True to his prediction, Hank Williams never got out of this world alive. But leave it to country’s all-time monarch of misery, last heard on this mortal coil 58 years ago, to be responsible for the most delightfully despondent album of 2011.

Executive-produced by Bob Dylan, “The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams” resurrects lyrics left behind by the country legend after his 1953 death and lends them to a dozen contemporary singer/songwriters, who completed and recorded them. The well-chosen cast of collaborators includes Jack White, Lucinda Williams, Sheryl Crow, Alan Jackson, Levon Helm, and Dylan himself -- all...

Tony Bennett has good reason to walk on the sunny side of the street. His “Duets II”  sold 179,000 copies its first week out, making him by far the oldest artist ever to earn the top spot on the Billboard album chart.

The 85-year-old Bennett’s No. 1 berth breaks the seniority record previously held by Bob Dylan, whose last studio album topped the chart two years ago when he was a mere lad of 67. Pity the poor septuagenarians who thought they had a shot at Dylan’s record any time soon.

Also read:...

“What’s my age again?” the pop-punk band Blink-182 once famously asked. Now, judging from the trio’s new album, “Neighborhoods” – its first in eight years -- the answer seems to be: Middle-aged.

Not that the guys look or sound old, in their late 30s, or that they seem musically pooped after the long layoff. But lyrically, they’ve put away childish things in favor of studied maturity, if not midlife malaise. “Everyone raises kids in a world that changes life to a bitter game,” they sing in “Up All Night,” the first single. “Everyone lives to tell...

Lady Antebellum is definitely experiencing pride of ownership, as the country-pop trio’s third album, “Own the Night,” sold 347,000 copies to debut atop the Billboard/SoundScan album rankings.

That’s the best bow for a country release since Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now” moved a little over a million units last November. It’s a comedown for Lady A, though, compared to the blockbuster bow for their previous release, “Need You Now,” which debuted with 481,000 copies a year and a half ago, when that album's once-in-a-lifetime title-track smash was peaking...