Campaign 11

John Lennon would have turned 67 in 2007. If alive, he could well be at the forefront of bringing peace to Darfur, where more than half a million have died from violence and disease during four years of rebel discord. So to create awareness of the ongoing conflict, Amnesty International (with permission from Yoko Ono) has mined Lennon's solo work and rounded up nearly two dozen current artists to reinterpret the music, which spans the ex-Beatle's entire post-band catalog (plus a pair from while the Fab Four were still in business). As with any attempt to cover Beatles-related music, results are hit and miss, with kudos going to Snow Patrol and the Postal Service for capturing the starkness of "Isolation" and "Grow Old with Me," respectively, Mexican rock band Jaguares for uncovering the fear and fury in "Gimme Some Truth," and (surprise!) Christina Aguilera for nailing the complex composition and mood of "Mother." Other highlights include Jackson Browne's piano-led "Oh My Love," Green Day's louder straight take on "Working Class Hero," and the Black Eyed Peas turning "Power to the People" into a gospelly protest. Will resurrecting 30-to-40-year-old messages of peace and love be enough to help end the brutalities in Darfur? That remains to be seen. But selecting John Lennon as the author of those messages will make people listen and, with this collection, may keep them listening.

Prog Rock band from the Netherlands. Another one of these lost-in-time Dutch Neo Prog bands, PTS were coming probably from the Zwolle area of The Netherlands with an original line-up of drummer Le Coq, bassist Marco Kerssies, keyboardist Simon Veenhius and guitarist Ron Van Kruistum. This formation would record the band's first album ''Nightlines'' in 1992, released privately by PTS. While not particularly convincing, it was good enough for the management of the legendary SI label to sign the group. Second album ''Tides'' comes out in 1994, now with Marco de Haan in the place of Le Coq. De Haan was actually the man behind the lyrics of PTS' first album. As SI went bankrupt around mid-90's, PTS were forced to return back to their private releases, so that's what happened with the band's third album ''Campaign'' in 1996.