The best collection yet devoted to Procol Harum's classic early period ties together the many facets of their sound and their early history, including numerous outtakes and all of the music on four albums from 1967 through 1970. The clarity of the sound makes the first album - which was roundly criticized, especially in England, for having been cut in mono in late 1967 - seem a lot more muscular and progressive here than it did in its original release form. The producers have tampered with the song order on A Salty Dog, moving that record's title track in amongst disc three's single sides for time considerations while still leaving "Whiter Shade of Pale" and "Homburg" off of the first CD (the original commercial flaw with the debut album in England was the absence of either of those songs, and the seven-month-plus delay in getting it out)…

Deluxe Edition is a solid, albeit imperfect, 13-track collection of highlights from Albert Collins latter-day recordings for Alligator. There are only a handful of genuine classics, but there are a lot of great performances that spotlight Collins stinging guitar work and impassioned vocals. Nevertheless, it's only adequate as an introduction, since Ice Pickin' remains the place to become acquainted with Collins blistering blues.

Ensemble Zefiro was founded in 1989 by oboists Alfredo Bernardini and Paolo Grazzi together with bassoonist Alberto Grazzi and consists of talented musicians drawn from leading Baroque orchestras. Zefiro regularly appears to great acclaim at major European, Asian and South American festivals.

Founded in 1904 and therefore the oldest of the city's symphony orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra became world-renowned for recordings that date back to early gramophone records in 1912. Amid decades of diverse classical programming that followed, including performances for radio and TV, the orchestra also became known for its appearances in numerous film scores, including the Star Wars series. The LSO also tours and first visited North America in 1912 (narrowly avoiding passage on the Titanic).

(2-CD set) World War 1 began on July 28, 1914 and was also known as the Great War in the optimistic belief that this momentous event would end all wars. Some of our most popular and enduring songs were written and recorded during that period, although the conflict itself washorrendous. In 1997 Take Two Records released a 2-CD set of songs actually recorded during World War 1 that were transferred from pristine vintage recordings and re-mastered to provide superb sound. This set includes 40 popular songs that reflect a variety of reactions to the Great War by the leading songwriters and recording artists from that time. This album is currently being reissued to commemorate the WWI centennial taking place this year.

Very rare 1997 Island promo album with live tracks from the 1996 Toronto show of The Cranberries.

A very light but very lovely disc of mid-twentieth century violin concertos, this 1996 recording by Joshua Bell with David Zinman directing the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra coupling the concertos of Samuel Barber and William Walton along with Baal Shem, the concerto-in-all-but-in-name by Ernest Bloch, may be for younger listeners a first choice among digital recordings.

A fine collection including many tracks from Slade's hitmaking heyday, Feel the Noize: Slade Greatest Hits stretches from the group's hit singles of the early '70s beginning with 1971's "Get Down and Get with It" all the way to 1991's "Radio Wall of Sound." In between those two songs is a selection of the group's big, dumb, irresistible, and misspelled hits – "Coz I Luv You," "Take Me Bak 'Ome," "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," "Gudbuy T'Jane," "Cum on Feel the Noize," "Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me." It also features latter-day hits like "My Oh My," but Slade never got better than they did at their stomping glitter-rock peak, and Feel the Noize captures the essence of that era.

Boss Soul: The Genius of Barry White Review by Richie Unterberger
In 1966-67, long before he attained seventies superstardom as a growling bedroom funkster, Barry White gained valuable experience as an A&R man for the Del-Fi label in Los Angeles. This compilation has 16 tracks that he was involved with as producer, engineer, songwriter, and/or session musician, the results appearing on Del-Fi's Bronco and Mustang subsidiaries; note, however, that only five of the cuts are by White himself (including one instrumental and a pre-Del Fi 1965 single released under the pseudonym of Lee Barry). At this time, White was very much under the spell of Motown both as producer and songwriter (he wrote or co-wrote all but two of these tunes). The material, whether by White or other Mustang/Bronco artists Felice Taylor, Viola Wills, and Johnny Wyatt, consists for the most part of very derivative, but nonetheless enjoyable and professional, Motown variations. Felice Taylor's "It May Be Winter Outside," a #42 pop hit in 1966, is the most accurate mid-'60s Supremes imitation bar none, both for Taylor's uncanny Diana Ross-like vocals and the dead-on Motownesque arrangement.

Here's a bit of intrigue. The failure of Rachmaninov's First Symphony at its premiere in 1897 is habitually blamed on Glazunov's ineptitude as a conductor. But, by 1907 Rachmaninov had written his Second Symphony, whose instant and continuing success can be attributed to a pervasive melody of enormous emotional power. Why, then, did Glazunov incorporate a motif of striking similarity in the first movement of his 1911 Piano Concerto? Glazunov's tune is paler, less keenly felt, than Rachmaninov's, but is this a homage, an apology, or merely a coincidence? I found it so perplexing that the wistful variations in the second and final movement of the concerto passed by almost unnoticed. But there's not a lot to miss. While some of the harmonies have a smudgy, Broadway sensuality, the easy lyricism is frequently banal.

Celebrating a quarter century of Blackmore’s Night with the 25th Anniversary Re-Mixed Edition of the milestone debut album “Shadow Of The Moon” (1997). This album was not only Blackmore’s deliberate radical cut from his previous life as celebrated rockstar in Deep Purple and Rainbow; it was a ground-breaking statement of his artistic ideals: mainly acoustic music, influenced by the songs of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance with a touch of genius that made them sound contemporary. “Shadow Of The Moon” was a milestone album. It encompasses everything that Blackmore’s Night stand for to this day: beautiful melodies and warm atmospheres that are able to reach the soul as well as joyful songs to dance to and celebrate. On March 10, 2023, the 25th Anniversary Edition of “Shadow Of The Moon” will be released worldwide. The album was converted in HD audio from the original recording, and it has been fully remixed, allowing the original performance to shine in its original glory.

Solti's interpretations held more than surface excitement. In conducting Beethoven, for example, he long held that the symphonies should be played with all their repeats to maintain their structural integrity, and he carefully rethought his approach to tempo, rhythm, and balance in those works toward the end of his life. Solti began as a pianist, commencing his studies at age six and making his first public appearance at 12. When he was 13 he enrolled at Budapest's Franz Liszt Academy of Music, studying piano mainly with Dohnányi and, for a very short time, Bartók. He also took composition courses with Kodály.

Current was an important album for the Dutchman. It came as a follow-up of some rather successful albums and can perhaps be regarded as a "warm-up" for his brilliant album Tainted Bare Skin from 1998. Now, again ten years later, "Current" has been carefully remastered by Ron and re-released on the Groove Unlimited label.
Current is a solo-album in the true sense of the word. Where on many other albums Ron is accompanied by guest-musicians, he works alone on "Current". The only exception are the drums on "Close Call" which are played by Harold van der Heijden. Two things play an important part on "Current". First of all, the sequences; they are beautifully crafted and long-stretched…

Children of Bodom came out of the heavy metal starting blocks in fine form. The group's debut, Something Wild, attracted much attention, as many listeners and critics marveled at the bandmembers' technical abilities, while others described Children of Bodom's music as fluffy and trite. Ultimately, the Finnish group's success within the commercially limited confines of progressive black metal quelled many naysayers, but not before the band received a few harsh reviews. With the huge amount of metal being released in Europe and America - and practically no radio outlets - good critical response was essential for late-'90s artists like Children of Bodom. And although some weren't impressed by the shifting arrangements and sparse keyboards of Something Wild, others refused to deny the musical accomplishment of the debut…

In the last years of his life, Franck created three chamber music masterpieces: the Violin Sonata, the Piano Quintet, and this String Quartet. Only the Violin Sonata has achieved a full measure of popularity, and this string quartet is virtually unknown, largely because of its ambitious length and difficulty in performance. It's a terrific piece of music employing the composer's trademark cyclical form: the movements share tunes, and the finale acts as a sort of summing up of the entire work. While challenging to the performers, there's nothing difficult about it for the listener, and this performance is just about the only show in town. Fortunately, it's a very good one. –David Hurwitz