Several years after the original art rock supergroup Colosseum disbanded, drummer Jon Hiseman formed Colosseum II, a more jazz fusion-oriented outfit featuring guitarist Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy) and keyboardist Don Airey. Their eclectic debut, Strange New Flesh, shows some impressive chops from all involved, with an emphasis on Moore's soulful guitar leads. Vocalist Mike Starr, while not an immensely engaging singer, does a nice job keeping up with Hiseman and bass player Neil Murray. Highlights include the technically showy but blissfully irreverent ode to Pink Floyd, "Dark Side of the Moog," a nice version of Joni Mitchell's "Down to You," and the funky "Gemini and Leo."

This ambitious video and musical project was co-ordinated by Tom Galley (brother of former Whitesnake guitarist Mel Galley) - the albums are concept affairs, centred on the theme of supernatural phenomena. However, utilizing an impressive list of guest musicians has not always guaranteed a good result, and Phenomena went some way towards proving this truism. With Neil Murray (bass), Cozy Powell (drums), Mel Galley (guitar) and Glenn Hughes (vocals) among the initial line-up, great things were evidently expected for Phenomena. However, the songs were often overtly complex and lacked a central melody line. Dream Runner, released two years later, suffered from similar problems, but the music was less of a disappointment.

Encountering this material in a fresh setting, stripped of the familiar configurations of the original albums, we can reassess this important music in contemporary terms. Right off the bat, As Good As It Gets receives a demerit for omitting "Mary Had a Little Lamb," easily Guy's best known … waxing. Otherwise, the CD provides a reasonable overview of the mercurial guitarist's output. Best of all, the set uncovers three previously unreleased items from the '67 sessions.

Best of Temptations Christmas features the popular Motown group performing a number of Christmas favorites. Most of the favorites are here: "Silver Bells," "The Christmas Song," "White Christmas," "Oh Holy Night," and "Silent Night." There are some playful moments here as well, such as the album-opening "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," making this a fun collection. Motown fans should adore this.

Leif Ove Andsnes and Antonio Pappano deliver full-bodied and intelligently detailed readings of Rachmaninov’s first two concertos that rightly project the composer’s virtuosic keyboard writing and scintillating orchestration on equal footing. EMI’s vivid engineering gives welcome yet never distracting presence to first-desk solos, rapid woodwind flurries, and sweeping brass counterpoints. It also captures a fair amount of heavy breathing from either the soloist or conductor. However, the Berlin Philharmonc strings beckon your primary attention, as Pappano inspires them to throb, sigh, and sing as if Leopold Stokowski had come back to life–although the heavy vibrato in the First concerto’s opening theme borders on Mantovani’s oleaginous turf.

Belonging to the same tradition as the celebrated Weihnachtshistorie of his teacher Schütz, these sacred concertos by Rosenmüller date from the period 1645-50, when the young composer was enjoying a rapid rise to eminence in the good city of Leipzig. Long before his enforced exile in Venice for ‘unnatural vice’, a typically Italian suavity is already clearly perceptible all through these remarkable settings of St Luke’s account of the Nativity. Cantus Cölln returns here to its favourite repertoire, eight years after a first release devoted to the same composer’s Vesper music.

L'Arpa Festante's softly lyrical playing and Winter's shapely singing reveal abundant melodious charm and an appealing sense of pastoral instrumental colour…These excellent performances remind us how many of the finest Saxonian Baroque composers had close ties with the university town long before Bach turned up in 1723.