Platinum

Miranda Lambert is known for being a renegade, unafraid to let it all hang out—and this is probably her loosest album of all. She makes Platinum a party, opening up her door to a host of talented friends, including Little Big Town on the slow-rolling, R&B-flavored "Smokin' and Drinkin'" and Carrie Underwood on the blues-rocking roof-raiser "Somethin' Bad." And whether she's delivering a honky-tonk ode to aging, like "Gravity Is a B**ch," or the wry, folky anthem of anachronism "Old Shit," Lambert sounds supremely comfortable in her own skin.