There's a lot of big music hitting stores this week, but the hottest new release of the batch doesn't feature a single note.

Jay-Z strips The Black Album down to the bare essentials, throwing out the samples and sounds and focusing on just his lyrics for the a cappella version. Though it hits the stores officially this week, it has been on the streets for months, fueling creations like Danger Mouse's The Grey Album (see "Remixers Turn Jay-Z's Black Album Grey, White And Brown").

Garage-rock quartet Division of Laura Lee aim to ensure fans haven't forgotten the Swedish Invasion as they release Das Not Compute, the follow-up to 2002's Black City, which was released in the midst of a barrage of albums by Swedish rock outfits.

If you judge an album by it's title, Killswitch Engage's The End of Heartache might imply a departure from the band's metal sounds and a move toward monster ballads, and Seven Mary Three's sixth studio album, Dis/Location, might find the band departing from its usual alt-rock sound. But don't count on either one.

Out Tuesday, May 11:

  • A-Wax & Baby Bash - So Quick ... Like a Heist (40 Ounce)
  • Arild Andersen - The Triangle (ECM)
  • Another Damn Disappointment - Hooligan (Volcom)
  • Beelow - Beelow Presents: Thugz Gone Wild (CD/DVD combo, Ark 21)
  • Clarence Bucaro - Sense of Light (Rounder)
  • Shirley Caesar - Every Day Is Mother's Day (Liquid 8)
  • Cans - Beyond the Gates (Sanctuary/Noise)
  • Vinicius Cantuaria - Horse and Fish (Bar/None)
  • Carolina Road - The Road That Took You There (CMH)
  • Charalambides - Joy Shapes (Kranky)
  • Popa Chubby - Peace, Love & Respect (Blind Pig)
  • Lloyd Cole - Plastic Wood(One Little Indian)
  • Jamie Cullum - Twentysomething (Verve)
  • Detroit Grand Pubas - Galactic A** Creatures From Uranus (Poker Flat)
  • Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Funeral for a Friend (Ropeadope/Artemis)
  • Division of Laura Lee - Das Not Compute (Burning Heart)
    Read: "Sweden's Division Of Laura Lee Reboot With Das Not Compute"
    Buy Now: Das Not Compute (Burning Heart)
  • Dragonforce - Sonic Firestorm (Sanctuary/Noise)
  • Effcee - Perfect (two CDs, Hypnotic/Cleopatra)
  • Filthee Immigrants - Filthee Immigrants (Thump)
  • Steve Forbert - Just Like There's Nothing to It (Koch)
  • The Frank and Joe Show - 33 1/3 (Hyena)
  • Donavon Frankenreiter - Donavon Frankenreiter (Universal)
  • Gift of Gab - Fourth Dimensional Rocketships Going Up (Quannum)
  • The Girls - The Girls (Dirtnap)
  • Gone Without Trace - Gone Without Trace (Thorp)
  • Great Deceiver - Terra Incognito (Peaceville)
  • Great White - A Double Dose (Deadline)
  • Hint Hint - Young Days (Suicide Squeeze)
  • Jay-Z - The Black Album (A Cappella) (Def Jam)
    Buy Now: The Black Album (A Cappella) (Def Jam)
  • The Judas Cradle - Too Bad They're All Dead (Eulogy)
  • Killswitch Engage - The End of Heartache (Roadrunner)
  • Lil' Flip - U Gotta Feel Me: Chopped & Screwed (Sucka Free/Columbia)
  • Loscil - First Narrows (Kranky)
  • The Marked Men - On the Outside (Dirtnap)
  • Teena Marie - La Dona (Universal)
  • Matches - E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals (Epitaph)
  • Lori McKenna - Bittertown (Signature Sounds)
  • Helen Merrill - Lilac Wine (Sunnyside)
  • Minus the Bear - Bands Like It When You Yell "YAR" at Them (EP, Suicide Squeeze)
  • Mountain Heart - Force of Nature (Skaggs Family)
  • Maura O'Connell - Don't I Know (Sugar Hill)
  • Evan Parker/Electro-Acoustic Ensemble - Memory/Vision (ECM)
  • Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers - Keepin' It Real (Blind Pig)
  • Craig Pruess - Language of Love: Music for the Kama Sutra (Artemis)
  • The Real Tuesday Weld - I, Lucifer (Six Degrees)
  • Rhythm of Black Lines - Human Hand, Animal Band (GSL)
  • Pete Rock - Soul Survivor II (BBE/Rapster)
  • Louis Sclavis - Napoli's Walls (ECM)
  • John Scofield - EnRoute (Verve)
  • Seven Mary Three - Dis/Location (DRT)
  • Sloan - Action Pact (reissue, Koch)
  • Spit for Athena - Extermina (Eyeball)
  • Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Suspended Night(ECM)
  • Teargas & Plateglass - Teargas & Plateglass (Lakeshore)
  • Thornley - Come Again (Roadrunner)
  • Tonemasters - Goin' With the Flow (Blues Leaf)
  • Marshall Tucker Band - Beyond the Horizon (Ramblin'/Shout! Factory)
  • U.S. Roughnecks - Twenty Bucks and Two Black Eyes (Hellcat)
  • Unicorns - The Unicorns 2014 (EP, Suicide Squeeze)
  • Ben Vitamin - Bohemia (Nardis/Liquid 8)
  • We Ragazzi - Wolves With Pretty Lips (Suicide Squeeze)
  • Jody Williams - You Left Me in the Dark (Evidence)
  • Various artists - Creole Bred: A Tribute to Creole & Zydeco (Vanguard)
  • Various artists - Dancehall Xplosion 2004 (two CDs, Jam Down)
  • Various artists - Guitar Tribute to 40 Years of the Beatles (Tribute Sounds)
  • Various artists - Parkinsong Volume One: 38 Songs of Hope (Rykodisc)
  • Various artists - Reggae Xplosion 2004 (two CDs, Jam Down)
  • Various artists - Smooth Sax Tribute to Earth, Wind & Fire (Tribute Sounds)
  • Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to Creed (Vitamin)
  • Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to George Strait (Vitamin)
  • Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to Good Charlotte (Vitamin)
  • Various artists - This Is Rave 6.0: From Dusk Til Dawn (three CDs, Hypnotic/Cleopatra)
  • Various artists - A Tribute to The Darkness (Big Eye)
  • Various artists - A Tribute to Ruben Studdard (Big Eye)
  • Various artists - A Tribute to the Misfits (Anarchy)
  • Various artists - A Tribute to Tupac Shakur (Tribute Sounds)
  • DVD: Disco Donnie - Rise: The Story of Rave Outlaw Disco Donnie (Music Video Distributors)
  • DVD: Various artists - Skgrilla Vol. 1 (Radikal)

May 18:

May 25:

June 1:

  • Auf Der Maur - Auf Der Maur (Capitol)
  • Truth Hurts - Ready Now> (Pookie)

June 8:

June 22:

  • Mobb Deep - Amerikaz Nightmare (Jive)
  • Stevie Wonder - A Time 2 Love (Motown)