ZZ Top Rancho Texicano: The Very Best Of ZZ Top (2004) Repost

The Queen Album is a solo cover album of the band Queen by Elaine Paige. It was released in 1988 and peaked at No. 51 in the UK in November 1988. This is the only album from Paige to be released on Siren Records and distributed by Virgin Records. The album was re-issued with different artwork on CD in 1990 on Virgin VIP by Virgin Records. This is the only Paige album compiled of songs written and recorded by one composer or group. The album is a covers album of ten songs previously recorded by the rock group Queen, a favourite of Paige. The selected songs are a combination of hits and lesser-known album tracks, taken from Queen's entire back catalogue.

Known for his solo hits in the 1980s as well as his hits with the band Smokie in the '70s, Chris Norman is a British soft rock singer with an international following whose career spans several decades. Born on October 25, 1950, in Redcar, North Yorkshire, England, he began his musical career in the band Smokie. Originally founded in 1965, the band changed its name several times before ultimately deciding upon Smokie in the mid-'70s…

Too Slim & the Taildraggers' 1992 release is a solid, foot-stomping collection that appropriates numerous electric blues styles, but rarely seems hackneyed. While his singing is adequate, it's really Tim "Too Slim" Langford's fret-flying guitar playing that keeps the bus on the road. Throughout "Bone of Contention" and a furious "Shake 'Em on Down," Langford channels Stevie Ray Vaughan while nodding to Robert Cray and the boogie blues of ZZ Top. Texas blues seems to run deep on El Rancho Grundgé. It's in the smoky air of a billiards room during the lowdown and dirty shuffle "Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired" and in the swagger of "Lowdown Hoedown," which suggests – in a good way – SRV's "Look at Little Sister."

Ray Charles was the musician most responsible for developing soul music. Singers like Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson also did a great deal to pioneer the form, but Charles did even more to devise a new form of black pop by merging '50s R&B with gospel-powered vocals, adding plenty of flavor from contemporary jazz, blues, and (in the '60s) country. Then there was his singing; his style was among the most emotional and easily identifiable of any 20th century performer, up there with the likes of Elvis and Billie Holiday. He was also a superb keyboard player, arranger, and bandleader. The brilliance of his 1950s and '60s work, however, can't obscure the fact that he made few classic tracks after the mid-'60s, though he recorded often and performed until the year before his death.