What's Old is New Again

For just about as long as popular music has existed, those who sell it and those who buy it have been looking for the Next Big Thing. Not much has changed, except perhaps the attention span in both camps has gotten shorter. Styles come and go. New formats entice collectors to buy their collections all over again. The mouse-click marketplace gives consumers instant gratification like never before. Guys with guitars still are being hailed as "New Dylans."

Bands signed to major labels are feeling more pressure than ever to produce immediately, and if they are successful they are pushed to duplicate that success. As the industry gets increasingly paranoid about the effects of downloading and file-sharing, it is less interested in developing artists and grooming them for long-term careers. The business model is about putting cash in the coffers now.

This year, there has been a small but refreshing change. Established artists with impressive credentials are coming out of the woodwork � in some cases after many years � and forcing us to reconsider them rather than looking for a new bandwagon on which to climb.

Here are five releases that are not only giving the young'uns a run for their money, but are making a case for inclusion on all of those year-end lists.

"Other People's Lives," Ray Davies: I would recommend this disc for the liner notes alone. In them, Davies gives a fairly extensive look into the writing of the album, which is the first as a solo artist for the Kinks frontman. You get to see lyrics crossed out and revised, and the chord changes are even jotted down for "Things Are Gonna Change (The Morning After)." Davies, who will turn 62 on June 21, has written an album that is as advertised � an exploration of other people's lives. He repeatedly makes the point in the liners that these songs are not autobiographical. They are inhabited by interesting, fleshed-out characters, though, and they are asking difficult questions such as "Is There Life After Breakfast?" Davies thinks so, but some of his more dodgy characters aren't so sure. Aside from being revered as a quintessential English songwriter, Davies has a deserved reputation as a social critic. He performs admirably in that role, particularly when skewering the media on the title track and society's mob mentality and general lack of couth on "Stand Up Comic." The disc has a polished sound and fantastic notes. That's a package that's tough to beat.

"This Old Road," Kris Kristofferson: Amanda already told you about this one on March 7, but it's a disc well worth revisiting. It's largely a meditation on aging and the lessons learned in a lifetime, much as you would expect from a revered songwriter on the verge of turning 70 (June 22). Don Was produced the album and played bass, and Stephen Bruton (guitar) and Jim Keltner (drums) also are aboard, but it's mostly about Kristofferson and his acoustic guitar. His voice is a little craggier now, but he certainly could enjoy the sort of late-career success that Johnny Cash did with the American Recordings discs. He might not need to do many covers, though. Kristofferson's skills are still sharp, and he's as ready as ever to jump into the fray, as on this disc's "In the News." He begins and ends with the Laci Peterson murder trial, but in between takes aim at a story that took a back seat to that tabloid fodder: "Burning up the atmosphere and cutting down the trees / Billion dollar bombing of a nation on its knees / Anyone not marching to their tune they call it treason / Everyone says God is on his side."

Out of the Ashes," Jessi Colter: I imagine that putting out a solo album at 63 can be somewhat daunting, particularly if you haven't released one in more than 20 years. She's also getting back on the horse four years after the death of her husband and frequent collaborator Waylon Jennings. As you'd expect, and as the title implies, the album is about loss and grief, but it's also about living again. She opens with a fantastic take on the gospel tune "His Eye is on the Sparrow," and the disc stays strong from there. Other highlights are "Out in the Rain," which also features Tony Joe White and, through the miracle of technology, Jennings, too. There's a reckless-but-fun take on Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women 12 & 35" that proves Colter is ready to have fun again. The disc closes with a duet with son Shooter Jennings on "Please Carry Me Home." The production by Don Was is excellent. Between this one and the Kristofferson disc, the 53-year-old Was is having a pretty good year himself.

"Bronx in Blue," Dion: I already had the good fortune of listening to this disc repeatedly before reviewing it for you on March 9. I'm more than happy to talk about it again. Dion might be thought of by some as a doo-wop relic from the '50s, but over the course of his long career he's also been successful in rock and roll, folk ("Abraham, Martin and John") and gospel (Grammy nomination in 1987). Now the 66-year-old has turned his attention to the blues. Actually, he turns his attention back to the blues, as he explains in the liner notes. It seems that the young Dion DiMucci caught late-night blues broadcasts beaming out of the South to New York City, and they made a lasting mark. He's still got the a great voice, and is a good guitar player to boot. The songs � primarily covers of blues standards and a couple of originals � feature Dion playing country blues with a little bit of percussion. This disc has a warm, inviting sound, as if Dion were sitting in your living room playing the songs for you.

"Black Cadillac," Rosanne Cash: Cash is the baby of this bunch at 51. She's no child, of course, and her latest release is a grown-up examination of death, grief and acceptance. She unfortunately had plenty of recent experience from which to draw. Between March 2003 and March 2005 Cash lost stepmother June Carter Cash, dad Johnny Cash and mother Vivian Liberto Cash Distin. The marks left by her famous father are all over the album, from the opening recording of his voice to the horns faintly quoting "Ring of Fire," to the song "Radio Operator," the elder Cash's job in the Air Force. The title track is about him, too, but the themes are universal: "It was a black Cadillac / That drove you away / Now one of us gets to go to heaven / While one has to stay here in hell." Half of the tracks are produced by Cash's husband/guitarist John Leventhal, while the other half are produced by Bill Bottrell (Sheryl Crow, Shelby Lynne). Surprisingly, it doesn't at all leave you with a feeling that there were too many cooks. It's a great adult-alternative album, and, like those from Kristofferson, Dion, Colter and Davies, it could end up being among the best released this year.