Sven Väth The Sound OF The 20th Season

These 25 tracks represent the Marmalade's complete recorded output for CBS Records, including a pair of outtakes. The band simply moves from strength to strength during their period with CBS, starting with the superb Mike Smith-produced "It's All Leading up to Saturday Night," with its great beat and catchy choruses, and getting better from there. The title track has a special resonance; it's a glistening piece that mixes hard-rock guitar and bass with exquisite harmonies in a manner that overlaps with the Hollies. Yet, with its careful use of guitar distortion pumped up to sound like an orchestra, and a soaring choral phrase or two, the song also strangely anticipates the sound of the Electric Light Orchestra at their most poppy…

This album was released on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the North Sea Jazz Festival. It contains live recordings of John Patitucci, Spyro Gyra, Russ Freeman & The Rippingtons, B.B. King, Chick Corea, Robben Ford and Gary Burton. All songs were recorded live during various editions of this festival.

Recorded in 1988 during the European tour for The Fixx's sixth album CALM ANIMALS (for some reason not released until 1996), REAL TIME STOOD STILL is a well-played, crisply-recorded, well-chosen set that shows The Fixx at a critical stage in their career. After 1986's "Secret Separation," The Fixx never had another US hit, and the English group refocused their energies on their continuing European success. Judging by the sound of the audience, The Fixx were big in Germany at this time. Only about a third of these 17 tracks were US hits, including of course "One Thing Leads to Another" and "Stand or Fall," and most of the rest of the disc is devoted to the less commercially successful WALKABOUT and CALM ANIMALS discs. REAL TIME STOOD STILL is an interesting curio for American fans.

The Record Company is breaking old habits on Play Loud. The Los Angeles trio was ready for a change when it came time to make their third album, and they got it: Play Loud pushes the group into uncharted territory with a dozen new tracks that move beyond the sound of The Record Company’s first two albums.