Enuff Z’nuff: Xtra Cherries (Cleopatra, CD). Amazingly, this is the 21st studio album for the melodic hard rockers, who are led by singer-bassist-guitarist Chip Z’nuff. The extra cherries this time are special guest stars, including Cheap Trick's Robin Zander, original Journey vocalist Robert Fleischman, current Journey guitarist Neal Schon, Guns N’ Roses drummer Steve Adler, slide guitarist Gunnar Nelson of the band Nelson and guitarist Steve Stevens of Billy Idol fame.

The Blue Island, IL band, which also includes Jason Camino (rhythm and lead guitars), Luis Kalil (lead and rhythm guitars) and Chris Densky of Genitorturers (drums), has created another hook-filled collection of songs, with the usual heavy influence of Cheap Trick and The Beatles. The 11 tracks contain the band’s soaring vocal harmonies, hook choruses and memorable melodies.

The closing track, “Shine,” features Fleischman, Schon and Enuff Z’nuff’s original lead vocalist/guitarist/co-founder Donnie Vie on piano. Also, late original guitarist Derek Frigo, who passed in 2004, makes an appearance thanks to an old demo of “You Make Me Wanna Lie,” which also features a new vocal by Zander.

Surprisingly, the album opens with the slower, piano-based “Heartbeat.” But after that, it becomes explosive, starting with the Cheap Trick-ish “No Cold Feeling,” which has a very Beatles touch and features guest guitarist Steve Brown of Trixter. Two other standouts are “Back to the Wall,” which also features some Beatles sounds, and the prerelease single “Heavy Metal,” featuring current Cheap Trick drummer Daxx Nielsen

Stevens plays on “Magnificent,” which shouts out to Superman, while “You Make Me Wanna Lie,” with Zander, mentions Cinderella and Sexy Sadie. A very nice number is “Sanibel Island (It’s Outta Control).”

The band’s reaches to 1973 for a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Star Star,” and closes the album with “Shine,” featuring ex-Journey vocalist Fleischman, current Journey guitarist Schon and ex-Enuff Z’nuff singer Donnie Vie on piano. Grade: B+

Bruce Dickinson: More Balls to Picasso (BMG, CD). This is a revamped reissue of Dickinson’s classic 1994 solo album, “Balls to Picasso,” expanded by unreleased studio live versions of the original album’s “Gods of War” and “Shoot All the Clowns” (10:19 total). The album also was reissued in 2005, with a whole disc of extra songs … none of which appear here. The album’s original issue came the year after vocalist Dickinson left British heavy metal band Iron Maiden in 1993, having served in the band since 1981. Dickinson rejoined Iron Maiden in 1999 and continues to record and perform with the band.

The album actually was Dickinson’s second solo effort. It marked the beginning of Dickinson's collaborations with guitarist Roy Z, who worked on many of his later albums, including “Tyranny of Souls,” and was recorded with Z’s band Tribe of Gypsies.

For this edition, the album is partly re-recorded, remixed by Brendan Duffey, (who worked on Dickinson’s recent “The Mandrake Project”), and newly mastered, reimagining the album as a fresh, contemporary release.

In a press release, Dickinson says, “While mixing all my catalogue into Dolby Atmos, I had a nagging desire to revisit and reinvent the record. So, putting more balls into ‘Balls …’ was a labor of love. Of course, we beefed up the guitars -- courtesy of our ‘Swedish shredder’ Philip Naslund and we added some really beautiful work by Adassi Addasi on ‘Tears …’ as well. Fellow Brazilian composer Antonio Teoli added some stunning orchestral arrangements, and in a unique contribution, added indigenous instruments from the Amazon (recorded by himself when he lived there!) at the beginning of ‘Gods of War’.”

The album opens with the heavy “Cyclops,” the longest track at 7:57. Powerful, strong and dark is “Hell No,” about starting life on his own. “Gods of War” deals with money invested in weapons, while “Change of Heart” is softer. There is a notable guitar solo on “Laughing in the Hiding Bush” – it was the original album name, the creation of his son Austin – and Dickinson does a rap in “Shoot All the Clowns,” which now features a horn section fronted by the Berklee College of Music.

“Fire” in blistering, while “Sacred Cowboys” is more melodic. The original album ends with its second longest track, “Tears of the Dragon” (6:26), which swells before turning soft. Grade: A

OneRepublic: The Collection (Mosely Music/Interscope/UMe, CD). This generous 16-song compilation sums up the nearly 20-year career of the band fronted by Ryan Tedder, who serves as songwriter, producer and lead vocalist. The band has had six studio albums since 2007.

This disc includes the hits, the bright “I Ain’t Worried” that invites one to sing along, the optimistic “Counting Stars,” about dreaming about who we can be, and “Apologize (Timbaland Mix).” There also are the anthems “Run,” which is breezy with whistling, “I Lived” and “Good Life.”

Also of note are the consistently bright, upbeat “Runaway,” featuring keyboards, “Love Runs Out” with its more pounding sound, the more reflective “Secrets,” the nice “Wherever I Go” and “If I love Myself,” which has a rave feel in spots. Grade: A-