Following the success of Piledriver, Status Quo opted not to change a thing, unfurling the mind-numbing boogie attack of Hello! The strategy worked, resulting in the group's first number one album and in "Caroline," its first top-five single. Mostly, the album succeeds in spite of itself. "Roll Over Lay Down," not immediately impressive, builds into a tizzy over the course of five minutes. It is one-upped by "Caroline," the definitive Status Quo rock song, a not particularly hard or fast four-on-the-floor stomp saved by a massive, deceptively simple guitar hook. "Forty-Five Hundred Times," less catchy but harder rocking, is brutally long, but is rescued by its placement as the album's closer.

Bob Dylan returned from exile with John Wesley Harding, a quiet, country-tinged album that split dramatically from his previous three. A calm, reflective album, John Wesley Harding strips away all of the wilder tendencies of Dylan's rock albums – even the then-unreleased Basement Tapes he made the previous year – but it isn't a return to his folk roots. If anything, the album is his first serious foray into country, but only a handful of songs, such as "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," are straight country songs. Instead, John Wesley Harding is informed by the rustic sound of country, as well as many rural myths, with seemingly simple songs like "All Along the Watchtower," "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine," and "The Wicked Messenger" revealing several layers of meaning with repeated plays. Although the lyrics are somewhat enigmatic, the music is simple, direct, and melodic, providing a touchstone for the country-rock revolution that swept through rock in the late '60s.

This 4 CD collection gathers together for the first time all our reissues of the much loved band of the 1970's - Fox. Led by respected songwriter /producer Kenny Young, vocalist Noosha Fox and Herbie Amstrong - the band released 3 studio albums and numerous singles spanning 1974-1981. This collection includes their 3 studio albums plus a 4th CD with singles, b-sides and related bonus material from our 2014 release Images '74-'84.
Our 24 page full colour CD booklet features the artwork from all the original albums and many of the single sleeves, extensive sleeve notes including contributions from Kenny Young and a riveting interview with Kenny by Brent Cash.
Each individual CD is presented in a paper wallet featuring the original LP front and back artwork. These are all then contained with a box with the accompanying CD booklet.

Once Chess discovered a white folk-blues audience ripe and ready to hear the real thing, they released a series of albums under the Real Folk Blues banner. This is one of the best entries in the series, a mixed bag of early Chess sides from 1949-1954, some of it hearkening back to Muddy's first recordings for Aristocrat with only Big Crawford on strings in support, with some wonderful full band sides rounding out the package to give everyone the big picture. A couple of highlights to pay special attention to are the cha cha/shuffle strut of the band charging through "Walkin' Through the Park" and the "I'm a Man"-derived nastiness of "Mannish Boy."

Oratorios were to become Handelís favorite form of composition from the late 1730ís onward, and of the impressive series of works written during the last two decades of his life the oratorio Judas Maccabaeus was the most successful of this genre, eclipsing even The Messiah in popularity. Handel and librettist Reverend Thomas Morell drew upon the story of the revolt of the Israelites in 168 B.C. against the decree of Antiochus IV forbidding the practice of their religion, focusing on Judas Maccabaeus, the fearless supreme commander in the battle for freedom.

The harmonia mundi label's ongoing series of recordings marking the centenary of the death of Claude Debussy continues with this fascinating album of chamber works. On it, violinist Isabelle Faust has brought together an all-star team of musicians including cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, violist Antoine Tamestit, flutist Magali Mosnier, harpist Xavier de Maistre and pianists Alexander Melnikov, Javier Perianes, and Tanguy de Williencourt. Three sonatas are the focal point here, with accompanied works for cello and violin complemented by the glorious Sonata for flute, Viola and Harp. The remainder of the program features a colorful selection of piano works from the composer's late period.

Emily Remler's second recording as a leader finds the 24-year-old guitarist still very much playing in the Wes Montgomery vein, although showing her own musical personality here and there. She is joined by pianist James Williams, bassist Don Thompson, and drummer Terry Clarke on a challenging set of material filled with obscurities. Certainly such numbers as Cannonball Adderley's "Cannonball," Dexter Gordon's "For Regulars Only," McCoy Tyner's "Search for Peace," and Monty Alexander's "Eleuthra" are rarely performed. Better known are "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "Afro Blue"; Remler also contributes two originals. Throughout the date the guitarist displays a great deal of potential, much of which would sadly go unrealized due to her early death.

Epidermis were founded in Idstein, Hesse, in 1971, but they soon moved to the regional capital, Wiesbaden. They played some complex sophisticated rock music, with frequent changes of rhythm and pace, and polyphonic vocal harmonies. They were often compared with Gentle Giant, Yes, and the Canterbury scene. Their first LP, recorded in Fred Kersten’s studio in June 1975, remained unreleased back then because they didn’t find a label for it. Only their second album, “Genius of original force”, was released (on Kerston Records in 1977). “June 1975” was as yet only available as download in MP3 quality. The work is now for the first time available as LP as well as CD, both drawn from the master tapes. The 20-page booklet in LP size contains a long band history in German and English, the song lyrics, a detailed discography, many photographs, etc.

Waves Of Wheels (1998). This CD from 2003 offers music which was originally released as a rare CD-R in 1998, and is now available in remastered form with additional material, featuring a total of 78 minutes of energetic electronic music by this talented Turkish synthesist. Many electronic musicians find powerful inspiration in the music of Tangerine Dream, generally focusing those influences on TD's Seventies period style of lushly sequenced music. Atilla, though, deviates from that model with this release, seeking to pay homage to other styles explored by TD during their long and varied career, specifically from the late Eighties and early Nineties. Joining Atilla on these tracks are: Cenk Eroglu on guitar, and Meric Demirkol on saxophone…

Michael Jackson's double-disc HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I is a monumental achievement of ego. Titled "HIStory Begins," the first disc is a collection of his post-Motown hits, featuring some of the greatest music in pop history, including "Billie Jean," "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Beat It," and "Rock with You." It leaves some hits out – including the number ones "Say Say Say" and "Dirty Diana" – yet it's filled with enough prime material to be thoroughly intoxicating. That can't be said for the second disc, called "HIStory Continues" and consisting entirely of new material – which also happens to be the first material he released since being accused of child molestation. "HIStory Continues" is easily the most personal album Jackson has recorded.