Sting 3.0

Live In Munich 2012 captures the final concert on the Scorpions Sting In The Tale world tour at the Olympiahalle in Munich on December 17th, 2012. Scorpions are one of the all-time great live rock bands and this concert is no exception with the band producing a high octane performance in front of a wildly enthusiastic crowd…

Former Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour is not prolific. Rattle That Lock is only his fourth solo studio album (though it follows his late band's final album, The Endless River, by only ten months). Gilmour recorded some 35 songs for this set, some dating back 18 years. Trimming them to ten couldn't have been easy. Titled for John Milton's second book in Paradise Lost, Rattle That Lock is structured as an informal song cycle to reflect the sometimes random, sometimes weightier thought processes of a typical person in a single day. It begins, appropriately, with the instrumental "5 A.M.." Orchestrated by Zbigniew Preisner, Gilmour's signature slow, bluesy, Stratocaster sting enters just 30 seconds in, followed by fingerpicked acoustic guitars, gentle synths, and electric piano amid chamber strings to announce the title-track single.

Sting is doctor Frankenstein in this remake of the old classic film "Bride of Frankenstein". After years of research, the doctor finally succeeds in creating the perfect woman, who gets the name "Eva".

The stellar 45-year career of singer-songwriter-guitarist Nils Lofgren receives a comprehensive retrospective in Face the Music, a Limited Edition 9CD + Bonus DVD boxed set that is individually hand signed and numbered by the artist.

This live German recording of Messiah is based on a manuscript Handel marked up for a performance of the work in Dublin, adding a variety of new dynamic markings and ensemble indications. There's no reason to regard it as quite the definitive version of the work that it is proposed to be by the booklet here; it can equally well be considered an experiment on Handel's part in dealing with the new stylistic currents of his day.

The four-disc set Surf-Age Nuggets: Trash & Twang Instrumentals 1959-1966 plays like the flip side to Rhino's classic surf music box set Cowabunga!, and for good reason: that set's co-producer, James Austin, helmed this project, and his passion and encyclopedic knowledge of surf music from its greats to its most obscure acts is a big part of what makes this collection such a thrill. Where Cowabunga! concentrated on surf's stars, Surf-Age Nuggets digs deep; for every song by Dick Dale, there are many more by lesser-known but just as devoted acts such as the Ramrods, the Telstars, the Mosriters, and the Elite U.F.O. (!).

Marc Minkowski has led numerous outstanding Handel recordings, but he's up against stiff competition in Messiah. There are plenty of outstanding ones to suit all tastes, from Colin Davis's traditional performance on Philips to those of early-music specialists such as Hogwood, Suzuki, Christophers, and Pinnock. Minkowski is wildly original, and his version is unlike any other; it will intrigue some and anger many.