Cleveland Magazine August

Riccardo Chailly is a dynamic and sometimes controversial conductor known for his devotion to contemporary music and for his attempts to modernize approaches to the traditional symphonic repertory. His many recordings for the Decca label include modern masterworks by Zemlinsky, Hindemith, and Schnittke, the symphonies of Gustav Mahler, and a number of operas.

A mix of roots, rock, reggae, Cajun, country, and blues blended into a spicy and soulful stew. Willie May has performed in basements, barns, garages, street corners, speak-easies, house trailers, preschool, high school, colleges, radio, television, bars, concert halls, outdoor festival arenas, and inside Attica prison. Willie has taken his original blend of music to the blues clubs from The LaFayette Tap Room in Buffalo to Antones in Austin, TX, The Black Swan in Toronto, The Penny Arcade in Rochester, The Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse, The Slippery Noodle in Indianapolis, Fat Fish Blue in Cleveland, Bflo Blues in Pittsburgh, and to countless other venues on thousands, yes thousands, of occasions.

Legendary Western New York blues man gives another stellar roots/blues release. Willie May appears to have a deep well of inspiration as he remains one of the more prolific, productive song writers on the independent recording artist scene. Maiuke offers a dozen songs featuring the Ukulele as the primary instrument. May is known for his versatile approach, this will only further that narrative. Willie May has performed in basements, barns, garages, street corners, speak-easies, house trailers, preschool, high school, colleges, radio, television, bars, county fairs, carnivals, grocery stores, a pigeon coop, concert halls, outdoor festival arenas, and inside Attica prison.

Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell sounded unlike any other modern rock record when it was released in 1977 on Cleveland International/Epic Records. The result of a collaboration between composer Jim Steinman, Meat Loaf, and producer Todd Rundgren, Bat Out of Hell at first was met with rejection by almost every record label and struggled to find an audience. That rejection however, was short-lived. Eventually selling over 43 million copies worldwide and certified platinum 14 times over, Bat Out Of Hell stands as one of the most successful records of all time. Ranked number 343 in Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, it has spent a total of 485 weeks in the UK charts as of May 2015. Rundgren’s bombastic production comes alive on Analog Spark's limited edition hybrid SACD, remastered from the original stereo tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound and housed in a Stoughton old style tip-on sleeve.