With Solo Masterpieces, Grasso has gathered music from each of his first solo guitar EPs and melded them. The result is a masterful collection that allows audiences to revel in Grasso’s previous work whilst simultaneously creating an air of excitement for the music yet to be released. The series, which has received critical acclaim thus far, marks a turning point into the new decade and Solo Masterpieces is the encapsulation of the majesty within the music.

The legendary Jethro Tull return hot on the heels of 2022's UK & German top 10 album The Zealot Gene, with their 23rd studio album RökFlöte. Twelve tracks reminding the world of the iconic sound that the legendary band brought to rock music, recorded with the current Tull line-up of Ian Anderson, David Goodier, John O'Hara, Scott Hammond & Joe Parrish James. RökFlöte - Jethro Tull - The name of the album comes from "Rock Flute" as the original idea was to make an album of mostly instrumental flute music. But eventually Ian Anderson stated that he was drawn to the phrase Ragnarök with "rök" meaning destiny, course, or direction. Ian Anderson would then change "Flute" to "Flöte" to "keep with the spelling".

Future World is the second album by the Danish hard rock/heavy metal band Pretty Maids. The album was released by CBS in 1987. The album charted at number 165 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. Future World was produced by Eddie Kramer, who was fired during the recording sessions because he fell asleep at the mixing console, according to guitarist Ken Hammer. The band then finished the album with engineer Chris Isca, who was credited as co-producer on the album. Mixing duties were shared between Metallica, Rainbow and Morbid Angel producer Flemming Rasmussen, and Kevin Elson, known for producing multiplatinum albums by Journey, Mr. Big and Europe.

The relationship between Harry Nilsson and John Lennon is legendary. They were notorious booze hounds and carousers, getting kicked out of clubs for misbehavior and generally terrorizing L.A. during Lennon's "lost weekend" of 1974. They wanted to make an album together – hell, anyone working at such a peak would – and the result was Pussy Cats, a Nilsson album produced by Lennon. Almost immediately, Nilsson got sick, resulting in a ruptured vocal cord. Not wanting Lennon to stop the sessions, Nilsson never told his friend, stubbornly working his way through the sessions until he lost his voice entirely. These are the sessions that make up Pussy Cats, an utterly bewildering record that's more baffling than entertaining. Like many superstar projects of its time, this is studded with contributions from friends and studio musicians, all intent on having a good time in the studio – which usually means hammering out rock & roll oldies.

The Magic of Boney M. is a greatest hits album of recordings by Boney M. released by Sony BMG in October 2006. The compilation which is an updated version of 1993's Gold - 20 Super Hits and 2001's The Greatest Hits includes eighteen of Boney M's best known hits from the 1970s and 1980s, a new remix of 1976 single "Sunny" by German DJ and record producer Mousse T. as well as one new recording featuring original Boney M. lead vocalist Liz Mitchell. While this compilation is digitally remastered it contains both original recordings and overdubbed or remixed versions dating from Gold - 20 Super Hits.

Cheap Trick attempted to ride the new wave on 1982’s One on One, but wound up with a wipe-out, so they recovered by hiring Todd Rundgren, one of the few ‘70s album-rockers who proved that he knew how to negotiate the treacherous waters of the early ‘80s, for 1983’s Next Position Please. Rundgren wielded a heavy hand during his production, pushing Cheap Trick toward making a record that could easily be mistaken for a Utopia record – so much so, the Todd composition, “Heaven’s Falling,” slips onto the second side without calling attention to itself. The bright surfaces with the guitars and keyboards melding so tightly with the vocal harmonies they’re inseparable, produce a sound that is uncannily reminiscent of Oops!

All Shook Up is the fifth studio album by American rock band Cheap Trick. Released in 1980, it was produced by former Beatles producer George Martin. As such, this was the first album since their debut to be produced by someone other than Tom Werman. All Shook Up was even quirkier than its predecessor, the platinum-selling Dream Police. Many of its songs were less radio friendly and more experimental, and the cover art, influenced by Magritte's Time Transfixed, led many to question what the band was trying to accomplish. However, at the time, Cheap Trick had severed ties with long-time producer Tom Werman and took the opportunity to take their sound in a different direction.

Though Cheap Trick's second album, In Color, draws from the same stockpile of Midwestern barroom favorites as their debut album, it was produced by Tom Werman, who had the band strip away their raw attack and replace it with a shiny, radio-ready sound. Consequently, In Color doesn't have the visceral attack of its predecessor, but it still has the same sensibility and a similar set of spectacular songs. From the druggy psychedelia of "Downed" and the bubblegum singalong "I Want You to Want Me" to the "California Girls" homage of "Southern Girls," the album has the same encyclopedic knowledge of rock & roll, as well as the good sense to subvert it with a perverse sense of humor. Portions of the album haven't dated well, simply due to the glossy production, but the songs and music on In Color are as splendid as the band's debut.

Cheap Trick's comeback album is by no means a return to the creativity and vitality of their glory days. But even though Lap of Luxury is largely formulaic, the band's strongest collection of material in some time fills that late-'80s pop-metal formula quite well. Combining grandly romantic power ballads ("Ghost Town") with catchy hard rockers ("Never Had a Lot to Lose"), Lap of Luxury consistently delivers strong hooks and well-crafted songs, proving that Cheap Trick were still capable of outdoing many of the bands they helped inspire. The album produced two Top Five singles in a cover of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" and the band's first number one hit, "The Flame."

Thriller 40 is the 40th anniversary edition reissue of American singer Michael Jackson's sixth studio album Thriller (1982). The original album has sold 70 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling album of all time. Thriller 40 was released on November 18, 2022, cooperation with Epic, Legacy Recordings and MJJ Productions. It is his first posthumous album in five years since the release of 2017's Scream. Thriller 40 marks the third reissue of the original record, following the 2001 special edition and Thriller 25 (2008).

Protest Songs was recorded by Prefab Sprout in 1985 in the wake of the masterful Steve McQueen/Two Wheels Good, but shelved in favor of the subsequent From Langley Park to Memphis; it finally surfaced to little fanfare in 1989, appearing almost as mysteriously as it was abandoned four years earlier. It's a wonderful record, but perhaps too close in sound and spirit to Steve McQueen for comfort – From Langley Park, for all its flaws, is a much more adventurous effort, and with the benefit of hindsight, it seems reasonable to assume that Paddy McAloon wished not to stick with the tried-and-true but instead attempt something new and different, successful or not.

Old Fashioned Gal, the title of Kat Edmonson's fourth record, certainly describes the singer. Edmonson doesn't truck with modern styles, whether they're musical or technological, but that doesn't mean she's stuck in the past. She's working an older style – one that's rooted in the first half of the 20th century – but she's adding to tradition by writing a set of original songs that blend modern lyrical sensibilities with the style of the Great American Songbook. It's a sly, subtle accent on a record that could be mistaken for an old-fashioned LP – the music and the arrangements are intimate, yet lush; the tempo is never hurried, which gives Edmonson plenty of time to luxuriate in her melodies – and that helps give this cabaret music an air of welcome freshness.

Branching away from standards on her second album Way Down Low, Austin-based jazz vocalist Kat Edmonson also expands her musical worldview, going beyond the sophisticated cabaret of her 2009 debut Take to the Sky and creating a breezy neo-tribute to the swinging '60s. That was the decade that produced Brian Wilson's "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times," one of the few covers on Way Down Low and a sentiment that applies to Edmonson but in a different way. Where the Beach Boy was pining for the days before rock & roll, Edmonson would certainly feel more comfortable in either the '60s or '50s, where bossa nova, swing, and pop mingled happily, as they do here.

There has been a lot of hate and anger in the world recently, so L.A.-based singer/songwriter Bill Champlin wants to bring some love into the mix with his latest album, Livin’ For Love. Because of all the extra time at home this year, Champlin has been able to work on and finish this solo album after signing to Bob Winegard’s Imagen Records. “I’m real proud of the album, I think we did a good job,” adds Champlin. “I don’t even know if I would have had the album done if it weren’t for the lockdowns.” It has been about 10 years since he’s released a solo album and with this one, Champlin was able to dedicate a lot of time and energy into making it so great. It focuses on different events in his life that have somehow inspired or left a mark on him. “I put a little more heart and soul into this album,” Champlin shares. “I felt more like the artist than the producer, even though I was both.”