Dr. Sin

Judas Priest's major-label debut Sin After Sin marks their only recording with then-teenage session drummer Simon Phillips, whose technical prowess helps push the band's burgeoning aggression into overdrive. For their part, K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton employ a great deal more of the driving, palm-muted power-chord picking that would provide the basic rhythmic foundation of all but the most extreme heavy metal from here on out. Sin After Sin finds Priest still experimenting with their range, and thus ends up as perhaps their most varied outing. Yet despite the undeniably tremendous peaks here, the overall package doesn't cohere quite as well as on Sad Wings of Destiny, simply because the heavy moments are so recognizable as the metal we know today that the detours stick out as greater interruptions of the album's flow.

After the high conceptualism that lorded over 2005's The Beekeeper and 2007's American Doll Posse, singer and songwriter Tori Amos has decided to return to the relatively simple songs-as-songs approach on Abnormally Attracted to Sin. Those recordings, fine though they may have been, stretched the artist's reputation and the patience of her fans to the breaking point; based on her record sales, she whittled them down to simply the Tori cult (not a derogatory term, since many of her fans are proud to refer to themselves that way)…

This time, Cray veered back toward the blues (most convincingly, too), even covering Albert King's "You're Gonna Need Me" and bemoaning paying taxes on the humorous "1040 Blues." Unlike his previous efforts, Cray produced this one himself. Also, longtime bassist Richard Cousins was history, replaced by Karl Sevareid.

The solo project of singer/songwriter and Seabear founder Sindri Már Sigfússon, Sin Fang explores the crossroads of intimate indie rock, '60s pop, Icelandic folk, and indie electronica. After releasing debut album Clangour as Sin Fang Bous in 2009, Sigfússon shorted the project's name to Sin Fang.

Concha Buika is a Spanish singer of Equatorial Guinean descent who has established a special place, akin to royalty, for herself in Latin jazz circles. That might all change, however, with the release of her new album Vivir Sin Miedo, out Oct. 16 on Warner Brothers Latin. Her previous release, La Noche Más Larga, won a Latin Grammy in 2013, but Vivir Sin Miedo–coproduced with Martin Terefe (Mary J. Blige, Jamie Cullum, Coldplay) and recorded in Miami, New York, London and Madrid–is stylistically a departure from the flamenco-tinged Latin jazz with which Buika established herself. The album leans more in a Caribbean direction, and vocally in a global pop direction. Most of the tunes on the album have reggae rhythms and a touch of dub production. Buika sings equally in English and Spanish, perhaps reflecting experiences of her new home, Miami. However, Buika has never really fit into strict genre classifications anyway, so these changes should come as no surprise to her fans.

The Benavent, Di Geraldo and Pardo trio emerged from the ashes of the Pardo y Benavent band, the sextet that made flamenco history and that came to an end in 1998 with an amazing tour of the most important jazz festivals from Vitoria to Montreal. It was in this sextet – a historic fact – improvisation on a flamenco beat was done for the first time, with a jazz attitude and based on the compositions of Pardo and Benavent contained in their previous albums.

The Benavent, Di Geraldo and Pardo trio emerged from the ashes of the Pardo y Benavent band, the sextet that made flamenco history and that came to an end in 1998 with an amazing tour of the most important jazz festivals from Vitoria to Montreal. It was in this sextet – a historic fact – improvisation on a flamenco beat was done for the first time, with a jazz attitude and based on the compositions of Pardo and Benavent contained in their previous albums.