This strong debut benefits greatly from the expertise of veteran producer Bruce Botnick as well as the likes of former Steve Miller bassist Lonnie Turner and saxman Tom Scott. Guitarist Jimmy Lyon was to Money what Keith Scott was to Bryan Adams. Money, son of a New York City cop, had a rock & roll epiphany en route to following his dad's career path. The debut album, long on craft but not without inspiration, deservedly shot radio-ready tunes "Two Tickets to Paradise" and "Baby Hold On" up the charts, the latter helped by former Elvin Bishop songmate Jo Baker. The key tune is the spirited "Wanna Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star," which spells out the game plan.

Riccardo Chailly had been anointed by Decca as their resident modernist before he rose to be director of the Royal Concertgebouw, and in some ways these early recordings are still his freshest. This Stravinsky compilation, part of a wide-ranging cycle of the composer's works, all in wonderful sound and played far better than on any version led by the composer, dates from 1984.

Since his first release for Virgin Classics, Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations in 2000, Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski’s has produced a catalogue which ranges from Bach and Mozart, through more Beethoven to Chopin, Szymanowski and Webern, and which includes several prizewinning recordings.

Rattle’s performance gives us a fascinating view of a masterpiece – we feel that he has approached the music afresh on its own terms, without being influenced by tradition. He has the advantage, as Britten did not, of a choir and orchestra with the music in their blood, so there need be no concerns on grounds of musical accuracy. His pacing of the work overall is masterly in his projection of the overall structure; the drama of earlier parts of the score such as the Dies Irae is not allowed to overshadow the final cataclysmic climax in the Libera Me, which is devastating in its power. In the Owen setting, “Strange Meeting” which follows is sung with great concentration by both Tear and Allen, emphasising as Britten intended the personal cost of conflict and its futility.

Excellent album steeped in the Southern California country-rock sound of the '70s, with all the usual suspects – Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel, Kenny Edwards, and Russ Kunkel, producer Peter Asher – all Ronstadt veterans, plus Glenn Frey and Don Henley from the Eagles) in place on such songs as "Faithless Love," "Simple Man, Simple Dream," and "Silver Blue".

The Fauré Quartet offers a very attractive pairing of Brahms’ Op. 25 & Op. 60 piano quartets. The Op. 25 (Piano Quartet No. 1) sounds so fully fleshed-out that you wonder why Schoenberg felt obliged to arrange it for orchestra. His complaint was that the piano played too loudly for him to hear the string instruments–not so in this performance. All instruments sound with clarity and detail, even with the pianist’s assertive and emotive playing. (The recording’s spacious acoustic and expertly judged balances may have much to do with this.) The Fauré’s performance emphasizes the music’s rich lyricism (particularly in the slow movement) but also its lively rhythms–most prominently in the wildly dancing finale, here done with impeccable style and engaging fervor.

Haydn’s Masses form an extremely significant part of his huge output, just as important as the symphonies and string quartets. His very first work seems to have been the little Mass in F, and the last piece he completed was the great ‘Harmoniemesse’. As with the symphonies, it is the final group that are the finest; six major masterpieces, which show Haydn at his most creatively fertile. Indeed, it seems clear that his London experience greatly enriched Haydn’s mass composition in his late years; the approach is ‘symphonic’, often with elements of sonata-form, and the orchestra is used with striking resourcefulness. There is absolutely nothing formulaic in these works; he has clearly set about each mass with a fresh mind and a fresh response to the text.

This is not CPO’s first Farrenc recording. The company has already issued a disc of Farrenc symphonies and another of her large-scale chamber works. Those recordings were well received, and I have no doubt that this new solo piano disc will also garner fine reviews. I should also relate that being a pianist, Farrenc’s early compositions consisted primarily of piano music, and that the works on the new disc are from her early career.

This compilation covers 20 years of live recordings made by conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky and the then-named Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra for Erato. Mravinsky led that orchestra for nearly 50 years, from 1938 until his death. His last recording was that of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 12, made in 1984, found on Disc 3 here. His interpretations of Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky were highly regarded, so it's not surprising that several of their symphonies are here. There are also symphonies by Mozart and Beethoven in this set; tone poems by Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky; and orchestral excerpts from operas by Wagner, Glinka, and Glazunov. The final disc contains a rare recording of a rehearsal led by Mravinsky, something few outsiders were ever allowed to witness. Even though he was an elder statesman of Russian music at the time of these recordings, there is still precision and energy in his interpretations.

The sole album released by a journeyman blues-rock band from Denmark in 1970, Blues Addicts is one of those records that gets its reputation for being so obscure rather than being a lost classic, frankly speaking. But as with everything, there's always a context for some sort of reissue somewhere, and its revival on the Shadoks label in 2008 reveals it to be enthusiastic and not entirely without interest, but there's not much else to say otherwise. Backing vocalist and guitarist Ivan Horn provides liner note details from an interview in 2002 about the band's history and the circumstances surrounding the recording - it's a brief but enjoyable tale of how a bunch of young enthusiasts took to the then-new sounds of acts like Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience with enthusiasm - while the fact that the group concentrated on originals rather than cover versions is definitely to their credit…

DGM started writing new music in the spring of 2019 with the overall process taking almost one entire year since it was the band’s desire to push themselves beyond any previous boundaries set by their previous works. Truly, no small feat given the band’s catalog. The end result is “Tragic Separation” an album where the band ticks all the boxes of the Progressive Metal genre, but adds more and more of their own personal identity and approach.
You can still find all the trademark elements of DGM’s sound with sweeping choruses, technical passages, lightning fast fretwork, big vocals, and bombastic transitions, but the care and the dedication to the songwriting emerges in phenomenal songs which carefully encompass everything that goes from Symphony X to a more classic hard rock sound, even giving a nod to the Kansas sound in the title track…

This is a group effort that finds Krantz in the company of young stars Lincoln Goines and Zach Danziger. This became a regular band for Krantz, who later put out a live recording with the same personnel. The tunes are all played with passion by all, and feature Krantz's penchant for extended and at times self-indulgent solos. Like most good jazz players, Krantz explores new territories and takes chances when he's playing. He is one of the few fusion-style players to emerge during the '90s who can improvise for long periods of time and make it interesting for the duration. This is more consistent than Signals, but it would have been an extra bonus to hear some more of his solo pieces.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the first ever CD released of Trapped in Time, a collection of rare demos and recordings made in 1969 by the legendary band Cressida. The band would later sign to Vertigo records, recording two classic albums for the label. Trapped in Time reflects the very first recordings made by the band prior to signing to Vertigo and was previously released as 500 limited edition LP. Featuring a line-up of Angus Cullen (vocals), John Heyworth (guitar), Kevin Mccarthy (bass), Lol Coker (organ), Peter Jennings (organ on tracks 3,4 & 5) and Iain Clark (drums), this Esoteric Recordings release features two extra tracks not included on the original vinyl LP and a booklet that features a new essay and rare photographs and coincides with the band’s first ever performance in the United States in early October.