Jefferson Airplane's first live album demonstrated the group's development as concert performers, taking a number of songs that had been performed in concise, pop-oriented versions on their early albums - "3/5's of a Mile in 10 Seconds," "Somebody to Love," "It's No Secret," "Plastic Fantastic Lover" - and rendering them in arrangements that were longer, harder rocking, and more densely textured, especially in terms of the guitar and basslines constructed by Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady. The group's three-part vocal harmonizing and dueling was on display during such songs as a nearly seven-minute version of Fred Neil's folk-blues standard "The Other Side of This Life," here transformed into a swirling rocker. The album emphasized the talents of Kaukonen and singer Marty Balin over the team of Paul Kantner and Grace Slick..

Mindy McCready's debut album, Ten Thousand Angels, elevated her into Nashville's music spotlight and established her as a promising singer. Born and raised in southern Florida, McCready (born Malinda Gayle McCready) graduated from high school at the age of 16 with the intention of beginning her musical career early. Following her graduation, she took a part-time job in her mother's ambulance company and began concentrating on performing her music.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of Fanny’s 1970 debut album. For the first time, a group of women (sisters June and Jean Millington, Alice De Buhr and Nickey Barclay) wrote and sang their own songs, played their own instruments and, perhaps most importantly, rocked just as hard as any male band out there. And, as the first all female band signed to a major label (Reprise) and with superstar producer Richard Perry at the board, these four women became perhaps L.A.’s biggest “buzz band,” landing repeated bookings at the Whisky-a-Go-Go with a who’s who of rock’s glitterati in attendance. But, without a reference point with which to review them, the rock press was less than kind, often dismissing them as a novelty act. Fanny would have to become that reference point, and so they did for the generations of female rockers to come after them, from Joan Jett to Girlschool to Courtney Love and beyond. They were truly the Godmothers of Chick Rock.

Recordings of Bach's violin concertos are not in short supply, but this one, nicely recorded at a small hall in the home city of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, is unusually satisfying. It does not exactly break new ground, but it improves on several existing ideas and puts them together into a nifty package. First of all is the program itself. The Freiburgers and their leader/violinists, Petra Müllejans and Gottfried von der Goltz (joined here by Anna-Katharina Schreiber), offer by way of conclusion the Concerto for three violins and orchestra, BWV 1064R, a lost work reconstructed from a later version for harpsichord.

Playlist: The Very Best of Dixie Chicks is the greatest hits album from American country band the Dixie Chicks. The album consists of twelve songs personally selected by the Dixie Chicks from their fourth through seventh studio albums. It was released in the United States on June 1, 2010. The group supported the album by touring with The Eagles in 2010. It is a part of Sony BMG's Playlist series. It was also re-released on Sony's midprice sub-label Camden entitled Wide Open Spaces: The Collection in 2012.

Fanny had already stepped into some big shoes by being the first all-female rock band signed to a major label, but with the release of 1972’s Fanny Hill, they took things to a new level, recording at Abbey Road with producer Richard Perry and famed Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick (the album includes a Beatles homage with a cover of “Hey Bulldog”). And the result was Fanny’s most varied and ambitious album, sporting a beautiful mix of ballads and rockers and a mature, socially conscious lyrical approach.

By all rights, Kellie Pickler's third album 100 Proof should've been a blockbuster. A savvy update of classic country in the Tammy Wynette tradition, the 2012 record confirmed that Pickler could be a hell of a country singer, but the record stalled out on the charts, moving just a handful of copies – a significant decline from 2008's eponymous album, which almost went gold. BNA Records left her behind and she signed to the independent Black River Entertainment, working once again with 100 Proof producer Frank Liddell but also Luke Wooten, coming up with The Woman I Am, a record that's a bit bright and sweeter than its predecessor.

Excellent music by a composer of the classical period not well known today. The performance was in keeping with the music and the sound was very well done. After listening to this music several times, I wondered how music such as this fades into obscurity even for those familiar with the musical history of the time.

This is a positive disc with much to commend it. I just love Chausson's music - if you don't know his Poeme for violin and orchestra, or his exquisite orchestral songs of "L'amour et la Mer" then please find them at once. And the Faure piano quartets are undoubtedly among his very finest compositions. I suspect many people will be keen to have the two Faure piano quartets on a single disc. If that's your approach, then check out the Nash Ensemble's recording on CRD has long been a huge favourite of mine, a rosette recording of two truly wonderful works. But if you are interested to hear the Chausson then give this a try - I doubt you'll regret it.

You'll recall that Bach's Brandenburg Concertos sound different from one another because the composer never meant them as a single, unified group. In 1719 Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg commissioned Bach to write several musical works for him, and what he got a couple of years later was a collection of six concertos for various-sized ensembles and various solo instruments that Bach had probably written at various times for various other occasions.

Close to two decades into their career, with six records, 300M+ streams, four consecutive number #1 albums, and the strongest line-up the Finnish symphonic heavy metal group ever had, it’s about time Battle Beast release a proper live album. Now, Circus Of Doom - Live in Helsinki 2023 finally comes out via Nuclear Blast Records.
Offering 117 minutes of playing time, 15 songs, a stunning 24-page booklet showing the band’s impressive stage and performance in a series of photos by Jaakko Manninen, and artwork by Jan Yrlund, Circus Of Doom - Live in Helsinki 2023 is a triumphant testimony to Battle Beast’s one of a kind adventurous and monumental music. Recorded in the Helsinki Ice Hall on January 27, 2023, mixed by the band’s “keytarist” Janne Björkroth and mastered at the legendary Finnvox by Mika Jussila, this massive live package is a highlight for every dedicated fan out there…

With the release of their debut self-titled album (previously reissued on CD and vinyl by Real Gone Music), Fanny made history as the first all-female rock band ever signed to a major label, but it was on their second album when the girls really settled into a groove. Highlighted by such tracks as “Cat Fever,” “Thinking of You” and “Place in the Country,” Charity Ball was a quantum leap forward for the group, and displays a much more surehanded lyrical and musical approach than its predecessor.

The relaxed tone of this CD is set from the beginning, with Bill Charlap's quiet, spare solo reading of "The Shadow of Your Smile." On the next track, the others join in for some mellow and friendly swinging: Jay Leonhart's big, fat bass grounds Charlap's dreaminess, while Bill Stewart, who's left his sticks at home for this date, brushes up the tempo with subtlety and style. This release offers thoughtful solo piano (also on "Mona Lisa"), slow, romantic ballads ("How Long Has This Been Going On," "Paper Moon"), and tasty mid-tempo treatments ("As Time Goes By," "When Your Lover Has Gone"). While there are no barnburners, the heat rises to a steady simmer on "You'd Be So Nice…" and "How High the Moon," where the players are audibly enjoying themselves. Leonhart's solos are consistently interesting, drizzled with wit, and the ever-lyrical Charlap provides rarely heard verses to six of these nine classic tunes…