Ratings based on five-star system:
Chickenfoot: “Chickenfoot”
3 1/2 stars
Sammy Hagar may no longer be in the picture for Van Halen, but with Chickenfoot he seems to be reliving a bit of his past experience. Heck, the band even includes former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony. And in guitarist Joe Satriani, Chickenfoot has a shredder who’s certainly the equal of Eddie Van Halen. And in Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, the band boasts a stickman who can match Alex Van Halen. Musically, “Chickenfoot’s” songs share much of the same catchy ham-fisted pedigree of Van Hagar tunes — in other words, fat and simple guitar chords, thunderous drums and a bit of dazzle. It all works because most of the songs are plenty catchy and they rock with conviction.
— Alan Sculley

Iggy Pop: “Preliminaires”
4 stars
From the first French syllable that comes out of his mouth on “Les Feuilles Mortes” to the final utterance of its closing reprise, Iggy Pop coolly defies expectations on “Preliminaires,” his 15th solo studio album. Loosely based on Michel Houellebecq’s 2005 novel “The Possibility of an Island,” Pop’s meditations on death, sex, party time, and going to the beach are wrapped up in Francophone café balladry, driven by acoustic blues guitar, soaked in strings or popping with synths. Only the pounding “It’s Nice to Be Dead” brings the guitars and Iggy-noise.
— L. Kent  Wolgamott

REISSUES
Miles Davis: “Sketches of Spain”
4 stars
Davis’s second masterwork of 1959 was also his third orchestral album made in collaboration with arranger/composer Gil Evans. It’s centerpiece: a 16-minute version of Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez” which finds Davis at his most lyrical, working over modes that explore the Latin/Spanish/flamenco theme of the album. The second disc in the set is primarily a compilation of alternate versions of that song and a few other outtakes — good for completists, but not necessary to “get” the album.
— L. Kent Wolgamott

Charles Mingus: “Mingus Ah Hum”
5 stars
This two-CD set actually comprises both of Mingus’s Columbia Records albums —  “Mingus Ah Hum” and its follow-up, “Dynasty.” “Mingus Ah Hum” is the mercurial Mingus’s first mature work, an inventive gospel/blues rooted exploration that produced standards like “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” and utilized a two-horn front line to power the sound of “Better Git It In Your Soul” and “Fables of Faubus,” a political song that Columbia stripped of its lyrics. The music is freer on “Ah Hum” and more formal on “Dynasty.” But the pairing fits well together, with 90 of the set’s 150 minutes rightly dedicated to the first record.
— L. Kent Wolgamott

Dave Brubeck: “Take Five”
4 1/2 stars
The title cut of Brubeck’s album was an ambitious song in 5/4 time that became a pop hit, selling more than a million copies. It helped push the album to number two on the pop charts. After three years on the charts, it became the first jazz album to sell a million copies. With its exploration of unusual time signatures, like the 9/8 of “Blue Rondo a La Turk” and 6/4 of “Pick Up Sticks,” “Take Five” remains fresh, lively and accessible. Disc number two in the package features an excellent compilation of Dave Brubeck Quartet performances from the Newport Jazz Festival in the early ‘60s, and a DVD has Brubeck talking about the recording of “Take Five.”
— L. Kent Wolgamott

Gary Lewis & The Playboys: “The Complete Liberty Singles”
3 1/2 stars
This band may never be seen as having had the lasting impact of contemporaries like the Beatles, Beach Boys or even Paul Revere and the Raiders. But listening to this two-disc set is a pretty startling reminder of how much Gary Lewis & The Playboys were a part of pop radio of the mid-1960s (nine top 15 hits in 1965 and 1966 alone, including “This Diamond Ring,” “Count Me In” and “Save Your Heart For Me”). The group’s sound was somewhat one-dimensional, with most of its songs sharing a similar easy-going tempo and themes about guys dating girls (like just about every other band at the time), all cleaned up to be suitable to a family audience. But many of the group’s hits were very well crafted. And while the production and instrumentation dates the songs somewhat, their basic melodies and structure hold up nicely 40-plus years later.
— Alan Sculley