Ken Tucker

One Direction recently became the first U.K. act to make its debut on the U.S. Billboard albums chart with Up All Night. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the new record is reminiscent of The Backstreet Boys and other pop stars.

Bahamas is the stage name used by Canadian singer-songwriter Afie Jurvanen, who put out his first album in 2009. His second album, Barchords, is a measured look at the end of a lengthy relationship.

Springsteen told Rolling Stone that Wrecking Ball is "as direct a record as I ever made." It's also one of his most stylistically diverse, including elements of gospel and hip-hop as well as rock and blue. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the music "testifies to a bottomless ingenuity, invention and exhilaration."