The Wallflowers return with their first album in nearly a decade and are sounding a lot like the classic rock band they’ve always ached to be. On “Exit Wounds” (New West Records), the band soars with highway ballads and Saturday night rockers on a record that sounds like it could have been released 25 years ago. (And for the record, this is only the band’s seventh album in 30 years.) Led by Jakob Dylan, son of Bob, the Wallflowers have been reassembled – sort of – as Dylan is the only original member since the days of “Bringing Down The Horse” in 1996. “Exit Wounds” leads off with “Maybe Your Heart’s Not In It No More,” a slow chugger with a great groove and an ideal opening salvo for the record: the band’s confident shuffle is offset by Dylan’s modicum of middle-aged introspection. The album is a surprising return for the ’90s alt rockers, gloomy at times and hopeful at others. Four tracks feature vocals from country singer Shelby Lynne, which is a brilliant departure and adds a textured layer to Dylan’s day-in-the-life songwriting chops. Theatrically and sonically, “Exit Wounds” captures Dylan & Co.’s multi-dimensional lens.

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The momentum that builds on New Order’s “Education Entertainment Recreation: Live at Alexandra Palace” (New Order Ltd.) is palpable. “Das Rheingold: Vorslpiel” by Wagner plays as a sea of adoring fans cheer on. With “Singularity” as the opener, the music lilts as New Order slowly morph into themselves at this giant venue. From the get-go, we get lush renditions of hits like “Regret” and “Love Vigilantes” and the audio on this live set is superb (and the accompanying Blu Ray adds incredible visuals to the set.) New Order is no stranger to the live album, as this marks their sixth, their last having been released just a few years ago. Recorded in 2018 during their concert held at London’s Alexandra Palace, “Education, Entertainment, Recreation” (Live at Alexandra Palace) offers a robust 2-hour, 21-song career-spanning set filled with deep album cuts, newer tracks, of course a number of hits, and a few from when New Order was previously known as Joy Division. More or less, the album traverses back and forth between those songs where lead singer Bernard Sumner manages the vocals and those sounding off key. In fact, songs like “Academic,” “Ultraviolence,” “Disorder,” and “Love Vigilantes” work well because of the lower octave Sumner sings on these tracks. Unfortunately, classics like “Crystal,” and “Bizarre Love Triangle,” didn’t fare as well.

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Veteran U.S. hitmakers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have finally completed their debut album after 40 years in the business. And impeccably produced it is. With “Volume 1” (Flyte Tyme Records), the duo, who have produced artists like Janet Jackson, Toni Braxton, Mary J. Blige, George Michael, Usher and Boyz II Men, don’t disappoint with an album of guest stars (sans the noticeably absent Jackson). J&L’s band The Time was Prince’s regular support act in his breakthrough years and as a production/songwriting team, J&L have written 41 top 10 hits over the years and have 27 Grammy nods and five wins. Now at age 64 and 62 respectively, they have gone for it. And natch, they’ve got quite the line-up of star vocalists in tow. Blige, Mariah Carey, Usher- they’re all here. And it seems like they’re all in a ballad mood, which is appropriate for an R&B album. But as recently as 2007, J&L showed they had the funk in abundance on their work with Chaka Khan and it’s still there now, as is their world-class finesse on the mixing desk. And again, there’s nothing wrong with the schmaltzy songs – they too are world-class individually – it’s just that as an album this is like getting seven courses of dessert before you get to the meat.

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Irish rock band Inhaler release “It Won’t Always Be Like This” (Polydor) and any assumptive similarities to U2 are allowed. On this, their debut, there’s plenty of defiance, optimism and sneering guitars to go around. Inhaler have been holding on to six words since they were teenagers; “It won’t always be like this,” they first told us in a song written about a break-up almost a decade ago, a phrase which earned richer meaning last year when the world shut down and all we could do was wait it out. The Dublin band re-recorded the song – now much better – showcasing the dynamic vocals of frontman Eli Hewson (a dead ringer, sonically, for his dad Bono) – as the title track and opener of their debut album. It’s a galvanizing introduction that sets the tone for the record that follows. Inhaler are trying to step out of their ancestors’ shadows too, and they succeed to an extent. Standouts “Who’s Your Money On” and “Totally” are powered by groove-inflected basslines and shimmering synths, boasting the kind of robust sound you’d usually expect from an established band who have been trying to challenge themselves, and their fans, for decades. Still, there’s more than enough rousing material here to set Inhaler up for success.