Jill Cooper Quindici Minuti

Alice Cooper takes over Halloween with a sensational concert featuring show stopping performances. Cooper has specially selected three of the UK's most dangerous performers to appear with him on stage. Their bizarre acts will feature guillotines, electric chairs, blood special effects and fire-eaters…

This reissue British artist Mike Cooper's two excellent albums, originally released in 1970 and 1971, respectively; his departure from folk-blues is evident on these two documents. His diversity is one of the most striking traits of his work, considering that Cooper has worked in free improvisation, avant-garde, Hawaiian guitar music, and – much later in the '90s – even drum'n'bass-inflected electronica. As a British folk-blues artist of the '60s, obvious comparisons to Bert Jansch and John Renbourn abound. Like many of his contemporaries of that movement, he progressed to a folk-rock singer/songwriter mode by 1971 and gave listeners Places I Know, which is rooted in the tradition of Tim Buckley, Jackson Browne, and Randy Newman's sophistication with the form.

Golden Moments covers Jill Scott's 2000-2007 studio recordings for Hidden Beach. The label, launched in 2000 with Who Is Jill Scott?, was celebrating its 15th anniversary when this anthology was released. Meanwhile, Scott was still going strong, between the second and third singles from the follow-up to her 2011 album, Light of the Sun. The compilers here could have gone the easy route and simply sequenced these songs in chronological order. Golden Moments instead takes the shape of a smartly paced overview that jumps from album to album and shifts from mood to mood.

After thousands upon thousands of gigs and easily a million miles traveled, iconic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame® Inductee Alice Cooper revs up as loudly as ever on his new solo album Road.

“What strikes first is the sheer variety of Crossland’s styles – a virtuosity of interpretation. Her performance modes allow both softness of touch and hardness of articulation … At all times, her playing is assuredly clear and controlled … Her sense of structure and form is outstanding – making the might of climaxes an experience of passionate dynamism and something inexorable… Crossland has put her admirable technique in the service of her cool-headed compassion” – ClassicalSource.com

With the future of the original Alice Cooper band in doubt by mid-1974 (they would soon break up for good with Alice going solo), Warner Bros. decided to issue a best-of compilation entitled Greatest Hits. If you're a newcomer to Alice, this 12-track compilation is a must-hear – all the selections are exceptional. While many have chosen to focus primarily on Cooper's theatrics over the years, the original bandmembers were indeed supreme rock songwriters; such anthems as "I'm Eighteen," "Under My Wheels," "School's Out," and "No More Mr. Nice Guy" are unquestionably among the finest hard rock tracks of all time. And the other selections prove to be just as strong – "Is It My Body," "Desperado," "Be My Lover," "Elected," "Billion Dollar Babies," and "Muscle of Love" are all outstanding as well. The only criticism of the original release is that the collection overlooked the band's key album tracks never issued as singles.