Kirsten Flagstad Edition The Decca Recitals (2012)

MARIA CALLAS is regarded as one of the greatest divas of all time, whose recordings are standards by which all subsequent performances are judged. The 10-CDs of Live Recordings capture her on some of the greatest nights of her career and contain an interview by American Opera commentator Edward Downes. This recital performance are an invaluable addition to Callas s recorded legacy and show yet another side of this unique diva, whose vocal achievements stand unrivalled today and probably for all time. The eye-catching clamshell box are a collectors delight.

A 50-CD set of legendary recordings celebrating the world-renowned Decca Sound. Classic-status pioneering stereo recordings from the past 60 years and starring a galaxy of internationally-acclaimed artistic talent.

THE ANALOGUE YEARS presents a 50-Album overview across 54 CDs, in original jackets, of the celebrated international recordings that emerged from the London-based record label in that pre-digital era.

Irish composer Brian Byrne has been active in both his home country and the U.S., in the latter specifically in Los Angeles, both in pop music and in the film industry. His Tales from the Walled City the Walled City is Derry, Ireland make up an eight-part suite of short pieces that heavily reflect the latter influence.

The breakout star from the burgeoning Romanian dance scene that has also spawned the likes of Alexandra Stan and Edward Maya, permanently scantily clad Inna has been pivotal in restoring some musical pride to a country whose only previous notable contribution to the pop landscape was the Cheeky Girls. Produced by regular cohorts Play & Win, her second album, I Am the Club Rocker, picks up where her debut, Hot, left off, with 13 sun-soaked Europop tracks that appear destined to blare out of various Club 18-30 hotspots until the inevitable 6-a.m. stagger back to the hotel. As individual pieces of undemanding trance/house-lite pop, the summery flamenco-tinged "Un Momento" and "Endless," the Italo house throwbacks "No Limit" and "House Is Going On," and the dreamy chillout of "July" and "Senorita" all provide the necessary Mediterranean "booze cruise" vibes.

Reuniting with all their original members plus original producer Stephen Street just over a decade after their swan song Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, the Cranberries recapture the sound of their earliest records on 2012's Roses. Nearly 20 years have passed since their breakthrough Everybody Else Is Doing It So Why Can't We?, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that there are some signs of age on Roses, notably in an increased sense of professionalism in the band's craft and also in a slight stripping of the ethereal echo that gave their debut an appealing floating quality. Without this dreaminess, the Cranberries are merely pretty, but unlike the turgidly ambitious Bury the Hatchet and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee – or on Dolores O'Riordan's pair of perfectly fine solo albums – Roses has definition and momentum, momentum that doesn't derive from artificially enhanced electric guitars, either.

Throughout their career, it's always been clear that Muse aren't satisfied to just do the same thing over and over again, as they have evolved from their early days when they were (perhaps unfairly) pigeonholed as a Radiohead imitator into purveyors of some of the most epic symphonic rock since Queen graced the stage. On their sixth album, The 2nd Law, they continue to shake things up, diving deeper into the electronic rabbit hole as they experiment with a sound that's less reliant on Matthew Bellamy's guitar heroics, resulting in an album that's a bit of a mixed bag. Incorporating some of the slickest production the band has ever had with a more synth-heavy sound, the album certainly succeeds in feeling different from Muse's previous work…