Featuring a broader array of styles than any previous Linda Ronstadt record, Simple Dreams reconfirms her substantial talents as an interpretive singer. Ronstadt sings Dolly Parton ("I Never Will Marry") with the same conviction as the Rolling Stones ("Tumbling Dice"), and she manages to update Roy Orbison ("Blue Bayou") and direct attention to the caustic, fledgling singer/songwriter Warren Zevon ("Poor Poor Pitiful Me" and "Carmelita"). The consistently adventurous material and Ronstadt's powerful performance makes the record rival Heart Like a Wheel in sheer overall quality.

The album, originally released in 1977, was Dave Brock and Robert Calvert's masterpiece that perfectly embraced the influence of the musical New Wave to deliver one of the most effective albums released during Calvert s tenure with Hawkwind. This expanded edition features a bonus CD featuring studio session alternate takes and live recordings by The Sonic Assassins from 1977. Including such classic tracks as Spirit of the Age, Hassan I Sabbah and Damnation Alley , this reissue has been remastered from the original master tapes (a first for any CD issue of this album).

Anita O'Day recorded many rewarding albums in the 1950s when her voice was at its strongest, and this collaboration with the Oscar Peterson Quartet (comprised of pianist Peterson, guitarist Herb Ellis, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer John Poole) may very well be her best. Not only is the backup swinging, giving a Jazz at the Philharmonic feel to some of the songs, but O'Day proves that she could keep up with Peterson. "Them There Eyes" is taken successfully at a ridiculously fast tempo, yet the singer displays a great deal of warmth on such ballads as "We'll Be Together Again" and "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered." While Peterson and Ellis have some solos, O'Day is never overshadowed (which is saying a lot) and is clearly inspired by their presence. The very brief playing time (just 34 minutes) is unfortunate on this set, but the high quality definitely makes up for the lack of quantity. A gem.

Exciter is Depeche Mode's tenth studio album, which was released on 14 May 2001 in the UK and May 15 in the US. It uses more digital music technology compared to their other albums. It was produced by Mark Bell of Björk and LFO fame. The album also launched the Exciter Tour, which was one of the band's most successful tours.

Jean-Michel Jarre performed a handful of concerts in Peking and Shanghai in 1981, marking the first time that a modern Western musical artist had played in communist China. Sensing the historical importance of the event (and the career milestone it represented), a double album of live music from these concerts was released the following year as Les Concerts en Chine. The release is half musical travelogue (featuring new pieces presumably inspired by China) and half career retrospective, with faithful reproductions of excerpts from Equinoxe and Les Chants Magnetiques (Magnetic Fields) interspersed with new works and snippets of Chinese dialogue. There has always been a strong visual component to Jarre's live shows, which the listener is left out of on these recordings (small pockets of applause during some of the songs allude to the graphic goings-on), but even without the lights and lasers this is engaging stuff…

An amazingly rich cross-section of the reggae world pays homage to the great Bob Marley in this essential triple-CD collection. With a total of 50 tracks featuring an eclectic mix of artists like Ruddy Thomas, the Maroons, Sly & Robbie, Johnny Clarke, Inner Circle, John Holt, Horace Andy, Max Romeo, Byron Lee & the Dragonaires, and Dennis Brown, TROJAN BOB MARLEY COVERS BOX SET is a must for any reggae fan, and a testament to Marley's vast influence and crossover appeal within the reggae community and beyond.

The Gospel According to the Meninblack (sometimes referred to as just The Meninblack) is the fifth album by English rock band the Stranglers, an esoteric concept album released 9 February 1981, on the Liberty label. The album explores conspiratorial themes involving alien visitations to Earth, the sinister governmental men in black, and the involvement of these elements in well-known biblical narratives. This was not the first time the Stranglers had used this concept; "Meninblack" on the earlier The Raven album and subsequent 1980 single-release "Who Wants the World?" had also explored it.

Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), and Vivian Campbell (guitar, backing vocals). Therefore, this is the band's longest-standing lineup.

In the early 70's the young French Prog scenario was full of competent bands that were being listened in and outside their country, and while most of them ascribed to the "French Theatric Symphonic", early Pulsar decided to re-create the sound of Pink Floyd with that unique Gaulish sound with a lineup of competent musicians formed by Jacques Roman (organ, piano, synth), Victor Bosch (drums, percussion), Gilbert Gandil (guitar, vocals) and Philippe Roman (bass), but something was missing so they recruited the flutist and string musician Roland Richard.
Their 1975 debut "Pollen", was acclaimed by most critics (despite the economic failure in the UK), who saw them as a breeze of fresh air, because they didn't limit themselves to copy a style, but added some Symphonic touches that gave them a special flavor…

The soundtrack to the 2018 Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody offers a fittingly cinematic portrait of the iconic rock band, built around a handful of the group's most well-known songs, including live versions and several tracks reworked specifically for the film. As a souvenir of the movie, the soundtrack works especially well. Opening with guitarist Brian May's arrangement of the "20th Century Fox Fanfare," and showcasing his distinctive searing guitar leads, it perfectly sets the tone for telling Queen and Freddie Mercury's story on the big screen. Here we get such beloved classics as "Somebody to Love," "Killer Queen," "Another One Bites the Dust," and "Under Pressure."