Esperanto were an European progressive rock outfit of somewhat unusual origin. Belgian violinist Raymond Vincent, pianist and musicologist Bruno Libert, and a pair of Italo-Belgian brothers, bassist Gino Malisan and his brother drummer, Tony Malisan. The core of the band was Belgian but it was on a trip to England that the original Belgian unit found the remaining members that would give Esperanto their unique sound.
After experiencing success in his native Australia with the Twilights and later Axiom, Glenn Shorrock decided to travel to England in a bid for international success. He was struggling and finding little or no success in England. The Belgians got in touch with producer David Mackay who knew of Glenn Shorrock and bada-bing Esperanto had a lead vocalist…

This is a strong major-label debut that the Chicago-born San Francisco bluesman was unable to capitalize on. Most of the tracks are from the same session that produced Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West by Mike Bloomfield. Gravenites, an exceptional songwriter and decent singer, benefits from the presence of the amazing Bloomfield. He elevates the fierce "Moon Tune" to dizzying heights with two dazzling, lengthy solos. Quicksilver Messenger Service backs former producer Gravenites on several studio tracks.

Lion's Share is back - stronger than ever! With six acclaimed albums and a string of successful digital singles, the Swedish heavy metal powerhouse is set to unleash their long-awaited comeback album.
Along the way, Lion's Share has collaborated with members of some of the most legendary bands in the world, including Kiss, Megadeth, King Diamond, Candlemass, Symphony X and Yngwie Malmsteen. Albums like Emotional Coma and Dark Hours have earned critical praise for their razor-sharp riffing, massive hooks, and a perfect balance of heaviness and melody. Since 2017, Lion's Share has operated as a dynamic duo, with Lars Chriss on guitar and Nils Patrik Johansson on vocals, calling on trusted friends for live and studio collaborations…

On his last couple of Warner Brothers albums, Gorilla and In the Pocket, James Taylor seemed to be converting himself from the shrinking violet, too-sensitive-to-live "rainy day man" of his early records into a mainstream, easy-listening crooner with a sunny outlook. JT, his debut album for Columbia Records, was something of a defense of this conversion. Returning to the autobiographical, Taylor declared his love for Carly Simon ("There We Are"), but expressed some surprise at his domestic bliss… "Isn't it amazing a man like me can feel this way?" he sang in the opening song, "Your Smiling Face" (a Top 40 hit). At the same time, domesticity could have its temporary depressions ("Another Grey Morning"). The key track was "Secret O' Life," which Taylor revealed as "enjoying the passage of time"…

Fine '83 collaboration between Rosemary Clooney and the Woody Herman big band, although Herman is nearing the end of his great career. Excellent arrangements, steadfast vocals, and the usual tidy, though careful, Concord production and engineering.

German synthesist Frank Klare has been recording electronic music for many years, as a solo artist and with bands like Synco and Traumklang. Klare is joined on this release by Ron Boots, who lends his EM expertise to three of the album's seven tracks. Generous atmospherics fill a cold sky with mounting warmth. Layered sequences descend from the beyond, adding strong definition and appealing melodies to this harmonic flow. A feeling of sedate calm is laced with strident chords that elevate the tranquillity to more dynamic territory, generating a lavish disposition of sonic majesty and meticulous intention. Long intros melt into involved compositions that bristle with verve and passion. This slow-building fashion allows each melody to evolve and flourish in an unhurried manner, resulting in tunes that flaunt earnest creativity with abundance…

Esperanto had a sound that was uniquely theirs. With violinist Raymond Vincent there are hints of American prog-rockers, Kansas but Vincent's violin playing is in more of a classical European vein than that of Kansas.
Shorrock, Yates, Slater, and Dudoit gave a glimpse of what was to come later when Shorrock would join Mississippi with Graeham Goble and Beeb Birtles and morph into Little River Band. Their vocal harmonies are tight and contribute to the uniqueness of Esperanto's sound. Another preview of Little River Band would come in the form of Statue of Liberty which Glenn would re-record with LRB on their debut album.
For Esperanto's last album ("Last Tango", 1975), gone is singer Keith Christmas (and to a lesser extent 2nd violin Tony Harris) and in comes the duo of Kim Moore and Roger Meakin…

Talk about rockers rollin'! This fantastic four-CD set from the veteran British rockers includes all 75 of their A-sides (many of them being radio edits not available on the original albums) plus Jump That Rock (Whatever You Want), their 2008 collaboration with the German techno act Scooter. Love 'em or hate 'em, Status Quo have been rockin' the charts for four decades. While they remain living legends and rock icons in the U.K., Europe, South America, and elsewhere, they can't even get arrested in the States! The "hip" U.K. press love to take as many potshots at them as possible, which is all the more reason to loveQuo. But we all know that, deep down (deeper and down), those critics probably have a soft spot for quite a few of Quo's hits but will never admit to it in public. At any rate, the band has always managed to maintain a certain quality level that may not always touch the stars, but, at the least, will always rock the house!

Every man's death diminishes us all, but the death of a man so close to completing his greatest achievement and the summation of his life's work diminishes us all greatly – very, very greatly. When Emil Gilels died in 1985, he had completed recordings of most but not all of Beethoven's piano sonatas, released here in a nine-disc set. What's here is unimaginably good: superlative recordings of 27 of the 32 canonical sonatas, including the "Pathétique," "Moonlight," "Waldstein," "Appassionata," "Les Adieux," and the majestic "Hammerklavier," plus the two early "Electoral" Sonatas and the mighty Eroica Variations. What's missing is unimaginably priceless: five of the canonical sonatas, including the first and – horror vacui – the last. But still, for what there is, we must be grateful. Beyond all argument one of the great pianists of the twentieth century, Gilels the Soviet super virtuoso had slowly mellowed and ripened over his long career, and when he began recording the sonatas in 1972, his interpretations had matured and deepened while his superlative technique remained gloriously intact straight through to the last recordings of his final year.

After the international success of the self-produced "Fox on the Run," Sweet broke away from songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman in an attempt to shake their "pop puppets" and took a stab at conquering the hard rock album market. Sadly, a lot of their post-hit singles period output lacked the tight songwriting and hooks that made them famous, and this problem is in evidence on Off the Record. The band's musical approach seems schizophrenic on this album: songs like "Windy City" and "Live for Today" attempt a tough sound built on gritty lyrics and heavy guitar riffs, but this approach is undone by the overt slickness of the production, which tarts everything up with Queen-style harmonies and thickly-layered synthesizers that would feel more at home on a prog rock album…