Bare Bones is a mellow, mostly acoustic collection of original and previously recorded Wishbone Ash songs. The only remaining member from the British outfit's '70s glory days, guitarist Andy Powell selected some numbers from the Argus and Wishbone Four years that blend nicely with some late-era compositions. Soft-rocking country tunes like the superior "Hard Times" and "Baby Don't Mind" dominate most of the Bare Bones track list. Classics like "Errors of My Ways" are low on folk/country appeal, but still sound very different than the original recordings. Despite this offering's unique textural quality, Wishbone Ash fans will definitely recognize the easy melodic sense that the band always captured in the studio. For a group so separated in time from their glory years, Powell and company do a remarkable job keeping things fresh on Bare Bones.

Mosaic's career was brief and is now largely forgotten, but the only album the French quartet recorded in 1978 remains a puzzling chunk of jazz-rock, of interest to those into the British and French varieties of '70s left-field progressive music. One hears the influence of the more complex groups from the Canterbury Scene (Hatfield and the North, National Health, post-Wyatt Soft Machine), but Canterbury jazz-rock this is not. There is too much fancy, too much madness in the music, bringing it closer in spirit and style to early Henry Cow or France's own Etron Fou Leloublan (without turning that mad) – Quebec's Sloche also comes to mind.

Written and recorded by brothers Mychael & Jeff Danna between their other scoring projects, A Celtic Tale is the soundtrack to an imaginary film of the Irish legend of Deirdre. Both the album and the legend reflect many aspects of love and sorrow. The Danna brothers mix Celtic folk, symphonic, and ambient music into a distinctive and fitting setting for Deirdre's star-crossed story. Though she is betrothed to a king, Deirdre finds her true love; she and her lover are exiled. When they try to return to their land, Deirdre's lover is killed, and she is imprisoned by the king she was to marry. Love and war blend in Deirdre's story; similarly, the music combines authentic Celtic instruments such as fiddle, tin whistle, flute, uilleann and highland pipes, and wire-strung harp with orchestral power and electronic atmospherics. Both listenable and powerful, A Celtic Tale showcases the Dannas' skill for creating emotionally accessible, technically beautiful music.

Cui, a member of the original Russian 'Five', was a dedicated encourager of the other members of the group (and indeed of all living Russian composers) to aim at less imitation of the West; and instead to write, without inhibition, more obviously independent Russian-style music. Nevertheless, he seemed to exempt himself from the encouragement, tending to write his own music in a pretty well accepted western European mould.

This two-for-one pairing of two albums reminds listeners that Cliff Richard could still kick out the jams even into his forties (imagine, a rocker turning 40 – how revolutionary that seemed at the time!). Rock 'n' Roll Silver and The Rock Connection were originally recorded and released during 1983-1984, but never made so much sense as when they were paired together here. Rock 'n' Roll Silver was initially issued as part of the larger Silver project, marking Richard's 25th year in rock & roll. Working with a stripped-down band, the set caught Richard returning to his roots to fire out impassioned versions of the songs that moved him when he first cut "Move It" – things like "Lucille," "Tutti Frutti," "Be-Bop-A-Lula," and "Teddy Bear." There were also surprisingly strong revivals of past Richard hits "It'll Be Me" and "Move It" itself, and the result was one of Richard's most enjoyable albums ever.

Hackensack formed first in 1969 and its origins and ancestry are obscure, but by ’71 founder Nicky Moore (who later replaced Bruce Dickinson who had moved on to Iron Maiden as frontman in Samson) felt he had put the right band together and started touring heavily. By 1972 they were playing well over 250 concerts a year non-stop across Britain and Europe. Hackensack existed from 1968 to 1974 and disbanded after the release of the album. They have built a good reputation for themselves as a hardworking and blues hard rock quartet. Their first album may well decorate any collection today. This album was first recorded in 1973 live at Clifton College, Nottingham and re-recorded for the 2017 Audio Archives re-release, for the band's reunion.

Cycles is the tenth studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers. The album was released on May 17, 1989, by Capitol Records. It marked the band's reunion after breaking up in 1982. Instead of the later configurations with Michael McDonald at the helm, the band reverted to their 1972-4 lineup although Bobby LaKind who had played percussion with later configurations also rejoined. Tom Johnston, John Hartman and Michael Hossack returned to the lineup for the first time since 1977, 1979 and 1974 respectively. The album was largely co-written with producers and sidesmen. Bobby LaKind collaborated with former Doobie members John McFee and Keith Knudsen on "Time is Here and Gone" and Michael McDonald on "Tonight I'm Coming Through (The Border)".

The Emerson String Quartet stands alone in the history of string quartets as musicians of unrivalled eminence with an incomparable list of great recordings over three decades. For its debut on Sony Classical, the Quartet has selected Mozart’s last three string quartets, the “Prussian” quartets. Having recorded Mozart's six "Haydn Quartets" as well as the flute quartets, the Emersons have long desired to add more Mozart to their discography. This new album sees them recording Mozart quartets for the first time in 20 years.

Kaum ein anderes Werk der Musikgeschichte ist so voller Geheimnisse wie Mozarts Requiem: Vom ominösen Auftraggeber bis zur immer wieder geäußerten Kritik an der Vervollständigung des Fragments durch den Mozart-Schüler Süßmayr. Die Quellenlage ist unübersichtlich, neben Süßmayr waren noch weitere ›Vervollständiger‹ mit am Werk, das Witwe Constanze als eines von Mozart allein veröffentlichen wollte.

Au 18e siècle, il était fréquent d’entendre des extraits d’opéra en effectif réduit, et ce aussi bien à la ville qu’à la Cour. A l’occasion du 250e anniversaire de la mort du compositeur Jean-Philippe Rameau, Les Folies françoises et l’Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra national de Paris nous invitent à redécouvrir l’esprit des concerts que l’on pouvait entendre dans les salons de Madame de Pompadour.

George Hills may not be a household name, but the Canadian melodic rocker delivered a great debut album back in 1991. Unlucky not to make bigger moves in the scene, the album was never released outside his native country and remains an obscure gem to this day. MelodicRock Classics will make George Hills album ‘Dancing With A Stranger’ available as part of its new 500 Series of titles – meaning one pressing, 500 units, then done. When it’s sold out its gone forever once again. As per usual, JK Northrup has overseen the remastering of the album’s audio, with the addition of two previously unreleased bonus tracks.