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The Millennium Collection: The Best of .38 Special focuses on the Southern rock group's original lineup and includes hits and radio staples like "Back Where You Belong," "Caught up in You," "Wild-Eyed Southern Boys," and "Rockin' Into the Night." Though it's not quite as comprehensive as Flashback, The Best of .38 Special's dozen tracks provide a good starting point for casual fans. ~ Heather Phares, All Music

The recruitment of Jim Vallance behind the drums and bass player Mike Porcaro didn't bring .38 Special the kind of help the band was looking for with 1986's Strength in Numbers. Following a string of convincing albums (Wild-Eyed Southern Boys, Special Forces, Tour de Force) during the early '80s, the band decided to take a couple of years off before returning to the studio, but after doing so, it seemed that the bandmembers had left their knack for producing affable radio songs behind them. The album sports a minor hit in "Like No Other Night," but it can't compare to previous efforts like "If I'd Been the One," "Back Where You Belong," or "Teacher Teacher,". A little bit of color emerges from some occasional sax and trombone bits, but the overall package is below the standards of what .38 Special is capable of.

Combining Latin and African rhythms with the light textures of MOR jazz, Special EFX emerged as one of the most prominent world fusion groups of their era. Formed in New York in 1982, Special EFX was essentially a duo comprised of guitarist Chieli Minucci and Hungarian-born drummer/percussionist George Jinda; debuting in 1985 with the album Modern Manners, they often recruited other musicians to help flesh out their state-of-the-art sound, among them Dave Grusin, Omar Hakim, and McCoy Tyner.

Mixing old school blues and folk with new school hip-hop and funk, G. Love’s electrifying new album, Philadelphia Mississippi, brings together both sides of the genre-bending pioneer’s eclectic career in a wildly innovative and deeply reverent sonic pilgrimage to the heart of the South. Produced by North Mississippi All-Stars’ Luther Dickinson, the collection is loose and spontaneous, full of joyful, improvised performances and freewheeling collaborations with a slew of special guests including blues torchbearers like Alvin Youngblood Hart and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and rap icons like Schoolly D and Speech. It would have been easy for G. Love to play it safe coming off his GRAMMY-nominated 2020 release, The Juice, but Philadelphia Mississippi is perhaps his most adventurous collection to date, ditching all the rules as it experiments with form and function in an ecstatic celebration of music’s power to connect across genres and generations. Born Garrett Dutton in Philadelphia, PA, G. Love first broke out in the early ’90s with his band, Special Sauce, on their strength of their Gold-selling self-titled debut. Over the next three decades, he would go on to release seven more critically acclaimed albums with Special Sauce (plus five on his own), become a fixture on festival lineups from Bonnaroo to Lollapalooza, and collaborate on the road and in the studio with artists as diverse as Lucinda Williams, Dave Matthews, The Avett Brothers, Jack Johnson, Keb’ Mo’, and DJ Logic.

Building on the bandmembers' own personal accomplishments that came from the Rockin' Into the Night album, .38 Special released an even stronger bunch of songs a year later with Wild-Eyed Southern Boys. Focusing on the same Southern-based rock & roll formula, the efforts from Southern Boys contain a little more guitar zing while complementing the band's ability to produce marketable radio music. "Hold on Loosely," with its smooth vocal stride, managed to peak at number 27 in April of 1981, giving .38 Special its first Top 40 single, and the title track, "Honky Tonk Dancer," and "Back Alley Sally" keep a homespun flavor alive and well, indicating that the band's Southern roots haven't been dismissed completely.

Bone Against Steel is the ninth studio album by the southern rock band 38 Special, released in 1991. It was their last album until their 1996 comeback and the last album to feature the vocalist and keyboard player Max Carl. The album itself was a modest commercial success and only reached #170 on the Billboard 200 album chart. However, the single "The Sound of Your Voice", was a major hit, and one of three songs co-written by Survivor's Jim Peterik for the album. The song, with a vocal hook in the chorus very reminiscent of Survivor's "I Can't Hold Back", reached #2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and #33 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the second of the three Peterik songs, "Rebel to Rebel", only reached #30 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

Smooth jazz outfit with a distinctive Latin/African vibe. Formed in 1982 by guitarist Chieli Minucci and drummer/percussionist George Jinda. Having recorded 13 albums they split amicably in 1995 after releasing 'Body Language'. George Jinda retained the use of the Special EFX name and recorded the album 'Here To Stay' before being incapaciated after suffering a stroke in 1997. The Special EFX name was handed back to Chieli Minucci who has since recorded and toured as Chieli Minucci and Special EFX.