Sins of The Dead

Broke, Black & Blue delivers multiple surprises within its 100 songs of prewar blues. Arranged chronologically by Joop Visser, the set admirably covers the first 22 years of recorded blues, 1924 to 1946, from vaudeville and Delta to boogie-woogie and jump blues. It's a swell gift for anyone wanting to learn more about the history of blues. But old-timers will be pleased, too, as special attention has been paid to culling rare and idiosyncratic tracks by the well-known and the obscure. The first three discs present single tracks by artists as diverse as the Memphis Jug Band, De Ford Bailey, Tommy Johnson, Son House, Skip James, Peetie Wheatstraw, Lonnie Johnson, and Bukka White, alongside unknowns such as Isaiah "The Mississippi Moaner" Nelson, Barbecue Bob and Laughing Charley, Ed Andrews, Chicken Wilson, and Bumble Bee Slim. On the fourth disc, this convention is jettisoned to luxuriate in a series of very rare sides of lovely, oddly subdued boogie-woogie and jump blues by Jimmie Gordon, Johnny Temple, and Lee Brown.

Being "The World’s Most Notorious Rock Band" (according to the band itself) is not easy. One of the most notorious and successful bands of the glam metal era, Los Angeles rockers Mötley Crüe burned through the '80s in a blaze of drugs, debauchery, and platinum hits. Their glammed-out image, hard-partying reputation, and a knack for melding pop hooks to heavy metal theatrics took the band to the top of the charts repeatedly throughout the '80s. Albums like 1985's Theatre of Pain and 1989's Dr. Feelgood bringing them to sold-out arenas around the world. In The Many Faces of Mötley Crüe, we will explore the band's inner world, including collaborations, side projects, their hits-filled catalog and the rest of the "hair-metal" generation where they raised from.