Beware of Darkness, the follow-up to California prog unit Spock's Beard's underground hit debut, The Light, is a complete exercise in MORE. Using George Harrison's beautiful song (but Leon Russell's version of it) as a take-off point, the band uses a full-blown choir, thundering guitars, and Neal Morse's growling vocal to create another valid and moving version of the tune. Beware of Darkness as an album is more "song-oriented" than its predecessor. It contains eight tunes instead of four and the longest, the closing "Time Has Come," is a mere 16 minutes, while the shortest, "Chatauqua," is a mere 2:49! In addition, the band's scope widened here; aside from references to Yes, King Crimson, and early Genesis, listeners can also hear elements of Gentle Giant, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Pat Metheny in the mix, too…

The Uncertainty Principle was originally released on Something Else Records in 1993 and has proved to be one of Boddy's most popular albums. Conceived as a continuous suite of music the thirteen tracks cover everything from ambient space atmospheres, Berlin school sequencer tracks through to melodic synth instrumentals. The three part title track features Boddy's vocoded voice floating over deep space ambiences and the album is bookended with grandiose classical themes.

Absolutely dynamite debut from this growly and sultry blues belter. With the focus on Young's brassy original material, this is one modern blues album that's a winner all the way.
Despite the prominent presence of celebrated blues artist Howlin' Wolf in her family tree, singer Zora Young grew up singing not blues, but gospel. Even when the Mississippi native shook off her roots at the age of seven to relocate with her family to Chicago, she attended the Greater Harvest Baptist Church and continued to sing gospel. It wasn't until later that she switched over to R&B, and evolved into a powerhouse blues vocalist with three decades of experience behind her. She has performed with a long list of artists, including Junior Wells, Jimmy Dawkins, Bobby Rush, Buddy Guy, Professor Eddie Lusk, Albert King, and B.B. King…

This is an unusual set for Joe Pass, a pop-oriented Brazilian date. He is joined by rhythm guitarist John Pisano, keyboardist Don Grusin, either Abraham Laboriel or Nathan East on bass, drummer Harvey Mason and percussionist Paulinho Da Costa. The material is not as strong as Pass' earlier Brazilian set Tudo Bem, featuring originals by Andy Narell, Grusin, Pisano and Milton Nascimento, along with a few obscurities. Pass sounds fine, but the overall results are not too substantial or memorable.

Sonny Landreth's screaming slide guitar plows right into you and carries you along on its feral journey. This CD opens going for your guts and never quits, though at times its touch is more caressing than careening, as in "Cajun Waltz." This CD got a lot of airplay yet never got tiresome, the true test of good music. A wide variety of slide guitar styles, backed by an extremely tight rhythm section and various other New Orleans musicians adds to the pleasure of the album. This music combines the best of zydeco, New Orleans R&B, Cajun, and rock & roll into one mood-elevating experience. Listen to "Mojo Boogie" next to "C'est Chaud," then go on to "Shootin' for the Moon"; there is no letdown, but there is great variety. A must-buy.

A few of the songs on this collection stand out. Billy Sherwood & Alan White & Chris Squire's rendition of Comfortably Numb, Tommy Shaw & Tony Levin & Edgar Winter's take on Money, and Us and Them as versioned by Out of Phase. Each artist sticks as close to Pink Floyds original intent, but adds some interesting tidbits that are nice to listen to.
The best of the best Pink Floyd cover songs culled from every major tribute album on the market today! Includes performances by a diverse gathering of unstoppable talents such as Tommy Shaw (Styx), Steve Lukather (Toto), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson), Spahn Ranch, Psychic TV, Chrome and many others! All of the best Floyd tracks are covered including Comfortably Numb, Another Brick In The Wall Part 2, Money, Pigs On The Wing and more…

Following up the superb Elegant Gypsy was no mean feat, but Al di Meola gave it his best shot with the similarly styled Casino, released in 1978. Featuring a core band of Steve Gadd, Anthony Jackson, and Barry Miles (whom di Meola came up with before the guitarist was invited to join Return to Forever), the playing is sharp and fiery, matching the youthful intensity of the leader. Di Meola is a good composer in the fusion idiom, and the four original compositions on Casino, although clearly bearing the mark of Chick Corea's influence, are strong. His "Fantasia Suite for Two Guitars," featuring di Meola accompanying himself via multi-tracking, is beautiful and dramatic, and hints at the guitarist's later all-acoustic works such as Friday Night in San Francisco.