The proper follow-up to Among the Living was somewhat disappointing in its inconsistency. While there are some good moments – "Be All, End All" is one of the band's most melodic moments, and several other tracks catch fire – the best thing here is a cover of Trust's "Antisocial," and it doesn't bode well when covers outshine original material…
Released in December 1970, King Crimson's third studio album, Lizard, is often viewed as an outlier in the pioneering British prog outfit's nearly half-century discography. It's not easily grouped with 1969's stunning In the Court of the Crimson King debut and 1970 follow-up In the Wake of Poseidon, and along with 1971's Islands it's considered a transitional release on the band's path toward the relative stability of the Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973), Starless and Bible Black (1974), and Red (1974) trilogy. Plus, the Lizard sessions were difficult and the core group lineup acrimoniously collapsed immediately afterward, as bandleader/guitarist Robert Fripp, with lyricist Peter Sinfield, continued brave efforts to save King Crimson from disintegrating as the group's lengthy history was just getting underway.
The Vienna Art Orchestra is a 15-member jazz orchestra that features the avant-garde arrangements and compositions of its leader, pianist Mathias Ruegg. This is a reissue of their 1980 debut, an important document in the post-modern jazz movement. The opening, title track is a joyous, folkish tango that's been cartoonishly toyed with, featuring three solo sections. The marimba section is also ornamented with vocalese from Lauren Newton, followed by an extremely playful horn lead that sounds like a toy instrument. The solo offering from violinist Rudi Berger has an electronically effected fusion sound. A tight, alto sax solo by Wolfgang Puschnig ties everything together neatly with a lengthy, unaccompanied performance.
Soon after its release in April 1987, WHITESNAKE became a huge success around the world, selling multi million copies. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard album chart and spawned four popular singles: “Still Of The Night,” “Give Me All Your Love,” “Is This Love” (which reached #2) and the #1 hit “Here I Go Again.” Includes the newly remastered album expanded with a selection of unreleased bonus recordings.
Predating Metallica's self-titled blockbuster by 11 years, Judas Priest's British Steel was a similarly pitched landmark boasting many of the same accomplishments. It streamlined and simplified the progressive intricacies of a band fresh off of revolutionizing the entire heavy metal genre; it brought an aggressive, underground metal subgenre crashing into the mainstream (in Priest's case, the NWOBHM; in Metallica's, thrash); and it greatly expanded the possibilities for heavy metal's commercial viability as a whole. Of course, British Steel was nowhere near the sales juggernaut that Metallica was, but in catapulting Judas Priest to the status of stadium headliners…
MADNESS THE RISE & FALL (2010 issue UK 2-CD album set - Originally released in 1982, Following the magnificent ska-pop of their debut, One Step Beyond, and the developmental pop majesty of Absolutely and 7, The Rise & Fall shows a band at the very height of their songwriting powers; their maturity and depth of subject matter second to none among their peers.
MADNESS KEEP MOVING (2010 issue UK 2-CD album set - Originally released in 1984, Union Square Musics 30th Anniversary Madness reissue campaign continues with Keep Moving, the bands fifth and possibly most mature album. Its release, in 1984, was tinged with sadness, as it would be the bands last offering with the original line-up until 1999's Wonderful comeback. That said, the album and the songs on it did not suffer and some consider Keep Moving to be Madness's most sophisticated album, dealing with issues of homelessness, politics and spousal abuse in typically sensitive fashion.
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark will reissue its fifth album, 1984′s pop comeback Junk Culture, in February as a two-disc Deluxe Edition that will find the original album fully remastered and supplemented by a disc of the era’s B-sides, extended remixes and five previously unreleased songs and demos. The bonus disc features 10 B-sides and remixes, plus two previously unheard songs (“All or Nothing” with Paul Humphreys on vocals, and “10 to 1,” an unreleased song featuring lyrics later used in “Love and Violence”), plus three previously unreleased Junk Culture demos.