Album of the Day

By the time of ILLUMINATIONS, Josh Groban already had a string of platinum-selling albums under his belt, so one might have expected the singer-songwriter to stick with the formula on his fifth studio collection. Instead, Groban decamped to San Francisco's Hyde Street Studios to work with noted rock and hip-hop producer Rick Rubin, and teamed with Semisonic’s Dan Wilson to pen half of these 13 tracks. While the Reprise collection's classically trained vocals, radio-friendly singles (“Hidden Away”) and foreign-language tracks (“Você Existe Em Mim”) will be familiar to fans, the album's surprisingly effective left turns (like a Nick Cave cover) make it one of the performer's most personal. Released 10 years ago today, the Top Ten hit ILLUMINATIONS illuminates one of contemporary pop's most gifted artists.