A snapshot of some of the most anticipated records to expect in 2017.

This time last year, I knew David Bowie’s Blackstar would be at the top of 2016’s best albums. My expectations were exceeded despite, and because of, the fact that the album would double as the glam god’s unofficial eulogy, as Bowie passed less than a week after its worldwide release.

Last year, Prince, Leonard Cohen and other music notables also bid the world sudden farewells. Ramblin’ Jack Elliott recently told the Weekly, “Every time I looked up, a good musician had died.”

Here’s to 2017: Hopefully, it will be a year that Ramblin’ Jack will remember as the year these records were released, not a year when a lot of stars died.

The Flaming Lips, Oczy Mlody (Jan. 13)

Given song titles like “Should Be Unicorns” and “Witches and Wizards to Kill,” it’s easy to draw comparisons to some of the outfit’s cathartic psychedelic work like Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.

Cloud Nothings, Life Without Sound (Jan. 27)

Recorded under the leadership of producer John Goodmanson (Sleater-Kinney, Death Cab for Cutie) in El Paso, the guitars on the Cleveland group’s follow-up to Here and Nowhere Else will get louder.

Beck, TBD (November)

Not much info has surfaced yet, but longtime listeners love – or hate – that the multi-instrumental innovator has the ability to slide from genre to genre. Expect nothing like the restrained singer-songwriter Beck, whose somber folk dreamscapes lining 2014’s Morning Phase earned him a Grammy. The evidence appears as soon as the record’s first single, “Wow.”

Father John Misty, TBD (TBA)

J. Tillman recently reported that he’s completed a new full-length record, but there has yet to be an official release date announced. The former Fleet Fox drummer’s first two records under the Misty moniker deliver some of the greatest tunes, lyrically, of the past decade.

Fleet Foxes, Crack-Up (TBA)

It’s been five years since Fleet Foxes disbanded, but anyone who digs Fleet Foxes’ lush earthy harmonies and Beach Boys-style charm know that the band can still weave folk gold with frontman Robin Pecknold at the wheel.

Bruce Springsteen, TBA (TBA)

The past year featured some of the Boss’ longest shows to date, with many surpassing the four-hour mark. He also released his critically-acclaimed autobiography Born to Run. Not much is known about the still-untitled record, but he has described his forthcoming work as “more of a solo project.” The LP will be his first full-length studio album with all new content since Wrecking Ball in 2012.