Level 42 Definitive Collection

Heaven knows, the Scotsman born Donovan Leitch was ripe for ridicule, even when he was hitting the charts with regularity. He was the ultimate flower child, and his airier pronouncements made cynics want to tighten up those love beads around his neck. Listening to Troubadour, however, it's striking how versatile, melodic, and agreeable most of his material sounds decades after "Mellow Yellow" has faded into a jaundiced yellow. Clearly under the sway of Bob Dylan early on in his career, Donovan nevertheless was capable of directing his reverence into something as enchanting as "Catch the Wind." Amping up as the '60s progressed, he assembled a series of psychedelic-pop classics, including "Season of the Witch," the "Hey Jude"-like sing-along "Atlantis," and the uncharacteristically driving "Hurdy Gurdy Man" (the latter features three-quarters of what was to become Led Zeppelin providing stellar support). This two-disc anthology may be more Donovan than some desire, but the booklet, seven previously unreleased tracks, and expansive perspective it provides makes it a more-than-worthy overview for those who take their paisley folk-rock with a beatific smile.

In the wake of the recent, superb box set, it's hard to imagine a single disc being definitive of one of Britain's great folk singing groups. At best, you can touch on their different facets and legacy. But Definitive Collection actually does a splendid job. There are the hymns, the traditional songs, and some of the permutations (Lal and Norma, Mike, even the late Peter Bellamy), as well as tracks by Waterson: Carthy and Blue Murder, who carry on the flame of the original Watersons in many ways (especially Blue Murder, which is essentially Waterson:Carthy plus Barry Coope, Jim Boyes and Lester Simpson). The tracks are from their "Topic" albums (which means, because of licensing, nothing from the original, wonderful Bright Phoebus release is here), but all of those that are here are wonderful, and sung with such naturalness that they epitomize what folk singing should be about. There's no sense of premeditation about their performances. This is simply who they are, and their way of expressing themselves. It's not Mighty River of Song, which really is definitive, but as an introduction to the Watersons, and an overview of their massive achievements in folk music, this works excellently.

In a career spanning four decades Steveland Judkins Morris has been many things: child star, funk hero, political chronicler, the saviour of Motown Records and depressingly, the instigator of the painfully schmaltzy R&B ballad. Thankfully, this exhaustive "Best Of…", timed to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his first appearance as Little Stevie Wonder, focuses mainly on the 1966-1980 glory years and his transition from incendiary soul man to voice of the 70s.

Greatest Ever Rock presents some of the biggest bands and artists ever to hit the stage, from classic rock sounds through to heavy metal anthems. The hits are packed onto the 3 CDs enough to blow up your mum s stereo and wake up the neighbours for a week.

There have been numerous Roy Buchanan collections to hit the streets since the guitarist committed suicide in 1988. There have been no less than four issued by Universal, with just enough of the same material to be irritating. Definitive Collection is no exception. There isn't anything here that's unreleased…

MacColl was a renaissance man of folk music, not as well known as Seeger or Guthrie, but in many ways just as important. Born in Scotland in 1915, MacColl knew and recorded thousands of traditional British and Celtic songs, a generous sampling of which is here offered. His voice can be a bit of a shock–wild and rustic and thick with dialect–but matched with original and traditional material like "Dirty Old Town" (made infamous by the Pogues), "Driver's Song," "Looking for a Job," and "Joy of Living," MacColl's art has vigor and immediacy.

Fire in the Blood: The Definitive Collection, a massive career-spanning box set featuring the work of Welsh singer and songwriter Shakin’ Stevens. The 19 CD box set features all of Shaky’s albums as a solo artist, from his first signing and album on Track Records, to his latest studio album, Echoes Of Our Times and it also comes with four CDs of rarities. Shaky was a chart sensation in the UK in the 1980s, in fact, he was the biggest selling singles artist of that decade. Stevens enjoyed 15 British top ten hits in the 1980s and four UK number ones. In total, this set contains 266 tracks and notable inclusions are a live concert recorded at the Paris Theatre, London for BBC Radio 1 in 1980 and the four rarities discs are packed with B-sides, 12-inch mixes, two previously unreleased tracks and more.