Ssssh was Ten Years After's new release at the time of their incendiary performance at the Woodstock Festival in August, 1969. As a result, it was their first hit album in the U.S., peaking at number 20 in September of that year. This recording is a primer of British blues-rock of the era, showcasing Alvin Lee's guitar pyrotechnics and the band's propulsive rhythm section. As with most of TYA's work, the lyrics were throwaways, but the music was hot. Featured is a lengthy cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," with reworked lyrics leaving little doubt as to what the singer had in mind for the title character. Also included was a 12-bar blues song with the ultimate generic blues title "I Woke Up This Morning." Ssssh marked the beginning of the band's two-year run of popularity on the U.S. album charts and in the underground FM-radio scene.

Adam Faith was a contemporary of early British rock & rollers like Cliff Richard and Billy Fury, but Faith's sound was less Elvis Presley-derived and more aligned with teen idol pop such as that of Bobby Vee (who covered Faith's number one U.K. hit "What Do You Want?"). John Barry had a hand in Faith's early efforts, and the instrumental arrangements are truly remarkable, from the surprising hoedown-style fiddling on "Don't That Beat All" to the musical saw on "What Now." In fact, it is the arrangements that elevate this music above standard teen idol fare. Faith rocked occasionally, as on "Made You," had moderate success adapting to the changes wrought by the Beatles, and later worked with folk-pop material. The Very Best of Adam Faith tracks his evolution by collecting 26 U.K. chart hits from 1959-1966, four of which were recorded with the Roulettes. Faith had two minor hits in the U.S. in 1965 that aren't included, but The Very Best of Adam Faith is otherwise an exemplary and essential anthology of an early British pop star.

Sony's 2016 Legacy edition of Everybody's in Show-Biz turns the 1972 double-LP into a double-CD set by mining the March 1972 Carnegie Hall recordings that provided the album with its live second disc. Thirteen of the 17 songs on the second CD come from these live tapes, the exceptions being the unreleased completed outtake "History" – a slightly dreamy, wry look back at the past that feels like a gateway to Preservation – the backing track to "Sophisticated Lady," and alternate mixes of "Supersonic Rocket Ship" and "Unreal Reality." These are nice footnotes, but the story lies in the live tracks, which offer more of the same from the original record.

Dave Mason's first solo album was one of several recordings to come out of the Leon Russell/Delaney & Bonnie axis in 1970. (Other notables included Eric Clapton's solo debut and Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen.) Alone Together contains an excellent batch of melodically pleasing songs, built on a fat bed of strumming acoustic guitars with tasteful electric guitar accents and leads. Mason's vocals are embellished with harmonies from Rita Coolidge, Claudia Lennear, and Delaney & Bonnie. Besides the well-known semi-hit "Only You Know and I Know," and which was also a number 20 hit for Delaney & Bonnie, highlights include the bouncy gospel-inflected "Waitin' on You" and the banjo-bejeweled "Just a Song."

The second project of Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe for Phi to focus on Renaissance music is devoted to one of the most remarkable of all composers: Carlo Gesualdo. Both his life, characterised by extravagant and excessive behaviour, and his compositions left their mark on the history of music. Although best known for his secular music, he also wrote an almost equivalent number of sacred works that demonstrate his fervent faith.

This orchestra learned to play these symphonies under the legendary George Szell, whose Sony recordings have been reissued on CD and remain a prime recommendation in this music. For those seeking digital sound, however, these new versions are very distinguished, combining the Cleveland Orchestra's customary superb ensemble with a warmth and urgency of expression usually in short supply from this conductor. At mid-price, this is an excellent recommendation.

Handel’s cantatas represent an important musical repertoire that until recently has been little known. Consisting of about 100 separate works, most were written over a period of a few years for private performance in Italy.