End Day (2005)

Have a Nice Day, Bon Jovi's ninth studio album of original material, picks up where 2002's Bounce left off, showcasing a harder, heavier band than either 2000's Crush or Jon Bon Jovi's 1997 solo effort, Destination Anywhere. Not only that, but this 2005 album finds Jon Bon Jovi picking up on the serious undercurrent of Bounce, writing a series of angry, somber neo-protest songs that form the heart of this record…

The Thanksgiving Day EP – released two days before Thanksgiving Day 2005 – is a teaser for Ray Davies' forthcoming album, Other People's Lives, which is not only his first proper solo album, but his first collection of new songs in nearly 13 years. Based on this EP, Davies is in fine form and may indeed be on the verge of delivering a full-fledged comeback. The title track is a surprising bit of laid-back Stax soul, spiked with a few of his signature English eccentricities in the form of an over-the-top backing chorus and wry observations. While "Yours Truly Confused N10" has a brass arrangement that's a shade too brassy, it's a clever bit of social satire, and if the moody "London Song" is a bit too splashy and theatrical in its production, Davies' spoken verses are evocative (more so than the exaggerated backing vocals), and the gentle country-rock of "Storyteller" makes up for any of its excesses. "London Song" may prevent Thanksgiving Day from being a flat-out, undeniable success, but the rest of this EP shows Davies regaining his strength as a writer and record-maker. Once it's finished, it's hard not to want to hear more, so this teaser does its job very well indeed.

Giant for a Day! is the tenth album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant which was released in 1978. The band's previous use of counterpoint and medieval-themed arrangements was not present on this recording. This album features a pop rock sensibility, instead of their usual progressive rock sound…

Issued in time for Valentine's Day 2005, Ben Webster for Lovers collects 11 of the tenor giant's best ballads from his Verve period. Readings of "My Funny Valentine," "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Where Are You," "Love Is Here to Stay," and "Time On My Hands" are the standouts, but nothing here is superfluous. The only track that should have been included that wasn't is Webster's read of "Chelsea Bridge" from Music for Loving, the single most moving ballad he ever recorded. This set works well for its intended purpose, but it functions just as well as a stellar set of ballads by one of the jazz genre's finest practitioners of the form.

These 12 full-length CDs document the Vandermark 5 playing at Alchemia, a major nightclub in Kraków, Poland, for a period of five evenings in March 2005. Over the course of well more than 12 hours of music, the quintet solidifies its reputation as one of the most innovative and exciting jazz groups of its time, as magic fills the air every night. It is difficult to imagine a more compelling set of modern jazz. The invigorated Polish audience welcomed the group enthusiastically, and the musicians responded with thrilling performances that summarize the state of the band, which was in peak form, and suggest the directions in which jazz is heading as a creative force. This is difficult music to categorize, if only because it relies on traditional concepts of melody and improvisation, but pushes hard to stretch and twist the limits of propriety. The box set is marvelously packaged, with a splendid booklet featuring an extensive interview with Ken Vandermark, and numerous photos in color and black-and-white.