Nicole Kidman's husband is so naturally content that it's a little jarring when he tries to shoehorn some pathos into his albums. His seventh solo disc features good-natured country rock that's as likely to feature a Police bass line as a fiddle. Urban radiates psyched-ness — about his awesome marriage or the gathering power of crossover country — on summer jams and magnolia-scented ballads. Even the marital-tension song, "Shut Out the Lights," has a slick message: Sleep on it, things will look better in the morning.

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“Is It True”

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."