In a sense, Belinda Carlisle's A Woman & a Man is a companion record to her first solo album. It arrived in 1996, ten years after Belinda, and it also functioned as something of a break from the Go-Go's, as it was her first album after the group's mid-'90s reunion. That's not where the similarities end: the title track has some Motown propulsion, Charlotte Caffey comes in to co-write "Kneel at Your Feet," and instead of Tim, Carlisle covers Neil Finn. All these echoes are somewhat buried underneath the studio gloss created by producer David Tickle, a veneer that can get too thick on the ballads but nevertheless is often pleasingly expensive.

Competing nicely with the earlier Time After Time: The Best of Cyndi Lauper, Columbia/Legacy's The Essential Cyndi Lauper features most of the '80s icon's big hits as well as lesser-known album tracks. Considering the inconsistent nature of Lauper's albums, it is nice to find tracks like "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and "True Colors" packaged alongside "Sisters of Avalon" and "Who Let in the Rain." Most Lauper fans will already own these songs, but for casual fans, The Essential Cyndi Lauper will do the trick.

Aside from being legendary multiple Grammy-winning jazzmen on very different instruments, Chick Corea (piano) and Béla Fleck (the world's premier jazz banjo master) have a shared love for collaboration and the infinite improvisational possibilities their chosen idiom offers them. In some ways, the two have been preparing for this masterful, musical dialogue-driven masterpiece for over ten years. Fleck, who has always credited Corea as being one of his chief influences, invited the pianist to play on the Flecktones' Tales from the Acoustic Planet, as well as the group's live CD Live Art.

Having proved his writing credentials with his debut album, Bill Wyman mixed his own compositions with outside material second time around. Issued in February 1976, Stone Alone was Bill Wyman's second solo album. As per usual Bill had worked with a star-studded session band, the contributions this time around including Van Morrison, Joe Walsh, Dr John, Ron Wood, Al Kooper, Nicky Hopkins, and Jim Keltner. Van Morrison added sax to a revival of Gary Bonds' A Quarter To Three, Ron Wood and Joe Walsh played guitar, and Bill Wyman steered his superstar band through a righteous set of bluesy rock'n'roll.

Psychedelic-folk debut from one of the most erudite, literate minds in rock, Thomas D. Rapp (and the first of his ever-changing Swine). Although the songs here lack some cohesion, this is still a stunning piece of work, from the nightmarish sleeve art – the "Hell Panel" from Hieronymus Bosch's 15th century painting "Garden of Delights" – to the strange yet powerful songs. "Another Time," the most memorable selection, is an understated acoustic song, the first that Rapp ever penned, based on his experience in a horrific car crash where he walked away unscathed.

Brand new album from Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) performing acoustic covers of Bob Dylan songs.

One of the greatest pieces of sacred music in history, in one of its legendary versions, in a brand-new high-resolution remastering restoring it to its original glory: what more could you ask for? Carlo Maria Giulini’s 1978 rendition of Mozart’s Requiem is a milestone of the discography, all at once solemn and grandiose, thanks to a Philharmonia Chorus at the peak of its powers. It features one of the most iconic quartets of vocal soloists with Helen Donath, Christa Ludwig, Robert Tear and Robert Lloyd!

Immerse yourself in the captivating world of modern jazz with Art Hirahara's latest album "Peace Unknown" from Posi-Tone Records.

Sinuous rhythms, conversational singing, and, most of all, intricate, bluesy guitar playing characterize Cale's performances of his own songs. This compilation, covering 11 years of recording, includes the songs Eric Clapton, who borrowed heavily from Cale's style in his 1970s solo work, made famous: "After Midnight" and "Cocaine".

King's last Shelter album was his most elaborately produced, with occasional string arrangements and female backups vocals, although these didn't really detract from the net result. Boasting perhaps heavier rock elements than his other Shelter efforts, it was characteristically divided between blues standards (by the likes of Willie Dixon and Elmore James), Leon Russell tunes, and more R&B/soul-inclined material by the likes of Ray Charles and Percy Mayfield.