Joan Joan Armatrading

NOW That's What I Call Music! presents 'NOW That's What I Call Power Ballads: Total Eclipse Of The Heart'. More than 70 epic anthems across 4 CDs, demanding a loud sing-a-long and lots of accompanying air guitar! Kicking off with the beautiful 'Who Wants To Live Forever'. The '80s big-hitters continue with The Police, Foreigner, Robert Plant, John Mellencamp. Disc Two opens with the inspiration for our subtitle, 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart' from Bonnie Tyler, and Jim Steinman's epic production continues with Celine Dion's 'It's All Coming Back To Me Now'. Cher, Marillion, ZZ Top, Billy Idol and Pat Benatar all follow, and we've included Laura Branigan's huge vocal take on 'Power Of Love'. Our third disc begins with timeless '70s soft-rock ballads. 'Tiny Dancer' from Elton John, 'Telephone Line' from Electric Light Orchestra and Thin Lizzy's 'Whiskey In The Jar' kick off the ultimate sing-a-long, with all-time classics from Harry Nilsson, Billy Joel, Eric Carmen, Joan Armatrading, and the Bruce Springsteen penned 'Because The Night' from Patti Smith to follow. More '80s favourites from Peter Cetera, Bryan Ferry, Steve Winwood, T'Pau and Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes' 'Up Where We Belong' bring this disc to a close. The final disc opens with a run of stellar contemporary classics, 'I'll Stand By You' from Pretenders, U2's 'With Or Without You' and 'Paradise' from Coldplay lead in to 'Angels' from Robbie Williams, plus well-loved smashes from Roxette and Maria McKee. Huge airplay tracks from the '90s & '00s round off the collection including defining songs from Train, The Calling, Lenny Kravitz, 4 Non Blondes and Lonestar.

Review by Timothy Monger
As the '70s came to a close, an emerging crew of female rock artists and bandleaders began to populate the airwaves. From the punk attitude of the Patti Smith Group and Chrissie Hynde's Pretenders to all-female guitar bands like the Go-Go's and the Bangles, these bold artists set out to ensure that women would no longer be marginalized or under-represented in the rock industry. She Rocks: The '80s Wave of Women Rockers collects 15 cuts from some of the '80s most inspiring women. Trailblazing singers with a unique style like Cyndi Lauper and Kirsty MacColl are featured here alongside bands led by strong frontwomen like the B-52s and 'Til Tuesday. These women set the stage for both equality and the high quality of women rockers who would follow their example in the coming decades.

Spectrum Music Presents 101 70s Hits 5CD album 101 original hits by the original artists. Includes tracks by the Abba, Commodores, Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Rod Stewart, Joan Armatrading, Andy Fairweather Low, Nils Lofgren, and more.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization Amnesty International presented the legendary Human Rights Concerts between 1986 and 1998 to raise consciousness and funds for the worldwide struggle for human rights. Now they are "¡RELEASED!". For the first time on 2 CD's comes the performance highlights of these historic concerts.

Because The Wonderful Sounds of Female Vocals is a sampler, some music lovers may turn up their noses at the thought of mixing Ella Fitzgerald and Joan Baez on the same disc. For others who may not want to buy all the full-length albums (many double-LP sets) represented here, the compilation functions as a godsend. Analogue Productions owner Chad Kassem did a remarkable job of selecting the collection’s 22 excellent tracks, which range from classic performances to those that are merely pretty damn good. Kassem is no dummy, and I’m sure he thought that once buyers sample the bait here, the hook will be set for the sale of lots of reissue copies of the original albums—most mastered and released by Analogue Productions.

Three CD collection. Notwithstanding one or two isolated exceptions, it wasn't until the mid-'60s that independent female voices really began to be heard within the music industry. Over the course of four hours and sixty tracks, Milk Of The Tree focuses on the music made in the late '60s and early '70s in both Britain and North America by either female solo artists or acts with featured female vocalists. Along the way, we encounter San Franciscan psychedelia, LA folk rock, Swinging London pop-folk, electric folk, progressive folk and even folk club folk as well as (of course) a plethora of singer- songwriters (including Various ladies of the Canyon) from the movement's golden age. As well as featuring most of the leading figures from both sides of the Atlantic, Milk Of The Tree includes many performers who received little attention at the time but who now have a cult reputation amongst collectors. A significant number of tracks were unreleased at the time, while the set also includes the first-ever appearance by pioneering female rock duo Emily Muff, two American girls who were based in England during the period in question but failed to land a recording contract. With a 44-page booklet crammed with rare photos and details of the Various acts featured, the clambox-housed Milk Of The Tree is not only a fascinating social document but, we hope, a hugely entertaining snapshot of a particular time, place and frame of mind that produced some enduring, spellbinding music.

Rock Chicks is a compilation of soft-rock classics from the wind-machine-blown, leather-clad divas of the 1980s. This 2-disc set includes power-pop stormers from the likes of the gravel-voiced Bonnie Tyler, the big-gun-straddling Cher, the pouty Jennifer Rush and the slinky black-velvetted Alannah Myles.