In less than 24 months, Taj Mahal (guitars/vocals/banjo/harmonica) had issued the equivalent of four respective long players.

Ozzy Osbourne's tenth studio album was originally called Soul Sucka before fans shut the working title down. The resulting Scream may not win any awards for brain cell power as far as titles go, but the 11 tracks contained within find the Prince of Darkness in fine form.

Grammy-nominated guitarist and singer Michael Daves, whom the New York Times calls 'a leading light of the New York bluegrass scene,' celebrates the release of his double album Orchids and Violence.

Singer, songwriter and multi instrumentalist Rodgers, along with guitarist/songwriter Mick Ralphs, bassist Boz Burrell, and drummer Simon Kirke recorded the band’s eponymous debut in November 1973 using Ronnie Lane’s mobile studio at Headley Grange, the former poorhouse where Led Zeppelin recorded frequently. When Bad Company was released the following year, the album went to #1 in America during the band’s first U.S. tour and was eventually certified 5x platinum thanks to hits like “Can’t Get Enough,” “Bad Company,” “Ready for Love,” and “Movin’ On.”

Tegan and Sara's fifth album, The Con, found them expanding their sound to incorporate more texture and space in their approach. With the help of producer Chris Walla, they built on what they had done before to make something more complex and adult-sounding. Their sixth album, Sainthood, retains Walla as producer but discards much of the restraint and atmosphere of The Con in favor of a punchier, more direct feel that's more in line with the duo's best album, So Jealous. The arrangements are less cluttered, the songs are more straightforward, and the simple to understand and feel emotional impact of the album is visceral.

Although identical twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin first appeared in the music scene in the late '90s playing the kind of folk-rock and folk-punk more associated with other Lilith Fair (in which they participated) artists of the time, by the time 2007 rolled around they had moved into much poppier territory. It was a progression, to be sure, from This Business of Art to their fourth Vapor full-length – one that can be heard in the time spent on production, the louder guitars – but that still may not prepare listeners for The Con.

To a certain extent, Ozzy Osbourne doesn't need to make new music – and to a certain extent he hasn't, choosing to not record an album of original material in the years immediately after the reality TV show The Osbournes once again turned him into a household name. At the peak of Ozzy's fame in the early '80s, he was a boogeyman, embodying all the dangers of rock & roll, but the TV show made him safe, even cuddly – a punch line at the White House Foreign Correspondent's Dinner – which just helped him rake in the money, particularly since in addition to riding the wave of The Osbournes, his annual OzzFest tour turned into an institution of sorts, helping launch new bands while tending to his metal credibility.

In life it's like music: some people think that in the past everything would have been better. Others say the best is yet to come. It works in both cases and the same for everyone: Only here, only now. "Every moment is of infinite value, for it is the representative of a whole eternity," it says in a Goethe aphorism. When Nils Wülker calls his beautiful seventh album "Just Here, Just Now", it has less to do with philosophy and nothing at all with esotericism.

In collaboration with singers like Sharon Dyall, Jessica Pilnäs, Jeanette Köhn and Ida Sand, as well as 1500 guests, Nils Landgren celebrated a dearly as joyful musical Christmas devotion in December 2011. “For all of us it was a magic evening. Our hope is that we can give the listeners the same feeling as we had during our performance that became this album.” Tradition is one of the things through which a person finds out where he comes from and what makes him who he is. Perhaps the most important spiritual tradition in the Western world is Christmas – and music is a big part of that. Christmas songs are their own genre around the world, which is linked to ceremonial and happy togetherness like no other.

A tribute to the music of AC/DC: Hard rock becomes lyrical chamber music dimmed down to impressionist ballads which are fully improvised right down to their framework. It’s the comeback of the year - after eight years, pianist Jens Thomas is presenting a new album on ACT, and a very unusual one at that: “Speed of Grace” – a tribute to the music of Australian hard rockers AC/DC, featuring not their typical loud rock, but rather music which is more reminiscent of intimate ballads. That the name Jens Thomas needs to be explained to young jazz fans also shows how short lived the jazz industry can be, as it was only a decade ago that this same Jens Thomas had one of the most rapid career ascents in German jazz history.

Bad Company’s debut album reached No. 1 while redefining hard rock for the ‘70s with the future classic rock staples “Can’t Get Enough,” “Ready for Love,” “Movin’ On,” and “Bad Company.” This 2015 deluxe edition, remastered from the original studio tapes, includes 13 bonus tracks, including the single edit and an early take of “Can’t Get Enough,” the B-sides “Little More Fortune” and “Easy On My Soul,” and demos of “Little Miss Fortune” and “The Way I Choose.” Bad Company were the era's ultimate supergroup: singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke were from Free, guitarist Mick Ralphs hailed from Moot the Hoople, and bassist Boz Burrell had played with King Crimson.

If you’re a regular visitor to our website, then you know that we generally offer an installment of our Digital Roundup column on Wednesdays, but you’re caught us on a slow week: we’ve only got a single item joining our digital catalog. As such, we’re bypassing the column in favor of shining a solo spotlight on this item, but to our way of thinking, it more than deserves the individual attention, given that this one release actually includes 11 – count ‘em – 11 albums.

Let us pause for a moment to praise some of the hardest-working people on the planet – those insanely dedicated individuals who toil on road crews for touring bands, and especially the men and women who have served in those roles for the Grateful Dead and its performing offspring for over five decades. These are the rock ‘n’ roll heroes that most people never see or know by name, but are every bit as essential to making the music happen as the musicians themselves – the people who work the longest hours, do the heaviest lifting and have to attend to the countless logistical and technical details that assure everything will work as seamlessly as possible at show time.

Watching You, Watching Me, his first solo project for almost five years’ radiating a special kind of warmth and simplicity, nice ‘n’ mellow, getting straight to the heart of the matter. A quick listen to the title track or the albums first hit, Oh Yeah and you realize that you’ve been missing that special Withers magic, the honesty that’s always been a trademark of Bill’s music.

This recording presents a selection of some of the most well-loved works for the horn. Titled The Romantic Horn, the works highlight the lyrical gems of the European repertoire for the instrument, with works by Beethoven, Schumann and Scriabin.