Smokin' Joe Kubek is pure Texas blues - he's a forceful guitarist and his band rocks with a loose, greasy vibe. What makes the album so much fun is the combination of solid material and piledriving performances - it may follow a tradition, but it manages to be unpredictable.

Having both cut his teeth and come into his own with Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, and Yusef Lateef, among others, pianist Kenny Barron began to carve out what has proven to be a lengthy and fruitful solo career by 1973. This fine duo outing, which has Ron Carter and Michael Moore trading off on bass, certainly shows Barron was in full control of his vigorous and tuneful style by the mid-'80s. Cut for the independent BlackHawk label before Barron would eventually find more exposure via such high-profile companies as Enja and Verve, 1 + 1 + 1 features a tasty program of numbers by Monk, Ellington, Coltrane, Dave Brubeck, and others. Of particular note are Barron and Carter's treatments of the Gershwin opener, "The Man I Love," and Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way"…

With the future of the original Alice Cooper band in doubt by mid-1974 (they would soon break up for good with Alice going solo), Warner Bros. decided to issue a best-of compilation entitled Greatest Hits. If you're a newcomer to Alice, this 12-track compilation is a must-hear – all the selections are exceptional. While many have chosen to focus primarily on Cooper's theatrics over the years, the original bandmembers were indeed supreme rock songwriters; such anthems as "I'm Eighteen," "Under My Wheels," "School's Out," and "No More Mr. Nice Guy" are unquestionably among the finest hard rock tracks of all time.

The impressive Downwind is the first release from the band under its new moniker, Pierre Moerlen's Gong, as Moerlen assumes creative control and dominance. The release marks a return to vocals/lyrics, which proves only partially successful. Moerlen's voice is a hit on the opener, the rocking "Aeroplane," and the collective vocals on the fast-paced, percussive "Jin-Go-Lo-Ba" (popularized by Santana) are right on target. His singing is weak, though, on "What You Know" and detracts from the song's quality. Mick Taylor makes his only appearance here with an exceptional guitar solo. Downwind is also a return to compositions dominated by rock structures and styles, the jazz element minimal this time around.

New Musik's near-total lack of commercial acceptance is one of the great mysteries of early-'80s pop. Their music, rooted in classic pop songwriting but with a forward-looking interest in shiny electronics, is both instantly accessible and coolly forbidding. This dichotomy is most clearly expressed in the split between group leader Tony Mansfield's melodies, which are hummable, welcoming, and often quite bouncy, and his lyrics, which even Joy Division's Ian Curtis might have sometimes found a little too alienated.
Having released their debut album in 1980 and seeing modest success with the single 'Straight Lines', New Musik's sophomore album, released in early March of 1981, marked a maturing in the band's sound; one where the synthesizer would play a more predominant role in creating an atmosphere which lasts the duration of the album…

Volume 2 of Connoisseur Collection's 2 part series on Ritchie Blackmore's overall career. Where Volume 1 focused largely on Blackmore's '60s sessions and his Purple work from 1968 to 1974, Volume 2 is more of a grab bag which has a lot of variety. Originally intended mostly to cover the period from 1975 (Rainbow's formation) onwards, it actually covers from 1965 to 1984 with several memorable pit-stops in between. This great CD is bolstered by great liner notes and great pictures, including some magazine covers quite rare to find anywhere else. Anyone remotely interested in the heights to which Blackmore can reach will be rewarded here.

It's a long way from the simple and rather forgotten days of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's early dabbling in English skiffle to belting out some of the most memorable leads and riffs in hard rock. This well-researched collection traces the roots of a young "Man In Black" fingering the fretboard to nothing sounding that spectacularly different from his peers in the beginning to smoking the rest of the pack while fronting the multi-million-selling Deep Purple. Unearthed are four previously unreleased Deep Purple tracks, lost treasures that are worth the price alone, particularly the earliest recorded live version of "Highway Star," still in its infancy before being solidified in the studio on Machine Head.

The double album, written for the 40th anniversary of The Martian Chronicles, consists of 3 large musical pieces (suites). Each of the three is related to an A.I. story. The stories are also the band's creations, projecting the future imagined with A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) from different perspectives.
The Hungarian formation Solaris was originally founded by some school friends in 1980. The band's name was derived from the title of book by SF writer Stanislaw Lem. After they made impression on a talent contest at The Budai Park for a massive crowd (mainly youth) the band was offered an opportunity to make a record.