Lonely 1980

Andrew Gold - Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years Anthology (2020) {6CD Set, Esoteric Recordings QECLEC 72722}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.69 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 716 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 108 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2020 Esoteric Recordings / Cherry Red / Warner | QECLEC 72722
Rock / Pop Rock / Soft Rock / Classic Rock

As a solo artist and a collaborator, Andrew Gold defined a strand of mainstream pop during the late 1970s. His work with Linda Ronstadt – he led her band and arranged her blockbuster albums of the mid-'70s – catapulted him to a position where he was given the chance to score his own hits, which he did with 1977's "Lonely Boy" and 1978's "Thank You for Being a Friend," not to mention "Never Let Her Slip Away," which was a U.K. smash in '78. Gold stepped away from this solo career after 1980's Whirlwind, re-emerging in the late 1990s when he was acknowledged as the cult figure he is.

This five-disc set collects all of the post-Michael Schenker albums that the British hard rock outfit released for the Chrysalis label in the 1980s, including No Place to Run (1980), The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent (1981), Mechanix (1982), Making Contact (1983), and Misdemeanor (1986). Like its 1973-1979 sibling, each disc on The Chrysalis Years (1980-1986) is stocked with live recordings, rare tracks, alternate takes, single edits, and extensive liner notes, making it a must-have for longtime fans.

After successfully establishing themselves as one of America's best commercial progressive rock bands of the late '70s with albums like The Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight, Chicago's Styx had taken a dubious step towards pop overkill with singer Dennis DeYoung's ballad "Babe." The centerpiece of 1979's uneven Cornerstone album, the number one single sowed the seeds of disaster for the group by pitching DeYoung's increasingly mainstream ambitions against the group's more conservative songwriters, Tommy Shaw and James "JY" Young…

Bill Evans Trio - Turn Out The Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings, June 1980 {6CD Box Set Warner 9 45925-2 rel 1996}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.87 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 954 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 158 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1980, 1996 Warner Bros. | 9 45925-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Piano

Just three months before his death, pianist BIll Evans was extensively recorded at the Village Vanguard. Originally, one or two LPs were to be released featuring his brilliant new trio (with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera), but after the innovative pianist's death, the project was stalled for over 15 years. Finally, when Warner Bros. got around to it, a definitive six-CD box set was released (although unfortunately in limited-edition form). Evans sounded quite energized during his last year, Johnson was developing quickly as both an accompanist and a soloist, and the interplay by the trio members (with subtle support from LaBarbera) sometimes bordered on the telepathic. The playing throughout these consistently inventive performances ranks up there with the Evans-Scott LaFaro-Paul Motian trio of 20 years earlier.

Coyne is notable for his unorthodox and unforgettable style of blues-influenced guitar composition, the intense quality of his vocal delivery, and for his bold treatment of injustice to the mentally ill in his lyrical songcraft. Many influential music figures have called themselves fans of Coyne's work - notable among them are Sting and John Lydon. In the mid-1970s his band included guitarist Andy Summers prior to the formation of The Police. Prominent BBC disc jockey and world music authority Andy Kershaw described Coyne as, variously, "a national treasure who keeps getting better" and as one of the great British blues voices…