In this week's slate of Rolling Stone reviews, Anthony DeCurtis praises Eddie Vedder's Ukulele Songs, a set of "sweetly evanescent" tunes that challenge the Pearl Jam frontman to tone down his powerful, dramatic voice. Also, Jon Dolan enthusiastically endorses My Morning Jacket's sixth album Circuital, which he says "delivers new-fangled packages for old-fangled transcendence," and Will Hermes gives a thumbs-up to Bon Iver's richly detailed and ambitious second album. On the singles front, Dolan says that the first song from Bono and the Edge's Spider-Man musical amps up their usual grandeur to the level of Andrew Lloyd Webber, but singer Reeve Carney sounds like a "nervous understudy" when singing side by side with the U2 leader.

ALBUMS

Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs (stream one song)

My Morning Jacket - Circuital

Bon Iver - Bon Iver (stream one song)

Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys

Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts (stream one song)

White Denim - D (stream one song)

Vieux Farka Touré - The Secret (stream one song)

SONGS

Reeve Carney featuring Bono and the Edge "Rise Above 1" (stream)

Steven Tyler "(It) Feels So Good" (stream)

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  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
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  MOVIES 'This Is the End' Brings the Goods
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  TV The Women of 'Mad Men'
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  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories