Richard Gotainer Perles et Bijoux ( re up New Link)

In the midst of his late-'70s hot streak, Teddy Pendergrass slowed down his groove somewhat for most of Teddy, his third excellent album in three years, and reprised the hushed tone and bedroom motifs that had made "Close the Door" such a success a year earlier.

In the wake of his ascension into the pop Top Ten with the ballad "If Ever You're in My Arms Again," Peabo Bryson might have been expected to try to consolidate that success with his follow-up record. And indeed, Take No Prisoners, produced by such crossover veterans as Arif Mardin and Tommy LiPuma and featuring such pop songwriters as Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, and Tom Snow, may have seemed like a try for that.

From the return of Dan K. Brown – the bassist on all their classic efforts from Reach the Beach (1983) to Ink (1991) – to its George Underwood cover art (the painter whose work adorned Reach the Beach and Phantoms), Beautiful Friction is a return to form for the Fixx, the synth-pop-but-almost-prog-rock group who made socially aware angst fly up the charts in the '80s with "Red Skies," "One Thing Leads to Another," and "Saved by Zero." This reunion effort is without a surefire hit like those, and at first listen, it is a bit light on hooks, but lead single "Anyone Else" is strong enough to beckon any longtime fan's return, and the skeletal, funky workout called "Girl with No Ceiling" brings to mind the Phantoms era – kinetic in an "Are We Ourselves" style.

Sometimes memories distort or inflate the quality of recordings deemed legendary, but in the case of Dusty in Memphis, the years have only strengthened its reputation. The idea of taking England's reigning female soul queen to the home of the music she had mastered was an inspired one. The Jerry Wexler/Tom Dowd/Arif Mardin production and engineering team picked mostly perfect songs, and those that weren't so great were salvaged by Springfield's marvelous delivery and technique. This set has definitive numbers in "So Much Love," "Son of a Preacher Man," "Breakfast in Bed," "Just One Smile," "I Don't Want to Hear About It Anymore," and "Just a Little Lovin'" and three bonus tracks: an unreleased version of "What Do You Do When Love Dies," "Willie & Laura Mae Jones" and "That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho)." It's truly a disc deserving of its classic status.

Greatest Hits contains the original recordings of every Mike Curb Congregation song that registered on the pop and adult contemporary singles charts, as well as a goodly selection of hits on which the group backed other singers. These include Sammy Davis, Jr.'s chart-topper "The Candy Man," Lou Rawls' "A Natural Man," Jud Strunk's delicate "A Daisy a Day," and Hank Williams, Jr.'s country hit "All for the Love of Sunshine" (also taken from the movie Kelly's Heroes).

"Classical Barbra" is a studio album by Barbra Streisand, released in February 1976 but recorded in 1973. The album consists of songs by classical European composers and includes tracks sung in English, French, Occitan, German, Italian and Latin. The music is performed by the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Claus Ogerman. Leonard Bernstein wrote of the album, "Barbra Streisand's natural ability to make music takes her over to the classical field with extraordinary ease. It's clear that she loves these songs. In her sensitive, straightforward, and enormously appealing performance, she has given us a very special musical experience." The album has been certified Gold in the United States for sales of 500,000 on May 5, 1999.