David Sylvian Secrets Of The Beehive (1987) {virgin Remaster 2006} [re Up]

Robert Fripp and David Sylvian's first official release together, The First Day, is a much funkier and more percussive affair than its bootleg predecessor, The Day Before (which contained radically different versions of these songs). An obvious reason for its higher quality is that it was recorded in a studio, while the bootleg consisted of in-concert demos, and the songs here have been worked to completion. Fripp has found an extremely talented singer/partner in Sylvian, who adds a lot to his quirky compositions. Trey Gunn (who plays a bass-like instrument called the stick) makes each track practically groove and breathe on his own, and allows Fripp to stretch out and experiment in ways previously unheard by this guitar icon…

Narrated by Robert Powell this work was released by Virgin Records in 1975. Great album sleeve with a noteworthy credit being Mike Oldfield assisting on guitars. The album itself comprises of two parts, Rime Of The Ancient Mariner 1 & 2. Oldfield's association with David Bedford went back to The Kevin Ayers and the Whole World band. While Oldfield was flexing his creative muscle and getting frustrated within the confines of that band he confided more and more with David Bedford and struck up a strong rapport with the keyboard player that lasted long after 1975.

Patty Ryan is a German singer best known for her Europop song "You're My Love, You're My Life" from 1986. She also sang the hits "Stay With Me Tonight", "Love is the Name of the Game", and "I Don't Wanna Lose You Tonight" (all from her debut album Love is the Name of the Game). Her style is similar to that of bands like Modern Talking, London Boys, and Bad Boys Blue (she has also on occasion collaborated with Modern Talking's Dieter Bohlen). Some of the songs from her debut album resemble Modern Talking songs considerably, You're My Love, You're My Life (You're My Heart, You're My Soul), I'm Feeling So Blue (There's Too Much Blue In Missing You), and the song Chinese Eyes even is based around melodies from "You're My Heart, You're My Soul". She also sang Danuta Lato's hit "Touch My Heart"…

Patty Ryan is a German singer best known for her Europop song "You're My Love, You're My Life" from 1986. She also sang the hits "Stay With Me Tonight", "Love is the Name of the Game", and "I Don't Wanna Lose You Tonight" (all from her debut album Love is the Name of the Game). Her style is similar to that of bands like Modern Talking, London Boys, and Bad Boys Blue (she has also on occasion collaborated with Modern Talking's Dieter Bohlen)…

This 1987 album followed in the footsteps of Los Lobos' two stunning predecessors (And A Time To Dance and How Will the Wolf Survive). One of the band's many strengths is the contrast between the formidable songwriting of David Hidalgo/Louie Perez and Cesar Rosas, with the former exploring stories of sadness and hope while the latter rocks like a barn on fire. This is an album of incredibly natural songs; they roll out like long lost classics, but that's simply another testament to the prowess of this band as players and writers. In a way, this was the band's last offering before they were forced to take stock of themselves and their goals in the wake of the surprise million-selling La Bamba soundtrack. That they were able to carry themselves forward from that point with grace and aplomb is foreshadowed in the utter honesty of this and all of their music.

After a fine Handel recital CD, not to mention taking part in a dozen other major recordings, countertenor David Daniels has hit the jackpot. This fascinating, handsomely recorded CD offers us arias from Mitridate and Ascanio in Alba, and a concert aria by Mozart (the only one he composed for male alto), as well as some Handel and Gluck arias. With them, Daniels takes us through every quality a classically trained singer should have and comes through with flying colors. The arias are about vengeance, sorrow, love–the usual–but within baroque strictures that means that some require lush, limpid singing, others ferocious coloratura and exclamatory heft, and some all of these.

Surfing with the Alien belongs to its era like Are You Experienced? belongs to its own – perhaps it doesn't transcend its time the way the Jimi Hendrix Experience's 1967 debut does, but Joe Satriani's 1987 breakthrough can be seen as the gold standard for guitar playing of the mid- to late '80s, an album that captures everything that was good about the glory days of shred…