Extended-play formats were hugely popular in the U.K. during the 1960s. Often EPs were collections of previous singles or selected cuts from albums – their popularity due to albums not being an affordable item for many consumers until the end of the decade…

Remastered, with the CD versions containing a whole host of addition extras including a double CD of the album, a live set and an additional DVD of live performances, rehearsals and photos all compiled from the bands own personal archives.

Remastered, with the CD versions containing a whole host of addition extras including a double CD of the album, a live set and an additional DVD of live performances, rehearsals and photos all compiled from the bands own personal archives.

Remastered, with the CD versions containing a whole host of addition extras including a double CD of the album, a live set and an additional DVD of live performances, rehearsals and photos all compiled from the bands own personal archives.

In 1989, Castle released Tattoo/Blueprint, which contained two complete albums – Tattoo, originally released on Polydor in 1973, and Blueprint, originally released on Polydor also in 1973 – by Irish blues rocker Rory Gallagher…

Gong gone punk. "About Time" documents Daevid Allen's 1979 New York trip to partake of the then-happenin' CBGB's scene. The new sound is an odd hybrid of Psychedelia ("Preface"), New Wave ("I Am a Freud") and Punk ("Much Too Old"), with a lyrical sentiment reminiscent of early-'70s Gong ("Jungle Window"). The CD opens with an effects-laden recording of Allen reciting his "trippy" poetry. Some of the compositions, like "I Am a Freud," bleed quirky rhythms and melodies resembling the work of the League of Gentlemen and Talking Heads. "Materialism" and "Strong Woman" feature Allen's glissando guitar, which seems a forerunner to the sound Fripp and Belew employed on their early-'80s King Crimson projects…

Few rock & roll records rock as hard or with as much originality as the Pretenders' eponymous debut album. A sleek, stylish fusion of Stonesy rock & roll, new wave pop, and pure punk aggression, Pretenders is teeming with sharp hooks and a viciously cool attitude. Although Chrissie Hynde establishes herself as a forceful and distinctively feminine songwriter, the record isn't a singer/songwriter's tour de force – it's a rock & roll album, powered by a unique and aggressive band. Guitarist James Honeyman-Scott never plays conventional riffs or leads, and his phased, treated guitar gives new dimension to the pounding rhythms of "Precious," "Tattooed Love Boys," "Up the Neck," and "The Wait," as well as the more measured pop of "Kid," "Brass in Pocket," and "Mystery Achievement." He provides the perfect backing for Hynde and her tough, sexy swagger. Hynde doesn't fit into any conventional female rock stereotype, and neither do her songs, alternately displaying a steely exterior or a disarming emotional vulnerability.

For a time in the early 1990s, some of the CDs from the Japanese DIW label were made available domestically through Columbia. This trio date by pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Jack DeJohnette has Mabern originals dedicated to Sonny Stitt and Wayne Shorter, plus some offbeat standards and a pair of rarely performed John Coltrane tunes ("Straight Street" and "Crescent"). The interplay between the musicians is impressive and Mabern is heard throughout in excellent form. He closes the set with a piano solo that he titled "Apab and Others," after Art Tatum, Phineas Newborn, Ahmad Jamal and Bud Powell. This will be a difficult CD to find.

Who says you can't make a great record in one day – or night, as the case may be? The Trinity Session was recorded in one night using one microphone, a DAT recorder, and the wonderful acoustics of the Holy Trinity in Toronto. Interestingly, it's the album that broke the Cowboy Junkies in the United States for their version of "Sweet Jane," which included the lost verse. It's far from the best cut here, though. There are other covers, such as Margo Timmins' a cappella read of the traditional "Mining for Gold," a heroin-slow version of Hank Williams' classic "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," "Dreaming My Dreams With You" (canonized by Waylon Jennings), and a radical take of the Patsy Cline classic "Walkin' After Midnight" that closes the disc. Those few who had heard the band's previous album, Whites Off Earth Now!!, were aware that, along with Low, the Cowboy Junkies were the only band at the time capable of playing slower than Neil Young and Crazy Horse – and without the ear-threatening volume.

Best remembered for their 1978 hit "Driver's Seat," London-based new wave combo Sniff 'n' the Tears emerged from the remnants of the little-known Ashes of Moon, which disbanded in 1974 after failing to stir up much label interest…

While the Beatles still largely stuck to love songs on Rubber Soul, the lyrics represented a quantum leap in terms of thoughtfulness, maturity, and complex ambiguities. Musically, too, it was a substantial leap forward, with intricate folk-rock arrangements that reflected the increasing influence of Dylan and the Byrds…

METAL HEART is the sixth studio album by German heavy metal band Accept, released in 1985. Although the group had recorded before at Dierks-Studios, this was the first album produced by Dieter Dierks himself. This album was a cautious attempt to crack the lucrative American market with more accessible songcraft and emphasis on hooks and melodies. Although critically panned at the time, today Metal Heart is often considered by fans as one of the band's best records.

BALLS TO THE WALL is the fifth album by German heavy metal band Accept. European label Lark Records released the album in December 1983, but its US release was delayed until a month later in January 1984 as to not compete with the band's then-current album Restless and Wild, which had arrived in the US in early 1983. It is Accept's only record to attain Gold certification in America. The album's title track became Accept's signature tune and remains a metal anthem and trademark in the genre.

This CD, in places, just cranks it up and spits out a wall of undiluted rock and roll. Straight ahead full speed ahead and tell everything to get out of our way. "Gypsy Blood," and "Dancin' on Top of the World," are two cuts that really stand out in this vein. A couple of the tracks just seem to be languishing in a daze as if they've suffered a concussion, and can't decide which way to go. This CD is produced by Dave Edmunds, and I like a lot of his work because when it hits, it hits hard. However, when it misses it leaves you scratching your head wondering. The band is tight, just sometimes lacking that guiding hand. The hard-charging "Courage" alone makes this a worthwhile disc, and there is more than just that track to pick the listener up. (Bob Gottlieb, AMG)

Harold Mabern, a superior hard bop pianist, had a rare opportunity to perform a set of unaccompanied solos for this Sackville release. Recorded live from Toronto's Café des Copains and originally broadcast on the radio, Mabern performs six jazz standards (including "Joy Spring," "Pent Up House" and Wayne Shorter's "House of Jade") and a pair of bluesy originals. Although Mabern sounds most comfortable in a trio, he has always been enough of a two-handed player to play solo; he readily acknowledges the influences of Phineas Newborn and Ahmad Jamal.