Various Artists, “The Imus Ranch Record” (New West) Benefit records are great — especially when they incorporate some of the top musicians in the industry. This benefit album, with proceeds going toward New Mexico’s Imus Ranch that hosts children with cancer, features Dwight Yoakam, Willie Nelson, John Hiatt, Lucinda Williams, Little Richard, Randy Travis, Big & Rich, Delbert McClinton, Patty Loveless, Levon Helm, Raul Malo, Bekka Bramlett and Vince Gill singing various covers.
Nelly, “Brass Knuckles” (Universal) With his first four records, St. Louis hip-hopper Nelly proved his worth — scoring multiple No. 1s and selling 30 million-plus records. With his fifth record, and his first in quite a while, Nelly still has a lot to prove. But with his talented team of collaborators, including super-producer Pharell Williams of the Neptunes/N.E.R.D. and Public Enemy frontman Chuck D., more success surely awaits this MC.
Lindsey Buckingham, “Gift of Screws” (Reprise) This is the fifth solo record from Fleetwood Mac’s Buckingham. In his words: “You could certainly say this album is a distillation of a number of periods of time, some false starts to make albums, certainly some songs that go back a number of years, that took a while to find a home here, combined with brand-new songs and a whole other outlook,” explains Buckingham in a release. “And the fact that there was a kind of tenacity and focus to want to bring all of this together in one place. The fact that as an artist I’m still, for better or worse, clinging to my idealism and to my sense that there is still yet much to be said. This is a culmination of that.” Ricardo Baca
