Vinyl & HR

Disregard the title of this 2007 compilation: there is no way that any double-disc (or 4 LP), 36-track set could be called The Complete Clapton, not when Eric Clapton has had a career that's spanned over four decades. This doesn't even attempt to cover as much ground as his landmark four-disc 1988 box set Crossroads, which began with his first band the Yardbirds and then followed his winding journeys through John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Delaney & Bonnie, and Derek & the Dominos before settling into his solo records. Of course, The Complete Clapton covers the nearly 20 years that have elapsed since the release of Crossroads, a time frame which includes the blockbuster success of his 1992 Unplugged, its all-blues 1994 follow-up From the Cradle, and many soft adult contemporary hits from the late '90s…

Led Zeppelin's fourth album, Black Sabbath's Paranoid, and Deep Purple's Machine Head have stood the test of time as the Holy Trinity of English hard rock and heavy metal, serving as the fundamental blueprints followed by virtually every heavy rock & roll band since the early '70s. And, though it is probably the least celebrated of the three, Machine Head contains the "mother of all guitar riffs" – and one of the first learned by every beginning guitarist – in "Smoke on the Water." Inspired by real-life events in Montreux, Switzerland, where Deep Purple were recording the album when the Montreux Casino was burned to the ground during a Frank Zappa concert, neither the song, nor its timeless riff, should need any further description…

While it can be easy to dislike and dismiss some cookie-cutter electronic music, the challenge lies in finding reasons to listen to it again. Such is the case with Revolutions by Jean Michel Jarre. One reviewer wrote, simply, "(This) is not revolutionary." That is true; Jarre breaks no new ground with the release of this album. He does, however, continue to create original music in his own style. He is often imitated and that is the sincerest form of flattery…

After issuing three consecutive studio double LPs, Chicago topped themselves with this four-album live box set. As the title suggests, At Carnegie Hall, Vols. 1-4 (Chicago IV) (1971) finds the band at the venerable New York City venue during a five-night stand (April 5-April 10) in the spring of 1971…

This Return to Forever set finds guitarist Al DiMeola debuting with the pacesetting fusion quartet, an influential unit that also featured keyboardist Chick Corea, electric bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White. On this high energy set, short interludes separate the main pieces: "Vulcan Worlds," "The Shadow of Lo," "Beyond the Seventh Galaxy," "Earth Juice" and the lengthy "Song to the Pharoah Kings."…

The Breathtaking Blue was a somewhat disappointing follow-up to Alphaville's early-1980s records Forever Young and Afternoons in Utopia. It lacked the shimmering standout quality of songs like "Big in Japan," "Forever Young" and "Afternoons in Utopia." The production, by Klaus Schulze and Alphaville, experiments with a somewhat richer instrumentation, adding strings, saxaphone, trumpet, double bass, electric and even acoustic guitars to Bernhard Lloyd's synthesizers…

"Better by far" falls outwith the classic Caravan Deram label years of "Land of grey and pink", "For girls who grow.." etc., which were indeed better by far than this album. That said, the music here is enjoyable if relatively unchallenging…

After the musical uncertainty of Waterloo Lily, Caravan returned with their most inspired recording since In the Land of the Grey and Pink. The splendidly titled For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night is several steps ahead in terms of fresh musical ideas that wholly incorporate the band's trademark humor within the otherwise serious and challenging sonic structures…

The debut Jefferson Airplane album was dominated by singer Marty Balin, who wrote or co-wrote all the original material and sang most of the lead vocals in his heartbreaking tenor with Paul Kantner and Signe Anderson providing harmonies and backup. (Anderson's lead vocal on "Chauffeur Blues" indicated she was at least the equal of her successor, Grace Slick, as a belter.) The music consisted mostly of folk-rock love songs, the most memorable of which were "It's No Secret" and "Come up the Years."…