The Hollow 2007

The Grateful Dead were literally at a crossroads when they took the stage at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, on February 19, 1971. The previous night, the first of six shows at the venue would, for a number of reasons, be the last for drummer Mickey Hart for more than three years (a primary reason being that Lenny Hart, Mickey's father and the band's manager in 1969-1970, had absconded with a large chunk of their bank account). Suddenly, for the first time since late 1967 when Hart joined, the Grateful Dead were back to their original five-piece lineup: Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir (guitars), Phil Lesh (bass), Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (organ and harmonica), and Bill Kreutzmann (the other drummer). They had already shed a second keyboardist, Tom Constanten, in early 1970 and now this new downsizing allowed the Dead to return to the harder, more primal rocking sound of their acidic early days…

The Cult are a British rock band formed in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's previous band Southern Death Cult…

Perhaps Tomita at his most experimental, in which large sections of Prokofiev orchestral works are combined with loads of marvellous synthesizer effects.
Pioneering Japanese composer and synthesizer expert Isao Tomita bridged the gap between note-by-note classical/electronic LPs like Switched-On Bach and the more futuristic, user-friendly interfaces developed in the 1970s. After creating one of the first personal recording studios with an array of top synthesizer gear in the early '70s, Tomita applied his visions for space-age synthesizer music to his favorite modern composers - Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ravel - though his recordings steered a course far beyond the sterile academics of Wendy Carlos and other synthesists.

Spanning 2CDs, the original demos from the recording sessions of one of Dream Theater’s most esteemed albums, Falling Into Infinity. These 16 tracks, recorded throughout 1996 and 1997 as demos for what would ultimately become 1997’s Falling Into Infinity studio release, spotlight some of the band’s most highly regarded works from that era. Also featuring rare material never formally released as part of the final studio album including “Raise the Knife”, “Speak to Me”, and “Cover My Eyes", Falling Into Infinity Demos, 1996-1997 is a can’t-miss collection in Dream Theater’s eminent archival series.

In their early days, saxophonist Jay Beckenstein molded Spyro Gyra into an ersatz fusion band that truly watered down the jazz-rock of the '70s, making way for the smooth contemporary instrumental sounds that followed. Some may have considered them pioneers, or an aberration. This 11-track CD from their early years is bookended by their best commercial tunes, "Morning Dance" and "Shaker Song." In between is the filler that rarely got radio airplay, although the light, breezy Caribbean sounds of "South Beach" and especially the robust funk of "Breakfast at Igor's" always hinted that good musicianship was behind a hollow exterior. This can be recommended to those admirers who likely already have this material, but jazz fans should search for the real thing, or explore the discography of Michael Brecker.