Ride The Sky

Helloween are one of Germany’s most respected metal exports and considered the founders of German melodic speed metal. As godfathers of the genre, they have grown to become one of the most influential metal bands in the world. Formed in Hamburg in 1984 the band have released 14 studio albums and 3 live albums and are still active today with their last album debuting at number 4 on the German chart, their highest position ever. They have sold over 8 million records and their Noise albums Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1 and 11 are considered masterpieces of their genre. Ride The Sky, The Very Best Of The Noise Years 1985-1998 features the killer riffs and haunting melodies of the band’s greatest songs. Ride The Sky is one of 8 new 2CD and digital compilations released as part of the Noise Lebt reissue series. Features striking generic packaging in a stylish digipack with new sleevenotes featuring band interviews, photos and memorabilia.

The Moody Blues‘ third album, In Search of the Lost Chord will be reissued as a five-disc, 50th anniversary box set in November. This set features three CDs and two DVDs. The CDs include both the original stereo mix and a new stereo mix, along with mono ‘A’ and ‘B’ sides of the original Deram-era singles, BBC radio sessions, alternate mixes and other bonus tracks (including a never-before-heard mono version of ‘Legend Of A Mind’).

50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of The Moody Blues third album featuring the original stereo mix on 180-gram vinyl.

It is a hefty box in every sense: 13 CDs, supplemented with two DVDs, accompanied by a gorgeous hardcover book and a variety of tchotchkes, including a poster that traces the twisted family trees and time lines of the band and, just as helpfully, replicas of legal documents that explain why the group didn't retain rights to its recordings for years…

Opium, the highly anticipated follow-up to Secret Sky's eponymous debut. Featuring the evocative vocals of Caroline Lavelle and the masterful guitar work of Brian Hughes, Secret Sky weaves together a tapestry of Pop and World music with exotic textures of the Middle Eastern Oud, Puerto Rican Cuatro, and the hypnotic Greek Lyra played by a contemporary master of the Lyra, Sokratis Sinopoulos. Opium takes the listener on a remarkable musical journey accompanied by an Allstar cast of musicians.

This single-CD compilation doesn't do too much more than scratch the surface of the band's sound at its most popular points, but it does do one thing that no prior Moody Blues compilation ever did – it includes "Go Now," which, as the notes point out, is still the group's top-charting single in England. What it doesn't do is get "Go Now" in really good sound (no one seems to have a proper master source) or include their even better follow-up single, "From the Bottom of My Heart." Still, this body of work is pleasing and, thanks to its extension back to the original lineup, even a little bit informative, and it was the first Moody Blues compilation to be mastered in 20-bit audio.

A collection including nine of the ten tracks from the Brand New Heavies' self-titled debut album, plus three tracks recorded live in Tokyo, In Tha Beginning… is a fresh look at the acid jazz group's first recordings. Entrenched in England's rare-groove scene at the time, the Brand New Heavies were a tight unit that fused dexterous instrumental jazz-funk with just a touch of P-Funk bounce for club audiences. The results, on "Dream Come True," "People Get Ready," and the instrumental highlight "BNH," are great examples of acid jazz.