RECORD REVIEWS

Madonna

Album: “Rebel Heart”

Grade: B+

Madonna’s 13th studio album, “Rebel Heart,” beats with romance and rebellion. At 19 tracks, it’s an overstuffed triptych through the iconic performer’s life, careening between uplifting dance tracks, like the percolating “Living for Love” and corrosively bitter tunes such as the Avicii-produced “HeartBreakCity.”

Songs such as the acoustic “Devil Pray,” which will stylistically remind many of “Don’t Tell Me”; the achingly vulnerable “Joan of Arc”; and the deceptively double entendre-filled, lilting “Body Shop” course with vitality and showcase some of Madonna’s best singing in years.

While the majority of the material falls solidly in the positive, some of the tunes undoubtedly meant to sound fierce and liberating just feel tired, like the tedious X-rated bump-and-grind of the Kanye West-produced “Holy Water.”

—Melinda Newman, Associated Press

Luke Bryan

Album: “Spring Break ... Checkin’ Out”

Grade: B

Luke Bryan opens his annual spring-break album with “My Ol’ Bronco,” a song about an aging vehicle that still gets the job done. The Bronco could be a metaphor for Bryan himself — both have outgrown an affinity for kicking up sand at musical beach parties.

“Checkin’ Out” is Bryan’s seventh spring-break collection in as many years. The 38-year-old CMA Entertainer of the Year understandably feels ready to focus on something deeper than beach-party soundtracks.

His maturity shows in the songs, although he still celebrates the lighthearted joys on the funk-dance rhythms of “Good Lookin’ Girl” and “Like We Ain’t Ever.”

—Michael McCall, Associated Press