Paddy McAloon had not yet found the key to the elegant compositions that made Prefab Sprout distinctive when it came time to record their debut, Swoon. He certainly tries hard to make his sophisticated contemporary pop sound distinctive, but the problem is that he does too many things at once – the lyrics are overstuffed, and the music has too many chord changes and weird juxtapositions, as he tries to put white-funk beats to carefully crafted melodies. A few moments work, such as "Couldn't Bear to Be Special," but Swoon is primarily of interest as a historical item, since it only suggests the promise the band later filled.

During the great John Lennon revival of the late '80s, Yoko Ono licensed to have the Westwood One Radio Network air scores of unreleased home recordings and demos as the Lost Lennon Tapes radio show. At the time, there was endless speculation about when highlights would be released, likely as a box set…

By ignoring the band's first two albums, the Roy Wood-dominated Electric Light Orchestra and the transitional ELO II, the 1979 singles compilation ELO's Greatest Hits presents a somewhat skewed vision of the band. Ironically, this revision has become the normative view of the band: slick, almost mechanical purveyors of undeniably catchy but somewhat soulless hit singles. "Evil Woman," "Showdown," "Turn to Stone," "Telephone Line," "Strange Magic" – anyone who was anywhere near a radio in the latter half of the '70s knows them all by heart, whether they like them or not. But ELO's Greatest Hits does a far graver disservice to the Electric Light Orchestra's oeuvre.

Sir Elton Hercules John CH CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer. Collaborating with lyricist Bernie Taupin since 1967 on more than 30 albums, John has sold over 300 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He has more than fifty Top 40 hits in the UK Singles Chart and US Billboard Hot 100, including seven number ones in the UK and nine in the US, as well as seven consecutive number-one albums in the US…

A two-disc anthology of Rod Stewart's early Mercury recordings, which, in conjunction with the albums he recorded with the Faces, are inarguably his finest (nothing from the Faces records is included). Most of the highlights of his terrific first four albums are here – "Maggie May," "You Wear It Well," "Handbags and Gladrags," "Gasoline Alley" – as well as selections from the lukewarm Smiler, a live album recorded with the Faces, and a couple of rare B-sides.

While it's not a repudiation of her blockbuster, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie is a clear step forward, teeming with ambition and filled with new musical ideas and different sonic textures. Alanis Morissette's voice still sears, but she has more control over her singing, rarely reaching the piercing heights that occasionally made Jagged Little Pill jarring…

The Collection is a compilation album for the new wave/dance diva best known for her 1982 hit 'Kids in America'. This collection basically sums up the second half of Kim Wilde's career. Includes 18 tracks: 'You Came', 'Never Trust a Stranger' and more.

Today, five previously unreleased demos and outtakes from the album are available as part of a digital EP called Blue 50 (Demos & Outtakes). These songs will also be included on Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971), a compilation coming out in October that will document the period leading up to Blue. Blue 50 (Demos & Outtakes) includes early demos of “A Case Of You” and “California,” an alternate version of “River” that features French horns, an early take of “Urge For Going,” a song that was intended for Blue but didn’t see a proper release until a 1996 greatest hits compilation, and a studio recording of “Hunter,” which Mitchell played live but never officially put out.

Gems: The Duets Collection may bear a title that suggests it’s a compilation, but this 2011 effort is a brand-new album containing nothing but new collaborations between Michael Bolton and similarly minded travelers of the middle of the road…

Eros Walter Luciano Ramazzotti (born 28 October 1963) is an Italian musician and singer-songwriter. Ramazzotti is popular in Italy and most European countries, and throughout the Spanish-speaking world, as he has released most of his albums in both Italian and Spanish…

Hello were one of the more exciting bands of the mid-'70s glam explosion in the U.K., cutting some effervescent, almost giddy slabs of wax bolstered by thundering drums, heavy guitars, huge hooks, and boyish vocals. Not too many were hits, but a quick run through this collection of singles and their flip sides makes it clear that many more should have been. Starting in 1972 with the boogie glam of "You Move Me" and ending with a solo single from their drummer Jeff Allen from 1982, the collection covers a decade's worth of worthy attempts to scale the charts as tastes and sounds shifted around them.

Faithfull pegged her comeback to a brutal survivalist persona, but by this fourth album of her second career, she had mellowed at least to the extent of constructing flowing song structures with her collaborators, Barry Reynolds and Wally Badarou, that eased the bitterness still found in many of her lyrics…

The title and sound of 100 Miles from Memphis can’t help but recall Dusty in Memphis, Dusty Springfield’s 1969 blue-eyed soul classic, but Sheryl Crow’s 2010 album isn’t quite a strict homage to Dusty. Crow draws from many of the same ‘60s sources as Springfield, but she also dabbles in reggae (thanks to the chunky guitar of Keith Richards on “Eye to Eye”) and digs into the cool, seductive ‘70s groove of Hi, channeling Al Green on a sleek reworking of Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Sign Your Name,” complete with support from Justin Timberlake. Add to this the extended funk coda of “Roses and Moonlight,” the hippie singalong of “Long Road Home” and one of Crow’s signature good-time social-conscious raising anthems in “Say What You Want” and 100 Miles from Memphis boasts a considerably more expansive palette than Dusty in Memphis, yet it’s all bonded by its smooth, soulful groove due in part to the co-production from Doyle Bramhall II and Justin Stanley.

By the time Cutting Crew released their second album in 1989, they were viewed as irrelevant by both critics – who always despised them anyway – and the fickle public that elevated "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" and "I've Been in Love Before" onto the pop charts two years earlier. The cold shoulders which welcomed The Scattering were most likely due to the lack of immediately catchy songs; nevertheless, while The Scattering doesn't have ear candy like the band's hit singles, the music is less-blatantly commercial and more personal. It's still slick stuff – big '80s synthesizers, glossy FM radio guitars, in-your-face drums – but Nick VanEede's vocals have a frosty glow that creates a mood and sustains interest.