Breaking away from Savoy Brown to form this band, the members of Foghat knew from the start what sort of record they wanted to make. With heavy emphasis on the hard boogie, Foghat got down to work with the help of Dave Edmunds and crafted a hard rock gem. Covering Chuck Berry's "Maybellene," they goosed the beat up until it was almost a precursor of the heavy metal yet to come. Interspersing covers with original material, they immediately found a place for themselves in the rock world.

40 years after the original release of the legendary classic album Balls To The Wall by the German Heavy Metal sensation Accept, Udo Dirkschneider (former voice of Accept) started working on reviving this classic.
"Balls To The Wall Reloaded" features some of Heavy Metal's most famous voices as guests: Joakim Broden (Sabaton), Biff Byford (Saxon), Mille Petrozza (Kreator), Nils Molin (Amaranthe & Dynazty), Michael Kiske (Helloween), Ylva Eriksson (Brothers Of Metal), Danko Jones, Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), Tim Ripper Owens (ex-Judas Priest & KK’s Priest) and Doro in a duet with The voice of Teutonic Heavy Metal.

The first volume in a series projected to analyze the punk phenomenon on a year-by-year basis, British Punk Rock 1977 assembles some of the less well-known but no less influential sides to emerge from that pivotal year. Collecting 20 tracks, it jumps from established cult heroes (Alternative TV's "How Much Longer," Penetration's "Don't Dictate," the Vibrators' "Baby Baby") to forgotten favorites (the Drones' "Corgi Crap," the Sniveling Shits' "I Can't Come," the Pork Dukes' "Bend & Flush"); some of it still holds up, some of it doesn't, but all of it remains a testament to its time and place.

After Emily Remler's untimely death from a heart attack in 1990 at the age of 32, Concord issued two anthologies of her work, although all six of her CDs for the label were still readily available. The guitarist was still blossoming at the time of her last session for the label; this second volume concentrates on her work as a composer. "The Firefly" is a lively hard bop piece in the style of Wes Montogmery, while the very soft, understated "Waltz for My Grandfather" is reminiscent of Jim Hall. "Nunca Mais" is an upbeat samba featuring trumpeter John D'Earth in a pianoless date; a second session with him produced four more Remler tunes, all of which are present on this CD. Her duo date with Larry Coryell didn't include any of her works, so it is not represented in this release. Her last date for the label included "Blues for Herb," a swinging tribute to her friend and fellow guitarist Herb Ellis…

An intriguing mid-'70s rock album from Mexico, Love from the group Peck, Smyth & Off with songs from singer/keyboardist Serge Peck and guitarist/vocalist Jimmy Smyth. Sung entirely in English, this album, though cut in 1976 and featuring many of the stylistic conventions of the era, shows some late '60s/early '70s psych influences and also has a very clear progressive rock influence.

The Autobiography of Supertramp is simply the international version of the title released in the United States by A&M as Vol. 9 in the rather confusing Classics series – obviously a forced attempt at label-branding gone awry (or at least nowhere). Over its 14 tracks, the collection glosses over a few fine moments from the falsetto-happy art rockers' early career misfires ("Dreamer," "Bloody Well Right," etc.) and sporadic latter-day hits ("Give a Little Bit," "It's Raining Again," etc.), then bites down on the meat, or rather the breakfast meat, of the group's greatest commercial triumph, 1979's multi-million-selling Breakfast in America ("Goodbye Stranger," "The Logical Song," "Take the Long Way Home," the title track). Released in 1990, The Very Best of Supertramp went a step further, arguably bettering this release by adding or supplanting a song or two, but casual fans are guaranteed to get their money's worth with either one.

Little is known of the life of Paschal de L'Estocart, the French composer of the late Renaissance who was roughly a contemporary of Claude Le Jeune (1528 -1600). He seems to have been sympathetic to the Protestant Reformers – he spent considerable time in Germany and his music was published in Geneva – but later in life he applied unsuccessfully to the French King for a position at an abbey. His collection of psalms and motets, Sacrae Cantiones, 16 of which are recorded here, are mostly in French, along with several in Latin, and was dedicated to Calvinist Count Palatine Johann Casimir in 1582. This collection also includes his Ode in 12 parts, set to religious texts in French. L'Estocart's music is typical of late Renaissance polyphony, eclectic in its use of a cantus firmus, imitative counterpoint, and homophonic writing, with an unusually free use of dissonance. The French mixed a cappella ensemble Ludus Modalis, led by Bruno Boterf, specializes in music of this era and sings with passion and authority. Intonation is immaculate and tone quality is pure and unforced. The recorded sound is clean, but spacious and warm.

Kansas' third album, Masque, is a lyrically dark effort courtesy of guitarist/keyboardist Kerry Livgren's brooding songwriting. Musically, Masque foreshadows the tight melodies and instrumental interplay on the next two albums, Leftoverture and Point of Know Return, which together serve as the peak of Kansas' vision. The band deserves more respect than it gets for incorporating British hard rock and progressive rock to become the only U.S. progressive rock band of note during the genre's 1970s heyday. Robbie Steinhardt's violin work certainly helped give Kansas a distinctive sound. The liner notes indicate Masque is a "concept album" thanks to the title's definition: "A disguise of reality created through a theatrical or musical performance." Vocalist/keyboardist Steve Walsh's "It Takes a Woman's Love (To Make a Man)" is the leadoff track, and it's atypical of the rest of the album. The song is a fairly basic yet groovy pop/rock tune about musicians' loneliness on the road, but it is spiced up with some saxophone lines.

One Second expands the Eurodisco approach of Stella, and while it's considerably less adventurous than Yello's earlier works, it's engaging dance music, highlighted by some clever uses of Latin rhythms and vocal cameos from Billy Mackenzie and Shirley Bassey.

Released when Mercury Records was still located in Chicago, IL, back in 1973, the second album from Bachman-Turner Overdrive was the first to break through in a big way. First the hit single "Let It Ride" went Top 25 circa March of 1974, then the anthem "Taking Care of Business" went Top 15 the summer of that year. By October they would top the charts with "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" from the follow-up LP, 1974's Not Fragile, but their seven chart songs were all made possible by this album and these two songs, "Let It Ride" and "Takin' Care of Business," in particular.