Manfred Mann always used the long-play format to showcase its virtuosity and range of influences away from the world of pop singles. This was evident early in the band's career with albums such as The Five Faces of Manfred Mann, which was a hardcore R&B album, far removed from the pop sensibilities of singles like "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "Sha La La." The contrast between this album and their singles output of 1968 is not quite as stark, as the LP contains pop material such as "It's So Easy Falling" and "The Vicar's Daughter." More unorthodox selections include "Cubist Town," "Harry the One-Man Band," and "Country Dancing," which showcase the eclectic side of the group.

Already an unstoppable force in the record racks and in concert halls, by 1984 Prince was a hit at the box office too. The smash soundtrack album to his self-starring feature Purple Rain cemented Prince into the history books, while his reputation as a musical genius went ballistic. The record has now sold in excess of 25 million copies, featuring as it does five Top 30 singles, including two No. 1s. The album and the film saw a huge resurgence of interest in 2016, following Prince s sudden death, and he received a posthumous American Music Award for this pivotal work. Unsurprisingly, every track from Purple Rain became a firm favourite in Prince s concert repertoire, and notable performances of such have at times surpassed even the majesty of the studio versions. This collection brings such hallowed recordings together for the first time, reproducing Purple Rain in its entirety, and in the process producing a live compilation on CD that will undoubtedly find a place in the collections of every proper Prince fan in existence. Total Running Time: 61 Minutes.

In summer 2001 Neil Young and Crazy Horse went out on a short tour with seven concerts in the US and a handful too in Europe. One of the finest shows the band played during this jaunt was at Denmark's Roskilde Festival, an annual event that Young had performed at during previous years, and one he would play again on subsequent tours. At his 2001 appearance NY & CH gave a stunning performance which was recorded for live radio broadcast. Still today sounding as dynamic as it did at the time, this previously unreleased recording is now available for the first time.

The departure of frontman Paul Jones left Manfred Mann with a large void to fill in the summer of 1966. Not only was Jones a charismatic vocalist, he was also a writer and one of Manfred Mann's key selling points with the record buying public. The group's record company, HMV, realised this and hedged their bets by signing Jones for a new solo deal, but dropping the band from its roster. In late 1966 while Jones was enjoying success with his first solo single, "High Time," a new version of Manfred Mann emerged with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Just Like A Woman" on Fontana. The new line up featured Mike D'Abo as vocalist (previously with A Band Of Angels) and was augmented by Klaus Voorman on bass, with Tom McGuiness switching to lead guitar. Despite the magnitude of this personnel change, the single was a top 10 hit and paved the way for this album, As Is.

BROADCAST RECORDING FROM ERIC CLAPTON S 25th ANNIVERSARY TOUR IN 1988 - FEATURING ELTON JOHN. Eric Clapton s 25th Anniversary Tour, featuring Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler among band members, was arranged to celebrate what was, in the late-1980s, Clapton s quarter century in the music business. Beginning on January 22, 1988 in Birmingham and ending on November 5 the same year in Osaka, the tour led through Asia, Europe and North America. Announced in December 1987 the tour quickly sold out and during 42 concerts, including four in Japan, 12 in the United Kingdom and 26 in the United States and Canada, Eric and band performed in front of more than 500,000 concertgoers, taking around 14 million US dollars in revenue. On November 2nd, the entourage performed at Japan s Tokyo Dome, for a show which was recorded for live broadcast on TV and FM radio, both in Japan and across the US. Elton John performed both solo on a couple of numbers during the concert, and alongside Clapton and band for several more songs. This entire gig is now presented on this 2CD Set in perfect quality for the first time.

STUNNING 1977 ELP SHOW FROM WEST VIRGINIA Emerson, Lake & Palmer took an extended break in 1974, but regrouped in 76 to record Works Volume 1 at Mountain Studios in Montreux and EMI Studios in Paris. The double album featured one side of each LP containing songs by each member and a fourth of group material. Emerson's side consisted of his 18-minute, three-movement Piano Concerto No. 1 . Lake contributed five songs he co-wrote with Pete Sinfield, and Palmer's included two covers of classical pieces by Prokofiev and Bach. One of the two group tracks, Fanfare for the Common Man , is a cover of the same-titled orchestral piece by Aaron Copland, which was released and reached No. 2 in the UK single charts, in the band's highest charting UK single in May 1977. Works Volume 2 followed in November 1977 featuring shorter tracks recorded between 73 and 76, and the two Works albums were supported by North American tours which lasted from May 1977 to February 1978, spanning over 120 dates. Among the finest concert of the tours was performed in Wheeling, West Virginia on 12th November 1977, where the trio put on a mesmerising show which fans who attended still speak of in hallowed tones. Recorded for live radio broadcast at the time, incredibly the show has not previously been released in its full edition. All that changes with the release of this 2CD Set, which allows the thousands of fans still in awe of this most musical, talented and creative of groups to finally hear what all the fuss was about.

DYNAMIC OUTDOOR SHOW FROM BOWIE BROADCAST FOR LIVE TRANSMISSION IN 1990 The turn of the 1980s was a busy time in the life and career of David Bowie. He shelved his solo career in 1989, retreating to the relative anonymity of band membership for the first time since the early 1970s. A hard-rocking quartet, Tin Machine came into being after Bowie began to work experimentally with guitarist Reeves Gabrels. The line-up was completed by Tony and Hunt Sales, whom Bowie had known since the late 1970s. Their first album Tin Machine (1989), was initially popular, although its politicised lyrics did not find universal approval. Work on a second album began, but Bowie put the venture on hold and made a return to solo work. Performing his early hits during the seven-month Sound+Vision Tour, he found commercial success and acclaim once again. On Sunday 5th August 1990, Bowie performed at the UK s 65,000 capacity Milton Keynes Bowl, where he put on a quite extraordinary show of favourites, interjected with just one rarity, his own take on the song Pretty Pink Rose which he d composed for ex-King Crimson man Adrian Belew. Previously unreleased, the full set Bowie performed on this glorious and delightful Sunday afternoon, 30 years ago, is now available for this first time on this superb CD.

From A Live FM Broadcast Recorded At The Capital Centre, Landover, MD, 21st November 1977. All Tracks Written By Ian Anderson Except Where Noted.

Michele Bravi torna, a distanza di tre anni dal suo precedente lavoro discografico, con tu cosa vedi quando chiudi gli occhi (EMI Records Italy/Universal Music Italia) il suo nuovo concept album che segna non solo l’atteso ritorno del cantautore, ma anche una rivoluzione personale e artistica.

Humanoid is the seventeenth studio album by German heavy metal band Accept, released on 26 April 2024. It is the band's first studio album on Napalm Records, with whom Accept had signed with in February 2022, and also marks the first time since 2017's The Rise of Chaos that they had recorded as a five-piece band rather than a six-piece. Humanoid has received positive reviews from critics. Dom Lawson of Blabbermouth.net gave the album a rating of seven-and-a-half out of ten, writing, "For those who enjoyed the previous five, there is absolutely nothing here that fails to live up to expectations.

Praying Mantis are now a well-established band of melodic hard rockers. Formed by brothers Tino and Chris Troy in 1973, together with bands like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Saxon, and others they spearheaded the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) movement. While they did not see the same dizzying heights of success as some of their contemporaries, Praying Mantis nonetheless became one of THE most influential bands of the NWOBHM. The band has remained active over the years and still records and plays live regularly, while evolving their style from their early beginnings to a more melodic hard rock style. - Musically the new album offers the trademark Mantis sound, with twin guitar leads and sterling vocal work from Jaycee Cuijpers, but what really puts this record apart is the stunning quality of the songwriting which offers a credible mix of catchy songs along with superb epics. To round up the tracklisting the Mantis' offer their own spin to the classic Rainbow hit "I Surrender" (penned by none other than Russ Ballard).

The entire 1969 'Feelin' Glad' album on CD for the first time ever. Also included are all the mono single mixes-many of which sound noticeably different to their stereo counterparts. Plus eight additional tracks constituting the entire released output of The New Breed. The deluxe Digipak package includes a 24-page, full- colour booklet, jam packed with rare photos and extensive liner notes featuring the full participation of the band. Re-issue produced, annotated, and designed by Steve Stanley. In the mid 60s, the "Beatles of Sacramento" could only mean one band: The New Breed. The quartet (future Poco and Eagles member Timothy B. Schmit, Ron Floegel, Tom Phillips, and George Hullin) had an impressive live repertoire and vocal prowess that dusted their rivals. As the decade progressed, the band evolved with the times, changed their name to Glad, and cut an ambitious, psychedelic-tinged LP in Hollywood with producer Eirik Wangberg-later to be nicknamed "Eirik the Norwegian" by Paul McCartney when they worked together on 'Ram'.

Das nächste musikalische Abenteuer mit den Calimeros beginnt! Am 10.05.2024 wird ihr brandneues Album "Shalala" veröffentlicht und verspricht 14 erfrischende Songs voller guter Laune, Reiselust, Sommer und Liebe. Das charmante Schlagertrio, bestehend aus Roland Eberhart, Andy Rynert und Andy Steiner, hat sich einen festen Platz in den Herzen der Fans erobert und präsentiert nun eine Sammlung von Liedern voller Leichtigkeit und Einzigartigkeit. Die Calimeros setzen erneut auf das bewährte Produzentenduo Gerd Jakobs und Stefan Pössnicker, welches sie bereits bei einigen Erfolgsalben unterstützte.

Nigel Hall and DJ Harrison are multi-instrumentalists known most for their respective main roles as keyboardists in Lettuce and Butcher Brown. Harrison's band backed Hall on Spiritual, a 2021 album that contained a very faithful version of Earth, Wind & Fire's "Caribou," and Hall later assisted Harrison with an update of Roy Ayers' "Coffy." Released only a few months after Harrison's all-covers Shades of Yesterday, The Burning Bush: A Journey Through the Music of Earth, Wind & Fire further explores foundational Black music with the intent of opening gateways for younger listeners. That the album was previewed first with the serene and spiritual "Earth, Wind & Fire" made it clear that the duo's project would be going far beneath the surface. While they don't reference the lesser-known first three EWF albums, Hall and Harrison – joined by members of Lettuce and Butcher Brown, along with bassist Brandon Lane and singer Sam Reed – mix it up with album cuts outnumbering radio staples.

Some things are worth waiting for… "Morning Star" is the first all-new album by The Prisoners since 1986. It features the original line-up of Allan Crockford – bass, vocals Graham Day – vocals, guitar Johnny Symons – drums James Taylor – Hammond organ, vocals After a phenomenally successful series of gigs in December 2022 marking the 40 th anniversary of their debut album 'A Taste of Pink', the band decided to make some new music. The recording was completed in two days, one of them in Studio 2 at Abbey Road. Their preference for recording quickly hasn't changed since they recorded that first album as teenagers, also in two days, in 1982. To celebrate, they play The Roundhouse in London on May 24th, their biggest headline gig Biography The Prisoners formed when they were still at school in Rochester, Kent.