Ken Tucker

Critic Ken Tucker selects his top albums of the year.

Taking notes from Dolly Parton, the California-born singer has made a whole album that insists that women have more complicated stories to tell than country music usually allows.

Three new songs from established acts speak to the times: "Ghosts," by Bruce Springsteen; "Can't Put It in the Hands of Fate," by Stevie Wonder; and "Didn't Want to Be This Lonely," by The Pretenders.