In 2001, legendary blues pianist Pinetop Perkins was edging up on 88 years of age when he played the concert date in Chicago documented on this album. Perkins sounds plenty spry here, but this certainly doesn't capture the great man at his best; Perkins was a pioneer of the boogie-woogie style and was a longtime member of Muddy Waters' band, but most of On the 88's: Live in Chicago is devoted to easygoing midtempo numbers that sound a bit timid compared to what he played in his prime. Perkins shows he still had a great touch on this recording, and his timing is more than fine, but his left hand doesn't quite anchor these tunes the way he did in his salad days (it might have helped if he'd been given a better piano for this gig, since the instrument has the tone of a second-rate electronic keyboard), and even if his singing is game, his voice was showing its wear.

Close is the sixth studio album by Kim Wilde, released in 1988. Produced by Ricky Wilde and Tony Swain, Close was the final album on which Marty Wilde had co-writer credits. The album is widely perceived by fans and critics (and Kim herself) as Wilde's most well-balanced, with many kinds of pop represented: dance, ballad, rock and midtempo. The album's lead single was "Hey Mister Heartache", featuring backing vocals from Junior Giscombe — but its success was dwarfed by the follow-up single, You Came, which hit the Top 10 in many countries and just missed the U.S. Top 40. "Never Trust a Stranger" and "Four Letter Word" also reached the UK Top 10, although a fifth single "Love in the Natural Way" was less successful.

Passion is the fourth album by American singer Jennifer Rush. Following on from the success of her previous album, Rush continued working with much of the same team of writers and producers. This album however failed to find the same high level of success and didn't chart at all in the UK. However sales were satisfying in her most successful market, Germany, where the album reached No.3 and was certified platinum. The lead single "You're My One and Only" became a hit, but further releases "Keep All the Fires Burning Bright" and "Love Get Ready" did little to generate interest. Single success did come a few months later in the UK, when a duet with Placido Domingo, "Till I Loved You" became a hit in the summer of 1989.

All Alone is a solo album by bassist Ron Carter recorded in 1988 and released on the EmArcy label.
Although it is hard to believe that only one man at one time made all of the sounds you hear on this recording, it is true nevertheless. And even more impressive, all of this music was recorded in a single three hour session.

Cardiacs first full-length album gets four disc reissue. Influential British art rock band Cardiacs are to have their debut studio album A Little Man And A House And The Whole World Window, catalogue number ALPHLP007, reissued through The Alphabet Concern label on September 6, 35-years after it’s original release. The new reissue features in a casebound book set has four bonus discs featuring a remastered show from London's Town and Country Club in 1987, all of the BBC radio sessions, the complete studio sessions and a previously unreleased version of Gina Lollabrigida where Tim Smith can be heard counting the players in from the top.

Three Phenomenal Guitarists From The Famous Door Record Label. The three enjoyable straight ahead jazz sessions that are reissued in this package have several things in common. They have been out-of-print for years, they are led by talented guitarists who are stimulated by the presence of two other major soloists, each date fatures a quintet that includes swinging bass and drum team, and all of the projects came about due to the guidance of producer Harry Lim, a true friend of Jazz…

Revisited Records has been remastering and reissuing some of the Kraan catalog, and this 1988 live set from one of the premier German progressive fusion bands gets the royal treatment. Live 88 was recorded after the band had disbanded then got back together again, so overall this period was not looked at by the fans as one of Kraan's best, but there is some spirited and quality grooves happening here. This reissue sounds fantastic, the players are inspired, the crowd is hot, and Revisited Records has put together a nice digipak with lots of commentary & photographs. The bonus track is an impressive version of "Ausflug", which was recorded live at the Theaterfabrik in Munich, on October 5th 1987.

A 1988 tour in which Bob Dylan, who had been released in recent years, gave a resurgence of screams, although it was very popular for enthusiasts. This time, after a long time of release, the Ultra Audience Album captures the early stages of the tour with superb sound quality. The beginning of this tour was part of the 88 year tour, where the quality of the performance was high on average, and it was fun for Dylan to stand on stage with his own renewal and the lively performance of the new band. A time when it can’t be helped. In addition, there was a surprise that Neil Young participated as a guest guitarist in the three shows since the tour started.

2014 remastered and expanded two CD edition of her 1988 album originally a UK-only release that marked Zadora's return to the pop/dance fold after achieving credibility with her readings of R&B standards. The Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis' production is slick at times but the songs are well-crafted. Up-tempo numbers comprise with the understated 'Still Remembered' and pulsating 'Dance Out of My Head' making the strongest impressions. However, it's the ballads that Zadora is most comfortable with, and the standout is 'Since I've Been Lovin' You.' a calming number built simply on keyboard layering's and Zadora's vocal, it exemplifies her penchant for subtle R&B styling's and strays from the massive production of several other cuts. 'Silence' is a close match, demonstrating her proficiency in the soprano range. The track listing is evenly split between energetic dance-pop numbers and sullen R&B ballads. From the kinetic, catchy 'Laughin' at You' to the pensive, romantic 'Since I've Been Lovin' You,' this set effectively captures many moods in one listen. The bonus disc includes rare tracks and remixes.

The Seventh One is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Toto. It was released in 1988, and became the best-received Toto album since Toto IV. The title track, "The Seventh One," is only featured on the Japanese version of the album and on the B-side of the single "Pamela". It was also released on some compilations on a later date. "Stop Loving You" was the first single released in Europe and went on to rise to number one or at least be top ten in several countries. As a result of the album's success, Toto had a strong tour of sold-out arena shows in Europe.

Closer to Home, the trio's third album, was the record that really broke them through to the commercially successful level of metal masters such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Rather than rushing headlong into their typical hard, heavy, and overamplified approach, Grand Funk Railroad began expanding their production values. Most evident is the inclusion of strings, the acoustic opening on the disc's leadoff cut, "Sins a Good Man's Brother," as well as the comparatively mellow "Mean Mistreater." But the boys had far from gone soft. The majority of Closer to Home is filled with the same straight-ahead rock & roll that had composed their previous efforts.

Since the definitive three-LP box set Thundering Herds is out-of-print, this single CD is the best place for listeners to go first when starting to explore the music of Woody Herman. There are 16 selections from what was arguably his best band, his First Herd, and two numbers (including the original version of "Four Brothers") by The Second Herd. A few rarities (such as "A Jug of wine" and "The Blues Are Brewing") are mixed in with such classics as "Apple Honey," "Northwest Passage," "Your Father's Mustache" and a new version of "Woodchopper's Ball," but there is unavoidably a lot missing from this single disc, a set which will have to suffice until a more complete reissue series comes along.

Instrumental Works collects ten of The Alan Parsons Project's best musical pieces and acts as a wonderful journey through some of this group's most innovative material. Although famous for his concepts, Alan Parsons is equally renowned for his illustrious mood-invoking instrumentals that helped create atmosphere on all of his albums. These movements can easily be taken away from their master albums without losing their grandeur and charm, unlike his vocal works that act as pieces in a thematic puzzle and are better left within their conceptual domain. Both intricacy and subtlety are depicted here, with selections such as "I Robot," "Paseo de Gracia," and "Hawkeye."

Why Not Now is a remastered reissue of an album by British jazz guitarist Ray Russell. Recorded in 1987 and originally released on the tiny Theta label under the name Childscape, Why Not Now is a unique blend of progressive jazz and space rock that manages to escape the clichés of new age music (despite the presence of some extremely dated synthesizer sounds) in favor of a calm, hallucinatory stillness that owes much to Gil Evans' '50s charts for Miles Davis. Evans, in fact, appears on the album, playing electric piano on his own composition, "The Pan Piper," and serving as the subject of the lovely closer "Sketches of Gil," completed shortly before the master arranger's death. The other ten tracks are similarly placid, built on overdubbed layers of Russell's Bill Nelson-like treated guitar soundscapes and the ambient keyboards of Mark Isham and Tony Hymas, over which Russell (and occasionally Isham, who doubles on trumpet) spins delicate, crystalline solos unencumbered by the sort of fast-fingered showiness that usually ruins this sort of album. This is not a "player" album, but it's also not quite melodically minimal enough to truly be ambient music. Perhaps the closest comparison is to David Sylvian's quiet art pop, or the post-minimalist experiments of Michael Nyman.

This compilation, the first ever on compact disc in America, features the best of Donovan's early landmark work including his first single Catch The Wind and classic tracks such as Colours and Turquoise; successful protest songs such as Universal Soldier and tracks from his first two British albums "What's Bin Hid and What's Bin Did" and "Fairytale." Although these records did feature the occasional sideman, it was mostly just Don, singing some of his most poignant and expressive songs while interpreting favorites by other writers such as Bert Jansch and Buffy St, Marie.
In later years Donovan adapted his style to explore the psychedelic revolution but these early simple songs are considered to be among his best…