John Mayer found stardom the old-fashioned way. After building a live following in his adopted hometown of Atlanta, he took his solo acoustic act to Austin's annual South by Southwest festival, where he was signed by the Columbia subsidiary Aware, a label responsible for such college festival fare as Hootie & the Blowfish, Train, and Vertical Horizon. His second album, Room for Squares, eventually became a monster hit behind the single "No Such Thing," and Mayer expanded his live following nationwide, scoring especially big numbers with college coeds eager to trade in their Dave Matthews crushes for a younger, more charismatic model.

Rod Stewart didn’t devote his new millennium solely to the Great American Songbook – he dallied with classic rock and soul – but it sure felt that way, with Rod delivering five collections of standards in just under a decade. Released in 2011, only a matter of months after the fifth installment, Fly Me to the Moon, hit the stores, The Best of… The Great American Songbook rounds up highlights from those five records, and since they’re all cut from the same cloth – albeit finished with varying degrees of tailoring – it’s hard to tell the source of each without a cheat sheet; without it, it’d be hard to realize “You’ll Never Know” never had seen release prior to this compilation. Naturally, this consistency means that this best-of holds together well – arguably better than a few of the actual records – because it does have the cream of the crop of records that often bleed together.

5CD set w/5 original albums in mini-LP replica card sleeves: Jennifer Rush, Movin', Heart Over Mind, Passion & Wings Of Desire.

Commonly identified as shoegaze, Slowdive nonetheless exhibited a broader set of inspirations – one that spanned four decades, including folk-rock, dub, and ambient techno – than the majority of their '90s contemporaries. A combination of geographic origin, labelmates such as My Bloody Valentine and Ride, and a sustained predilection for dreamlike harmonies and psychedelicized layers of guitar, led to inevitable restrictive classification. The band's distinctive sound continually evolved from their late-'80s start through 1995, when they closed out their first phase with a misunderstood ambient album that shed nearly all rock convention. Two decades later, while most of the members remained involved with individual pursuits, the band was reactivated for touring and recorded again. Formed in Reading, England in late 1989, Slowdive originally consisted of Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell (guitar, vocals), Neil Halstead (guitar, vocals), Christian Savill (guitar), and Adrian Sell (drums). Goswell, Halstead, and Sell were previously the core of the Pumpkin Fairies, an indie-pop act that had recorded a demo. Savill was a member of Eternal, who released a single on Sarah. Within less than a year, Slowdive signed to Alan McGee's Creation label and released their debut, a self-titled EP of demos.

UK five CD album comprised of the Alt-Rock band's best selling and critically acclaimed album releases: Album of the Year, Angel Dust, King for a Day Fool for a Lifetime, Live at Brixton Academy and the Real Thing. Each album is housed in a mini LP-style card picture sleeve with the complete set presented in a sealed card slipcase. Warner. 2011.

5 CD set includes the albums 'Out Of The Silent Planet,' 'Gretchen Goes To Nebraska,' 'Faith Hope Love,' 'Kings X' & 'Dogman'.

Original Album Classics Review by Gregory Heaney
Not so much a best-of as it is an instant collection, Korn's Original Album Classics box set collects five of the band's most successful albums into one bundle. Featuring 1994's Korn, 1996's Life Is Peachy, 1998's Follow the Leader, 1999's Issues, and 2002's Untouchables, the set delivers a run of albums from the nu-metal pioneers who managed to rack up a combined 13 platinum records. While this set does contain a lot of music, it doesn't have any bonus material, so though it's a great way for a new listener to jump into their back catalog with both feet, seasoned veterans won't find anything that isn't already in their collections.

It's been four long years since pianist and composer Keiko Matsui released the spare, elegant Moyo. That is an atypical break for an artist who has recorded 22 studio albums since her debut in the late 1980s. Appearing on Shanachie for the first time, The Road was largely self-produced. Matsui appears in varying contexts here, from trios to quartets and quintets to an octet on a musically diverse set that sums up virtually every place she's been while continuing to point the way forward. Some of these players have collaborated with her for decades while still others make their initial appearances.

"Still Looking" is the only album by US psychedelic rock band "Headstone" from 1974. In the psychedelic underground collectors scene the album got established as a classic psych-hard-rock rarity. Their sound is strong and melodic with awesome guitar/organ leads, solid bass and catchy vocals. Their natural float creates a hypnotic atmosphere and makes you listen to this album again and again. At all their musical spirit is closer to the end 60s blend, than the recording year 1974 reflects, and sometimes they remind of the early Bloodrock stuff.

Hyperion’s Record of the Month for August by Polyphony and the Britten Sinfonia conducted by Stephen Layton portrays the ultimate dramatic event in history—the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, expressed through the raw emotional power of one of Scotland’s most distinguished and vital composers, James MacMillan.

Combine the artistry and brilliant virtuosity of countertenor Drew Minter and ARTEK/458 Strings with a program of vocal and instrumental jewels from 17th century Italy, and you have a recipe for a dynamic recording, bursting with musical fireworks, overflowing with emotion, and splashed with a multitude of colors.

Mélanie Bonis was born in Paris in 1858. A student of Franck and Guiraud, Debussy and Pierné were her peers at the Conservatoire and Saint-Saëns an admirer. Her early works were well received and she won a number of prizes, but her strict Catholic parents forced her to give up her budding musical career and marry a wealthy, widowed industrialist. She died in the same year as Ravel and Roussel, 1937.

One inspiration for the title of bassist Nathan East's second album for Yamaha – third if the Grammy-nominated Bob James collaboration The New Cool is counted – was the passing of Maurice White. The Earth, Wind & Fire leader is twice paid explicit tribute on Reverence. First, there's a faithful version of "Love's Holiday," featuring Philip Bailey in support, with East's bass in White's lead role during the verses. A slick "Can't Hide Love" fake-out and some other references are in the mix, too. Additionally, "Serpentine Fire" gets an ornate update with Bailey and EW&F partners Verdine White and Ralph Johnson. Phil Collins' drums and Eric Clapton's guitar are dredged from the master recording of an abandoned project, lost for 25 years, that was found in Patti Austin's basement by East's engineer.

Connecticut-born / New York-based Mike LeDonne, who divides his time these days between piano and organ, has begun to record more frequently on the Hammond B3, especially with his suitably named Groover Quartet which, according to Owen Cordle's liner notes to Keep the Faith, has been together now for more than a decade. And that's a good thing, as these gentlemen certainly know how to groove, and do so with abandon on an album recorded roughly a year after the quartet's well-received The Groover.

One Deep River is the upcoming tenth solo album by British musician Mark Knopfler. It is scheduled to be released on 12 April 2024. On 5 February, Knopfler released a behind-the-scenes video on YouTube of him and the band at work on the album. Guy Fletcher, John McCusker, Michael McGoldrick and Greg Leisz are shown to be part of the band. The first three singles from the album released are "Ahead of the Game" (released on 24 January), "Watch Me Gone" (released 22 February) and "Two Pairs of Hands" (released 27 March). The album will be followed by a standalone EP for Record Store Day called "The Boy", containing four exclusive songs around a common theme of fairgrounds and boxing.