This is a big step forward for Carnie and Wendy Wilson and Chynna Phillips. Their first album, which was a phenomenal success, was shiny and happy and upbeat for the most part; this follow-up is murkier, with denser arrangements and hooks that aren't quite as obvious on first listen. This works both for and against the group. With their soaring harmonies, they bring a joyful brassiness to the hopeful "It's Only Life," which is this album's "Hold On" – though it is far from being a blueprint. The affirmation of love on track nine, "All the Way From New York," juxtaposed with track ten, the sexy rocker "Fueled for Houston," works, and it is the brightest spot on the album.

The Deep Purple spin-off project Paice Ashton Lord were formed by ex-Deep Purplers Ian Paice (drums) and Jon Lord (organ) with Tony Ashton, who had been in the Remo Four during the British Invasion era and then in Ashton, Gardner & Dyke (famous for "Resurrection Shuffle"). When they got together in mid-1976, Deep Purple had just broken up; for the sole Paice Ashton Lord album, the sound was filled out by guitarist Bernie Marsden and bassist Paul Martinez. That LP, Malice in Wonderland, was not nearly as heavy as Deep Purple had been, though it still owed much to mainstream British hard rock. However, there was a fair amount of jazz influence in the arrangements (which sometimes included brass) and some soul ingredients to the songwriting.

Anyone who thinks of Humble Pie solely in terms of their latter-day boogie rock will be greatly surprised with this, the band's second release, for it is almost entirely acoustic. There is a gently rocking cover of Buddy Holly's "Heartbeat," and a couple of electrified Steve Marriott numbers, but the overall feel is definitely more of the country than the town or city. "The Sad Bag of Shaky Jake" is a typical Marriott country ditty, similar to those he would include almost as a token on each of the subsequent studio albums, and "Every Mother's Son" is structured as a folk tale. On "The Light of Love," Marriott even plays sitar. Peter Frampton's contributions here foreshadow the acoustic-based music he would make as a solo artist a few years later. As a whole, this is a crisp, cleanly recorded, attractive-sounding album, totally atypical of the Humble Pie catalog, but well worth a listen.

With their recording of Dmitri Shostakovich’s complete string quartets, the Quatuor Danel has crafted an impressive opus that delves into the composer’s life with deep musical understanding and establishes unparalleled standards in interpreting his chamber music. These new live recordings, stemming from their 2022 residency at the Mendelssohn Hall of the Gewandhaus Leipzig, capture the full spectrum of emotions embedded in Shostakovich’s quartet cycle, from the ethereal to the profound, from the whimsical to the contemplative.

Founded by Anje Duhalde and Mixel Ducau in 1973, Errobi was one of the several bands from the Basque region of Spain that mix folk with prog. To their blend of symphonic rock and jazz, popular at the time, they added a nationalistic touch and the language of the proletariat. Though there are no keyboards, the sound is very full and layered, the long title track and "Andere" especially display the striking group synergy well. Having disbanded in 1979 they reformed for a short period in 1985.