All hail the bargain-basement Hallmark label, purveyors of some of the greatest compilations in the early-'70s British rock realm, and pursuing that briefly towards the end of the decade with a great selection of old Status Quo hits. There are absolutely no surprises here. Ruthlessly mining the band's 1968-71 catalog, the Pye label had already released more Quo collections than the band itself had released LPs, and this one just adds its weight to the pile. But, just as Hallmark's late-'60s Kinks collections have since been revealed as an entire generation's first taste of that band's most glorious catalog, so Pictures of Matchstick Men (titled, of course, for the group's first hit) filled the same need among a later brood – and the fact that it came along just as Quo themselves began lapsing into parody gave its release further flavor. At last, a "new" Status Quo record that doesn't sound like the last seventeen!

Opera’s most monumental challenge is certainly Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle: For more than a century, the ideal production of this four part, 16-hour opera has stymied directors, including Wagner himself. His cosmic vision of gods and mortals vying for power and destroyed by greed calls for astonishing stage visuals and action that takes place both underwater and in the heavens.

Robert Anthony Plant CBE (born 20 August 1948) is a British singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin…

Anser's Tree is the 2006 release from singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Guy Manning, a concept album telling the story of Dr. Jonathan Anser and his quest to find the truth and history of his family tree. As Manning takes you through this history, from six ancestors up through Jonathan himself, a rich musical tapestry of moods and styles are weaved, led by Guy's enticing, Ian Anderson-ish vocals, layers of acoustic guitars, flutes, fiddle, keyboards, mandolin, biting electric guitar, and percussion. More dense and intricate than Manning's last release One Small Step, this album is a little closer in style to 2004's A Matter of Life and Death, but as with all of the output from Mr. Manning, the end result is a charming mix of folk and prog rock sounds.

Venus Records 20th Anniversary Special Blend.
David Hazeltine Trio, Pharoah Sanders, Steve Kuhn Trio, Eddie Higgins Quartet feat. Scott Hamilton, Phill Woods with Strings, Marilyn Scott and many others.

The soundtrack to Christina Aguilera's silver screen debut Burlesque shines the spotlight on Xtina, who is in full-bore diva mode – a return to the splashy swing of Back to Basics after the robotic R&B of Bionic. Of course, many of her collaborators from Bionic remain on Burlesque: Tricky Stewart is responsible for the glitzy dance, and Sia Furler co-writes the ballads, their contributions slotted between two Cher songs designed to push the narrative forward, two Etta James covers, a slice of heavy camp in the mincing "But I’m a Good Girl", and a Nicole Scherzinger co-written interpolation of Marilyn Manson's "The Beautiful People" that provides a bewildering conclusion to this soundtrack. Some of this stuff is quite good, particularly when Christina swings her hips to Etta's lead, bringing to mind the zest of "Ain’t No Other Man".

Glass Hammer began in 1992 when Tennessee musicians Steve Babb and Fred Schendel got together and began writing for a progressive rock concept album. That album, Journey of the Dunadan, was released the following year…

On a toujours tendance à sous-estimer l'importance de Nicolas Lebègue dans la formation du style de la musique francaise pour clavier. Cet homme qui venant de Laon débarqua à Paris à l'âge de 25 ans a non seulement standardisé la suite pour clavecin à la francaise, mais il a aussi codifié le style d'orgue francais classique par ce premier livre d'orgue publié 10 ans après son arrivée à Paris.

This IQ album is a re-recorded version of their cassette-album debut "Seven Stories Into Eight" which was released back in 1982. Due to the poor sound quality of the original, they re-recorded this in 1998. When compared to their other work, this is less emotional and more complex progressive rock with less vocals. Usually IQ sounds more or less like Marillion and Genesis in their progressive rock years. But as this album is slightly different when compared to other IQ releases. Maybe you could have an idea how this sounds if you imagine a softer version of Dream Theater.

Redd Kross reached its peak in the early '80s, when the band made such humorous and clever contributions to punk rock as "Linda Blair." As the '80s progressed, Kross got away from punk and went for cleaner, less reckless alternative rock and power-pop. Those who play 1990's Third Eye next to Kross' early recordings will hear just how radically the band changed over the years…