Hammerfall Masterpieces (2008) [japanese Edition]

Motörhead was an English rock band formed in June 1975 by bassist, singer, and songwriter Ian Fraser Kilmister (1945–2015), professionally known by his stage name Lemmy, who had remained the sole constant member. The band are often considered a precursor to, or one of the earliest members of, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, which re-energised heavy metal in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Despite this, Lemmy had always dubbed their music as simply "rock and roll"…

Nazareth are a Scottish hard rock band, founded in 1968, that had several hits in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s, and established an international audience with their 1975 album Hair of the Dog. Perhaps their best-known hit single was a cover of the ballad "Love Hurts", in 1975. The band continues to record and tour…

When the legendary US band announced their reunion in 2007, all hell broke loose: a myriad of offers for festivals and tours immediately arrived on their desk and their dedicated fans as well as the press sang their praises. An obvious reaction for anybody versed in the history of Progressive Death Metal. When guitarist Paul Masvidal and drummer Sean Reinert founded Cynic in 1987, they had more in mind than just another brutal sound. Extreme Metal riffing was fused with Jazz and Progressive Rock gaining the Americans recognition far beyond the "scene". Their debut and until now only album "Focus" (1993) soon became a sought after cult classic. Now Cynic come back stronger than ever: "Traced in Air" witnesses the band ascending to an even higher spiritual level of musicianship…

Some electronic producers spend their entire careers building up a roster of instruments, legions of samples, and more gear than any bedroom studio could possibly fit. Jamie Lidell has apparently been reducing not only his equipment list to its basics, but his production style, so it includes a minimum of things that you need to program (much less plug in). Of course, that jives with his gradual blossoming as an unhinged soul singer on 2005's Multiply, which has only blossomed further for 2008's Jim, a neo-soul record that sounds like it was recorded live, in the kind of studio that each of the album's seven to eight musicians actually could fit into. Part of this is the result of Lidell and co-producer Mocky's ability to record so well that the production doesn't stand out by itself, but simply works as a vehicle for the songs…

Black Butterfly is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band Buckcherry. The album was released on September 12, 2008 in Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom while being released on September 16 in the United States. It had been in production since late 2007…

Having carried on the spirit of Savatage in the wake of the band's unfortunate hiatus, Jon Oliva's Pain has come out with what may be their most ambitious effort to date. This album isn't quite as aggressive as the previously released "Maniacal Renderings" was, but it manages to showcase the band's more experimental side and helps bring in some of the theatrics that made the Oliva brothers' original baby as unique as it was.

After the rejuvenated excitement of 10 Out of 10, Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman pulled in studio heavyweights like Steve Gadd and recorded this ambitious, but ultimately lukewarm album in 1983. All of the usual 10cc trademarks were in place: great melodies, heartbreaking harmonies, and inventive arrangements are in great abundance here…

When Coldplay sampled Kraftwerk on their third album, X&Y, it was a signifier for the British band, telegraphing their classicist good taste while signaling how they prefer the eternally hip to the truly adventurous; it was stylish window dressing for soft arena rock. Hiring Brian Eno to produce the bulk of their fourth album, Viva la Vida, is another matter entirely. Eno pushes them, not necessarily to experiment but rather to focus and refine, to not leave their comfort zone but to find some tremulous discomfort within it. In his hands, this most staid of bands looks to shake things up, albeit politely, but such good manners are so inherent to Coldplay's DNA that they remain courteous even when they experiment…

The 21st century Septic Flesh, which takes its sweet time plotting and refining its Gothic death metal legacy into blazing, unforgettable hymns of eloquent brutality and extravagance, has continued to scale in quality which each consecutive release. Sumerian Daemons went beyond a just recompense for the seasoned Greeks' sole stumbling block (Revolution DNA), and through Communion, they've honed and polished their modus operandi to new, streamlined heights with even better balanced and catchier songwriting than nearly any of their back catalog, and the one exception, Ophidian Wheel, simply can't match the stunning production values here; rich and fulfilling, dark and exotic, an impeccable median between modernism and antiquity.

On their third album, Australian kings of Funk, The Bamboos, take the beat-laden deep party Funk of their previous LPs and push the boundaries of their sound with an injection of Northern Soul and '60s Mod Soul style. An amazing selection of guest vocalists (Kylie Auldist, MC Ty, Megan Washington and Swedish Soul sensation Paul MacInnes) add their own unique flavors to the brew.