Whether they're fighting alien invaders, shadowy government conspiracies, or the Apocalypse, Muse always do it for love. On their eighth effort, Simulation Theory, they attempt to break through the virtual matrix in search of that human connection and freedom from the machine. The least complicated or overly conceptual offering (for Muse) in over a decade, the 11-song set is focused and cohesive, blaring down a neon-washed highway of pulsing synths and driving beats while swerving to avoid the orchestral and dubstep meandering of their preceding 2010s output. Unlike these same predecessors, there's also no filler or wasted time, making it the most compulsively listenable and immediate Muse album since 2006's Black Holes & Revelations…

This is a tremendous recording of Joe Pass at his most elegant. His selection of tunes is marvelous and his live improvisations are sublime. Recorded just a few years before his passing he is at best, relaxed and having fun as witnessed by some of his comments included on the CD. If there is one criticism to make it's that the volume levels are a bit low, but nothing to downgrade the music itself. this was a very difficult recording to acquire but worth it if one can find it.

Mom's Apple Pie was an American ten-member rock band from Warren, Ohio. They were best known for their album cover and for the voice of lead singer Bob Fiorino. The band released two albums, Mom's Apple Pie in 1972 and Mom's Apple Pie II in 1973. A third album was recorded but was not released until 2011. Their manager was Larry Patterson, and they recorded on a record label owned by Terry Knight, Brown Bag Records. The band enjoyed a successful career nationally and toured extensively across the United States. Venues included a wide array of college campuses, clubs, concert halls, the Whiskey A-Go-Go in Los Angeles and Madison Square Garden. They performed with such artists as The Doobie Brothers and David Bowie…

Struttin' Our Stuff, Bill Wyman's first album in nearly 15 years, is a surprisingly successful collection of blues and rock & roll. These performances are surprisingly energetic, even if they're a little too polished to accurately capture the gritty, roadside vibe they're trying to achieve. Nevertheless, there are a number of fine moments here, from covers of "Green River," "Tobacco Road" and "Mystery Train" to guest appearences from Eric Clapton, Albert Lee, Peter Frampton and Georgie Fame.

Blues bassist Willie Kent has strong, supple bottom lines that have supported all the best groups, but he's led his own band as well. This is his fourth Delmark date, and Kent heartily asserts himself as a singer, with a tone like Johnny Adams with a rougher edge. His equally excellent band features lead guitarists Bill Flynn and Jake Dawson alternating tracks, with rhythm guitarist Willie Davis, pianist Kenny Barker, and drummer James Carter. Baritone saxophonist/arranger Willie Henderson from the old Tyrone Davis band leads a three-piece horn section on three tracks. This 13-song program - ten written by Kent - comprises mostly classic 12-bar, IV-V-I blues changes. A hard-swinging "3-6-9," with Dawson's swift guitar and Baker's boogie piano, supports a bitch session for Kent. He is fairly believable on the B.B. King-styled "Address in the Street"…

Somewhere along the line, Tangerine Dream figured out a way to produce motion picture scores without paying too much attention - as happened with this score for a minor film. There are some nice moments, but it's mainly Tangerine Dream following the formula. It was the first of six movies directed by Bobby Roth that Tangerine Dream supplied the music for.

This album is certain to be placed in the MJQ section of any shop that carries it. In reality though, only four of the cuts here feature the permanent, stand-alone, 1952-vintage Modern Jazz Quartet; the other eight having been done in the summer and fall of 1951, when they were still known as the Milt Jackson Quartet, with Jackson providing all of the original material. The differences are so subtle as to be indistinguishable – Milt Jackson and John Lewis are on every cut, while Al Johns subs for Kenny Clarke on drums, and Ray Brown precedes Percy Heath on four of the tracks. Clarke's drumming is more impressive in its quiet way, but Ray Brown's bass work is simpler and more forceful.

In retrospect, Opiate seems a little haphazard, but it's possible to hear the seeds of Tool's oppressively bleak, cerebral metal in such cuts as "Sweat" and "Opiate." The two live tracks, "Cold and Ugly" and "Jerk-Off," don't sound out of place, since they share the same churning riffs, black noise, and doom that characterize Tool's sound. This is not as developed as either Undertow or Ænima, but it's possible to hear the roots of those albums all over this EP.