Album: Willie Nelson, Heroes (Sony Legacy)

For Heroes, Willie Nelson both delves into the past, with songs from country music's Forties prehistory, and the present day, with covers of material by Tom Waits, Pearl Jam and Coldplay.

As usual, guests crowd the album: Sheryl Crow duets on Waits' “Come on Up to the House”, and Snoop Dogg and Kris Kristofferson chip in on the jokey Western swing of “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die”; but the best thing here is opener “A Horse Called Music”, where wistful accordion and lachrymose pedal steel accompany Willie's duet with Merle Haggard, another Mount Rushmore voice. Less welcome, though, is the way that vast tranches of the album serve as a showcase for Willie's son Lukas.

Download: A Horse Called Music; That's All There Is to This Song; No Place to Fly