Kiss Rooted in the campy theatrics of Alice Cooper and the sleazy hard rock of glam rockers the New York Dolls, Kiss became a favorite of American teenagers in the '70s. Most kids were infatuated with the look of Kiss, not their music. Decked out in outrageously flamboyant costumes and makeup, the band fashioned a captivating stage show featuring dry ice, smoke bombs, elaborate lighting, blood spitting, and fire breathing that captured the imaginations of thousands of kids. But Kiss' music shouldn't be dismissed – it is a commercially potent mix of anthemic, fist-pounding hard rock driven by sleek hooks and ballads powered by loud guitars, earworm melodies, and sweeping strings. It's a sound that laid the groundwork for both arena rock and the pop-metal that dominated rock in the late '80s.

Originally a progressive rock group, Europe didn't achieve success until they reworked their sound into bombastic yet melodic pop-metal. In their first incarnation, the Swedish band was called Force. Featuring core members Joey Tempest (vocals), John Norum (guitar), Tony Reno (drums), and John Leven (bass), the band won a national talent contest in the early '80s, which led to a record contract.

Originally a progressive rock group, Europe didn't achieve success until they reworked their sound into bombastic yet melodic pop-metal. In their first incarnation, the Swedish band was called Force. Featuring core members Joey Tempest (vocals), John Norum (guitar), Tony Reno (drums), and John Leven (bass), the band won a national talent contest in the early '80s, which led to a record contract.

Madonna changed the trajectory of popular music not long after "Borderline" became her first Top Ten hit in 1984. Fusing post-disco dance with effervescent pop, the song was unexpected and fresh, a trick that soon became her signature. Over a career that lasted for decades, Madonna ushered underground sounds into the mainstream, specializing in trends percolating in dance clubs. As she arrived at the dawn of the MTV era, she seized the possibilities of music videos, creating a series of sexy, stylish clips that earned her the reputation of a provocateur while also establishing the network as the bastion for hip culture in the 1980s. Madonna recorded many of the pop anthems that defined that decade – "Like a Virgin," "Material Girl," "Live to Tell," "Papa Don't Preach," "Open Your Heart," "Like a Prayer," "Express Yourself" – and in the process she created the archetype of a modern pop star: one whose music was inextricably tied with its visual representation, and one who was loathe to trade upon past glories.

Here is the Band Captured on their 25th Anniversary Tour (With the Original Mkii Lineup for Ardent Fans) Live in Birmingham, England. This Performance is the Same Concert that was Featured on the Dvd Presentation "Come Hell Or High Water". Just a Few Nights Later and Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore Would Desert this Monumental Reunion Tour, Never to Return to the Band Again. Thus, this Concert is to Be Held all the More Dear by Longtime Fans, as the Band was Tight and Consistently Hit their Marks on this Night. Drummer Ian Paice was Heard to Say "it Works Extremely Well Or it Doesn't Work at All". It Really Worked this Night!

STUNNING TRIPLE DISC SET FEATURING THE FINEST BROADCAST RECORDINGS MADE DURING ROBERT PLANT S LENGTHY CAREER Born in 1948, Robert Plant s best-known role has been as the Rock-God frontman of Led Zeppelin between 1968 and 1980. But Plant s musical career both before and, more significantly, after Zep has been intriguing, and this 3-CD Set now celebrates all eras of Bob Plant s trajectory by bringing together live and studio broadcast recordings, as a solo-artist, as part of the Page & Plant Duo, and as main-man in Led Zeppelin. Kicking off with a solo-show, on DISC ONE Plant s astonishing set at Glastonbury Festival in 1993 is often hailed as Robert s finest ever solo-performance, and is presented here in all its complete glory. DISC TWO features an extraordinary gig Bob, alongside his old mucker, Jimmy Page, played together under their Page & Plant moniker, at the Bizarre Festival in Koln, Germany in 1998, while the set concludes on DISC THREE with a real treat. Eighteen Tracks that Led Zeppelin recorded for the BBC in 1969, all of which were broadcast by the BEEB at the time, when Led Zep were but a little known new blues band, playing the London circuit.

Live at the Apollo is a Blues album by B.B. King and the Phillip Morris "Super Band" recorded at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. It was awarded the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.

The last of the major Motown groups to receive proper box-set treatment, the Four Tops in a sense got the best of the bunch, since this tells a ripping history while providing a cornucopia of rarities.

David Oistrakh is considered the premiere violinist of mid-20th century Soviet Union. His recorded legacy includes nearly the entire standard violin repertory up to and including Prokofiev and Bartók. Oistrakh's violin studies began in 1913 with famed teacher Pyotr Stolyarsky. Later he officially joined Stolyarsky's class at the Odessa Conservatory, graduating in 1926 by playing Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto. Performances of the Glazunov concerto in Odessa and Kiev in 1927, and a 1928 debut in Leningrad (Tchaikovsky concerto), gave Oistrakh the confidence to move to Moscow. He made his premiere there in early 1929, but the event went largely unnoticed. In 1934, however, after several years of patiently refining his craft, Oistrakh was invited to join the Moscow Conservatory, eventually rising to the rank of full professor in 1939.

Tool established themselves as one of America's most enduring and unpredictable acts with an ever-evolving brand of muscular but mind-altering sonics, a wry sense of humor, and a mystical aesthetic that attracted a cult-like following of devoted fans with just a handful of albums spread across decades. Their greatest breakthrough was to meld dark underground metal with the ambition of art rock, crafting multi-sectioned, layered songs as if they were classical composers. While embracing the artsy, they also paid musical homage to the relentlessly bleak visions of grindcore, death metal, and thrash. Even with their post-punk influences, they executed their music with the sound and feel of prog rock, alternating between long, detailed instrumental interludes and lyrical rants in their songs.

Don Heffington was a musician's musician. Starting his professional career in the late 70s and early 80s as a part of Emmylou Harris' Hot Band and seminal alt-country pioneers Lone Justice, Heffington went on to a session career that included work with Bob Dylan, Dwight Yoakam, The Jayhawks, Dave Alvin, The Wallflowers, and many, many more.
Heffington was also a prolific songwriter, and here, his colleagues and friends pay loving tribute to those songs in a benefit for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund (Heffington passed away in 2021 from Leukemia). Artists such as Jackson Browne, Fiona Apple, Buddy Miller, Dave Alvin, Watkins Family Hour, Peter Case, and others interpret Don's quirky songs. In the words of Jackson Browne: "I think of (Don) as inhabiting the same Los Angeles as Warren Zevon, Lowell George and Tom Waits.”

Albert King’s 1999 live album In Session with Stevie Ray Vaughan is now available in its entirely for the first time on 3-LP, 2-CD and Digital. Recorded live for television at CHCH-TV studios in Ontario, Canada in 1983, this is the only known recording of Vaughan and King playing together. Also featured are Tony Llorens (piano/organ), Gus Thornton (bass), and Michael Llorens (drums). This deluxe edition features the audio debut of “Born Under A Bad Sign,” “Texas Flood,” and “I’m Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town,” and has been newly remastered by Paul Blakemore.

In the midst of a scorching European tour in 1959, Gerry Mulligan appeared with the Night Lights band at the peak of their powers. Released in conjunction with the Mulligan Estate, this set of recordings has never before been officially issued. Mastered and cut from the original tape transfers by Kevin Gray, it features a newly designed sleeve with rare tour photograph and words from original bassist Bill Crow.

Initially released in 2008, Grace Jones' tenth studio album, Hurricane, was an appropriately titled whirlwind of dub rock, reggae, industrial electro, and trip-hop which effortlessly re-established her status as pop's premier avant-garde diva following two decades in the musical wilderness.

American folk icon Melanie teamed up with Dutch guitar legend and founder of art rock troupe Focus Jan Akkerman for this one-of-a-kind concert performance in 1988! This previously unreleased performance was professionally recorded at a music festival in the Netherlands and features some unique and astounding versions of classics from Melanie's vast catalog of songs! Includes in-depth liner notes from Melanie manager Dave Thompson based on exclusive interviews conducted with her just last year!