This is a great reminder of what the best 1980s pop/rock sounded like. It includes most of Pat Benatar's hits, with the unfortunate omission of I Need A Lover, the passionate melodic churner from 1979. It also includes her best album tracks like the poignant Hell Is For Children but her excellent version of Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights is missing. Benatar specialised in powerful rock numbers with strong power chords and catchy hooks, delivered to full effect in her belting voice, like Heartbreaker, Hit Me With Your Best Shot and Love Is A Battlefield. In this sense Benatar was something like a female Meat Loaf and in fact not too far from Bonnie Tyler. But there were also the quiter songs in a more tender voice, like the synth-driven We Live For Love, a pop classic. With 18 tracks, this is a better compilation than Best Shots with its 15 tracks.

Over the course of the 1980s, REO Speedwagon became one of the decade's leading power balladeers. However, these singles sapped the band's reputation as a rock & roll band. Although it may focus more on ballads such as "Time for Me to Fly," "Keep on Loving You," and "Can't Fight This Feeling," Hits does not completely overlook the band's rock anthems, taking care to also include such underrated rockers as "I Don't Want to Lose You," "Don't Let Him Go," and a live version of "Ridin the Storm Out," the band's first and best rock single from the 1970s. Though there is a rather large quantity of REO compilations, Hits remains the wisest investment for most listeners.

Bon Jovi's four-CD/one-DVD box set of rarities, 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong, inspires two immediate reactions. The first: How in the world did Bon Jovi have four discs' worth of unreleased material in their vaults? The second: Who on earth would want to hear 50 rarities from Bon Jovi? To anybody who's not a devoted fan, the New Jersey group always seemed like a quintessential singles-driven band…

Frontiers Records is proud to present “20 Years”, a best of collection assembling the works of Mecca, the classic AOR band started by vocalist Joe Vana. When he was only 13 years old, Joe Vana’s life was forever changed through a chance meeting with Survivor’s Jim Peterik. Jim taught him everything he knew about music and the music business. But, it wasn’t until he was 28 years old that he discovered his voice, which is when he became Peterik’s in-house demo singer for many years. Joe and Jim eventually created a band called Project Voyager, which ultimately morphed into Mecca. In 2002, Mecca released their debut self-titled album, which featured David Hungate (ex-Toto) on bass, Shannon Forrest on drums, Fergie Frederiksen (ex-Toto) and Joe on vocals, Mike Aquino on guitars and Jimmy Nichols on keyboards. “Mecca” created a sonic treasure that was more than well-received by the Melodic Rock/AOR community.

Recorded at the last stop on their 2002 tour, Alive in Seattle documents an impeccable performance and production, mixed for surround-sound playback on both regular and Super Audio CD formats. A warm artist/audience vibe permeates this set; it's easy to imagine families sprawled out on an amphitheater lawn, taking in the music on an early summer evening…

MelodicRock has announced another archival project - the double album “Voices From The Past”, composed of songs by Jimmy Waldo (Jimmy Waldo) and Steven Rosen (Steven Rosen), which were recorded in the 80s with the participation of many stars of the Los Angeles rock scene .

God knows why Bon Jovi felt the need to recut its best songs in an adult alternative style with Patrick Leonard as the producer. In the thorough liner notes – presented as an interview between Jon Bon Jovi and guitarist Richie Sambora – by the suddenly ubiquitous David Wild, Jon claims that the roots of the album derive from a Japanese show he recorded where the intent was to release live, acoustic versions of the band's standards…

Taking a cue from the Eagles, Foreigner decided to release their first album in 15 years, creating a package that touches upon all phases of their past and into the present on the three-disc Can't Slow Down…

Bounce is the eighth studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi, released on October 8, 2002 through Island Records. Produced by Luke Ebbin, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, the album was recorded at Sanctuary II Studio in New Jersey…

For most genre fans John Elefante needs no introduction. But for the youngsters out there … Vocalist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer John Elefante is the guy who replaced the guy, Steve Walsh, in Kansas in 1981. (Elefante beat out, among others, Sammy Hagar and Doug Pinnick for the job.) He would record two albums with Kansas, Vinyl Confessions and Drastic Measures. To the former, he was the vocalist on the mega-hit, Play The Game Tonight; to the latter, he wrote Fight Fire With Fire, Kansas' biggest single to date.

Die-hard Bon Jovi fans will swear on their sacred Slippery When Wet albums that Bon Jovi is by far one of the best rock bands to sing (or scream) along to, no matter where you are – in the car, on the road, or in your room, crooning into your hairbrush or anything you can get your hands on. One Wild Night: Live 1985-2001 is the perfect album for fans and newcomers alike, as it features a plentiful bounty of the band's biggest hits and most-screamable tunes…