Dream of Light

Although they had continued to record steadily after making a comeback with 1982's Abominog, Uriah Heep had slipped off the heavy metal world's radar by the mid-1990s. Just the same, they manage to notch up an impressive and well-received album in 1995 with Sea of Light. The key to this album's success is that it forsook the ill-judged pop metal stylings of albums like Equator for a return to the gothic-tinged old-school metal style that highlighted classic Uriah Heep albums like Look at Yourself. A great example is "A Time of Revelation," a gutsy rock tune that glides forwards on a one-two-three punch of thick guitar work, rousing organ riffs, and several layers of operatic vocal harmonies.

Sir John Barbirolli began as an orchestral cellist, and played under Elgar's baton in the premiere of the Cello Concerto. Encouraged by Elgar, he moved into conducting and made his mark with the composer's Second Symphony in 1927. After Elgar's death, Barbirolli vowed to make the composer's music his special mission in life and to do his utmost to make it known all over the world. From the performances here, we can judge how well he kept his promise.

"Springtime in Nagasaki" is the opening chapter of Tangerine Dream's five-CD project entitled "The Five Atomic Seasons". which were commissioned by a Japanese survivor of the 1945 dropping of the first atomic bomb. The six tracks which feature on this release emerge from two larger works - ‘Navel Of Light’ and ‘Persistence Of Memory,’ which are both divided into separate parts.