The Long Run is the sixth studio album by American rock group the Eagles. It was released in 1979 by Asylum Records in the United States and the United Kingdom. This was the first Eagles album to feature bassist Timothy B. Schmit, who had replaced founding member Randy Meisner, and the last full studio album to feature Don Felder before his termination from the band in 2001. This was the band's final studio album for Asylum Records. It also turned out to be their last studio album during their original tenure, as the Eagles disbanded in 1980; even though they reunited in 1994, they did not release another studio album until 2007's Long Road Out of Eden. The album was certified 7× Platinum and has sold more than eight million copies in the US.

Alicia Keys' debut album, Songs in A Minor, made a significant impact upon its release in the summer of 2001, catapulting the young singer/songwriter to the front of the neo-soul pack. Critics and audiences were captivated by a 19-year-old singer whose taste and influences ran back further than her years, encompassing everything from Prince to smooth '70s soul, even a little Billie Holiday. In retrospect, it was the idea of Alicia Keys that was as attractive as the record, since soul fans were hungering for a singer/songwriter who seemed part of the tradition without being as spacy as Macy Gray or as hippie mystic as Erykah Badu while being more reliable than Lauryn Hill. Keys was all that, and she had style to spare – elegant, sexy style accentuated by how she never oversang, giving the music a richer feel. It was rich enough to compensate for some thinness in the writing – though it was a big hit, "Fallin'" doesn't have much body to it – which is a testament to Keys' skills as a musician.

If any single song sums up Status Quo in the hearts and the minds of the millions, it's "Down Down." Other songs may have been bigger, others may have more resonance, and some ("Rocking All Over the World " comes to mind) may be so permanently ingrained that it's hard to remember that Status Quo cut anything else. But, if you want to nail the very essence of Status Quo, only "Down Down" will do. It was their first British number one and their first all-time classic. And it was also their first grinning, winking acknowledgement that not only was there a formula to the records they made, but they were not afraid to list its ingredients. "Down Down" is the perfect Status Quo record, and the fact that it doesn't arrive until six songs into the band's eighth album just proves how much fun it had coming up with it.

Perhaps realizing that Down on the Farm wasn't the proper swan song for Little Feat, the group persuaded Warner Brothers to release a compilation of rarities and overlooked tracks as a swan song and farewell to fans. Filled with live performances, obscurities, album tracks, and a new song apiece from Bill Payne and Paul Barrere, Hoy Hoy is a bit scattered, a bit incoherent, a little bewildering, and wholly delightful – a perfect summation of a group filled with quirks, character, and funk, traits which were as much a blessing as they were a curse. Hoy Hoy is one of those rare albums that may be designed for diehards – who else really needs radio performances, early recordings from before the band was signed, and outtakes, especially if they're surrounded by early album tracks? – but still is a great introduction for novices. That doesn't mean it's as good as such masterpieces as Sailin' Shoes, Dixie Chicken, or Waiting for Columbus, but it does capture the group's careening, freewheeling spirit, humor, and musical versatility, arguably better than any single album.

After gaining some recognition from the success of the band's previous album, Bachman-Turner Overdrive got around to recording Not Fragile. Not only had one of the three Bachman brothers (Tim, the rhythm guitarist) left the band to BTO's advantage, but Randy Bachman and C.F. Turner had clearly grown musically. To the album's benefit, most of the material on Not Fragile are the band's much-liked rock anthems, ranging from the hyper-distorted title track, through the famous but far more timid song "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet."

The sixth edition of the fantastic anthology series from the Blue Note Records label, featuring some of the greatest players that ever walked the face of the Earth, like Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Chet Baker, Dinah Washington, Peggy Lee, Miles Davis, Grant Green, Billie Holiday, Cassandra Wilson, Horace Silver, Ike Quebec, Blue Mitchell and many more.

Polyphony was a short-lived US outfit active in the early 70's. The band, consisting of Martin Ruddy (bass, vocals), Christopher Spong (drums), Craig Massey (vocals, organ, moog), Glenn Howard (vocals, guitars) and Chatty Cooper (percussion), recorded the album Without "Introduction" which was released in 1971. Polyphony comes close fusing Hendrix's psychedelic guitar style with ELP's take on Hammond-based symphonic progressive rock.

Released in 1985, primarily and possibly only for the European market, Moti Special was a German-multi ethnic pop-band. A pretty boy band? Absolutely not - these guys were adults. Yet, the group's only successful band member/keyboardist would be and still is Michael Cretu of the current new age ambient group Enigma and husband to European pop-star Sandra. However, do not expect any Enigma-like tracks (though you may be able to pick up echoing future traces in his excellent keyboarding skills).
The Moti Special sound is instantly recognizeable by music fans of the 80's neu deutsch welle musical movement. New deutsch was basically a title for the genre of pop music coming out of Germany during the early to mid 80's…

Perhaps the most telling tune on Shoulda Been Home is the T-Bone Walker-influenced "Renew Blues," not because of the style, but because the slow blues fades out after just one tiny minute. By contrast, the mellow soul sway of "Out of Eden" stretches out to over nine minutes. Robert Cray has been heralded as a savior of modern blues, but the truth is Cray's music is much closer to the vintage soul of O.V. Wright and Otis Redding than the 12-bar form of B.B. King or Albert King. Granted, his punctuating Stratocaster guitar riffs borrow from the books of all the blues masters, but his songwriting and arranging don't. Often backed by arpeggiated guitar chords, Cray's vocals are front and center here, passionately leaning into these predominantly slow or mid-tempo tunes. By contrast, only a couple of cuts are upbeat enough to really get the knees a-shakin'. The infectious opening cut "Baby's Arms" – the best tune on the record – could have been a hit single for Stax Records, and Sir Mack Rice's upbeat "Love Sickness" was a hit for Stax Records. Meanwhile, "Help Me Forget," with its mellow, candlelight mood, could have been a hit for Barry White.