Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith says that the name is the same, but the band is entirely new. Technically, there’s only one new dude: guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who replaced John Frusciante in 2009. Frusciante left some big musical shoes to fill. So big, it took RHCP two years to figure out how to walk in them again.

“I’m With You” has a different swagger than the Peppers of old; it’s filled with pianos, percussion, and the passion of three dudes pushing 50. Yes, folks, the Peppers are pushing 50. This means less dick socks, and more meditations on mortality and the meaning of life. The maturity present in RHCP’s music is closer to the surface on “I’m With You.” These guys have always been on a spiritual path, but it’s good to hear them get closer to the mountaintop — and leave the dick socks behind.

WATCH the music video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ single “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie.”

Life with Fleetwood Mac is a double-edged sword for Buckingham — and his fans, although one could argue that Fleetwood Mac fans and Lindsey Buckingham fans are two separate crowds. Buckingham’s main talking point is that his supergroup is the “big movie,” while his solo works constitute his small “indie films.” Cynics would say that’s a politician’s way of managing expectations — and Buckingham’s own ego. However, any artist will realize that Lindsey Buckingham is smart enough to know that without Fleetwood Mac, he’d be another brilliant, starving musician. The Mac pays the bills, but the solo work keeps him from becoming a classic rock caricature. More of the group’s fans should join along.

“The Seeds We Sow” is better than any big-budget band album Buckingham has pushed out in decades. The title track and the beautifully amped-up “The Way Love Goes” show a player, writer, and singer still passionate at 62. I’ll tolerate a mediocre Fleetwood Mac album knowing the money is funding stuff like this one. It brings new meaning to art patronage.

WATCH Lindsay Buckingham perform “The Seeds We Sow” live at Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills.

Lenny Kravitz falls in a musical purgatory somewhere between fellow one-man bands Prince and Raphael Saadiq. He’s often dismissed as too derivative to earn the full respect of fans of the Purple One, while his classic rock predilections keep him from having the full soul cred of Saadiq.

“Black and White America” likely won’t change anyone’s mind. That’s too bad, because Lenny Kravitz’s musical and songwriting gifts are just as unbridled. His ninth album is an ambitious mashup of social commentary, naked faith, and genre gumbo that most artists would fumble before the first chorus. It also has many of the same musical and lyrical cliches that mar most Lenny Kravitz albums (look no farther than the innocuous anthem “Rock Star City Life”). Still, you have to admire Kravitz’s 20+ year commitment to peace, love, and analog soul. You may not play “Black and White America” for long, but it’ll keep you company on the way to your next peace rally — or stadium show.

WATCH the music video for Lenny Kravitz’s single “Stand.”

John Doe doesn’t have the same problem as Lindsey Buckingham: His band has never been the source of embarrassment or excuses (OK, maybe “Hey Zeus!”). X remains as essential now as they were three decades ago when they were the antidote to ’80s excess. And Doe’s solo output has become richer with every passing year. The guy ages better than any of those tepid, tattooed punk poseurs who are running out of luck.

John Doe is one of the last real deals. He’s got the voice and songs of a man standing with one foot in the Dustbowl and the other in the barroom. Doe also knows how to pick a band: Don Was, Smokey Hormel, Jill Sobule, and Patty Griffin all keep perfect musical company. “Keeper” — along with the rest of John Doe’s solo catalog — is a textbook lesson in how to keep your punk roots and integrity intact long after you’ve made your last stage dive.

WATCH John Doe perform “Little Tiger” live at the Bing Lounge.

Is it a blessing or a curse to know the way you’re gonna go? Glen Campbell knows. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Campbell has decided to write his farewell while he’s able. Like Warren Zevon, who wrote his own epitaph with “The Wind” (released two weeks before his death in 2003), “Ghost on the Canvas” brings Campbell’s friends, fans, and contemporaries into the studio one last time.

Unsurprisingly, this album hangs together more coherently than his 2008 comeback, “Meet Glen Campbell.” It also contains five originals (his last album was all covers) that sit neatly beside songs from Paul Westerberg, Teddy Thompson, and Jakob Dylan and a series of instrumental passages from Jellyfish founder Roger Manning, Jr. It’s a bittersweet affair, no doubt about it. But the album is a blessing even without the subtext. “Ghost on the Canvas” is a memorable final stand.

WATCH Glen Campbell discuss his career and new album.

I’ll admit that I got off the k.d. lang train a long time ago. Starting with 1997′s “Drag,” lang’s albums got a little too precious (and borderline schmaltzy) for my taste. “Sing It Loud” (released in April) has made me a believer again. Thanks to former Guster multi-instrumentalist Joe Pisapia, k.d. lang has left the lounge for the bar. The album grooves, swings, and rocks without a net or a note of self-consciousness. Listen to the Stones-drenched “Sugar Buzz” — it will make the hair on your neck stand up and make you raise your lighter.

WATCH k.d. lang perform “Sugar Buzz” live at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge.

Bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley is closing in on 90 years and as he says, “Nobody sings like I do.” That’s an understatement. Known to latecomers as the signature voice behind the 2000 film soundtrack “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” Stanley’s singing and banjo-picking have defined American bluegrass since the 1940s. His April 2011 album, “A Mother’s Prayer,” is a collection of old-time gospel music straight from the mountains. It’ll make you a believer and will make you wonder who on earth will ever keep this music alive as much a Dr. Ralph Stanley has.

WATCH a video preview for Ralph Stanley’s “A Mother’s Prayer.”

Ralph Stanley: A Mother’s Prayer Video Preview from Rebel Records on Vimeo.

Maybe I was just burned out on experimentalism when “Degeneration Street” was released in February. Now I’m ready. The Montreal band, fronted by the crazily charismatic singer Murray Lightburn, is full of grandiosity and dark themes. In the hands of amateurs, the 14 songs would be insufferable. Played by the Dears, this album is a glimpse into the future fueled by hazy dreams of a psychedelic past. Play it in your Bon Iver and TV on the Radio shuffle mix.

WATCH the Dears perform “Tiny Man” live at Guitar Center.

I’m a sucker for husband-wife duos (I keep trying persuade my wife to start a band with me), so I’m mortified that the Submarines’ 2011 release got by me. Along with fellow Nettwerk label-mates The Weepies, the Submarines make infectious pop music that’s super-smart without being super-smug. Singer-songwriter Blake Hazard is apparently the great-granddaughter of F. Scott Fitzgerald. That’s gotta be good for songwriter cred. With “Love Notes/Letter Bombs,” they have their eye on the commercial prize more than with their 2008 release, “Honeysuckle Rose.” The Submarines may have lost some quaintness, but they’re a welcome addition to the Hit Parade.

WATCH the music video for the Submarines’ single “Fire.”

The Rhode Island band continues their Americana journey with this February release. Recorded in an abandoned pasta sauce factory (you heard me), “Smart Flesh” occupies the same space as the Avett Brothers and their manic English cousins Mumford & Sons, but the Low Anthem keep the floorboards turned up in the mix. The pasta sauce factory sounds more like Big Pink, and the arrangements hang together by a wool thread. “Smart Flesh” is beautifully naked music.

WATCH the music video for the Low Anthem’s single “Ghost Woman Blues.”