The British band Fantasy released two albums in the early '70s of predominantly pastoral progressive rock. Originally called FireQueen, the group was comprised of Paul Lawrence (vocals, guitar), David Metcalfe (keyboards), and Dave Read (bass). Their first album was Paint a Picture (1973), a mellow and imaginative collection of song-based material that featured a heavy use of acoustic guitars, Hammond organs, and pianos. In 1974, the band recorded Beyond the Beyond, which was not released until 1992. The album saw the group expanding their sound into more quintessential progressive material while remaining true to the pastoral sound of their debut.

Since the early '90s Belfast guitar whiz Gary Moore has returned again and again to the blues, leaving his metal phase far behind. Old New Ballads Blues is exactly what the title says it is, a mix of old blues (covers of songs by Elmore James, Willie Dixon, and Otis Rush), new blues (five Moore originals), ballads (half the album) and, well, blues (by one definition or another, everything here passes for blues). The real surprise is that the strongest songs are the original Moore-penned ballads, as Moore gives powerful and atmospheric performances (both vocally and as a guitarist) on "Gonna Rain Today," "No Reason to Cry," and a solid horn-augmented remake of one of his best songs, "Midnight Blues," from what is easily his best album, 1990s million-selling Still Got the Blues.

Packaging her biggest tracks as advertised, Avril Lavigne's Greatest Hits collects two decades of pure, punked-up pop gems. With all her most notable songs in one place, her legacy and impact on music in the early 2000s is apparent. Understandably culling the bulk of the collection from her massive first two albums – 2002's diamond-certified Let Go and 2004's Under My Skin – Greatest Hits owes almost half of its runtime to these chart-topping genre classics, which have collectively sold over 25 million copies worldwide since their release.

One of the finest guitarists of his generation, Alexandre Lagoya was famous not only for his amazing abilities but also thanks to his numerous transcriptions for the instrument, which greatly contributed to the extension of the repertoire. In this album recorded for Erato in 1990, he performs major baroque pieces he arranged himself, notably Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring and excerpts from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena and a selection of Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas.

When Philip Glass was asked to compose incidental music for a Broadway production of King Lear in 2019, he immediately knew he wanted to write for string quartet: “I know how to write for string quartet. I love its range of emotion.” Indeed, this concert version of the play’s score is his ninth work for string quartet, a medium he employs to great effect to depict the tumult, violence, and despair at the heart of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy.

Cristóbal de Morales’s five-voice Missa pro defunctis is steeped in a grandeur and solemnity which resonate powerfully with the listener, especially in a large-scale account such as that recorded here by De Profundis. The Requiem is preceded by a selection of motets which address last things in an affecting Office for the Dead.

Originally released in 1974, Pinball marked the debut of actor-turned-singer-songwriter Brian Protheroe. Fusing baroque pop, soft rock, and the wry introspection of early '70s singer-songwriters, the album earned critical acclaim and cult devotion, largely on the strength of its title track – the haunting, theatrical ballad 'Pinball' – a UK Top 30 hit that remains one of the decade's most singular singles.

This live album captures Beth Carvalho's performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. She is accompanied on stage by the Quinteto em Branco e Preto and five other seasoned samba musicians. The repertoire includes classic songs such as 'Chega De Saudade', 'Coisinha Do Pai', and 'As Rosas Não Falam', a Carnival potpourri, and newer releases like 'Lenços Brancos'. The "godmother of samba" welcomes special guest Jorge Aragão for the performance of 'Tem Nada Não'.

Legendary former King Crimson members ADRIAN BELEW and TONY LEVIN banded together with guitar virtuoso STEVE VAI and explosive Tool drummer DANNY CAREY to create BEAT, a creative reinterpretation of the three iconic 80s KING CRIMSON albums - Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair. In 2024, the ensemble staged 65 shows in North America, before following it with an expansive run in Mexico and South America in 2025. On the 26th September 2025, in partnership with InsideOutMusic/SonyMusic, the ‘Live’ album will be released, with a sold-out show in Los Angeles as its focal point.

This 1979 recording is pure class — clear, emotional, and full of life. The “Elvira Madigan” concerto? Yeah, it’s here and sounds amazing. Perfect for chill moments or when you need focus. Weissenberg’s touch? Crisp. Giulini’s direction? Smooth. No overblown drama, just honest music done right.

Quadrophenia has been reissued before, including a notably remixed version in 1996, but it has never been expanded. The 2011 "Director’s Cut" makes up for lost time by offering two different expanded editions of the album (presented in its 1996 remix): a double-disc edition rounded out with 11 demos - all performed solo by Pete Townshend, two of which are songs that didn’t make the final cut - and a Super Deluxe Edition that adds an early version of the album comprised entirely of Townshend demos, a DVD containing 5.1 mixes from selected songs from the album, and a host of extras highlighted by a 100-page hardcover book featuring many photos, memorabilia from Townshend’s archive, lyrics, and a new, lengthy essay from Pete. While the double-disc edition is quite a handsome thing in its own right - the two discs may be split at an odd point, between “Drowned” and “Bell Boy,” the latter the last song on side three on the original album; the demos more than make up for this quirk - the Super Deluxe Edition is something special…

Classically-based readers will know the Pearl label for its historical remasterings, but it has a short list of black American music, to which it has now added some extraordinary West African tapes from the 1940s. A two-person American team made these TRIBAL, FOLK AND CAFÉ recordings, visiting city and country and powering their tape machine from the jeep engine for out-of-the-way villages. The result is a unique record of times when everybody still knew the songs and traditional instruments were easy to find. The brilliance lies in the selection of short extracts to make at least one CD packed with real musical communication. The notes pick out sources of familiar Cuban ingredients, and there are pieces with kora and guitars from Guinea that point towards Baaba Maal. Much of the second CD is taken up with songs and choruses like Americanised music hall, some featuring a clapped-out piano. But the rest is riveting and needs at the least to be in every educational collection.

Customers find this CD to be a nice double album with a great mix of tracks, particularly enjoying it while driving. The music receives positive feedback for its relaxing qualities, with one customer noting its wide range from poignant to uplifting moods. Customers appreciate its easy listening nature and good value for money, with one review highlighting its magic sounds suitable for all ages. Generated from the text of customer reviews.

NEW STEREO AND ATMOS MIXES BY STEVEN WILSON, PLUS NEWLY REMIXED VERSIONS OF ALL THREE JAPAN CONCERTS . On August 15, 1972, Deep Purple took the stage in Japan for the first of three shows that would give rise to one of rock’s most celebrated live albums, MADE IN JAPAN. MADE IN JAPAN (SUPER DELUXE EDITION) features new stereo and Dolby ATMOS mixes of the original by acclaimed producer Steven Wilson, all three concerts newly remixed by Richard Digby Smith, and several rare single edits. Singer Ian Gillan, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, keyboardist Jon Lord, bassist Roger Glover, and drummer Ian Paice—Deep Purple’s famed Mk II lineup—turned studio staples like “Smoke On The Water,” “Highway Star,” and “Space Truckin’” into explosive live statements. “We came halfway around the world and found the audience singing every word. It was magical,” Glover recalls in the collection’s liner notes. The band enlisted engineer Martin Birch — who had worked on several of their best-known studio albums — to record the shows to eight-track tape at Festival Hall in Osaka and the Budokan in Tokyo. The performances on MADE IN JAPAN (SUPER DELUXE EDITION) capture Deep Purple at full throttle, powering through songs from their then-new album Machine Head, along with fan favorites like “Child In Time,” “Strange Kind Of Woman,” and “Speed King.” The collection also includes rare single edits, like the German version of “Black Night” and the Mexican edit of “Space Truckin’.” The live album garnered widespread critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone declaring it “Purple’s definitive metal monster, a spark-filled execution of the typical Purple style.”

A longtime Bob Margolin fan, Italian Blues musician Mike Sponza was tearing it up with his own band when he reached out to Bob to join them for a tour of Central Europe. They did ten shows in six European countries,and the combination was so magical, the music so strong that by the end of the tour it was clear they needed to go into the studio to make a record together. Blues Around the World captures that magic with original songs by Bob and by Mike as well as a couple audience favorites, and as a bonus track, Bob's acoustic take on the classic "Love In Vain."