The Polydor Years is an eight-disc box set that gathers up all of the classic rock legends' output for the label that was released between 1986 and 1992. Included are the studio albums The Other Side of Life, Sur La Mer, and Keys to the Kingdom (all of which have been remastered and stocked with bonus material), as well as a previously unissued live show from 1986, 1993's Night at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony parts one and two, and a pair of DVDs that chronicle the aforementioned Red Rocks show.

Hard bopper Carmell Jones is in fine form on this 1965 outing, Jay Hawk Talk. Together with tenor Jimmy Heath, pianist Barry Harris, bassist George Tucker, and drummer Roger Humphries, Jones confidently tackles a half-dozen tunes. From the piano/bass riff at the beginning of "Jay Hawk Talk" to the Parker-esque kickoff of "Beepdurple," the band holds a steady, driving groove. Both of those instrumentals, plus "Dance of the Night Child," were written by Jones and stand comfortably beside the other selections on this album. Tucker kicks off a particularly affecting version of "Willow Weep for Me," with a simple descending bass run. Jones enters with a full and rich tone for a beautiful, extended solo, and is followed by Harris, who emphasizes the bluesy, late-night feel of the piece…

Abandoning the lovely soundscapes of Snow Goose, Camel delved into layered guitar and synthesizers similar to those of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here on the impressive Moonmadness. Part of the reason behind the shift in musical direction was the label's insistence that Camel venture into more commercial territory after the experimental Snow Goose, and it is true that the music on Moonmadness is more akin to traditional English progressive rock, even though it does occasionally dip into jazz-fusion territory with syncopated rhythms and shimmering keyboards. Furthermore, the songs are a little more concise and accessible than those of its predecessor. That doesn't mean Camel has abandoned art. Moonmadness is indeed a concept album, based loosely on the personalities of each member - "Chord Change" is Peter Bardens, "Air Born" is Andy Latimer, "Lunar Sea" is Andy Ward and "Another Night" is Doug Ferguson…

This double CD from Schütze maintains the high standards of previous releases, with one disc tending toward a kind of delicate techno jazz, and the other moving into a twilight ambient world of slow-motion musical gestures and elusive melodic fragments. Schütze's prior experience as a film composer serves him well; he is a master at creating moods, and rather exceptional in his use of musical resources, refusing to limit himself to a particular instrumental palette or style. On the more ambient disc of the two, one of the four pieces is firmly in the Brian Eno/Steve Roach mode (and as lovely as anything produced by those two artists), while another piece is much closer to the industrial genre, with an austere combination of both organic and machine-like drones, and delicate, random chime tones with occasional clicking sounds…

Alice Cooper wasted little time following up the breakthrough success of Love It to Death with another album released the same year, Killer. Again, producer Bob Ezrin was on board and helps the group solidify their heavy rock (yet wide-ranging) style even further. The band's stage show dealt with the macabre, and such disturbing tracks as "Dead Babies" and the title track fit in perfectly. Other songs were even more exceptional, such as the perennial barnstorming concert standard "Under My Wheels," the melodic yet gritty "Be My Lover," and the tribute to their fallen friend Jim Morrison, "Desperado." The long and winding "Halo of Flies" correctly hinted that the band would be tackling more complex song structures on future albums, while "You Drive Me Nervous" and "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" showed that Alice Cooper hadn't completely abandoned their early garage rock direction…

The mysterious Seasick Steve does indeed offer a brand of "cheap" juke joint blues on this album. Not that it's badly recorded at all; it's just rather skeletal and rough, Steve fronting a core trio of himself on electric guitar, "Mr. Joe H." on stand-up bass, and "Mr. Kai C." on drums. In the 1990s and early 21st century, this is the kind of raw juke joint stuff that underwent a revival, or at least was recorded far more often than it had been, both by oldsters and youngsters. Seasick Steve's somewhere in the middle of that age range, and while what he devises is acceptable and certainly gritty, it would have been more ear-catching had it come out ten years or so earlier, before other people did similar stuff (and sometimes did it better). The songs are basic, repetitive, and slightly grungy, Steve singing in a lived-in, scratchy, at times mumbly voice that might slightly remind you of Tom Waits and Dr. John at times…

When this album was recorded in February of 1961, it had been more than year since the Portrait in Jazz was issued, the disc that won the critics over. By the time of this issue, Evans had released four albums in six years, a pace unheard of during that time. Most musicians were issuing two, three, and even four records a year during the same era. Many speculate on Evans' personal problems at the time, but the truth of the matter lies in the recordings themselves, and Explorations proves that the artist was worth waiting for no matter what else was going on out there. Evans, with Paul Motian and Scott LaFaro, was onto something as a trio, exploring the undersides of melodic and rhythmic constructions that had never been considered by most. For one thing, Evans resurrects a number of tunes that had been considered hopelessly played out, and literally reinvents them - "How Deep Is the Ocean" and "Sweet and Lovely"…

This is a recording from an historical event. On May 14th 1977 there was a Gong festival in the Hippodrome in Paris. 14 hours of Gong in several line-ups and several related bands. Among the bands appearing most notably one named Strontium 90, consisting of Andy Summers (lead guitar), Sting (vocals and rhythm guitar), Stewart Copeland (drums) and Mike Howlett (bass). If someone says "wait a moment, that's Police", yes, you are right. The roots of police stem from this band. A fact hardly anyone knows. Some of the band members had played in several other line-ups of Gong or in solo acts before this final Gong concert, and this can most notably be heard in the performance of Pieere Moerlen on drums. Not that he is bad, but one has heard more lively drumming of him.This is especially notable on "Master Builder"…

For the third time, Blank & Jones take a journey to the depths of the archives of the '80 and offer up a tracklist full of surprises and exclusives. This triple CD deluxe set is a virtual non-stop mix featuring remastered and uncut rare mixes and extended versions. The booklet contains commentary from Blank & Jones on all of the tracks plus pictures of the original 12" single sleeves. Features tracks from INXS, Visage, Duran Duran, OMD, the Cure, Billy Idol, Simple Minds, Real Life and many others.

French metalcore titans LANDMVRKS have officially released their long-awaited new album, The Darkest Place I've Ever Been, out now everywhere via Arising Empire. The record delivers a crushing blend of raw emotion and relentless energy, marking the band’s darkest and most personal chapter to date.
The album explores themes of loss, inner turmoil, and existential struggle - all wrapped in LANDMVRKS’ signature mix of metalcore, hardcore, and post-metal influences.

The tragically short life of British folksinger Nick Drake left behind some of the most hauntingly beautiful music of its kind, with Drake's softly heartbroken voice guiding his songs to transcendent places over the course of just three classic, near-perfect studio albums. Virtually unknown during his life, Drake's songs have been perpetually reborn in the decades following his mysterious death in 1974. With each new generation that discovers or rediscovers his songs, there have been subsequent repackagings of his minute back catalog, and by the time of Tuckbox, one of several comprehensive discography compilations, the vaults have been combed pretty thoroughly for unreleased material to pad the studio albums. Tuckbox offers more of the same, its 71 tracks including the entirety of classic records Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon, as well as a bevy of tracks recorded before and after the periods that produced his studio work…

To My Queen is Walt Dickerson's crowning achievement, a perfect balance between his intellectually advanced concepts and deeply felt passion. Dickerson had always displayed a fertile imagination, but there hadn't been much indication that his vision could be as expansive as it was on To My Queen. Never before had he attempted such extended, freely structured performances, which makes the album's consistency and focus all the more impressive. Like the foreground of a canvas, the listener's attention naturally falls on the title cut, a side-long, 17-and-a-half-minute opus (written in tribute to his wife, Elizabeth) that became Dickerson's signature piece. It's deliberate, spare, and tender, with the soloists accompanied by either a gentle swing or the barest hints of support…

In the '70s, drummer Alan White was among the Yes members who recorded solo projects; the others included Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, and Rick Wakeman. Ramshackled, White's only solo album, was far from a huge seller, but some Yes fans bought it out of curiosity. Many of them were no doubt expecting to hear progressive rock, but this out of print LP is a long way from Relayer or Tales from Topographic Oceans. Instead, White turns his attention to blue-eyed soul-pop and, to a lesser degree, jazz fusion with erratic results. While the singing is unimpressive, some of the material is OK. "One Way Rag," "Giddy," and "Ooooh Baby" have more in common with Van Morrison than with Yes, King Crimson, or Genesis, and the jazz fusion instrumental "Avakak" might have worked on a CTI session of the early to mid-'70s.

The Orb virtually invented the electronic genre known as ambient house, resurrecting slower, more soulful rhythms and providing a soundtrack for early-morning ravers once the clubs closed their doors. Frontman Dr. Alex Paterson's formula was quite simple: he slowed down the rhythms of classic Chicago house and added synth work and effects inspired by '70s ambient pioneers Brian Eno and Tangerine Dream. To make the whole a bit more listenable - as opposed to danceable - obscure vocal samples were looped, usually providing a theme for tracks that lacked singing. The group popularized the genre by appearing on the British chart show Top of the Pops and hitting number one in the U.K. with the 1992 album U.F.Orb. The Orb managed to remain signed to Island Records throughout the '90s, even as they were releasing some of their most challenging work (Pomme Fritz, Orbus Terrarum)…

The Wild Life box set is three CDs and includes a remarkably generous selection of audio - 25 bonus tracks including rough mixes of the album, original single edits, B-sides, home recordings and other previously unreleased material. The packaging looks consistent with the last few, so what you have is a slipcase into which slot a few books. The "main" book is a 128-page tome written by David Fricke which tells the story of the album etc., but there is also a 48-page scrapbook of tour diaries (from the 1972 tour), lyrics, setlists, unpublished polaroids and the like.
The irony of the first Wings album is that it seems more domesticated than Ram, feeling more like a Paul McCartney 'n' Linda effort than that record. Perhaps it's because this album is filled with music that's defiantly lightweight - not just the cloying cover of "Love Is Strange" but two versions apiece of songs called "Mumbo" and "Bip Bop"…