to check out.