Entertainment

New music from David Bowie, Biffy Clyro, Azealia Banks and more

Albums of the Week

David Bowie

“The Next Day”

★★★ 1/2

DAVID Bowie’s return feels more like an ambush than a comeback. After 10 years of silence (punctuated mainly by rumors of him being retired or extremely sick), the Brit turned New Yorker has re-emerged with a magnificent album that stands alongside the dizzyingly creative work he produced in days of yore.

The discordant guitar-and-sax combination featured on “Dirty Boys” echoes the famed Berlin years of the mid- to late-1970s, and the gruff riffs of “(You Will) Set the World on Fire” nod toward his unfairly maligned project, Tin Machine; there’s even a brief glimpse of the “Space Oddity” years on the playfully psychedelic “I’d Rather Be High.”

But those nostalgic touches are eclipsed by the album’s overlying sense of rejuvenation and modernity — which suggests that even at 66, Bowie has many more next days left in him yet.

BIFFY CLYRO

“Opposites”

★★★

WHILE they headline arenas and stadiums in their native land, Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro have been slept on in the United States for more than a decade. But their sprawling sixth album (a double disc, no less) is an emphatic wake-up call, and sees them combining the catchiness of the Foo Fighters with the compositional ambition of peak-period Smashing Pumpkins.

There are moments when the trio delve into even more idiosyncratic territories: “Spanish Radio” sees them throwing a mariachi band into the proceedings, while the singalong stomp of “Stingin’ Belle” proudly boasts the sound of Scottish bagpipers.

It’s all a part of Biffy Clyro’s epic musical vision, and although their execution may not be without flaws, they still manage to dwarf most of the humdrum alternative-rock crowd around them.

Downloads of the Week

AZEALIA BANKS

“Yung Rapunxel”

★★★

JUST when we thought Azealia Banks couldn’t get any more obnoxious, the New York rapper’s long-awaited new single turns out to be a squelchy electro cut topped off with the sound of her screaming profanities like a mad woman. It’s brash, aggressive and destined to annoy the hell out of Banks’ haters. Which is exactly why it’s so damn good.

BON JOVI

“What About Now”

★ 1/2

REINVENTION has never been one of Bon Jovi’s strong suits, but their new album, “What About Now,” often veers into self-parody. With its Coldplay-aping dynamics, the title track is perhaps the nearest thing to a step into uncharted territory, but after all these years, the New Jersey outfit still doesn’t seem willing to step out of their tired old soft-rock straitjacket.

MEGAN HILTY

“No Cure”

AS viewers of NBC’s “Smash” know, Megan Hilty can certainly sing, but her astonishingly dull debut album, “It Happens All the Time,” makes one wish she had been more judicious with her talent. This lead single, in particular, is such a bland slice of dinner-party pop that the sound of a tumbling dryer could get the blood racing faster.

LEE VING, DAVE GROHL and others

“Your Wife Is Calling”

★★★

DAVE Grohl’s documentary about LA’s Sound City studios now has its own accompanying album of collaborations called “Real to Reel,” which includes this roaring riot of a tune. Lee Ving of the pioneering Californian punk band Fear barks like a maniac while the super-group recaptures the spirit of the late-’70s hardcore scene around him. Great fun.

ERIC CLAPTON

“Gotta Get Over”

★★

THE guitar god’s latest album, the appallingly titled “Old Sock,” is filled mainly with affectionate yet drab covers, but it’s actually one of Clapton’s originals that stands out. “Gotta Get Over” has him dishing out those old swamp-blues riffs again, and although it’s a trick he’s played countless times before, it’s far more stirring than the rest of the flaccid material on the collection.