Not to be confused with the platinum-selling glam metal miscreants active in the late 1980s, the original Skid Row blazed a much overlooked trail some 20 years prior, as one of Ireland's earliest contributors to the hard rock field. Skid Row began to coalesce in Dublin, Ireland in October 1967, around vocalist Philip Lynott, bassist Brendan "Brush" Shiels, drummer Noel Bridgeman, and guitarist Bernard Cheevers, who would be replaced the following January by a 16-year-old prodigy hailing from Belfast, north of the border, named Gary Moore. The quartet threw itself into playing pubs and working men's clubs so as to develop their chops and repertoire, eventually recording a 1969 single for Irish label Songs Records entitled "New Places, Old Faces."

Mars Bonfire's late-'60s material occasionally bears some resemblance to Steppenwolf, particularly in the use of heavy organs. But in fact this is certainly on the lighter and more pop-flecked side than Steppenwolf, which might both disappointment Steppenwolf fans who seek this out on the basis of the "Born to Be Wild" connection, and make this LP a rather pleasant surprise to those fearing bombastic late-'60s hard rock on the order of Steppenwolf's less impressive aspects. There is a version of "Born to Be Wild" here that is far tamer and less effective than Steppenwolf's hit cover. Yet on about half the album Bonfire favors a pretty airy pop-psychedelic approach (reminiscent of his "Tomorrow's Ship" composition on the single for pre-Steppenwolf outfit the Sparrow, written under his real name of Dennis Edmonton) to both his songwriting and arrangements…

There's a certain relief that this 2009 Rhino reissue of 2002's double-disc set The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac doesn't even attempt to dabble in the early blues work of the Peter Green band, and treats the addition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks as ground zero. The two eras of the band don't sit well together, and it's best to isolate them, since those who want the hits don't need to hear the blues. Here, it's the prime of the platinum years, with almost all of the big songs in their original hit versions (the one real exception is a live version of "Big Love" from 1997, but most listeners aren't going to be too upset with the substitution).

Muti's Tchaikovsky cycle with the Philharmonia is one of the most consistent ever, with the conductor's high voltage tempered by expressive warmth and keen fantasy …

The macabre irony of The Widow’s Party is ghoulishly cheery – the first of six Kipling tracks. They’re not all vocal either. Try the soulful The Running of Shindand and Tiger-Tiger each for five cellos. The sequence concludes with the caramel orient sunset of The Love Song of Har Dyal. Country Gardens plays touchball with Schoenberg in the delightfully grating and ringing Barry Peter Ould-realised version. Scotch Strathspey and Reel is one of Grainger’s most treasurable pieces – about as far away as one could get from the fatuities of tartan culture and pretty sea-shanties. It makes connections far more often with the idiom of The Warriors and of whirlingly possessed dances from the Caledonian highlands.

The piece consists of several cuts that, except for the introduction and the end, are the repetition of a single musical phrase interpreted - with just a few very subtle changes - with different instruments. Very interesting and, as always Sakamoto in his calm facet, very evocative.

Competing nicely with the earlier Time After Time: The Best of Cyndi Lauper, Columbia/Legacy's The Essential Cyndi Lauper features most of the '80s icon's big hits as well as lesser-known album tracks. Considering the inconsistent nature of Lauper's albums, it is nice to find tracks like "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and "True Colors" packaged alongside "Sisters of Avalon" and "Who Let in the Rain." Most Lauper fans will already own these songs, but for casual fans, The Essential Cyndi Lauper will do the trick.

Although this CD by pianist Memphis Slim and bassist Willie Dixon is marketed as a part of Verve's Jazz in Paris reissue series, it is, of course, a blues date, with a fair amount of boogie-woogie. The two veterans, who had worked together previously, are joined by drummer Phillipe Combelle during the two 1962 sessions recorded at Les Trois Mailletz, complete with a typically out of tune piano and a fair amount of noise from the audience at times. The pianist's gruff voice dominates a fair amount of the performances, although most of the songs are Dixon's. The bassist steals the show during the opener, "Rocking and Rolling the House," with a fine solo. In fact, the only standard not written by either man is a campy miniature take of Big Bill Broonzy's "All by Myself." Blues fans will want up to pick up this live recording by two legendary musicians.

On his sixth album for ECM the Italian pianist and his trio reflect on the work of American composer Alec Wilder (1907-1980). "I first came into a more direct contact with Alec Wilder's music in the early 90s, when I was performing his Sonata for Oboe and Piano and his Sonata for Horn and Piano", Battaglia remembers. "I had already known some of his popular songs like "While We're Young", "Blackberry Winter" and "Moon and Sand" through the intense versions Keith Jarrett has recorded. But after working on Wilder's chamber music I wanted to develop a deeper connection with his intriguing musical universe, and I've discovered an immense hidden treasure"…