White Material (2009)

2009 two set compilation from the legendary Rock guitarist who has played with Thin Lizzy, Pink Floyd and Gary Moore as well as enjoying a successful solo career. This carefully chosen double CD compilation showcases the best of his work from three decades of creativity. It includes his memorable 1983 UK Top Ten hit single Bird Of Paradise and many more tracks from albums made with his own regular White Flames band. Among the 1980s albums that provide a rich source of material for Disc One are White Flames , That Certain Thing , Snowy White , Change My Life and Open For Business . Disc Two covers the period from 1994 to 2005, drawing from Snowy s albums Highway To The Sun , No Faith Required , Little Wing , Keep Out: We Are Toxic , Restless and Way It Is.

Considering the amount of quality music the ad hoc Canadian singer/songwriter "supergroup" has released under the Blackie & the Rodeo Kings moniker – five albums, including a double from 1996-2007 – this 14-song, 55-minute set should have used the extra 20 minutes of its CD playing time to better advantage. The trio – Colin Linden, Tom Wilson, and Stephen Fearing, all solo artists with well-regarded catalogs of their own – began life by covering the songs of journeyman Canadian songwriter Willie P. Bennett before expanding into original material…

Naxos has collected its four volume traversal of the lute music into a handy slipcase. All the volumes are available singly, but you can also buy the four together as a quartet of excellence, presided over by Nigel North, the acknowledged hero of the hour. What follows is a reprise of two volumes already reviewed - volumes 1 and 3 - and a look at volumes 2 and 4.

Best known in the U.S. for their hard rock material, Golden Earring have been the most popular homegrown band in the Netherlands since the mid-'60s, when they were primarily a pop group. The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist George Kooymans and bassist/vocalist Rinus Gerritsen, then schoolboys, in 1961; several years and personnel shifts later, they had their first Dutch hit, "Please Go," and in 1968 hit the top of the Dutch charts for the first of many times with "Dong-Dong-Di-Ki-Di-Gi-Dong," a song that broadened their European appeal. By 1969, the rest of the lineup had stabilized, with lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Barry Hay and drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk.