Hard to believe, but there's never been a good single-disc overview of Elton John's biggest hits available in America until 2007's 18-track Rocket Man: The Definitive Hits. (The American release subtracted one track and was titled Rocket Man: Number Ones.) He's had plenty of collections, including a good single-disc European set that circulated in the late '90s, but Rocket Man is the first to really offer a solid career-spanning overview as a single-disc set…

Handel's masterpiece Rinaldo is based on Torquato Tasso's epic La Gerusalemme liberata, which tells the tale of the attempted seduction of the hero by the enchantress Armida against the backdrop of the First Crusade. Musicologists agree that Handel carried out a major cut-and-paste exercise with Rinaldo, as more than two thirds of his 1711 score was taken from earlier works. This particular production by Pier Luigi Pizzi, conceived in 1985 for Teatro Romolo Valli in Reggio Emilia, has since travelled to some twenty major opera houses worldwide. Putting aside practical cuts and a few displacements of musical numbers, its durable attraction lies in the gorgeous costumes and scenery, a stylish paragon of 'hyperbaroque' that deliberately avoids both literalism and cheap provocation.

Running Wild issue 17th full-length studio album Blood On Blood on October 29th, 2021 through Steamhammer / SPV. Running Wild mainman Rolf “Rock’n’Rolf” Kasparek commented: “We all know the difficulties the cultural sector was faced with during the lockdown. On the other hand, it also gave me and many other artists some extra time since most releases had to be postponed. I used that time to fine-tune every little detail of my new material. The result is an album that in my opinion is probably the best in Running Wild’s career to date. Every one of the ten songs sounds exactly as I had it in mind when I composed it. I’ve never been happier with a Running Wild record before.”

Heavy metal legends Judas Priest mark an incredible 50 year career with Reflections – 50 Heavy Metal Years Of Music. A new collection of 16 tracks including remastered studio recordings and 7 previously unreleased live cuts from the band’s archive.

The newest addition to Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra's award-winning survey of Shostakovich's orchestral works takes on symphonies from the opposite ends of the composer's life. Shostakovich's first symphony, composed when he was only 19, announced his presence to the world, while his 15th seemingly grapples with his impending mortality. The Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10, was written as a graduation piece for his composition class at the Leningrad Conservatory. The composer's youth and the influences of Stravinsky and Prokofiev are evident in the work, but there are plenty of allusions to his later style. Slightly on the slower side overall, the emotion and forward motion of the music is not lost. The Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141, written a few years before the composer's death, though not programmatic, seems to present a look at the cycle of life.

Pierre Vervloesem's Flambant Neuf is the return of Pierre in a quintet format. Surrounded by some of the best Belgian musicians with whom he shared music already in various bands (Bruno Vansina band, Flat Earth Society, Pierre Vervloesem Group…), Pierre allowed everyone to add what they wanted on his tracks then mixed the music to a grand spectacle which reminds various styles but with a definitive modern and vigorous joy behind them! The music on this album was conceived or premeditated for a band by Pierre who recorded all the bases on guitar and bass then emailed the result to each guest musicians (all of them met when he was playing with Flat Earth Society or before on different projects).

Cecilia Bartoli made this recording when she was still in her early 20s, a mezzo with a rich, vibrant voice who not only copes brilliantly with the technical demands but who also gives a winningly provocative characterization. Like the conductor, Bartoli is wonderful at bringing out the fun.

Although 1991's Solace made Sarah McLachlan a star in Canada, her international breakthrough arrived two years later with Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, a softly assured album that combined the atmospheric production of Pierre Marchand (a former apprentice – and evident disciple – of Daniel Lanois) with some of McLachlan's strongest songwriting to date…

Voyager is the 17th music album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1996 by Warner Music UK. It is a Celtic-themed album with new compositions intertwined with traditional pieces…