Like its predecessor, Gentle Ballads, Gentle Ballads, Vol. 2 is another fairly low-key session led by Eric Alexander. Not only is the personnel identical (pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist John Webber, and drummer Joe Farnsworth), but the cover art once again features a nude photo by the late Jeanloup Sieff, quite possibly the same model from the same photo shoot. The tenor saxophonist mixes things up a bit more during this 2006 session, playing ballads that were hits for popular singers ("Mona Lisa" and "I'm a Fool to Want You"), 1960s Broadway ("Who Can I Turn To"), and 1960s pop ("The Look of Love"), in addition to the expected standards. Best are the deliberate take of Duke Ellington's timeless melancholy ballad "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" and a bluesy, loping treatment of Neal Hefti's "Li'l Darlin'," which became a signature piece for Count Basie…

Blonde on Blonde's second album, Rebirth, was a more focused body of music than their debut; it also constituted the recording debut of the group's second lineup: David Thomas (vocals, guitar, bass), Gareth Johnson (sitar, lead guitar, lute, electronic effects), Richard Hopkins (bass, keyboards), and Les Hicks (drums, percussion). Whether they're doing the spacy, airy, psychedelic pop of "Castles in the Sky" or the folky "Time Is Passing," the group attack their instruments as though they're performing live, and the effect is riveting throughout, even when the melodic content flags slightly. Thomas' voice is powerful if a little over-dramatic at times, but when the band keeps things moving, there's enough richness of content to carry the album and then some; the band was probably really interesting in concert, too, based on the evidence here…

'80s metal luminaries The Rods are back with Wild Dogs Unchained, a new album that combines reimagined classics from their past with masterfully crafted new songs.
Hooks, grooves, crafty, formidable, and rebellious are songwriting attributes that The Rods gladly embrace. On Wild Dogs Unchained, the veteran power trio continues their famed aural assault with songs like “Eyes of a Dreamer” and “Tears for the Innocent,” revealing heretofore unrealized musical melodicism, while re-tooled classics, “Hurricane” and “Wild Dogs Unchained,” percolate with renewed vigor. On Wild Dogs Unchained, the playing is harder, the grooving is heavier, and the singing more soulful than ever before. David “Rock” Feinstein (guitar/vocals), Freddy Villano (bass), and Carl Canedy (drums) have crafted a definitive Rods album aimed at pleasing die-hard fans and new audiences alike…

For folks younger than, say, the average member of Gen X, the dismissive hostility that their elders have displayed over the years toward Phil Collins must be somewhat confusing. Sure, he was the guy who had a raft of very '80s-sounding pop hits and was responsible for the Tarzan soundtrack, but his prog-rock bona fides (not just in Genesis, but with Brian Eno and many many others) and his chops as a drummer (he's responsible for the most iconic drum break of the last 40 years)—make it easier to see his pop records as part of a broad spectrum over the decades. But that's what retrospective analysis gets you.

To mark the 30th anniversary of "Voices & Images", the album now earns a repackaged, limited edition reissue featuring deleted remixes, rare versions and B-sides.
When it was played on modern rock radio stations in 1988, Camouflage had everybody duped with "The Great Commandment." With its chilly synths, robotic percussion, and gloomy vocals, the song was a Depeche Mode doppelganger. Similarly, Camouflage's debut album Voices & Images is the sound of young men who couldn't stop playing Depeche Mode's Black Celebration in their tape decks. However, they are somewhat talented plagiarists. The icy, computerized rhythms in the anti-racism track "Neighbours" and "Helpless Helpless" have toe-tapping appeal, and "Winner Takes Nothing" regurgitates Duran Duran as new romantic cyborgs…

The Tedeschi Trucks Band and Leon Russell's Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited pays tribute to the iconic 1970 collaboration led by Joe Cocker and Leon Russell. In 2015, TTB, fronted by Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, revived the historic event at LOCKN' Festival. Featuring original Mad Dogs members and guest stars like Chris Robinson and Warren Haynes, the concert combined Southern soul, blues, and rock with a 20+ musician ensemble. TTB's fresh, dynamic rendition of classics like "The Letter" and "With a Little Help from My Friends" honors the past while infusing modern energy.

Although they never enjoyed the national fame, Linn County was one of the most musically sound, in-demand and highly admired outfits in the Bay area. To trace the roots of Linn County's genealogy, one must venture back to their early days to the home state of Iowa when they were known as the Prophets. An unusual late-'60s band that combined horn-embellished soul-rock with more interesting material utilizing jazz-colored arrangements and somewhat spacy songwriting. There were few parallels for this kind of thing at the time, other than perhaps the only slightly less obscure Insect Trust.
In 1968, the band signed with Mercury Records, moved to San Francisco, California, and changed its name to Linn County. ..

Some music stays with you for a lifetime — not just in your memory, but in your hands, your ears, your way of feeling the world. For me, that music began in Tbilisi, Georgia, where I was born and raised, and where these sounds first took root. The journey of this album begins with the music of Nodar Gabunia — a composer, mentor, and teacher who shaped my early musical voice. His musical language is deeply personal, yet unmistakably his — full of clarity, warmth, wisdom, wit, and beauty. The second half of the album gently shifts into the sound world of Giya Kancheli — a close friend of Gabunia’s.