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MUST-HAVE
Tom Petty
"Saving Grace"
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In 1980, in the wake of a devastating divorce, Bob Dylan released a song called "Saving Grace," which outlined how his evangelical convictions offered him salvation. Twenty-six years later, Tom Petty is coming off a similar situation -- in recent years, he's dealt with both the death of a bandmate and a divorce -- and he's also got a tune called "Saving Grace" (from his upcoming album Highway Companion). Unlike his mentor, though, Petty finds the answers inside himself. He also wrote a much better song. Utilizing a shameless Bo Diddley "Who Do You Love?" beat (considering how much the Strokes and the Chili Peppers have ripped Petty off, he's earned the right), Petty sings, "It's hard to say who you are these days/But you run on, anyway/Don't you, baby?" If the rest of Highway Companion is this strong, Petty might just be entering his Time Out of Mind period. (Andy Greene)
SINGLES
Eddie Vedder and My Morning Jacket
"It Makes No Difference"
Bootleg
Vedder and MMJ frontman Jim James discussed duetting on Temple of the Dogs' "Hunger Strike" during their stint touring together in May, but it never happened. Instead, they gave us something even cooler and unexpected: A lilting, faithful rendition of the Band's underappreciated 1973 ballad, with James summoning the spirit of Rick Danko and Vedder pushing his voice into a quavery high range that Pearl Jam fans rarely hear. (Brian Hiatt)
Lily Allen
"Smile"
lilyallenmusic.com
Thanks to her MySpace profile, twenty-one-year-old singer Allen is fast becoming a pop star in her native England. On the reggae-infused number "Smile," Allen croons in her cute, bubbly falsetto about getting kicks from seeing her cheating dude beg for forgiveness. (We're not saying anything, but Allen has been dissing Dirty Pretty Things' Carl Barat on her blog.) Allen's rhyming skills tend to veer toward the childish ("You say that you want me back/And I tell you it don't mean jack"), but her attitude is badass. (Kevin O'Donnell)
Rascal Flatts
"Life Is a Highway"
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In 2006, "country" is a nebulous concept -- and not just because Britney Spears uses it as an excuse to drive with her baby on her lap. Witness this ultraslavish cover of a 1991 roots-rock guilty pleasure (by sub-Bryan Adams Canuck Tom Cochrane) -- which qualifies for airplay next to Kenny Chesney only because it was recorded by weepy balladeers Rascal Flatts. You really can only tell it's them because they ruin the bridge with wimped-out, boy-band-in-chaps mewling. (B.H.)
Taylor Hicks
"Do I Make You Proud"
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On his first single, poor "American Idol" winner Hicks -- who's not a bad rootsy soul belter -- is forced to growl his way through a dated, overwrought piece of pop hackwork that sounds like the theme song to the world's shittiest Eighties sitcom. Does he make us proud? More like vaguely nauseous. (B.H.)
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VIDEOS
Matisyahu
"Message in a Bottle"
Music.yahoo.com
Oy vey. Is there any chance that this nigh-unlistenable, pointless Police cover might mark the end of the inexplicable Matisyahu fad? Displaying zero stage presence and hitting two wrong notes for every good one, the Hasidic toaster gives a performance that looks and sounds like bad karaoke at a Crown Heights wedding. (B.H.)
BOOTLEGS
Roger Waters
Arrow Rock Festival, Lichtenvoorde, the Netherlands
June 10th, 2006
For reasons known only to him, Roger Waters decided to launch a world tour this year where he performs Dark Side of the Moon straight through, along with a smattering of other Pink Floyd classics and solo cuts. When David Gilmour and the rest of Floyd did the same thing on their 1994 Division Bell tour, Waters lambasted them and refused to take part; he should have stuck to that mentality. His eleven-piece band painstakingly re-creates the tiniest details of every Dark Side song, but they can't do much about Waters' voice -- it sounds like he gargled battery acid before taking the stage. The audience tape is a bit bass-heavy but otherwise it's fairly clean. (A.G.)
PODCASTS
KEXP Music That Matters Volume 15
KEXP.ORG
Seattle radio station KEXP is up to Volume Fifteen of its biweekly Music That Matters podcast series, which features up-and-coming bands handpicked by renowned DJ Kevin Cole. Highlights of this particular one include "Lovers Who Uncover," by the Little Ones (a pop-funk gem that Cole accurately calls "a direct hit on the pleasure center"), and the Gossip's "Standing in the Way of Control." The KEXP live podcast series is definitely worth checking out as well. (A.G.)
Selected reader responses will appear in Rolling Stone magazine: Write to us at letters@rollingstone.com.