While such albums as 1980's Permanent Waves and 1981Moving Pictures are usually considered Rush's masterpieces (and with good reason), 1978's Hemispheres is easily as deserving and acts as a hinge piece between the band's early hard rock material and more progressive later offerings. The album consists of four compositions (half are lengthy). The 18-minute-long "Cygnus X-1, Book II Hemispheres" is arguably the band's finest extended track, and a sequel to "Cygnus X-1" from the previous year's A Farewell to Kings. While the track's labyrinthine storyline isn't as comprehensible as "2112" was, it's much more consistent musically, twisting and turning through five different sections that contrast heavy rock sections against more sedate pieces…

One track already makes Nick Heyward's first solo LP after leaving Haircut 100 a must-hear. The breezy "Whistle Down the Wind" is among Heyward's most moving songs, a story of unrequited love with a "hello, hello, hope you're feeling fine" chorus that is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. Heyward sings the opening lines in a whispery tone, caressing the ears with the sweetness of his voice; when the tempo builds up, the track manages to simultaneously elevate and sadden the listener. "Whistle Down the Wind" is lush, hopelessly romantic pop that may have been too subtle for Top 40 radio in 1983. Although North of a Miracle doesn't strike those highs again, it's still just as charming and catchy as Heyward's finest Haircut 100 work. "When It Started to Begin" sounds a lot like Haircut 100, especially the chirpy horns, but much of North of a Miracle is more mature and introspective. "Blue Hat for a Blue Day" speaks of divorce with a deceptively cheerful beat, while the atmospheric "The Day It Rained Forever" is a wintry ballad with a palpable depth of emotion.

The Metallica Blacklist celebrates the 30th anniversary and enduring influence of the iconic Black Album, with one of the most ambitious projects ever conceived by the Metallica team: An unprecedented 50+ artists spanning an unbelievably vast range of genres, generations, cultures, continents and more, each contributing a unique interpretation of their favorite Black Album song. All profits from The Metallica Blacklist will be split evenly between the All Within My Hands Foundation and 50+ charities chosen by the artists who play on the album.

Whether in its original serial form in the 1940s, in the low-budget films of the 1950s, in the television series of the 1960s, or even in the overgrown re-imaginings for blockbuster movies in the 1970s and beyond, the science-fiction genre on film (and videotape) has always had something cheesy about it, and that is part of its appeal. Even when the technical wizards at director George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic are dreaming up the next Star Wars movie, there is, at heart, a sense of the earliest, silliest versions of the genre still present.

The year before Neil Young tracked 2002's meandering and sometimes draggy Are You Passionate?, he recorded some of the songs with his longtime backing band Crazy Horse, trying on the fit of the semi-soulful material with them before ultimately choosing to re-record with groove masters Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Seven-song album Toast consists of the long-shelved Crazy Horse sessions from 2001 and includes versions of four songs that materialized in different forms on Are You Passionate? as well as three previously unreleased outtakes.

John Eliot Gardiner - The Complete Recordings On Erato [64CDs Box Set] (2023)
EAC Rip | FLAC (tracks+.cue, log) | Run Time: 02:10:08:11 | 14.49 Gb
Genre: Classical | Label: Erato (Warner)

Authentic sound language for many eras with J. E. Gardiner
No living artist has won more Gramophone Awards than John Eliot Gardiner. "He proved that stylistic fidelity to sound is a moving feast," the Financial Times wrote about the British. Because at a time when original sound ensembles were still exclusively reserved for baroque music, Gardiner dared a step further and extended the practice to later eras. This edition, with its total of 64 CDs, covers a period of about two decades and presents the famous conductor in its entire artistic span: from the core repertoire with Monteverdi, Johann Sebastian Bach and other baroque composers to the 19th century Frenchmen revered by Gardiner for their sensuality, including Massenet, Bizet and Ravel. In its completeness, the edition is sure to be a worthy honour on the 80th birthday of this pioneer of historical performance practice..

Jeff Lorber reached his commercial peak with Private Passion, an album that has more to do with urban contemporary singing than it does with instrumental pop-jazz. Because it features R&B singers so prominently, Private Passion is a perfect example of what Lorber meant when, in 1998, he complained that the mid-'80s found him becoming "a sideman on my own records." In the 1990s, the keyboardist would return to giving himself a lot of solo space, but on Private Passion, Lorber the soloist/instrumentalist isn't the main attraction.

In his first American album, Antonio Carlos Jobim presents a dozen of his songs, each one destined to become a standard - an astounding batting average. Jobim, who claimed to have been out of practice at the time of the session, merely plays single notes on the piano with one hand, punctuated by chords now and then, sticking to his long, undulating melodies with a few passages of jazz improvisation now and then. Yet it is a lovely idea, not a gesture is wasted. Arranger Claus Ogerman unveils many of the trademarks that would define his Creed Taylor-produced albums with Jobim - the soaring, dying solo flute and spare, brooding unison string lines widening into lush harmony; flutes doubling on top of Jobim's piano chords - again with an exquisitely spare touch.

Esa-Pekka Salonen - The Complete Sony Recordings [61CDs Box Set] (2018)
EAC Rip | FLAC (tracks+.cue, log) | Run Time: 02:15:35:01 | 14.37 Gb
Genre: Classical | Label: Sony Classical

"Few artists are as multifaceted as Esa-Pekka Salonen not only in the way he combines his conducting success with his composing, but also in the scope of the repertoire that he has championed over the past 30 years and more. Esa-Pekka Salonen: The Complete Sony Recordings is the largest collection to date of the work of this vital figure in contemporary music-making.