Beverlz Hills

George Hills may not be a household name, but the Canadian melodic rocker delivered a great debut album back in 1991. Unlucky not to make bigger moves in the scene, the album was never released outside his native country and remains an obscure gem to this day. MelodicRock Classics will make George Hills album ‘Dancing With A Stranger’ available as part of its new 500 Series of titles – meaning one pressing, 500 units, then done. When it’s sold out its gone forever once again. As per usual, JK Northrup has overseen the remastering of the album’s audio, with the addition of two previously unreleased bonus tracks.

Two CDs devoted to the Springfields is probably a bit much for casual fans. This set could likely have been trimmed to one 70-minute CD, leaving out "Silver Dollar," "Row Row Row" and some of the other lesser material from their first album, although it is strange in an enlightening way to hear Dusty singing the latter, a pre-World War I standard more suited to the likes of Ruth Etting. What's good is that none of the high spots are left out, including "Allentown Jail," the ethereal "Far Away Place," "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" (natch), the delightful "Little Boat" (the best of their international numbers), and the gorgeous, near-British beat style "Come On Home," where Dusty starts to show off some of the soulfulness that would later identify her voice. The notes are well detailed, and the mastering is flawless.

White Hills offer a unique brand of heavy space rock and some kraut/post rock ambience, experimental, provided with hypnotic grooves.
After releasing a series of limited-edition CD-Rs (one of which, They've Got Blood Like We've Got Blood, came to the attention of space rock über fan Julian Cope, who remixed it and reissued it on his own label in the U.K.), Heads on Fire is the band's proper debut album. There is little subtlety to Heads on Fire: most of the album's six tracks are straightforward, heads-down jamming in the grand Hawkwind/Bevis Frond tradition, barring only the minute-long spaz-out "Return of Speed Toilet," and the 26-minute epic "Don't Be Afraid"…

Coming after the highly acclaimed Marcus Garvey (1975), Burning Spear's fourth album, Man in the Hills (1976), had a lot to live up to. It is generally conceded that they did not craft an equally impressive follow-up, but Man in the Hills has its charms nevertheless. Lead singer and main songwriter Winston Rodney turns back to reflections on his rural Jamaican childhood for many of the lyrics, which gives the album a gentler, more nostalgic message than the political, exhortative Marcus Garvey. Rodney's tenor is well suited to the sentiments, and the all-star band assembled to back him is supportive and, especially in the horn charts, complementary to the lead voice. The demands of recording schedules may have caused Burning Spear to recast earlier songs, but that contributes to the album's theme of looking back. "Door Peep" was the first song Burning Spear released in its Studio One days, and "No More War" updates the Jamaicans' 1967 song "Ba Ba Boom." With Dry & Heavy (1977), Burning Spear consisted only of Rodney, who also jettisoned producer Laurence "Jack Ruby" Lindo and handled the board himself.