Lady GaGa: ‘The Fame Monster’
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With four No. 1 hits already spun off “The Fame,” her late 2008 debut album, Lady GaGa is back with a mini- LP/very long EP just in time to cash in on the Christmas buying market.

The good news is that the 8-song “The Fame Monster” is more than just the standard stopgap collection of rejects from the album. Instead, Lady Gaga spins out Shakira-like on the Latin-tinged  “Alejandro,” slams around the noise on “Teeth” and slides into overblown ‘70s rock balladry with “Speechless.” She also explores darker themes than those on “The Fame,” goofing on zombies on “Monster” or name dropping deceased famous females on “Dance in the Dark.”

But “The Fame Monster” also has the kind of propulsive dance numbers that set the radio and clubs on fire — most notably the single “Bad Romance” and the much-ballyhooed collaboration with Beyonce, “Telephone.” “The Fame Monster” is available by itself or in a package with “The Fame,” another perfect Christmas present for pop fans. In any form,  “The Fame Monster” is great fun. — L. Kent Wolgamott
Buy if you like: Madonna, Britney Spears

Beyoncé: ‘I Am … Sasha Fierce’ (Deluxe Edition)
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Talk about confusing. When “I Am … Sasha Fierce” was originally released in 2008, it had a “deluxe version.” But now we have this “deluxe edition” with two bonus tracks: “Poison” and “Video Phone (Extended Remix),” featuring Lady Gaga. (They sound an awful lot like the first versions.) And this time, it’s all on one disc, though still thematically split into the Beyonce ballads of the first half and the Sasha Fierce alter-ego dance trax of the second half.
Most of the latter have nearly unlistenable lyrics; just about everything worth hearing is in the first half. “If I Were A Boy” creates powerful vocal drama; “Disappear” is delicate pop/R&B. “Broken-hearted Girl” is also undeniably strong. What a shame she decided to go all Xtina/Chris Gaines and get fierce; Beyonce’s clearly at her best on more soulful material. But even that’s a little overcalculated. What we’d really love to hear is some stripped down music from the heart. Not the producers. — Lynne Margolis
Buy if you like: Christina Aguilera; Mariah Carey

Tom Waits: ‘Glitter and Doom Live’
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Tom Waits’ bone-rattling croak of  a voice, multiple personas from demented carnival barker to down-and-out beat poet and clattering music have made him the definition of a cult artist. What is less known is that Waits is one of the most compelling live performers going.
“Glitter and Doom Live” conveys at least something of a Waits concert, seamlessly piecing together 17 songs from 10 shows on his most recent tour. Backed by a fine six-piece band, the music rambles from gritty R&B, to swampy rock, to a couple crooned ballads with Waits’ gravelly rasp pervading all the tracks. Disc number two of the set is called “Tom Tales” and it’s 30-plus minutes of Waits oft-bizarre, frequently funny reflections and conversations with the audience during the piano portion of his show.
The idea  is to capture that aspect of Waits’ on stage while avoiding a herky-jerky disc of talk-then-music-then-talk that won’t be listened to more than about twice — and it works. And after listening, you’ll never forget where the terms “graveyard shift” and “dead ringer” come from. The only drawback to “Glitter and Doom Live” is that there’s no visual record of Waits stomping about the stage. Too bad there’s not a DVD in the set.
—  L. Kent Wolgamott
Buy if you like: Bob Dylan, Captain Beefheart

The Chesterfield Kings: ‘Live Onstage … If You Want It’ (CD/DVD)
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Garage rock legends the Chesterfield Kings are a perfect early Stones/Dolls hybrid, unafraid to wear their influences on their sleeves (or the rest of their bodies, from their hair to lead singer Greg Prevost’s painted-on pants). Even the title is a reference to the Stones’ first live LP.
But even though Kings aren’t original in sound or style, they’re far more than a tribute band — and they’re darned entertaining. They’re also the epitome of Little Steven Van Zandt’s garage-rock ethos, which explains his enthusiasm for bringing them to a wider audience via his Wicked Cool label.
These guys write cool songs and they know how to rock.
And their acoustic set, highlighted by the country-blues harp and steel-dressed tune “Gone” and a cover of Merle Haggard’s “Sing Me Back Home,” works just as well as the swaggering electric Jumpin’ Jack flashbacks.
— Lynne Margolis
By if you like: The Rolling Stones, Nuggets box sets

REISSUE

David Bowie: ‘Space Oddity (40th anniversary reissue)’
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The now-de rigueur anniversary reissue of nearly every album ever made has its downside. There’s a propensity to scrape every corner of the tape vault for bonus material, and not all of the stuff finding its way onto these releases is worthy ­— particularly when it’s repetitious, as some of the bonus content of “Space Oddity” is.
In addition to the remastered album version, we’ve got two more versions of “Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud” and “Memory of a Free Festival.” There’s also two editions of “London, Bye, Ta-Ta,” a song that didn’t make the original album, and an Italian version of “Space Oddity.”
C’mon, do we really need all of that? If these songs were as compelling as the Beatles’, I might get it, but with the exception of the title tune, this album’s importance is mainly as an indicator of Bowie’s potential brilliance — which, fortunately, he went on to reveal many times over.
— Lynne Margolis
Buy if you like: T. Rex, Mott The Hoople

BOXED SET

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: “Live Anthology”
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Anyone who has seen Petty and the Heartbreakers in concert knows this is one of rock’s very best live bands. This four-disc set spans performances from 1980 through 2007, and as expected there are stellar performances of many of the band’s songs (“Refugee,” “Jammin’ Me”), as well as some versions that build on the studio counterparts (“Louisiana Rain” and “It’s Good To Be King”).
The Heartbreakers have also always had a special talent for covers, and Petty smartly included a generous number of outside tunes. (Bo Diddley, the Grateful Dead and Van Morrison are among those represented.) Still, even at 47 tracks, “Live Anthology” actually feels a bit thin. It leaves off some notable songs (“Don’t Come Around Here No More” or “I Need To Know”). How about a sequel, Mr. Petty? – Alan Sculley
Buy if you like: The Byrds, The Jayhawks