Alphaville’s greatest hits from 40 years of the band’s history, in completely new arrangements recorded with the German Film Orchestra of Babelsberg. Alphaville, Germany’s biggest synth-pop export and creator of the legendary 80s anthems “Big in Japan”, "Sounds like a Melody" and "Forever Young", has decided to go symphonic. The band is doing things on the grand scale and catapulting the band’s 40 years of greatest hits out of the orbit of synthesizers and rhythm machines into the world of the human sound machine, the symphony orchestra. "Eternally Yours" is more, much more, than a mere translation of the songs into the sound spectrum of a great orchestra. What it amounts to, rather, is a symbiosis of Marian Gold’s unique vocal capacities, the original Alphaville sound and the majestic power and rich timbres of the concert-hall-sized German Film Orchestra of Babelsberg.

The release of 2009's Endgame brings with it a startling realization: if first-generation thrash metal fans had been polled about which of the genre's "Big Four" - Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth - would prove to be the most resilient and consistently prolific over the next quarter century, the only sure-fire consensus would probably have been "well, anyone but Megadeth!" And yet, 12 studio albums and 150-plus songs later - more than any of the other three have managed - that's exactly what's come to pass. It hasn't been easy, and it's rarely been pretty along the way, but despite a few weak efforts, mostly self-inflicted controversy, and no end to verbal diarrhea, none of those other platinum-busting thrash titans have been as productive as Dave Mustaine's bunch - all of which stands as a testament to the man's stubborn drive to prolong Megadeth's career against all odds…

The short-lived Gerry Mulligan sextet of 1955-56 recorded three albums before disbanding. This LP features baritonist Mulligan, trumpeter Jon Eardley, valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer and Zoot Sims on tenor performing such songs as "Nights at the Turntable," "Broadway," "The Lady Is a Tramp" and "Bernie's Tune." Fun swinging music that is still quite accessible.

This is a classic in American progressive rock.
Hands were an American band, founded by members from Prism, who were active between 1977 and 1980. They never released an album back then, but this CD is put together with material from that period. The sound quality is overall very good with a few exceptions. Their music is a mix between medieval music and progressive rock, mostly instrumental. Hands have strong compositions and intriguing arrangements and they're reminiscent to Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Premiata Forneria Marconi, and Yes…

The swirling waters, the ocean's peaceful powers and its natural majestic strength, the cycle of life that is inherent in the sea and the repetitive endlessness of waves, stroking the world's shores is part of Jay B. Jay's music. Listening to his music is like taking a totally natural, positive journey to that peaceful. sunny island in your dreams, riding on the crest of the perfect wave.
Jay B. Jay started his classical piano training when he was eight years old. By the time he turned 28 he had studied at various academies jazz, harmony, classical composition and in the USA majoring at the Boston Berkley College of Music in jazz composition and arranging…

In early 1966, with John Peel as producer, the Misunderstood went into Gold Star studio in Los Angeles to make some demos. Although the tapes have disappeared, an acetate of some of the songs still exists, from which eight tracks (two of which had previously been released) were rescued for reissue on the first disc of this double CD. Judged against their magnificent recordings in Britain in late 1966 (with slightly different personnel), it's a bit of a letdown. The group at this point were a competent but not extraordinary blues-rock act, offering competent renditions of standards by Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, and the like that only hinted at the originality that would blossom on their U.K. sessions. Indeed, the two tracks that have previously been available ("Shake Your Money Maker" and a wild, extended "I'm Not Talkin'" with ferocious distorted guitar breaks) are by far the best in the set…

A two-CD survey of Winter's recordings for Columbia between 1969 and 1979, the era of his greatest commercial success. This collects many of his most popular tracks, though it doesn't do much to argue a case for artistic diversity. Includes two otherwise unavailable songs: an alternate take of "30 Days," and a previously unreleased 1973 cover of Robert Johnson's "Come on in My Kitchen."

Chapter Three: Viva Emiliano Zapata is the third of the four excellent "chapters" in saxophonist and composer Gato Barbieri's four-part "Latin America" series for Impulse, and released in 1974 with the core of a band he would use for his live outing on Chapter Four: Alive in New York. Produced by Ed Michel, this is a large group that included bassist Ron Carter, drummer Grady Tate, percussionists Ray Mantilla, the ubiquitous - and brilliant - Portinho, Ray Armando, and Luis Mangual, guitarists George Davis and Paul Metzke, and a large horn section. The session was arranged and conducted by the legendary Chico O'Farrill. There are six tunes on the set, divided between four Barbieri originals, and two covers including the legendary "Milonga Triste," and "What a Difference a Day Makes"…

Originally released in 1979, this album of Hillage's self-styled "elektric gypsy musick" was spread across two vinyl discs; when subsequently reissued during the digital era the guitarist/singer's cosmic space rock set - including a version of George Harrison's "It's All Too Much" - fit onto a single CD.
The album was recorded at the peak of Hillage's popularity (although peak might be too strong a word!) at a variety of gigs during 1977 and 1978, in and around the London (UK) area. The songs are primarily taken from Hillage's first album "Fish rising", "L" (which appears virtually in full) and "Motivation radio".

Erik Wøllo is an architect of ambience, a poet of electronic landscapes. Inspired by memories of his native Norway, Erik Wøllo offers an intricate and profound musical interpretation of the visual and tangible as a metaphor for the internal esoteric landscapes of the imagination. Emotional Landscapes features deep floating ambiences, infused with the unique vitality of Wøllo's guitars and electronics. A magnificent vista, waiting to be heard.

To say that the past decade has been kind to Amorphis would be an understatement. From the elegance of Silent Waters to the pomp of Circle, the Finnish prog metallers have carved a solid foothold for themselves over the course of eight years. So, of course, when a new album is released, the inevitable question of whether or not the flavor has gone bland comes up. Sure enough, Under the Red Cloud proves to be another worthy addition to Amorphis’s discography, as well as one of the best progressive metal releases this year so far.

It was probably David Bowie's record-company affiliation difficulties that kept the 1993 Buddha of Suburbia soundtrack to a British TV miniseries from being released in the U.S. until 1995, when it was slipped out in the wake of his new album, Outside. That's too bad, because The Buddha of Suburbia is an often engaging collection of songs and instrumental passages that recalls many previous Bowie albums, including such disparate efforts as The Man Who Sold the World, Aladdin Sane, and Low. It's not a major effort by any means, but in another context songs like "Strangers When We Meet" easily could become Bowie favorites.

Tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander is reunited with his former teacher Harold Mabern on this outstanding studio session. The young man's talent has grown immensely since his 1992 debut as a leader, developing a distinct sound that doesn't overly rely on any one influence. The opener "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" (from Fiddler on the Roof) is hardly a jazz standard, but the imaginative arrangement by Alexander and Mabern may prompt others to explore it as well. The emotional rendition of "Moment to Moment" is another joint collaboration between the two. Trumpeter Jim Rotundi sits in during several numbers, including Mabern's "The Man From Hyde Park" (a snappy reworking of "The Song Is You"), Alexander's hypnotic samba "Luna Naranja," and the leader's "The Cliffs of Asturias," which sounds as if it was influenced by the early compositions of Herbie Hancock…

Ikarus played a very varied sound with complex arrangements and melancholic melodies inspired by early King Crimson and Van der Graaf Generator or reminding to German colleages Thirsty Moon and Os Mundi. The original album contains only 4 tracks (from 6 to 15 minutes) but plays over 40 minutes a rather uniquely spacious and dynamic sound, full of surprises. Their lyrics scrutinized the behaviour of mankind with a particular focus on our darker minds. CD contains 15 minutes bonus track "Sunwave" by pre-Ikarus band Beatiques In Corporation from compilation "Pop and Blues Festival", 1970. CD come with comprehensive band history by Ikarus bass player Wolfgang Kracht and a lot of unseen and rare photos from the band archive of drummer Bernd Schröder. Remastered from the master tape. A Krautrock Classic!

Released in 1985, primarily and possibly only for the European market, Moti Special was a German-multi ethnic pop-band. A pretty boy band? Absolutely not - these guys were adults. Yet, the group's only successful band member/keyboardist would be and still is Michael Cretu of the current new age ambient group Enigma and husband to European pop-star Sandra. However, do not expect any Enigma-like tracks (though you may be able to pick up echoing future traces in his excellent keyboarding skills).
The Moti Special sound is instantly recognizeable by music fans of the 80's neu deutsch welle musical movement. New deutsch was basically a title for the genre of pop music coming out of Germany during the early to mid 80's…