The.draughtsmans.contract.1982

This one being a real hidden gem for fans of early 80s AOR and pomp rock fans – the one and only album by USA band Level. Level’s 1982 self-titled release is another of those lost classics, a real AOR obscurity that was only ever issued on LP and even that now fetches huge prices. Tommy produced and engineered the album as well as co-writing one track. Here he has again provided the masters for JK Northrup to upgrade, adding the extra track not credited on the LP artwork and an exclusive previously unreleased bonus track.

Plenty of Blondie compilations have appeared over the years, but the band endorsed Against the Odds: 1974-1982, a comprehensive complete chronology available in four separate incarnations: a Super Deluxe Collectors' Edition containing ten vinyl records (plus bonuses) and a Deluxe eight-CD set that both contain newly remastered versions of Blondie's first six albums plus 52 bonus tracks, then a Deluxe four-LP set and a triple-CD version that solely feature the non-LP bonus material. Some of the bonus tracks cover B-sides and single mixes that have been in circulation for some time, but there are a grand total of 36 unreleased tracks, most taken from the personal collection of guitarist Chris Stein, who is also the source for much of the memorabilia and pictures seen in the two hefty sets of liner notes accompanying the box. The bonus material runs the gamut of Blondie's career, ranging from edgy early demos from 1974 – they had the basic elements of "Heart of Glass" in place even then, here heard as "Once Had a Love" – to some stray synth mixes Stein commissioned for a project in 1982.

Digitally re-mastered deluxe edition of this 1982 album from Southern Rocker Johnny Van Zant, brother of Ronnie (Lynyrd Skynyrd) and Donnie (.38 Special). Last of the Wild Ones was the JVZ Band's third studio album and finds the them returning to a more authentic sound, a style in keeping with their highly praised debut album, paying less heed to commerciality and more attention to traditional 70s style southern rock. It also marked the return of veteran producer Al Kooper, a man who not only discovered, signed and produced Skynyrd but also sat behind the recording desk of the debut JVZ Band album. Sharper, more concise and rougher around the edges than their second album, Last of the Wild Ones takes no prisoners, leaping out of the speakers all guns blazing. With brother Donnie co-writing half the album, this is truly a joining of forces and a serious statement of intent.