Back catalogue: All genres

Review: The Allman Brothers Band's final concert, performed on October 28, 2014, at New York's Beacon Theatre, is now being celebrated with the release of Final Concert 10-28-14, available as a 3xCD box set. Curated by Warren Haynes, the remastered recording spans 29 tracks and includes a 16-page booklet with exclusive photos and liner notes. The concert, divided into three sets, shows the band's extensive legacy, featuring classic tracks like 'Mountain Jam', 'One Way Out', 'Statesboro Blues' and 'Melissa'. Founding members Gregg Allman, Jaimoe, and Butch Trucks were joined by Haynes, Derek Trucks, Marc Quinones and Oteil Burbridge, making for a lineup that masterfully honoured the band's roots. The Allman Brothers Band's signature blend of southern rock and blues. This is a fitting farewell to their storied career with both nostalgia and exceptional musicianship. The final track, 'Trouble No More', closes the set and the band's legacy on an emotional note.

Review: Albert Ayler was a trailblazing avant-garde saxophonist lost far too soon, and not long before his death he performed an iconic pair of performances at Fondation Maeght in Saint Paul de Vence outside Nice. While excerpts from the performances have been previously released, this is the first time they appear in their entirety, alongside each other as a testament to a truly powerful force in jazz. This four-CD edition comes with an extensive 100-page booklet loaded with essays and quotes from authorities and contemporary music luminaries of all sorts, making it a standout document for all serious jazz lovers to cherish.

Review: Nearly 50 years after blasting out of Athens, Georgia, we now hearken The B-52's technicolor due with The Warner And Reprise Years, a freshly remastered retrospective of their first eight LPs, spanning 1979 to 1992. Here aside from the rainbow-hued nine LP set comes an 8xCD set, just in time for Pride Month: it tracks the thrifty West Coasters' evolution from wiry new wave weirdos to global hitmakers. Fan favourites like 'Rock Lobster', 'Channel Z', and 'Roam' sit aside mega-hits like 'Love Shack', netting the campy brilliance and rogue joy that redeemed them as pop's most gleeful outliers.

Review: Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2023 captures a thrilling live showcase of guitar virtuosity, celebrating a return after a four-year hiatus. With Bill Murray as Master of Ceremonies, this event brought together an exceptional lineup, including Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., Sheryl Crow, H.E.R., Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Santana, John Mayer and more. Across four discs, more than 50 tracks reveal electrifying renditions of blues classics, rock anthems and American Songbook standards, with Clapton himself frequently joining his peers onstage. Highlights include collaborations with the Del McCoury Band, Bradley Walker and stirring performances of 'Eight Miles High' with Roger McGuinn and 'Bluebird' with Stephen Stills. Spanning multiple genres and generations, the set offers a testament to the unifying power of the guitar, underscoring Clapton's influence in gathering top talents from across eras. This release not only chronicles a memorable night for fans but also reinforces the legacy of blues guitar as it finds fresh, dynamic life through each performer. Crossroads Guitar Festival 2023 is essential for blues and rock fans alike.

Review: The Dub Syndicate's later albums, rounding off their earlier box set, showcase the band's evolution in the late 1980s and 90s, marking their rise to prominence. With Style Scott stepping into the spotlight as bandleader and co-producer, the group's sound transformed, blending classic Jamaican musicianship with Adrian Sherwood's signature UK studio experimentation. This fusion created a series of albums that appealed to both ravers and dreads, combining dub's roots with experimental sounds. Included are: Strike The Balance (1989), followed by Stoned Immaculate (1991), Echomania (1993) and Ital Breakfast (1996), each album further refining the band's distinctive urban dub sound. The bonus album, Obscured By Version (2025), serves as a special treat, offering fresh versions of rhythms from this era. The Dub Syndicate remain legends in the genre, known for their bold use of sampling and raw, immersive dub that has influenced generations of listeners. This collection highlights their critical role in shaping the dub sound, cementing their place in music history.

Review: This collection plunges into Godley & Creme's eccentric post-10cc years, a whirlwind of boundary-pushing pop and inventive production. Tracks like 'An Englishman in New York' burst with surreal humour and layered arrangements, showcasing their knack for storytelling through off-kilter melodies. Meanwhile, 'Snack Attack' plays with genre, blending funk-laden grooves and absurdist charm. These songs aren't just quirky diversions-they're windows into the duo's fearless approach to dismantling pop conventions. Packed with vocal harmonies, synth experiments, and a sprinkle of the absurd, this box set is a reminder of how Godley & Creme rewrote the rules for art-pop.

Review: Say what you will about Green Day's career resurgence record but 2004's American Idiot slaps far more than any hater will have you remember. While many still bemoan the band's shying away from the slacker college rock of 2000's Warning, it's impossible to deny the massive staying power that came from the ludicrous hit singles of the title-track as well as 'Boulevard Of Broken Dreams', 'Holiday' and even the nine minute opus 'Jesus Of Suburbia'. Leaning further into concept and theatricality than ever before while essentially serving as the torch bearer album that saw Green Day be passed from Generation X to the millennials of the 21st century, it's easy to understand why American Idiot has become a victim of its own success in the two decades since release, but that doesn't excuse the selective amnesia for how potent of a record it truly was upon arrival and just how prevalent Green Day became in the cultural rock music zeitgeist for an entirely new generation of anxious kids. This 20th anniversary expanded edition arrives in a 4xCD box set complete with a bonus 2xBlu-ray.

Review: There has long been an obsession in rock circles with Jimi Hendrix's fourth, unreleased album, a set he imagined to be a double or triple set and recorded a wealth of tracks for in the New York studio he created, Electric Lady Studios, over ten months in 1969-70. This fantastic box set, comprising three CDs, a Blu-ray featuring a new documentary and 5.1 surround sound mixes, and a booklet full of contextualising liner notes, tells the story of Hendrix's final recording sessions in full. Some 29 tracks of the 38 on show - a mixture of studio demos, completed tracks, alternative versions and jams (including one astonishing, 26-minute medley) - have never been released before. Properly remastered and mixed, it offers an authoritative glimpse of what would have undoubtedly become a classic rock album.

Review: Melanie's extensive six-CD boxed set, Neighbourhood Songs, is an extensive look into her career for fans and music historians alike. With over 100 tracks, most previously unreleased, this collection offers a comprehensive journey through Melanie's music, meticulously curated by Melanie herself and her team. The painstaking audio restoration ensures that even lo-fi recordings shine, bringing out the essence of Melanie's folk and pop repertoire. The accompanying 20-page booklet, adorned with unseen photographs and insightful essays from fans and experts like Mark Paytress and Dave Thompson, enriches the experience further. For enthusiasts, the bonus CD 'Centre of the Circle' adds another layer of discovery, featuring tracks that couldn't fit into the main set. Overall, Neighbourhood Songs is a definitive showpiece of Melanie's enduring impact and musical evolution. Melanie's passed away early this year of 2024. What better way to celebrate her music then to get a copy of this.

Review: Miles in France, the eighth installment of the Miles Davis Bootleg Series, spotlights the birth of his Second Great Quintet in 1963-64. This collection features five performances across a superb six CDs that fully and perfectly capture the transition between eras in Davis' music. It includes over four hours of previously unreleased live recordings, with Miles joined by George Coleman (1963), Wayne Shorter (1964), Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. Expanding on Miles in Europe, this set offers all three performances from the 1963 Antibes festival and two unreleased concerts from Paris in 1964 so showcases the Quintet's famously evolving sound.

Review: Last year, the Hartnoll brothers gave their debut album, 1991's 'Green Album' (officially simply titled Orbital) the deluxe reissue treatment, offering an expanded quadruple CD edition backed with a detail-packed hardback book. They've now moved on to its similarly superb sequel (the 'Brown Album') from 1993. It gets a similar treatment, with a freshly remastered version of the original album (CD1) being joined by two discs of single versions, B-sides, remixes and 'Peel Session' cuts (including legendary Underworld and Psychik Warriors Ov Gaia takes on 'Lush 3', and the duo's own originally US-only extension of 'Impact'), and a fourth CD containing a previously unreleased live recording from the Limelight in New York in 1992. Oh, and a fine hardback book telling the story of the album. An early Christmas present for Orbital fans!

Review: Porcupine Tree's Fear Of A Blank Planet gets an expansive reissue via Transmission, offering the most comprehensive edition of the iconic 2007 album to date. This deluxe edition is packaged in a 112-page hardback book featuring rare photographs by Lasse Hoile & Carl Glover, and an in-depth exploration of the album's creation by Stephen Humphries. The five-CD set includes newly remastered versions of Fear Of A Blank Planet and the Nil Recurring EP, alongside over 55 minutes of previously unreleased demos. Fans will also find live performances from The Garage in Saarbrucken in 2006, a BBC session, and an unplugged instore performance from 2007. The inclusion of these early live recordings offers fascinating insights into the evolution of the album's material. The Blu-ray disc includes remastered stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes, a 2024 documentary, and live footage from The Palladium in Koln. With contributions from prog legends Robert Fripp and Alex Lifeson, Fear Of A Blank Planet stands as one of the band's most celebrated works. This reissue provides a deep dive into the creation of an album that remains a cornerstone of progressive rock.

Review: Soft Cell's seminal debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret tells a vivid tale of early 80s Britain as a seedy night world of peep shows, prostitutes and sex dwarves. It's such wonderful poetry that such a subversive act were also able to score the biggest selling single of the year and throw so many unsuspecting listeners into their lascivious world and now this landmark slice of synth pop is getting a heavyweight reissue treatment with a monster six-CD set which goes in deep on extended versions, lost demos, live renditions and instrumentals. If you want an exhaustive document of this eternal classic, then look no further.

Review: This new quadruple CD release captures the legendary 'classic quartet' of The Soft Machine band during their final European tour on February 27th and 28th, 1971. While previously released sets from the latter date exist, this marks the first complete release of both nights, with half of it being entirely unreleased material. The performances, held in a relatively intimate venue, offer a captivating stereo experience. Soft Machine's concerts at the Henie-Onstad Art Center in Norway were unique and set against an art exhibition backdrop as well as being accompanied by Mark Boyle's films. Listening back now and it's easy to hear the band's dynamic evolution across consecutive nights in the unique museum setting.

Review: Status Quo's iconic 1977 album Live! sets sail once again with a special 8xCD super deluxe reissue on May 16, 2025, celebrating two of the band's most electrifying performances in Glasgow. Recorded over three nights at the Apollo Theatre in October 1976, the album first captured a selection of tracks from said shows; for their boogie-rock sound and high-energy stage presence, these Glasgow performances were pivotal in cementing Status Quo's reputation on the world stage, in their prime. The reissue offers the gigs again in full, remastering them from newly discovered 24-track tapes, guaranteeing superior sound quality. The set includes a 24-page illustrated booklet with new sleeve notes, rare photographs and memorabilia, shedding light on the impact of the shows and the making of the album.

Review: Talking Heads proudly reintroduce their iconic debut album, Talking Heads: 77, with the extensive Super Deluxe Edition, available in a comprehensive 3xCD + Blu-ray + Book format. This edition features a fresh AAA remaster cut directly from the original master tapes, ensuring that the album's unique sound is presented in the best possible quality. This release documents the evolution of the band, originally formed by David Byrne, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth and later expanded with the addition of Jerry Harrison from the Modern Lovers. From the outset, Talking Heads: 77 distinguished itself within New York's vibrant CBGB scene, characterised by Byrne's distinctive, high-pitched vocals and the band's tightly wound yet dynamic instrumentation. Key tracks like the haunting 'Psycho Killer' and the upbeat 'Pulled Up' stand out. Spanning nearly three hours, the Super Deluxe Edition includes many rarities such as outtakes and unreleased alternate versions, along with a never-before-heard recording of their final CBGB performance on October 10, 1977. The accompanying Blu-ray features an immersive Atmos mix and various remastered formats. Housed in an elegant 80-page hardcover book, this edition includes new liner notes and rare photos, celebrating the band's influential legacy.

Review: Phaedra is the fifth studio album by German electronic group Tangerine Dream, recorded in November 1973 at The Manor in Shipton-on-Cherwell, England, and released in 1974 through Virgin. An icier, tempoless departure for a band otherwise better recognised for their sequencer-led, soundtrack-bred sound, this was a hidden moulin for frost-drone fanatics, and a deviant pupil of the otherwise strict Berlin School. Despite receiving little to no airplay, Phaedra gained significant traction through word of mouth when it was released by a rather more hippified Richard Branson's fledgling Virgin label, eventually reaching number 15 on the UK Albums Chart and remaining on the charts for 15 weeks. Its long-form pieces, such as 'Sequent C' and 'Mysterious Semblance At The Strand Of Nightmares', represent an indifference to constraints of timing, instead washing over the ears as diachronic, swirling, crisp ice ambient smirrs.

Review: Fierce, fabulous and more than a little fancy, Box Of Sin takes an exhaustive look at 80s gay nightlife as the driver for the evolution of dance music. Spread over five CDs, we're taken on a sweat-slicked thrill ride through hi-nrg, disco, proto house and synth-pop taking in seminal classics and deep cuts alike. There are plenty of perennial favourites contained within, from The Pointer Sisters' 'Jump (For My Love)' and Soft Cell's 'Memorabilia' through to S'Express' massive chart dance banger 'Theme From S'Express', and you can be sure the compilers have taken care to source the real deal 12" mixes that bring out the best in a track. With plenty of lesser known surprises and a frankly head-spinning amount of knockout tracks, this is an essential document of the outsized impact queer club culture had on electronic music in the 80s and early 90s.

Review: This meticulously curated five CD collection captures the dazzling spectrum of dance music that thrived on queer club floors between 1980 and 1989. With 53 tracks spanning multiple dance genres, the set celebrates an era of bold experimentation and unbridled creativity. Eartha Kitt's magnetic 'Where Is My Man' and Donna Summer's electrifying 'Love Is in Control' set the tone for a journey through anthems and underground gems alike. Tracks like Sylvester's euphoric 'I Need You' and Gwen Guthrie's 'Peanut Butter' evoke the soulful exuberance that defined the dancefloor, while Divine's 'Native Love' and Bobby O"'s 'I'm So Hot for You' bring unabashed camp and energy. On the Europop side, Desireless' dreamy 'Voyage Voyage' and Modern Talking's sleek 'Brother Louie' deliver shimmering melodies, while New Order's 'Sub-Culture' and Siouxsie and the Banshees' 'Peek-A-Boo' infuse a post-punk edge. House and acid influences shine in Electribe 101's hypnotic 'Talking with Myself' and Wee Papa Girl Rappers' 'Heat It Up'. Grace Jones' avant-garde 'Love on Top of Love' and Malcolm McLaren's 'Deep in Vogue' epitomise boundary-pushing brilliance. This collection is a vivid celebration of a transformative decade, reflecting the resilience and creativity of a community that danced through joy, pain, and boundless innovation.

Review: Reissued on Important Records comes Agartha, which forms part of a long wave of easy listening and new age music made popular in the 1980s and 90s. Meredith Young-Sowers joins a class of musicians, from Eliane Radigue to Steven Halpern, who made music as utilities for meditation. Young-Sowers' work, however, may share an aesthetic with these knowns, but otherwise nurtures an eerier vibe. Agartha was originally released in 1986 on cassette, and is made up largely of unnaturally sustained sine tone unfurlings laid in harmonic or minor keys, as if to decouple the unsettling atmosphere of the music from their meditative capacity. Though it sounds like it, the record is not aleatory, rather it is composed expressly to sound like it has been transmitted from an extimate point outside of human consciousness. No wonder it is named after a mythical land said to lie deep below the Earth's crust!