Now You See Me: The Second Act

Rod McKuen's complete 1960s RCA Victor recordings are compiled in a lavish boxed set of 7 compact discs. Rod McKuen's books of poetry have been published in eleven languages, sold 65 million copies, and placed him securely among the most popular poets of all time. These 195 recordings represent Rod McKuen at the peak of his mid-to-late 1960s popularity and include his Gold album Listen To The Warm. Features dozens of unissued performances, with most tracks never before released on CD anywhere. The large format hardcover book extensively documents this period of McKuen's life and includes many rare and unpublished pictures from Rod's collection.

This 1981 recording was the first period-instrument version of Purcell's most famous "semi-opera." This Restoration-era hybrid was a play with a complete (spoken) script plus numerous musical numbers for soloists, chorus, and pit orchestra. The Fairy Queen is based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, although you'd never know it from the music, which has (typically for the genre) no real connection to the plot. (Most of the songs and dances are masques performed for the entertainment of Titania, Oberon, or Hippolytus.) The advantage to this is that Purcell's score can be performed fairly well on its own. The Fairy Queen includes some of Purcell's best-loved comic scenes ("The Drunken Poet" and "Coridon and Mopsa") and songs ("Hark the echoing Air," "Ye gentle spirits," and "Hark how all things in one sound rejoice"–the last sung here by Jennifer Smith, sounding more beautiful than on any recording she's made since).

This exemplary four-disc box takes the high road, attempting nothing less than an honest reconstruction of the Who's stormy, adventurous, uneven pilgrimage. While offering an evenhanded cross-section of single hits and classic album tracks, 30 Years garnishes the expected high points with B-sides, alternate and live versions of familiar tracks, and the quartet's earliest singles as the High Numbers…

The Beatles: The Collection was a vinyl box set of UK released Beatles LPs, remastered at half speed from the original stereo master recordings. Each album was pressed on virgin vinyl by the Victor Company of Japan (JVC) ensuring the best sound quality possible…

The Beatles: The Collection was a vinyl box set of UK released Beatles LPs, remastered at half speed from the original stereo master recordings. Each album was pressed on virgin vinyl by the Victor Company of Japan (JVC) ensuring the best sound quality possible…