Bryan Adams Into The Fire

This 1995 compilation from UK rockers Thunder serves as an effective introduction to the band's brand of classy rockers and ballads. Featuring tracks from the first three albums plus two new cover songs (Python Lee Jackson's "In A Broken Dream" and the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter"), as well as a rearranged version of "Higher Ground" and the previously unreleased slowie "Once In A Lifetime", those looking for a taster of what the band is all about need look no further. The songs are all several years old now but stand up (pun intended) very well to repeated listening…

It cannot be said that Robbie Williams is a Scrooge with his holiday album, The Christmas Present. In its deluxe edition – which is the only edition available upon its initial 2019 release – The Christmas Present is a double album, divided into a disc chronicling "The Christmas Past" on one disc and "The Christmas Future" on the other, thereby turning the record's title into a double-edged pun. The Christmas Past disc is devoted to shopworn seasonal standards, supplemented by a handful of newer tunes written in the same ornate fashion. The Christmas Future finds Robbie loosening his tie and shaking off the strings, splitting his time between sincere ballads and impish novelties. Naturally, The Christmas Future is livelier than The Past, with Williams camping it up with Tyson Fury on the naughty "Bad Sharon" and then happily tweaking both sides of the political aisle with "Snowflakes." Williams may like to act like a bad boy, but at his heart he's a sentimental cornball and, ultimately, he winds up making mawkishness seem merry on The Christmas Present.