Just 18 May 2007

Some composers have a strong influence on later generations. Sometimes this influence persists a long time after their death. Beethoven is just one example. It took a while before Brahms dared to write a symphony; he wasn't sure he could live up to the standard Beethoven had set. Another is George Frideric Handel. He was a man of the theatre and preferred to compose operas but it was mainly because of his oratorios that he was admired - and feared. Mozart was so impressed by Handel's oratorios that he arranged several of them and Haydn's oratorio 'Die Schöpfung' is unthinkable without the model of Handel's Messiah. The oratorio 'Die Könige in Israel' by Ferdinand Ries shows how long Handel's influence lasted. It shows the traces of Handel's style and yet for all this Ries feared the standard Handel had set. This explains the story behind the oratorio.

Where to begin? The superbly remastered sound that transforms even the most familiar cut (and, let's face it, most of this stuff has been reissued so often, you'd need to be deaf not to know it backwards) into a whole new listening experience? The 33-song selection that revives the greatest hits alongside some of the greatest bits, to present a truly well-rounded examination of the full 10cc experience? The gleeful dip into both pre- and post-band history that places both "Neanderthal Man" and "Cry," and "Groovy Kind of Love" and "Bridge to Your Heart," into some kind of context? The two songs that premier Kevin Godley and Graham Gouldman's new project, GG06? A lone Gouldman four-song re-creation of his late-'60s Graham Gouldman Thing solo album? For anybody with even a passing fascination with the self-styled worst band in the world, Greatest Hits & More is such a treat that, no matter how many other "best-of" collections you already own, this is the only one you need…

2007 release from the former guitarist, singer and keyboardist for Uriah Heep. Blood On The Highway is an autobiographical album dealing Hensley's experiences during his '70s heyday. Featuring a number of special guests, the rock opera Blood on the Highway was recorded at the end of 2006 and released in May 2007. The story portrays the rise and fall of a rock'n'roll star and the eventual restart. The lead vocals role was split between Hensley himself, plus Glenn Hughes (ex-Deep Purple, Trapeze, Black Sabbath), Jorn Lande (ex-The Snakes, Masterplan), John Lawton (ex-Lucifer's Friend, Uriah Heep) and Eve Gallagher.

Hard as it is to believe but there has not been a proper Ringo Starr hits collection since the first, 1975's Blast from Your Past – that's not counting 1989's Starr Struck: Best of Ringo Starr, Vol. 2, which was designed as a companion to that earlier set – until 2007's Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr…

Justin Hinds & the Dominoes were one of the most popular vocal groups during the ska and rocksteady era, but Hinds was a country boy at heart, and with the rise of reggae he returned to his rural home. Thus the group disappeared from view for most of the first half of the '70s, but by 1975, producer L. "Jack Ruby" Lindo coaxed Hinds to Kingston, and the trio back into the studio. The musical scene had shifted dramatically during the interim, with the pusillanimous freneticism of early reggae slowing into the denser and more atmospheric sound of roots. And here, Hinds and company were right at home.

It's a little surprising that a cult band like Kaleidoscope would get honored with an all-out three-CD set, considering the limited market. But here it is, and it certainly leaves no stone unturned, including the entire recorded output of the band while they were on Epic. That essentially covers the entire period of interest to most fans, spanning the band's formation to their breakup in the early '70s (though they subsequently reunited for some albums that aren't represented here). In addition to everything from their albums Side Trips, A Beacon from Mars, Incredible, and Bernice, it has quite a few tracks that only showed up on non-LP singles or as outtakes on posthumous compilations. And some of those extras aren't even easily found on Kaleidoscope compilations, namely the old-timey psychedelia of the early B-side "Little Orphan Nannie" and the less impressive, heavily bluesy 1968 B-side "Just a Taste"…