The Black Crowes [ tickets ] deliver “Lions” (V2) this week, their first new studio release since 1999’s “By Your Side.” “Lickin’,” the album’s latest single, is making a splash at radio, and is up two spots to No. 12 on trade publication Radio & Records’ national rock airplay chart.

A streaming-audio sample of “Lickin’” and a streaming-video sample of the group’s video for the track “Miracle to Me” are both available on the band’s official website.

The Crowes have lined up a number of high-profile appearances to help launch “Lions,” including a Monday night (5/7) appearance by frontman Chris Robinson on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”; a release-day (5/8) band appearance on “The Howard Stern Show” radio program; and a Thursday night (5/10) performance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

The Georgia-based band spent late April and early May hitting the Southern festival circuit, and is set to kick off a co-headlining tour with Oasis on Friday night (5/11) in Las Vegas.

On May 14, the veteran rockers--who first rose to prominence with their multi-platinum 1990 debut “Shake Your Money Maker”--will be inducted into the Hollywood Rockwalk, according to their official website.

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“Bridge” (A&M/Interscope) the latest from Blues Traveler [ tickets ], surfaces this week, amidst an already-underway tour in support of the album. The album is the follow-up to 1997’s “Straight on Till Morning.”

As noted in a label press release about the album, “Bridge” comes in the wake of “changes in the band’s lineup” and “changes in the band’s appearance.” On the lineup front, original bassist Bobby Sheehan died of a drug overdose in 1999, and has since been replaced by Tad Kinchla, brother of the group’s guitarist, Chan. On the appearance front, characteristically obese frontman John Popper had his stomach stapled, and has since dropped well over 100 pounds.

Blues Traveler has a non-stop string of headlining and radio-festival tour dates scheduled through June 3, and is also set to perform its annual July 4 show at Colorado’s famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

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Paul McCartney offers up “Wingspan” (Capitol) this week, a 2-CD collection of his work with Wings, the group he fronted during much of the '70s. The compilation houses 40 songs that total a 151-minute playing time.

The collection’s first disc, dubbed "Hits," contains 18 tracks, 17 of which over one million copies each as singles. Among the tracks found on the first disc are “Band on the Run,” “Live and Let Die” and “Silly Love Songs.” The second disc, dubbed “History,” contains 22 less commercially successful tracks, including “The Lovely Linda”--an ode to McCartney’s late wife, who died of breast cancer in 1998--and “Maybe I’m Amazed.”

On Friday night, (5/11) ABC-TV will broadcast “Wingspan,” a film that “candidly reveals how Paul and Linda tried to raise a young family and front a new band against the handicaps of battling the Beatles, pot busts by police and bans by the BBC,” according to a press release.

Audio and video medleys of “Wingspan”-related music--as well as detailed information about the release and a transcript of an interview with Paul McCartney--can be found at the album’s official website.

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David Byrne's “Look Into the Eyeball” marks the former Talking Heads frontman’s first album since 1997's “Feelings,” and his first release for Virgin Records. A month-long North American tour in support of the album is set to kick-off in Toronto on Tuesday (5/8), according to Byrne’s official website.

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The seemingly never-ending stream of posthumous Jimi Hendrix releases continues to flow with this week’s “Voodoo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection” (UTV). The 2-CD set features one disc of studio tracks and one disc of live cuts. Detailed information is available at Hendrix’s official website.

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Red House Records offers up “A Nod to Bob” this week, a 14-track Bob Dylan tribute that features covers by Eliza Gilkyson, Guy Davis, Cliff Eberhardt, John Gorka and Spider John Koerner.

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This soundtrack for the film “Songcatcher” features songs from a lengthy roster of country music’s best known women, including Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Patty Loveless, Roseanne Cash and more.

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The soundtrack for “Moulin Rouge”--a forthcoming film starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan MacGregor--features the vocal stylings of Kidman and MacGregor, as well as some more bankable musical talent. Christina Aguilera, Pink and Mya collaborate on one track, Bono, Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer on another, and additional tracks feature Beck, David Bowie and Jose Feliciano.