Four years into her career, Miley Cyrus is, like other bubblegum idols before her, getting cranky about her image. In "Robot," the booming dance-pop opus near the end of her third album, Cyrus cries, "I'm not your robot/Stop telling me I'm part of the big machine." But Cyrus is indeed part of a big machine — and is better for it. Tamed was mostly cooked up by the pros who helped make Cyrus a Disney princess. It's a Top 40 record of a high order, packed with electro-pop hooks and big Kelly Clarkson-style shout-along choruses. Cyrus' 17-year-old ire — however genuine it is — just adds spice.

“Ambling Alp”

The "Ambling Alp" was the nickname of the six-and-a-half-foot-tall Primo Carnera. Though the song is named after the Italian-born 1930s heavyweight champion, Yeasayer are actually paying tribute to boxing legend Joe Louis with this first-person psychedelic dance-rock tune. “I was always interested in writing a song that had boxing mythology in it,” Yeasayer’s Chris Keating said. “It’s pretty fascinating: There were so many amazing characters, and it was so closely entwined with 20th century history.” Yeaseyer also invokes German champ Max Schmeling and hints at the historical significance placed on the historic bouts between the Nazi-era boxer and the African-American Louis.