Mirch Masala 1987

The European release of Whitesnake's commercial breakthrough is actually their eponymous American release retitled 1987. The differences are small, but they are enough to make it interesting. The first difference is the track order, which is very different. The album seems to flow a little better the way it is presented here, especially when utilizing "Still of the Night" as the opening track. This has always been one of their best songs, and by far one of the best Led Zeppelin rip-offs to ever be written…

The 4-CD/DVD collection includes the original album with newly remastered sound, unreleased live and studio recordings, classic music videos, concert footage, a 30 minute documentary, featuring a new interview with David Coverdale, Whitesnake’s founder and lead singer. The music comes with a 60-page hardbound book that’s filled with rare and unseen photos from the era, an extended essay based on new interviews with Coverdale, plus a booklet of the album’s lyrics, handwritten by Coverdale…

While he makes his fame and fortune cutting blues-rock, guitarist Duke Robillard periodically issues albums of stylish, restrained, subtly swinging jazzy material. This date includes guest appearances from swing-influenced contemporary instrumentalists such as tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton and guitarist Chris Flory, who teams with Robillard on "Glide On" for some excellent twin guitar fireworks. Otherwise, it's Jim Kelly who matches licks with Robillard on "Jim Jam" and "What's Your Story, Morning Glory." It's relaxed, elegant music, with just enough grit to keep things interesting.

Although Ramsey Lewis' career with Chess stretched from the mid-'50s to the end of the 1960s, it was only in the mid-'60s that he made a significant dent in the pop market. Accordingly, this 18-track collection is not so much a representative sampling of his Chess output as it is a heavy dip into his most popular mid-'60s recordings. Although the tracks do span 1961-1967, all but four cuts were done in 1964-1966. Not that this is such a bad thing; this era was the time at which Lewis issued not just his most popular stuff, but also his best. It's a strong group of his best pop-jazz-R&B material, including all four of his Top 40 hits ("The 'In' Crowd," "A Hard Day's Night," "Hang on Sloopy," and "Wade in the Water")…