Филипп Киркоров Вчера, Сегодня, Завтра И... (2001)

Germany's Scorpions waited 'til 2001 to get on the unplugged bandwagon, but then they always were rather unfashionable. Recorded earlier the same year at live shows in Portugal, Acoustica is essentially a greatest-hits package, complete with the mandatory two new songs…

Mitsuko Uchida has been a committed exponent of Schoenberg's Piano Concerto for over a decade now. It is a work which remains controversial in its adaptation of the serial method to an almost Brahmsian harmonic palette, wedded to a formal approach that takes up the integrated design, and textural richness, of Schoenberg's pre-atonal works. Certainly in terms of the balance between soloist and orchestra, this recording clarifies the often capricious interplay to a degree previously unheard on disc (and most likely in the concert hall too).Interpretatively, it combines Pollini's dynamism, without the hectoring touch that creeps into the Adagio's climactic passages, and Brendel's lucidity, avoiding the deadpan feeling that pervades his final Giocoso.

After cathartic statements like Homogenic, the role of Selma in Dancer in the Dark, and the film's somber companion piece, Selmasongs, it's not surprising that Björk's first album in four years is less emotionally wrenching. But Vespertine isn't so much a departure from her previous work as a culmination of the musical distance she's traveled; within songs like the subtly sensual "Hidden Place" and "Undo" are traces of Debut and Post's gentle loveliness, as well as Homogenic and Selmasongs' reflective, searching moments. Described by Björk as "about being on your own in your house with your laptop and whispering for a year and just writing a very peaceful song that tiptoes," Vespertine's vocals seldom rise above a whisper, the rhythms mimic heartbeats and breathing, and a pristine, music-box delicacy unites the album into a deceptively fragile, hypnotic whole…

One of the bastions of progressive rock and an innovator in the use of keyboards in rock music, former Yes keysman Rick Wakeman is a true musical pioneer. The 2001 live album Out Of The Blue spotlights the man in all his synthesizer glory, each track an epic in itself. It is also evident that he has influenced nearly every keyboard player in the progressive rock and metal field. Performing with Wakeman at this concert, recorded at the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires, are vocalist Damian Wilson (Ayreon, Threshold), drummer Tony Fernandez (The Strawbs), guitarist Ant Glynne, bassist Lee Pomeroy, and Wakeman’s son and fellow keyboardist Adam Wakeman.

Harald Grosskopf is a legendary drummer who was among the first (if not the first) to play drum together with sequencers. He was a regular guest on albums by Klaus Schulze in the second half of the seventies. After he’d joined Ashra, the band headed more into a rock direction, never forgetting their electronic roots. Steve Baltes became a member of Ashra in the nineties. His electronics gave the pioneers a modern approach. Axel Manrico Heilhecker is considered on of Germany’s leading guitarists. They already work together as Sunya Beat (Harald and Axel) and N-Tribe (Harald and Steve).
"Four Times Three" (4x3) is released under their own names. The four tracks on "Four Times Three" all have traces of the great classic Ashra albums…

After 1999s rock-based album Tuonela, it was unclear what direction Amorphis would take with future releases. Instead of radically changing musical styles, like they had done in the past, the band seemed to have found steady ground in which they felt comfortable. Am Universum preserves the moody atmosphere of Tuonela, but explores wider dynamics, and an overall more varying sound.

The untitled fourth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV, was released on 8 November 1971 by Atlantic Records. Produced by guitarist Jimmy Page, it was recorded between December 1970 and March 1971 at several locations, most prominently the Victorian house Headley Grange. Led Zeppelin IV was a commercial and critical success, featuring many of the band's best-known songs, including "Black Dog", "Rock and Roll", "Going to California" and "Stairway to Heaven". The album is one of the best-selling albums of all time with more than 37 million copies sold. It is tied for third highest-certified album in the United States at 23x platinum. Writers and critics have regularly cited it on lists of the greatest albums of all time.