The Silver Key is heavier, faster, but at the same more epic and melodic than their previous works. In the past the band was very often balancing between Power Metal and Heavy Metal, but here, there’s no doubt that we are talking about pure Heavy Metal. First few minutes of new album make it obvious that we’re dealing with worshippers of Metal gods such as Judas Priest or Iron Maiden, as the album is full of epic and catchy vocal lines, twin guitar leads, ripping solos and all of this with massive, yet very dynamic rhythm section. The band had very unique approach to songwriting and production which was almost like a tribute to the mentioned classic acts, but except that Crystal Viper decided to show their love for the Metal culture and its current state, and incorporated in their songs several new elements, characteristic for other subgenres…

The One That You Love is the sixth album by Australian soft rock band Air Supply, released in 1981. The album became their most famous and successful in their career. It reached No. 10 in the US Billboard 200 album chart and contained three top 5 hits: "The One That You Love" (#1), "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)" (#5) and "Sweet Dreams" (#5). The album was released after their major success with their previous album, Lost in Love, and multiplied the band's popularity through the first period of the 1980s.

The Story of My LIfe stands out among latter-day Irma Thomas albums not only because she gives a consistently excellent performance, but because the record boasts three new songs from Dan Penn, who wrote some of the greatest soul songs of the '60s. While his new songs ("Hold Me While I Cry," "I Count the Teardrops," "I Won't Cry for You") aren't quite as strong as his best, they are nevertheless wonderful contemporary soul numbers, and they help make the record, the remainder of which is comprised of covers and slightly weaker new numbers, one of Thomas' best latter-day albums.

Largely known and admired for his large orchestral scores – including fifteen symphonies to date – the Finnish composer Kalevi Aho has actually written in a wide variety of genres, including chamber music and opera. He did arrive at the organ via the orchestra, however: in 1993, when composing his Eighth Symphony, he decided to let the organ feature in it as a solo instrument. Although he integrated it into the orchestra, it was also provided with three interludes between the separate movements. Encouraged to recast these into a solo work for the instrument, Aho composed a brief introduction for each interlude, functioning as a short summary of what had appeared before it in the course of the symphony. Behind the Three Interludes, and indeed the symphony, there lies a powerful experience of nature: a mid-summer journey on the Arctic Ocean, when everything, in the absence of night, was ‘bathed in an endless blue-tinged light’. Although composed 14 years later, the Symphony for Organ also owes its existence to the Eighth Symphony. After having played the organ part in a 2005 performance of that work, the Finnish organ virtuoso Jan Lehtola approached the composer urging him to write a big, multi-movement work for solo organ.

Recorded in the midst of Robert Smith's tenuous tenure with Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Top is arguably the most hedonistic record the Cure ever produced. Essentially Smith and Lol Tolhurst working with studio musicians (this being the period when the Cure's lineup was never assured), it's an album obviously recorded under stress, drink, and drugs. More wildly experimental musically than anything before it, it laid the foundations for the Cure's pattern of unpigeonholable albums that were to erase their reputation built by Pornography and eventually culminating in Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. That said, it's still very much a Cure record. Heavy on the percussion and quaint keyboard effects that were so big in the '80s, the melodies ("The Caterpillar," "Shake Dog Shake") are unmistakably Robert Smith…

The "storyteller" concept was ideal for aging singer/songwriters, letting them run through their back catalog and illuminate the origins of their best-known songs with stories and anecdotes. Ray Davies essentially invented the concept on his promotional tour for his semi-fictional memoir X-Ray, and his concerts were so successful, they eventually provided the basis for the VH1 series Storyteller. It also led to Storyteller, his first solo album since the soundtrack to Return to Waterloo. Like that album, it has a sound very similar to the Kinks – which shouldn't be surprising, since Davies was the musical force behind the band – but it's considerably more engaging than Return to Waterloo.

Saxophonist and composer John Surman has, in his nearly 50-year career, played and recorded in as many settings as one might imagine. Whether it's experimental free music, rockist fusion projects, large ensembles, solo, duets, concept recordings, you name it. His ECM tenure has been a fascinating one. That said, no matter how far afield his explorations have taken him, the place he always returns to, is playing jazz - some might meritoriously argue the point that no matter what he does, jazz lies at its root. Brewster's Rooster is indeed a pretty straight-ahead jazz date. Accompanied by guitarist John Abercrombie, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and bassist Drew Gress. The sound on the recording, while contemporary, does hearken back to the heady days of ECM in the late '70s. Seven of the nine cuts here are Surman originals, the two covers are an utterly gorgeous reading of "Chelsea Bridge"…

Numerous superlatives apply to the craft that the Dear Hunter's Casey Crescenzo has perfected on his ambitious six-part Acts series. On penultimate installment Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional, Crescenzo continues the epic story of the titular character (aka "The Boy") that ominously ended in Act IV with the protagonist at the mercy of the main antagonist, the Priest/Pimp. The narrative remains dense and there's a lot to unpack (multiple callbacks to early motifs and melodies abound), but ultimately, it's a rich experience for those willing to take the plunge. For outsiders, this may seem daunting, but fortunately, the music is as rewarding as the complex events layered within, with tastes of Sufjan Stevens, Radiohead, Arcade Fire, and Silverchair providing just a few reference points…

Wood's mission was straightforward enough here: promote his album of the time, Slide on This, before raiding the Faces' treasure trove and solo standards like "I Can Feel the Fire" and "Am I Grooving You," the latter done with sassily funky aplomb. Don't expect any surprises; you know Wood's guitar will charge out front, with some type of Hammond organ or boogie-woogie piano banging away behind him. Anyone who got this album originally knew what they wanted and what they'd be getting. Four songs capably hoist the banner for Slide on This: "Testify," "Show Me," "Josephine," and the shimmering ballad "Breathe on Me," where vocalist Bernard Fowler truly excels. Wood's trawl through the Faces' back pages includes feisty versions of "Stay With Me" and "Silicon Grown." However, an extended run on "Flying" – in which the early Faces talked of their homesickness while slogging away on tour – is the standout, if only because you haven't heard it a million times.

Solar Promenades is a strong set of new age/space music tracks that are dreamy and melodic, but that also carry an undercurrent of mystery and darkness. Enterphase is made up of keyboardists Fred Becker and Jeff Filbert. On this release, they are joined by David Wright, Dean de Benedictis and John Dumitru, who contribute additional synth work and sound design. They make creative use of a massive arsenal of synths. Enterphase’s music recalls the sounds of classic space music and Berlin school electronica of the seventites. Their music has hints of early Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Mychael Danna, Steve Roach and Michael Stearns. Many of the tracks on Solar Promenades are gentle and contemplative. Enterphase makes extensive use of the bell-like sounds of the Yamaha DX7, along with slow, phasing strings, creating textures that change continually without jarring…

The Great Sounds Of That Same Old Feeling: Smooth 70s Pop – CDs with the greatest hits of the 70s Pop!

A veteran Bach specialist continues his Bach odyssey on Brilliant Classics with a new recording of the English Suites.

A unique take on Mozart’s music from the organ loft. Mozart wrote sparingly for the solo organ – a relatively early collection of short Epistle Sonatas for liturgical use, and later on a few more individual pieces for a new mechanical organ. In neither case was he using the full extent of a large instrument as exploited by his Baroque predecessors. At the same time, Mozart himself was no stranger to the organ loft; he would have been regularly playing the instrument at St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna had his plans come to fruition and he had lived long enough to attain the post of Director of Music there.

Global superstar Ed Sheeran releases +-=÷× (Tour Collection: Live). It features tracks recorded during Ed’s Mathematics World Tour including the tracks ‘Shape Of You’, ‘Perfect’ ‘Thinking Out Loud’, ‘Photograph’, ‘Shivers’ and ‘Bad Habits’.

Gaia Onbashira is a musical exploration of respect and how it relates to ancient traditions. Gaia loosely translates to Goddess of the Earth or Mother Earth and Onbashira is a festival that occurs every seven years in Japan. During the Onbashira festival, eight individuals are chosen for spiritually cleansing. The participants ascend a mountain and attempt to spiritually connect with the heavens through the trees. These trees are then allowed to fall down the mountain and eventually become posts and the foundation of a ceremonial shrine. Through these events, these individuals learn to become more in touch with their spirits. This album is a far-reaching journey that brings together influences of the East and West, past and present, history and future. These tracks resonate with earthly sounds and the history embodied in pre-Columbian wind and percussion instruments.