Spring Previews: Part I

LOWDOWN: "It was all based on the brand new idea to us of 'Let's write the songs before we record them,' " Eddie Vedder has said of Backspacer, which is the shortest Pearl Jam album yet but also "tight and concise," according to guitarist Mike McCready. "I don't think there's a record out there that has better lyrics," adds bassist Jeff Ament. You can check out the the clip for first single "The Fixer" here.

Mariah Carey -- Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel -- September 29th

LOWDOWN: Mimi is either crazy in love or ready for revenge on her latest LP, a 17-song album stocked with gooey ballads and a strong cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is." "A lot of the songs reflect a specific, different time in my life," Carey says of the Tricky Stewart and The-Dream-produced record. "Some were even inspired by movies, actual events in my own life or friends telling me what they've been through." Watch her bitch-off "Obsessed".

Plastic Ono Band -- Between My Head and the Sky -- September 29th

LOWDOWN: Yoko Ono touches on electronica, guitar rock and piano ballads viacollaborations with ex-Cibo Matto member Yuka Honda, Japanese electro rocker Cornelius and more musicians — including son Sean, who convinced her to revive the Plastic Ono Band name for her first set of new tracks since 2001. "“She composes songs in an interesting way,” Sean says of his mum. “She says, ‘Play these chords and make it sound like this.’ My dad struggled with that. She likes to do things her way.”

Paramore -- Brand New Eyes -- September 29th

LOWDOWN: Hayley Williams has proclaimed, "We made a record that is exactly what we set out to make. There's fast, there's slow, and in between... happy, angry, desperate and over it." First single "Ignorance" directly tackles inner-band drama and after the group first heard it "we all sat down and talked it out, which was awesome," Williams says. Check out the video for "Ignorance" here.

Monsters of Folk -- Monsters of Folk -- September 29th

LOWDOWN: "The room was filled with ideas flying around," M. Ward says of recording with fellow troubadours Jim James, Mike Mogis and Conor Oberst. From the neo-CSNY harmonies hotwired to a spacey hip-hop groove on "Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)" to the '80s electro-boogie of "Whole Lotta Losin'," this supergroup Frankenstein surprising influences and sounds. "This record has a lot of our individual comfort zones on it but it also has a newness," James says. Listen to "Say Please".