Patti Land

Patti Smith completed her contract with Arista Records after 27 years by assembling this compilation, which serves as both a best-of and rarities collection, one disc devoted to each. Disc one is drawn from Smith's eight studio albums (with the exception of a newly recorded cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry"). Having scored only one hit single, "Because the Night," Smith was not constrained by chart performance, and she seems to have chosen the songs that still mean something to her (though in an interview she claimed to have taken fan preferences into consideration). Curiously, given the album title, the epic "Land" is missing, as are such straight-ahead rockers as "Ask the Angels" and "Till Victory." But most of Smith's more impressive album tracks are included, with the selection favoring her 1970s records, an imbalance that is redressed on the second disc…

2008 five CD box. The Original Album Classics series, courtesy of Sony/BMG, packages together five classic albums from one of the most popular artists on the label's roster, housing them in an attractive slipcase. This set from the Alt-Rock icon features the albums Horses (1975), Radio Ethiopia (1976), Easter (1978), Wave (1979) and Dream of Life (1988).

Smooth-ass jazz-funk courtesy of American-Latin flautist Dave Valentin. Great album originally released on GRP . If you like Tom Browne, Don Blackman etc then add this to your collection. Funky flute all the way through! Valentin beat the Ohio Players at their own game with that cover art too.