This Sony release is essentially the Bruce Springsteen greatest-hits set that appeared earlier in 2009 as a Wal-Mart exclusive – setting off a mini storm in the media about whether or not the pro-union Springsteen should have any dealings at all with the non-union Wal-Mart company – with three tracks, "Long Walk Home" (from 2007's Magic) and live versions of "Because the Night" and "Fire," added to the end of the sequence. Columbia's 18-track Greatest Hits set from 1995 probably does a better job of charting through the commercial, radio-ready side of Springsteen's career, but the addition of the live tracks here strengthens this collection and makes it feel like a much broader and more rounded portrait than the original Wal-Mart issue was. The truth is, Springsteen has so many great songs that it is probably impossible to put out a single-disc greatest-hits set that would please everyone, but this one essentially does it's job – you've heard all of these songs on the radio.

When the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields began to popularize Vivaldi's music in the 1970s, it was on the cutting edge with its light, warm chamber orchestra sound, burnished to technical perfection yet sounding completely different from its symphonic cousins. Now, a recording like this one, with star violinist Joshua Bell, sounds conservative in comparison with young bucks like Fabio Biondi on the historical-performance side or even the young Dutch firebrand Janine Jansen. This big-budget (by classical standards) release is the kind of thing you don't see so often now, with a big poster showing Bell carefully decked out in a partially undone tie, as well as individual full-color cards reproducing, in Italian and English, the descriptive seasonal sonnets that provide the program for the four concertos. It could have collapsed under its own weight, but Bell pulls it off. Conducting the Academy strings himself, he forges tight, not-overly-sweet recordings of Vivaldi's four familiar concertos, with a nice contrast between orchestra and solo that showcases his easy, compelling agility and his Heifetz-like sharpness and brilliance.

Live and Kickin' is a 2003 live album by Willie Nelson, featuring music stars of diverse genres like Eric Clapton, Shania Twain, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Ray Charles, Steven Tyler, Wyclef Jean, ZZ Top, Paul Simon.

Christian Tetzlaff’s effortless virtuosity, purity of intonation, and slight emotional reticence perfectly suits Sibelius, making this the finest available collection of the Finnish composer’s music for violin and orchestra. In the concerto, Tetzlaff’s relative coolness makes the music sound more like Sibelius and less like a violin concerto, which is all to the good. That doesn’t mean he lacks anything in sheer technique: indeed, his first-movement cadenza impresses as one of the most impressively concentrated and musically satisfying on disc. Tetzlaff’s slow movement sings but avoids panting and heaving, while the finale realizes the music’s gentle melancholy as well as its more thrusting elements. He’s nicely accompanied by Thomas Dausgaard, whose gentle support perfectly suits the overall interpretation.

This isn't a perfect roundup of ZZ Top's superstar years of the '80s, but it comes pretty close. It dips back into the '70s for "Pearl Necklace" and "La Grange," with a couple of selections from the post-peak '90s, but this does offer the MTV-era basics: "Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Sharp Dressed Man," "Rough Boy," "Tush," "My Head's in Mississippi," "Doubleback," "Cheap Sunglasses," "Sleeping Bag." What slows this record down are some new cuts and album tracks that don't deserve to be here, along with a remix, not the original version, of "Legs." Still, that may just be quibbling for some listeners, since the basics are all here, making this a good complement to the '70s-focused The Best of ZZ Top.

The Smiths Is Dead is a tribute album to the 1980s' English alternative rock band The Smiths, released in 1996. It was compiled by the French cultural magazine Les Inrockuptibles and released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of 1986's The Queen Is Dead. The album was released at the height of the Britpop phenomenon and contained covers by many popular Britpop acts such as The Boo Radleys, Supergrass, Bis and Placebo.

The Most Important Jazz Album of 1964/65 was the first album trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker recorded upon returning to the United States in 1964. Jazz had undergone a radical development post-1963 with artists such as John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter beginning to focus on complex harmonic explorations over pretty melody. Having spent the prior three years in Europe, falling deeper into heroin addiction, Baker found himself a pleasant, if somewhat forgotten, anachronism of the previous decade. Consequently, the icon of '50s cool attempted to reinvigorate his career and showcase his musical growth by enlisting the sensitive piano chops of Hal Galper and old collaborator tenor saxophonist Phil Urso. The new sideman, combined with a heavy dose of Tadd Dameron's compositions, gave Baker a more muscular edge that rubbed nicely with his trademark lyricism updating his sound for the hard bop '60s – a decade that would end, however, with Baker losing his teeth and falling into obscurity.

What more can you ask for? Asleep at the Wheel playing on Austin City Limits running through a smoking program of rocking, strolling Western swing tunes – with special guests like Eldon Shamblin, Johnny Gimble, Leon Rausch, and Herb Remington no less. Asleep at the Wheel have performed on Austin City Limits numerous times – including the very first broadcast program back in 1976 – but this show, recorded gorgeously from 1992, is special. The bandmembers are so relaxed, open, and in the groove here that this stands out among their live recordings. It's true that the program is familiar, full of favorites and legendary swing tunes, though "Boot Scoot Boogie" by Brooks & Dunn's Ronnie Dunn is also here. Some of the standouts include "Roly Poly," "Corrine, Corrina," "Blues for Dixie," and the closing read of the Cindy Walker/Bob Wills tune "Sugar Moon."

Easily Tikaram's most polished album to date. As usual, several of the songs sound like rough drafts, but for the first time since the raw poetry of her debut, Ancient Heart, Tikaram has come up with enough knockout numbers to justify the record's release. "I Might Be Crying" features an inventive arrangement in which a full string and brass orchestra merely underscores a sweeping landscape of vocal harmonies. "Yodelling Song" is a fresh, manic jam with acoustic guitars, fiddles, bongos and yodellers. Tikaram's eccentric folk-pop has always been creatively produced, but for this record the husky-voiced songwriter has penned some melodies well worth the studio time.

Five-time Grammy winner Christopher Cross performs all his classic hits as well as newer material in this concert DVD. The image is a standard full-frame 1.33:1 transfer. English soundtracks are available in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Stereo. There are no subtitles available, and neither of the soundtracks are closed-captioned. In addition to the hit-packed set list, the DVD contains a behind-the-scenes interview with Christopher Cross, a biography and discography, and a photo gallery. Michael McDonald makes a guest appearance.

As the repository of the earliest phase of Frank Sinatra's solo career, 1943-1952, Columbia Records is usually thought to be at a disadvantage against the more accomplished work the singer recorded for Capitol Records and his own Reprise imprint. But in two albums released on the same day in 2003, Sinatra Sings Cole Porter and Sinatra Sings Gershwin, Columbia's Legacy division expands on its studio recordings of Sinatra by borrowing airchecks from the collection of Charles L. Granata, and thereby improves its holdings. Sinatra would not seem at first blush to be the ideal interpreter of Porter, if only because his rough-and-tumble background is always visible beneath his careful intonation, while Porter's lyrics are redolent of wealth and comic condescension. But Sinatra sang "Night and Day" in his first solo session in 1942 and went on to perform Porter throughout his career, often achieving near-definitive readings. The ground on which they met was intellectual rather than social: Porter was at heart a wit, and Sinatra understood the jokes, while emphasizing what emotional content there was, giving it a greater sincerity than the songwriter might have intended. This collection effectively mixes a bunch of studio recordings with previously unreleased radio performances that find Sinatra ranging over many different Porter moods.

Japanese edition of 1999 live album by the seminal Japanese electronic music pioneer in a miniaturized LP sleeve limited to the initial pressing only. The album is a concert performance of his 1999 opera 'Life'. Nine tracks. Each disc comes in a separate, inner protective sleeve.

Allegria was the first album the Gipsy Kings released under their own name. It consists primarily of more traditional flamenco-style pieces, featuring, of course, Tonino's otherworldly guitar. It includes two songs never released on a U.S. album (Pharaon and Recuerda) and the original acoustic version of Djobi Djoba. Note that this album and its successor, Luna de Fuego, are very different from the Gipsy Kings' later albums. They are both "unplugged" and have no instruments besides guitars, voices, and hand clapping.

By the Way is the eighth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album was released July 9, 2002 on Warner Bros. Records. It sold more than 286,000 copies in the first week, and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 (their next album would peak at number one). Singles from the album included "By the Way," "The Zephyr Song," "Can't Stop," "Dosed" and "Universally Speaking." The lyrical subject matter vocalist Anthony Kiedis addresses in By the Way is a divergence from previous Chili Peppers albums, with Kiedis taking a more candid and reflective approach to his lyrics. By the Way was lauded by critics as a departure from the band's previous styles, and is recognized for the melodic and subdued emotions given by the Chili Peppers. Guitarist John Frusciante is credited with writing most of the album's melodies, bass lines and guitar progressions, therefore changing the direction of the recording dramatically: "his warm, understated guitar work and his doo-wop style vocal harmonies are king this time around." By the Way contained very little of the signature punk-funk fusion the band had become known for playing. Frusciante has stated that writing "By the Way [was] one of the happiest times in my life." The album went on to sell more than 8 million copies worldwide.

Ultimate Prince is a 2006 greatest hits compilation album featuring the work of Prince. The two-disc set contains a disc of some previously released hits (some in single edit form; only "My Name Is Prince" has not been on a previous hits collection), and another of extended remixes of hits and a B-side, most of which have only been previously released as vinyl 12-inch singles.