OK, show of hands: Was your favorite album produced within the past three years? Didn’t think so. But you used to love music, right? You could recite the Top 40 as fast as your phone number. You were the Mix-Tape Queen. Then life got in the way, and you woke up one day to discover your go-to tunes were considered — oh, the horror! — “classic hits.” As for exploring other genres, who has time?

To help you catch up with hardly any effort at all, music authorities compiled their top classics and their best-loved new albums in several different music categories for Real Simple (see the following pages for their lists). Get the Real Simple iMix on iTunes , and then share your top picks in any genre by posting a comment.

Pop

“God Only Knows,” the Beach Boys

“New Kid in Town,” the Eagles

“Smile,” Lily Allen

“Over My Head (Cable Car),” the Fray

Rock

“Wild Horses,” the Rolling Stones

“London Calling,” the Clash

“Flathead,” the Fratellis

“Three More Days,” Ray LaMontagne

Alternative

“Man on the Moon,” R.E.M.

“I Will Dare,” the Replacements

“Crazy,” Gnarls Barkley

“The Greatest,” Cat Power

R&B

“Kansas City,” James Brown

“Try a Little Tenderness,” Otis Redding

“Ordinary People,” John Legend

“Put Your Records On,” Corinne Bailey Rae

Hip-Hop

“I Know You Got Soul,” Eric B. and Rakim

“Doo Wop (That Thing),” Lauryn Hill

“Mr. Me Too,” Clipse

“Long Time,” the Roots

Country

“Ring of Fire,” Johnny Cash

“Portland, Oregon,” Loretta Lynn

“Lessons Learned,” Carrie Underwood

“Time Well Wasted,” Brad Paisley

Folk

“Boots of Spanish Leather,” Bob Dylan

“Highway Song,” Aztec Two Step

“Box of Rain,” Sloan Wainwright

“Requiem,” Eliza Gilkyson

Singer-Songwriters

“Suzanne,” Leonard Cohen

“River,” Joni Mitchell

“Killjoy,” the Czars

“Three Cornered Moon,” Eric Matthews

Jazz

“Yes or No,” Wayne Shorter

“A Love Supreme,” John Coltrane

“Paranoid Android,” Brad Mehldau

“All at Sea,” Jamie Cullum