Into The Sun (1991)

Emboldened by the enthusiastic response to the muted Nothing Like the Sun and reeling from the loss of his parents, Sting constructed The Soul Cages as a hushed mediation on mortality, loss, grief, and father/son relationships (the album is dedicated, in part, to his father; its predecessor was dedicated to his mother). Using the same basic band as Nothing Like the Sun, the album has the same supple, luxurious tone, stretching out leisurely over nine tracks, almost all of them layered mid-tempo tunes (the exception being grinding guitars of the title track). Within this setting, Sting hits a few remarkable peaks, such as the elegant waltz "Mad About You" and "All This Time," a deceptively skipping pop tune that hides a moving tribute to his father.

Jethro Tull was a unique phenomenon in popular music history. Their mix of hard rock; folk melodies; blues licks; surreal, impossibly dense lyrics; and overall profundity defied easy analysis, but that didn't dissuade fans from giving them 11 gold and five platinum albums…

Ray Charles - Pure Genius - The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1952-1959) (2005) {7CD box set with DVD & book}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.68 Mb
DVD5 -> 3.20 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 4:3/16:9 | Dolby AC3, 2 ch | ~ 60 min | ISO Image
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 720 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1952-1959, 2005 Atlantic / Rhino | R2 74731
Jazz / Blues / Soul / R&B / Pop Soul / Piano Blues

Ray Charles' seminal recordings for Atlantic have been boxed once before, as the triple-disc 1991 set The Birth of Soul. That box contained 53 tracks, the best moments of what is arguably the best period of Charles' career, but Rhino/Atlantic's 2005 seven-disc sequel, Pure Genius, doesn't bother with merely the highlights: as its subtitle makes clear, this is The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1952-1959). This is undeniably a major historical release, since it gathers all of the recordings Charles made at his creative peak, not just as a leader, but as a sideman for his saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman and sides he recorded with jazz vibraphonist Milt Jackson.

Sun Ra - Taking a Chance on Chances (2018) {Sun Ra LLC Official Digital Download}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44kHz - Official Digital Download (bandcamp.com) -> 273 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 128 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 2018 Sun Ra LLC
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Jazz Funk / Experimental Big Band / Progressive Jazz

This is not The Great Lost Sun Ra Album. It's a GOOD Lost Sun Ra Album, and it's been more or less found. Taking a Chance on Chances (or "… on Chancey," as some typographically allege) was recorded at the Jazz Showcase, Chicago, in 1977, and issued on Saturn vinyl in 1977 (catalog #772). Only one problem: according to the authoritative Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra, by Robert L. Campbell and Christopher Trent (2nd ed., 2000), "all known copies of Saturn LP 772 have a defective pressing on Side A."

In Concert is the successor CD set to the individual releases of Absolutely Live (which remains in print as a single CD), Alive, She Cried, and Live at the Hollywood Bowl – as none of them presented more than a single angle or two of the group's sound and each confined itself to only a portion of the group's repertoire, the three-in-one release makes perfect sense and is a decent bargain…

In Concert is the successor CD set to the individual releases of Absolutely Live (which remains in print as a single CD), Alive, She Cried, and Live at the Hollywood Bowl – as none of them presented more than a single angle or two of the group's sound and each confined itself to only a portion of the group's repertoire, the three-in-one release makes perfect sense and is a decent bargain…

Smashing Pumpkins - Gish (1991) [2CD+DVD] {2011 Virgin Deluxe Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 835 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 302 Mb
DVD5 -> 2.24 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 4:3 | LinearPCM, 2 ch | ~ 52m | ISO Image
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 150 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2011 Virgin Records / Martha's Music | 5099990959622
Rock / Alternative / Indie Rock / Neo-Psychedelia

Digitally remastered and expanded deluxe three disc (two CDs + DVD) edition of the Alt-Rock quartet's 1991 debut album. Features the original album remastered plus a bonus CD consisting of 15 previously unreleased or alternate versions of Gish era songs, a bonus DVD containing a previously unreleased 1990 live show from The Metro, six postcards featuring never-before-seen band photos and a 24 page booklet with lyrics, liner notes and track by track annotations by Billy Corgan. Features 'I Am One', 'Rhinoceros', 'Siva' and more.