You never know what to expect with Polly Jean Harvey, who seems to have reinvented herself more times than Cher and Madonna combined. One thing you can always count on, however, is a bit of gloom and darkness. And some killer beats.

After nearly 45 years in the music business—from playing God of Rock along with Jimmy Page in Led Zeppelin to winning Album of the Year for Raising Sand, his duet album with Alison Krauss, in 2007—what’s left for Robert Plant to do?

When I was in the eighth grade, my music class consisted of singing off-pitch choral exercises and learning to play “Hot Cross Buns” on the ear-piercing recorder.

With a year of sobriety behind him, Ryan Adams recently released his tenth full-length solo album, Cardinology. Featuring his backing band the Cardinals, the disc once again displays Adams’s easy command of a broad range of musical styles, from alt-country to rock ’n’ roll to acoustic singer-songwriter tunes.