Embarrassingly denigrated as a "cruel joke" by some cloth-eared Island executive, Praise & Blame is Tom Jones's equivalent of Johnny Cash's American series of back-to-roots albums, an association confirmed by its inclusion of the song that gave Cash's final album its title, 'Ain't No Grave'. That executive should be squirming as Praise & Blame is one of the best albums of Jones's entire career. The ingenious Ethan Johns handles production chores on the collection of blues and gospel standards, and he's devised a blend of raucous blues riffs in the skeletal style of the White Stripes or the Black Keys.

Download: 'Didn't It Rain', 'Ain't No Grave', 'Strange Things'

Tom Jones
Praise & Blame
Island
5/5