Master of the Swedish royal chapel and a leading composer in Sweden in the first half of the 18th century, Johan Helmich Roman studied in England with Pepusch, compiler of the music of The Beggar’s Opera. His music shows distinct traces of his experience in England, where he also met composers such as Handel and Geminiani. He was a prolific composer in various genres.

With a career spanning over 40 years and over 30 million album sales, Chris Rea’s distinctive husky-gravel vocal and incredible body of work has seen him become one of the most loved solo artists the UK have ever produced. Each set of reissues comes with the original album fully remastered alongside a second disc of live performances, b-sides and previously unreleased versions of tracks from the accompanying album.

Calling Shepherd Moons a near carbon copy of Watermark puts it quite mildly. Like Watermark, Shepherd Moons opens with the title track, a calm instrumental, has another brief instrumental titled after a Dora Saint book smack in the middle ("No Holly for Miss Quinn"), and concludes with a number incorporating a striking uilleann pipes solo, "Smaointe…." In general, Enya's own musical style and work remains the same, again assisted on production by Nicky Ryan and with lyrics by Roma Ryan. Shepherd Moons does have one key factor that's also carried over from Watermark - it's quite good listening. Though the total continuity means that those who enjoy her work will again be pleased and those who dislike it won't change their minds, in terms of finding her own vision and sticking with it, Enya has increasingly polished and refined her work to a strong, elegant degree…

In early 1991 an album by an '80s artist was welcomed like a Bryan Ferry album in the time of punk. Brucken is one of those enigmas who records sporadically. Love is her only solo effort. Due to Pascal Gabriel's modern dance production, the album holds up well even years after its release and is a much lighter listen than the Edgar Allan Poe- inspired Propaganda. Nine tracks are anticipated by the sensual shade of the "State of Independence" shadow, "Kiss Like Ether." At times Gabriel's programmed beats border on overbearing, so Steve Nye adds a touch of liveliness on three pieces, culminating in the memorable "Always." The upbeat disco "Suicide" and the dramatic "Surprise" are also notable.
Cherry Red's expanded reissue includes the original album plus 10 bonus tracks covering all the singles, B-sides and remixes of the era.

We can readily imagine with what modest pride the 40-year-old Bach presented his second wife Anna Magdalena with this most delightful of all domestic scrapbooks. Bach himself started it off for her with two of the keyboard Partitas (A minor, BWV827 and E minor, BWV930) which later formed part of the collection published as the composer's Op. 1 in 1731. Thereafter it was up to Anna Magdalena herself to choose and to enter little compositions which made particular appeal. Not all the music by any means is by her husband and there are pieces for example by Couperin, Bohm, Stolzel, Hasse and her stepson Carl Philipp Emanuel as well as several by anonymous composers.

Emboldened by the enthusiastic response to the muted Nothing Like the Sun and reeling from the loss of his parents, Sting constructed The Soul Cages as a hushed mediation on mortality, loss, grief, and father/son relationships (the album is dedicated, in part, to his father; its predecessor was dedicated to his mother). Using the same basic band as Nothing Like the Sun, the album has the same supple, luxurious tone, stretching out leisurely over nine tracks, almost all of them layered mid-tempo tunes (the exception being grinding guitars of the title track).

The Chick Corea Elektric Band (1986). Nine years after the breakup of the final version of Return to Forever, Chick Corea ended a long period of freelance projects by forming his Elektrik Band. This set, the group's initial release, finds Corea meeting up for the first time with the great bassist John Patitucci and drummer Dave Weckl; half of the selections also have either Carlos Rios or Scott Henderson on guitar. Due to the high musicianship, the personalities of the players, and Corea's colorful compositions, the Elektrik Band quickly became one of the top fusion groups of the late '80s…

Richard Marx's 1991 release, Rush Street, is a varied album that was billed as "the dark side of Richard Marx," and was also his last true rock & roll album (subsequent releases found him venturing almost exclusively into the adult contemporary domain). Rush Street explores different musical territories, with almost each song emerging as a cautionary tale in some form or another. The album kicks off to a rocking start with the bluesy "Playing With Fire" and the harmonica-enhanced "Love Unemotional." "Superstar" finds Marx in a funky mode, "Big Boy Now" is a catchy ballad that could have been a single, and "Streets of Pain" and "I Get No Sleep" (the latter featuring Billy Joel banging away at a piano) come straight out of '80s arena rock.

Tago Mago (1971). With the band in full artistic flower and Damo Suzuki's sometimes moody, sometimes frenetic speak/sing/shrieking in full effect, Can released not merely one of the best Krautrock albums of all time, but one of the best albums ever, period. Tago Mago is that rarity of the early '70s, a double album without a wasted note, ranging from sweetly gentle float to full-on monster grooves. "Paperhouse" starts things brilliantly, beginning with a low-key chime and beat, before amping up into a rumbling roll in the midsection, then calming down again before one last blast. Both "Mushroom" and "Oh Yeah," the latter with Schmidt filling out the quicker pace with nicely spooky keyboards, continue the fine vibe. After that, though, come the huge highlights - three long examples of Can at its absolute best…

Eddy Clearwater has had a tough time shaking his "Chuck Berry imitator" label, and he includes Berry-tinged numbers at the halfway point and end of this nice, if thoroughly derivative, urban blues set recorded in 1989 for Black and Blue with the familiar country boogie shuffle and tinkling licks. Clearwater could not do a set without the signature "Lay My Guitar Down," and this rendition is surging and enjoyable although inferior to the definitive one. Otherwise, it is a pile-driving and urgently performed date; Clearwater and Will Crosby swap slashing lines, crackling phrases, and answering fills. Clearwater's session contains several robust, entertaining passages, even if there is absolutely nothing you have not heard before.

The two Serenades, Op. 11 and Op. 16, represented two of the earliest efforts by Johannes Brahms to write orchestral music. Recorded with Bernard Haitink at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with its own wonderful unique acoustic these serenades never sounded better. First of all, Haitink is supremely competent with a superb baton technique and an almost unmatched ability to balance an orchestra and shape a movement. Second of all, Haitink is a supremely tasteful conductor who never imposes his will on the music through his interpretations, but rather allows the interpretation to arise from the music.

Can - Monster Movie (1969). Though Monster Movie was the first full-length album in what would become a sprawling and often genre-defining discography, Can were on a level well ahead of the curve even in their most formative days. Recorded and released in 1969, Monster Movie bears many of the trademarks that Can would explore as they went on, as well as elements that would set the scene for the burgeoning Krautrock movement. This would be the only album Can's first singer Malcolm Mooney would sing the entirety of, as he was replaced by Damo Suzuki by the time of 1970's Soundtracks, leaving the band after going through a highly unstable time. Mooney was known for his erratic ways, and some of that mania undoubtedly comes through here, with his caterwauling howls on the unexpectedly garage-influenced "Outside My Door"…