@Paul Demers

-ALL-

Whether it’s a weekday morning or Saturday night, get going with this personalized set of upbeat music. Refreshed every Monday.

Songs to help you relax and unwind. Updated every Sunday.

Discover new music from artists we think you'll like. Refreshed every Friday.

For Nickelback, post-grunge has always been a jumping-off point. The Vancouver group's initial run of albums leaned heavily on seething, Seattle-inspired riffs and Chad Kroeger's cynical growl, but everything changed with 2005's All the Right Moves. Boasting shout-along choruses, small-town earnestness, and a jiggy swagger nicked from hip-hop, the record represents a unique 21st-century collision of heartland rock and pop smarts. The band continues to trick out the fusion with flashy synths and EDM-style programming while remaining devoted to hard-grooving heft.

Toeing the provocative line between loneliness and desire, Britney Spears became a national obsession with 1999's “...Baby One More Time,” and doubled down the following year with “Oops!...I Did It Again,” which exemplified the bubblegum pop formula she developed alongside Swedish producer Max Martin. But the pop star grew up before our eyes on seductive tracks like “Toxic,” and a more mature artist has since emerged, with cuts like 2011's “Till the World Ends” demonstrating the former Mouseketeer's ear for epic hooks, as well as a vulnerability that is as compelling as it is rare.

Dany Bédar flexed his bass-playing chops in the '90s as a member of Montreal jazz-rock fusionists Le Chicane, but since going solo in the early 2000s, he's traded rhythmic exploration for emotional introspection and found his true calling as a master balladeer. Bédar swaddles his smooth, unwaveringly sensitive voice in gentle acoustic strums, featherlight piano taps, and tasteful string arrangements—while occasionally dropping a perfectly timed, arena-baiting electric guitar solo to get those cigarette lighters hoisted.