Walter Becker - Circus Money

“Steely Dan’s Walter Becker hasn’t exactly made a habit of solo albums, and considering the muted reaction to his last one 14 years ago, you can’t say demand has overwhelmed supply. But “Circus Money” is an easy pleasure, 12 non-whack tracks largely co-written by Becker and producer Larry Klein, energized by a reggae rhythm base. Singing may not be Becker’s forte, but neither is it a terrible liability on songs that display his penchant for trenchant scene-setting and character sketch. His once pitiless cynicism is now leavened by compassion, whether in the portrayal of a none-too-attractive barfly (”Somebody’s Saturday Night”) or the accumulation of precise details that give ’70s Philly soul romance “Downtown Canon” its heartbreaking authority. Inveterate Dan fans will be perked by “Paging Audrey,” which sounds like a “Royal Scam”-era idea given a fresh dust-off. —Wayne Robins”

Beck - Modern Guilt

“Because his records so rarely sound like anyone’s but his own, it’s easy to forget how much Beck thrives on collaborating with name-brand producers like Nigel Godrich and the Dust Brothers. For the follow-up to 2006’s “The Information” he teamed with Danger Mouse, and though the result is unmistakably the work of our favorite midnite vulture, “Modern Guilt” also makes clear how much Beck must have loved “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley. Nearly every tune here echoes that hit’s spooky, reverb-soaked vibe. Built on shuffling beats and big basslines, the ghost-gospel arrangements provide a good setting for Beck’s vocals, which hew closer to the depressed mumbling of “Mutations” and “Sea Change” than to the white-boy jive of “Guero” or “Odelay.” Nothing makes as quick of an impact as “Crazy,” but give the tunes time and you’ll find they stick around.—Mikael Wood”

Neil Diamond - Home Before Dark

“Neil Diamond was an international superstar by 1976, but nothing prepared him quite for the reception he met when he arrived for concerts in Australia and New Zealand. There are crowds as far as the eye can see during this Sydney show, originally broadcast on nationwide TV, and they eat up Diamond’s time-tested schtick from minute one of the faux-Afropop “Soolaimon.” The artist and his band are in full mid-’70s regalia here, with plenty of unbuttoned shirts, jewelry and feathered hair, but the sensitive pop/rock is a world away from the punk explosion about to occur back at home and in the United Kingdom. Diamond himself wrestled with being a man out of time, which is amply demonstrated in the fascinating TV interview included as a bonus here. Chain-smoking under hot studio lights and rarely resembling the confident pro he is onstage, Diamond reveals his struggles to understand his fame and why he took a two-year hiatus to put his life back in order. “Solitary Man,” indeed. —Jonathan Cohen”

Billy Joel - The Stranger: 30th Anniversary Edition

“”The Stranger” may not be Billy Joel’s best album, but it’s certainly his most important, the musical moment that took him from cult favorite to pop superstar. Thirty years on, it’s still a great record, and even better in this boxed anniversary incarnation. Like all career-defining works, “The Stranger” is a cohesive, loosely thematic piece whose individual highlights still stand out—the despairing characters of “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song),” the piano-playing heroics of the epic “Italian Restaurant,” the unapologetic cheek of “Only the Good Die Young,” the understated duality of “She’s Always a Woman.” The set’s second CD, a previously unreleased 1977 concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall, offers a slightly different incarnation of the breakthrough hit “Just the Way You Are” (more cha-cha than samba) and a look at the ensemble dynamic that producer Phil Ramone captured on “The Stranger,” while the DVD accompanying the deluxe edition features Joel’s 1978 performance on the BBC’s “Old Grey Whistle Test” and new interviews. All the material manages to freshen our long and familiar relationship with “The Stranger.”—Gary Graff”