Suzi Quatro was hardly the first Tough Girl in rock & roll – there were plenty of precursors, from Wanda Jackson and the Shangri-Las to Grace Slick and Janis Joplin – but Quatro codified a type of rock & roll woman who didn't exist before she took the stage, one who looked as tough as the guys and wasn't merely a singer but also an instrumentalist, the leader of the band who made the noise right along with the rest of the group. With her trademark leather jumpsuit and big bass guitar (which seemed even bigger given her diminutive stature of just five feet), Quatro created a new and potent image for women in rock, one that spoke of both strength and sexiness, and she became a major international star in the '70s, though it would take a while before she was as readily recognized in the United States as in the United Kingdom.

Peter Hammill has been at it for almost 40 years now, and yet, since the early 2000s, he has been on a new way up, creatively speaking. Clutch (2002) and Incoherence (2004), his previous two studio albums, had both hit high artistic marks, but that is only one of the main reasons why Singularity was so highly anticipated by the fans. It was also the Thin Man's first studio album since remastering his '70s LPs for EMI, his first since the re-formation of his old group, Van der Graaf Generator. Yet, most importantly, especially for a man of words like he is, it was his first studio release since his heart attack two years earlier. Were all the expectations generated by these "firsts" met? Surprisingly, yes. Singularity stands among Hammill's best albums of the past 25 years.

Over the course of several '60s albums on the Liberty subsidiary, Dolton, the Ventures became the most popular instrumental combo in the U.S.; they would later go on to international fame in the '70s and '80s as pop icons in Japan and Europe. Staying consistent with other globally appealing theme albums like The Ventures' Beach Party and Super Psychedelics, the band opt for a mod, go-go spin on 1966's Wild Things! Along with high-profile covers like "Wild Thing," "Summer in the City," and "The Work Song," some respectable originals like "Wild Trip," and "Fuzzy and Wild" are also included. With the aid of their fuzztone- friendly Mosrite guitars, the group keep things sufficiently grainy and hard-edged throughout; the occasional Farfisa organ, Peter Lorre impersonation ("Wild Thing"), and Martin Denny exotica flourish help balance out the mix. Later released on a See For Miles' two-fer with the Guitar Freakout album, Wild Things! might not compare to classic early releases like Surfing and In Space, but it still is a good bet for die-hard Ventures fans.

Monteverdi's seminal first opera tells the dramatic story from Ovid's Metamorphoses of the descent of Orfeo (Georg Nigl) into the underworld to recover his beloved wife Euridice (Roberta Invernizzi), who has died from a snake bite. In a new production for La Scala, based on a painting by Titian and directed by Robert Wilson, the opera receives a powerful and inspiring performance from a fine cast, the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala and Concerto Italiano under the much-admired Italian early music specialist, Rinaldo Alessandrini. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true surround sound.