Schubert's final four quartets represent the last flowering of the Viennese Classical style. Their melodic generosity has always appealed to music lovers (and quartet players), though in the hands of some less disciplined ensembles the music can tend to sprawl. That's never a danger with these warm, impulsive performances, which allow the music's natural lyricism to flow vigorously without ever becoming sticky or sentimental. Schubert's String Quartet No. 12 is the single movement also known as the Quartettensatz ("Quartet Movement"), but the other three quartets are full-length, indeed epic works that bear comparison with the late works of Beethoven in musical richness and profundity.

Uncritical admiration is appropriate for these Schubert Lieder, where no forcing, no technical difficulties, not even a single spoiled note are to be found. It is not possible to perform Die schöne Müllerin and the other songs more heartily, more expressively than Fritz Wunderlich and his congenial, subtle accompanist Hubert Giesen do and, fortunately, will be able to do again and again, on these two records that every music lover will have to listen to stirringly.

On the surface, Believe It! is standard-issue bar-band blues-rock, but it is distinguished by Joanna Connor's passion for the music. Connor believes in the music so much, it can't help but appear in the grooves every once in a while. In particular, her guitar playing is noteworthy – it's tough, greasy, and powerful. Believe It! suffers from a lack of memorable songs – she's still trying to develop a distinctive songwriting voice – but Connor's strong performances carry the album through any weak moments.

Van Morrison scored one of his biggest commercial successes with Avalon Sunset, a record highlighted by the gorgeous "Have I Told You Lately," one of his most heartfelt love songs and a major radio hit which helped introduce his music to a new generation of listeners. Not a consistently strong LP, Avalon Sunset is nevertheless the work of a master craftsman, its lush orchestration and atmospheric production casting an irresistibly elegant spell; a deeply spiritual record, it also includes the standout opener, "Whenever God Shines His Light," a collaboration with Cliff Richard.

Having let eight years pass since his last A&M album, Quincy Jones made his debut on his own label with his most extravagant, most star-studded, most brilliantly sequenced pop album to date - which could have only been assembled by the man who put together "We Are the World." Jones was one of the first establishment musicians to embrace rap, and one of the first to link rap with his jazz heritage; it's hard not to be moved by the likes of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Zawinul, Sarah Vaughan, and George Benson electronically appearing on "Birdland" and trading brief licks with the likes of Kool Moe Dee and Big Daddy Kane on "Jazz Corner of the World"…

Spawning four hit singles, But Seriously topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. While pursuing much of the same formula as on No Jacket Required, there was also a move toward more organic production as Collins abandoned some of the drum machines and prominent keyboards in the up-tempo numbers in favor of live instrumentation…

A pivotal album for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1989's Mother's Milk turned the tide and transformed the band from underground funk-rocking rappers to mainstream bad boys with seemingly very little effort. Mother's Milk brought them to MTV, scored them a deal with Warner Bros., and let both frontman Anthony Kiedis and the ubiquitous Flea get back into a good groove following the death of co-founding member Hillel Slovak…

After a three-year wait, this album was a bit of a disappointment. Musically, it is his best yet, but it lacked a certain energy that the others had. The songs seemed to replace vivacity with length. The album didn't do very well on the charts; the number 13 single (U.S.), "Everlasting Love," was the biggest hit. Ironically, the best song on this album, "Out of Thin Air," does not use a single synthesizer but instead is a solo piano piece performed by Jones himself. After all those years of electronic music, a song featuring a real instrument is a welcome relief.

This CD finds Jimmy Witherspoon at age 65 on one of his last fairly strong records before his voice began to really shrink and fade. Spoon, assisted on this live set by tenor saxophonist Teddy Edwards, pianist Gerald Wiggins, bassist John Clayton, and drummer Paul Humphrey, revives some of his hits, performs a pair of medleys, and emphasizes swinging blues and ballads. Highlights include "Sweet Lotus Blossom" (a standard whose authorship should not have been credited to Witherspoon), "Stormy Monday," and "I Want a Little Girl." Easily recommended to Jimmy Witherspoon fans.

The Headless Children is the fourth studio album by heavy metal band W.A.S.P., released in April 1989 through Capitol Records. The Headless Children showcases a new level of maturity from the band compared to their previous three albums, which had stereotypically lewd "rock and roll" lyrics. Politics and social issues are now a theme throughout the album. The Headless Children was the first W.A.S.P. album to feature ex-Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali and the last studio album to feature guitarist Chris Holmes for nearly a decade until he rejoined the band in late 1997 to record Kill Fuck Die.

Freehand is almost a forgotten american prog band that release a single album in fall of 1989. Recorded during 1988, summer, this album has some traces of King Crimson (Discipline era) and here and there some jazz hints aswell. Anyway the musicianship is strong delivering some very fine moments like: Mastodon (one of the pieces with voice), are some instrumental here as well, title track - Thinking Out Loud is another example of good prog music of the late '80's.

Realizing that their last albums weren't even close to being in league with their output from the '70s, Kiss made a conscious effort to get back on track with 1989's Hot in the Shade…