Christmas is a colorful feast - the boys of the Staats- und Domchors Berlin and the compagney colored and fresh on this CD with German Christmas songs of the Reformation period.

You're Gonna Get Love is the first album in five years from singer/songwriter Keren Ann Zeidel. Since 2011, she's contributed six songs to the soundtrack of Yossi, an Israeli film by Etyan Fox, and gave birth to her first child. Becoming a mother changed the way she worked. Rather than writing and recording for days whenever inspiration struck, she methodically carved out time each day. The singer and her trio performed many basic takes live from the studio floor with assistance from producer Renaud Letang (Feist); overdubs were done later. Half the tracks also include strings.

With the future of the original Alice Cooper band in doubt by mid-1974 (they would soon break up for good with Alice going solo), Warner Bros. decided to issue a best-of compilation entitled Greatest Hits. If you're a newcomer to Alice, this 12-track compilation is a must-hear – all the selections are exceptional.

The Beach Boys' first new studio album in five years was a concerted attempt to regain old glories, which it did to an extent, selling better than any record since 15 Big Ones and spinning off the Top 30 single "Getcha Back" and the chart entry "It's Gettin' Late." But despite the production sheen provided by Steve Levine (of Culture Club fame), this is another competent but uninspired effort. Review by William Ruhlmann

One of the year's most heavily-anticipated new releases, 12 Songs pairs the pop music icon with legendary producer Rick Rubin. Producing a Neil Diamond album has been a long-time dream for Rubin, whose extraordinary resume spans the history of hip-hop from LL Cool J to Jay Z, the world of hardcore rock from Slayer to System Of A Down, and the pantheon of mythic stars from Tom Petty and Donovan to Mick Jagger and Johnny Cash's immortal Grammy-winning American Recordings series.

Driven by the hit singles "I Am…I Said" and "Crunchy Granola Suite," Stones is a stronger album than most of Neil Diamond's late-'60s records. Instead of padding the album with mediocre originals, Diamond picked several fine covers to fill out the remainder of the album, including Roger Miller's "Husbands and Wives," Joni Mitchell's "Chelsea Morning," Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," Randy Newman's "I Think It's Gonna Rain," Jacques Brel's "If You Go Away," and Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind." There are still a few weak patches on Stones, but the record remains an engaging collection of mainstream pop. Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The night of August 24, 1972, a young singer/songwriter by the name of Neil Diamond took over Los Angeles' beautiful Greek Theater for 10 sold out nights. The legend of Neil Diamond the performer was unquestionably born on that night. Diamond and his band were at the peak of their game that summer, a night that would be captured forever on the two-record set Hot August Night changed his life and his legacy. One of Diamond's most successful albums worldwide, the multiple platinum album in the US spent a mind-blowing 29 weeks on the top of the charts in Australia. Hot August Night is one of his more celebrated and acknowledged albums of his career and arguably one of the greatest live albums ever recorded.

After Reprise rejected what was to be their debut album for the label, the Beach Boys re-entered the studio to begin work on what would become a largely different set of songs. The results signaled a creative rebirth for the band, a return to the beautiful harmonies and orchestral productions of their classic mid-'60s material.