Sting recorded 'The Bridge' during the pandemic with a coterie of trusted musicians beaming into his studio remotely. That easy sense of musical camaraderie, connection and kinship is on full display in the lead single 'If It's Love', an unabashed pop song which is lent wings by a whistled refrain, joyful handclaps, and uplifting brass and strings. The urgently staccato, electric guitar-driven 'Rushing Water' soars with Sting's trademark melodic invention and vivid imagery. The decidedly romantic 'For Her Love' is a delicate pledge that harkens back to some of Sting's classic ballads. That said, Sting can breakdown the genesis of 'Harmony Road', a jazzy jam that artfully combines fever-dream, social realism and autobiography. The circle of trust of a group of likeminded musicians pulling in a myriad of brilliant directions but with one accord, is a solid foundation of 'The Bridge'.

Fans of muscular progressive rock will love Solar Fire, a concept album loosely designed around cosmology. The album opens with the majestic "Father of Night, Father of Day," which has the drive and complexity of a prime King Crimson track. As unlikely as it may seem, the track was controversial in Mann's native South Africa because of the "Father of black, father of white" line, implying that apartheid might not extend to infinite space. The album moves on to the progressive rock/jazz fusion of "In the Beginning, Darkness," a swinging, even funky track that benefits from soulful vocals by Doreen Chanter and Irene Chanter of the Grove Singers.

The album that was Manfred Mann's commercial breakthrough was a departure from the previous albums made with the Earth Band. Though the personnel are the same and the musicianship is as mind-blowing as ever, the songs are shorter and punchier, in some cases more poppy. This is not to say that the band had sacrificed a bit of ingenuity or complexity, but the long jams are gone in favor of briefer sound portraits. Nightingales and Bombers included Manfred Mann's first cover of a Bruce Springsteen song, the album-opening "Spirits in the Night," a single that charted, and became one of the only pieces written in 10/4 time ever to do so.

Cal is a soundtrack album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 24 August 1984 by Vertigo Records. The album contains music composed for the 1984 film Cal, produced by David Puttnam and directed by Pat O'Connor. Puttnam also produced the film Local Hero (1983). In his review for AllMusic, Steven McDonald gave the album four our of five stars and called it a "quiet, reflective set of cues that eschew false dramatics in favor of supporting the story." In her review in The New York Times, Janet Maslin called the album "an exceptionally lovely and haunting score."

“This album is almost all new songs written last year, with just two exceptions,” Townshend said in a statement. “There is no theme, no concept, no story, just a set of songs that I (and my brother Simon) wrote to give Roger Daltrey some inspiration, challenges and scope for his newly revived singing voice.”

#8 is a 1983 album by J. J. Cale. It was his eighth since his debut in 1972. Twelve years and eight albums into his recording career, Cale's approach has changed little, and here is another collection of groove tunes that act as platforms for the artist's intricate guitar playing. He is sometimes accompanied by a female vocalist, co-writer Christine Lakeland.

On a Storyteller's Night, Magnum's sixth album originally released in the U.K. in May 1985, wasn't the band's best-selling LP; it peaked at number 24 in seven weeks, not as good a showing as the third album, 1982's Chase the Dragon (number 17), much less the Top Ten hits Wings of Heaven (1988, number five) or Goodnight L.A. (1990, number nine). Whether it is Magnum's best album is a matter of opinion, though, according to Dave Ling of Classic Rock magazine, whose 2004 interview with guitarist Tony Clarkin is reprinted as part of this 25th anniversary deluxe-edition reissue, "fans still rate Storyteller as Magnum's masterwork."

The Eleventh Hour! is the fourth studio album by English rock band Magnum, released in 1983 by Jet Records. The production of this album caused a lot of tension between the band and Jet Records, following the two-year delay to the previous album, Chase the Dragon in 1982 and their first album, Kingdom of Madness, in 1978. These tensions were further strained when Jet Records denied the band a big name producer, leaving them to produce the album themselves. The Eleventh Hour! was released in May 1983, peaking at No. 38 in the UK charts, disappointing considering Chase the Dragons peak of No. 17 in 1982. The Eleventh Hour!'s original title was to be Road to Paradise. The 2005 expanded version of the album was reissued on 22 September 2006 in Japan with mini LP/paper sleeve packaging through Arcangelo.

For Two Sides of Peter Banks, the ex-guitarist from Yes gathered an impressive group of guest musicians, including Genesis' Phil Collins and Steve Hackett and King Crimson's John Wetton. Most importantly, the whole album was written and recorded with Netherlands guitarist Jan Akkerman (of Focus). The first six tracks make up a suite (early themes are recapitulated toward the end) ranging from acoustic duets ("Visions of the King") to full-blown instrumental progressive rock numbers ("Knights") that bear noticeable similarities with some material Steve Hackett would record for his first solo album Voyage of the Acolyte.

If you closed your eyes, there are times when you would swear this is early-period Yes, and it's in that context only where Colin Carter's vocals can be called "eye opening." Without the high-register vocals and harmonies of Jon Anderson, compounded by the absence of Tony Kaye (who left to form Badger), Flash feels like Yes firing on half their cylinders. Of course, Yes even at half-power is better than a lot of things (like Time and a Word, for example). Peter Banks' guitar work, in particular, is terrific, gamboling along in the multi-part powerhouse "Lifetime" and conceding nothing to his counterpart, Steve Howe.

From the fantasy cover art by Rodney Mathews to the fuller production and focused songwriting, 'Chase The Dragon' is an album that deservedly put Magnum on the map. Songs such as the medieval war-themed opener 'Soldier Of The Line', 'The Spirit' and 'Sacred Hour' would become live staples for decades to come while uplifting rockers like 'On the Edge of the World' struck a perfect balance between the guitar and keyboard histrionics. The album cracked the UK Top 20 but it would be a slightly bumpy road to the bigger success they enjoyed in the late '80s.

Marauder is a live album by the English rock band Magnum. It was released in 1980 on Jet Records. Magnum recorded Marauder over one night at London's Marquee Club on 15 December 1979. It was an attempt by Jet Records to revive the success of the debut album Kingdom of Madness following the failure of Magnum II. The album was recorded on multi-track by former-Ten Years After bass player Leo Lyons, who had recorded Magnum II, and mixed by Chris Tsangarides.

The debut from this Birmingham, England band featured a flute-laced progressive rock sound similar to that of Jethro Tull. (The band's sound would later become more mainstream.) The songwriting ranges from imaginative, mythical tales on "The Beginning" and the title song, to deeply philosophical tracks like "Universe" and "All That Is Right," to downright senseless on the track "Baby Rock Me," which is perhaps the worst song the band has ever recorded. Despite this one track, it is a very good album, especially for a band's first effort.