Not just for the Giants victory parade (GO BLUE!!) or the big Democratic primaries (GO BAM!!), but because albums come out this week by artists that lots of people care about. Yay for Super Tuesdays! Here are this week’s three most anticipated releases, in ascending order of whether I care about them or not.

Since breaking on to the music scene in 1994, Sheryl Crow‘s been fairly reliable, dropping hit album after hit album in crunchy-rock style, mixing anthemic hits with more reflective material. Her sixth studio album, Detours, promises more of the same, notable because it marks a reunion with Bill Bottrell, who produced her Grammy-winnin’ debut album Tuesday Night Music Club. It’s also her first album since adopting a child as well as being diagnosed with (and subsequently beating) breast cancer. Hopefully this doesn’t lead to her beating her listeners over the head with political nonsense like Melissa Etheridge (bless her heart) did on her absolutely rotten last album.

http://www.sherylcrow.com/

Speaking of rotten last albums, I would imagine lots of copies of the more recent handful of Lenny Kravitz adorn the shelves of used CD stores nationwide. He started out aping John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and Curtis Mayfield. After a 1998 Greatest Hits album cemented his staying power, Lenny then started to ape himself. Most of his recent songs have been Kravitz-by-numbers, and I’ll be honest with you: even his latest song, “I’ll Be Waiting”, sounds a HELL of a lot like 1998’s “Again” (his biggest hit). However, it’s a good song despite the self-parody and it might bode well for Lenny’s new album (his eighth) entitled It Is Time For a Love Revolution. Once a hippie…

http://www.lennykravitz.com/

Well, Jack Johnson isn’t exactly a hippie, but a quick listen to any of his albums will tip you off that the Hawaiian based surfer/rocker’s lyrical style is based on hippie ideals. This is not a bad thing, as Jack’s records (four of ’em if you include 2006’s Curious George soundtrack) are all highly recommended by yours truly. If Jimmy Buffett was thirty years younger and played the comedian angle a lot less, he’d be Jack Johnson (but probably not as good…hopefully I don’t get assassinated by a Parrothead for saying so). Anyway, for those of us who have high-stress city lifestyles and want to imagine what life is like barefoot on the beach with a ukulele, check out Jack’s Sleep Through The Static, my personal recommendation out of this week’s new releases (although the songs on Sheryl’s site sound good enough that I’ll probably get all three albums).

http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/

Check out a full list of this week’s new releases at: http://www.pauseandplay.com/cdfront.htm