The Amps

Recorded in Glasgow, Scotland, while the Kinks were on tour in 1967, Live at Kelvin Hall (aka The Live Kinks) has the distinction of being the only undoctored concert recording of a British Invasion band at the peak of its popularity…

Thanks to a roster including Cocteau Twins and Pixies, UK imprint 4AD has maintained its status as a force in independent music for more than 30 years. Author Martin Aston talks about his exhaustive new history of the label.

Ray Davies had indulged himself one time too often with Soap Opera, and his bandmates, namely brother Dave and founding member Mick Avory, revolted, insisting that their sixth RCA album sound more like a Kinks album (certainly, that's something RCA wanted too). So, Davies designed their next album as a return to a simpler, band-oriented sound…

Ray Davies had indulged himself one time too often with Soap Opera, and his bandmates, namely brother Dave and founding member Mick Avory, revolted, insisting that their sixth RCA album sound more like a Kinks album (certainly, that's something RCA wanted too). So, Davies designed their next album as a return to a simpler, band-oriented sound. Of course, he didn't jettison his love for conceptual works, so Schoolboys in Disgrace was born. Working under the presumption that a return to simple rock demanded a simple theme, Davies constructed the album as a nostalgic trip through childhood, reviving '50s rock & roll (including the occasional doo wop harmony) for the album's foundation, then turning the amps up high…

Soothing harmonies, ringing guitars, and lush synths are the inhabitants that swim in The Sea of Love, the sophomore effort by the Adventures. The shimmering, hummable pop the Adventures crafted on their first LP, Theodore and Friends, is furnished with a coat of studio polish as the band aims for an epic feel. In an attempt to beef up their sound, the group doesn't lose its grip on subtlety. The slicker production doesn't make their songs more appealing to commercial radio; it merely enhances their beauty.

Recorded in Glasgow, Scotland, while the Kinks were on tour in 1967, Live at Kelvin Hall (aka The Live Kinks) has the distinction of being the only undoctored concert recording of a British Invasion band at the peak of its popularity. Like the Stones and the Beatles, the Kinks faced audiences filled with screaming, shrieking teenagers. Often, the noise was so loud that it drowned out the amps on-stage, and since the band couldn't hear each other, its performances were ragged and rough. The Kinks held together in Glasgow better than their peers, but Live at Kelvin Hall is still rough going. True, it does offer an audio document of the band in concert, but the crowd is so damn noisy, it's hard to hear anything besides screaming…

After a brief return to his hard rock roots in 2002's Scars, guitarist Gary Moore comes back to the blues where his heart seems to be. But really, Moore's forte is his knack of combining the meaty licks and rugged tone from his gutsy rock to energize the electric blues music he has embraced since 1990's Still Got the Blues. To that end, Scars' drummer Darrin Mooney returns and Bob Daisley, veteran of such thundering outfits as Ozzy Osbourne's band, Uriah Heep and Rainbow, joins on bass. Hence this album's title is appropriate, since the power trio format pounds out this music with clenched-fist authority. Moore is an exceptionally tasty musician but even when the amps are turned up to eleven, as they are for most of this disc, there is feeling in his fiery licks…

Great artists take the pulse of their times and Walter Trout holds a mirror up to society's anger and angst on Sign Of The Times, which will be released on 5 September via Provogue.

Rhino's The Best of Foghat is an excellent 16-track collection featuring every one of the hard-rocking boogie band's best-known songs, from "Slow Ride" and "I Just Want to Make Love to You" to "Fool for the City," "Drivin' Wheel," and "Ride, Ride, Ride." In short, it's all the Foghat most fans will ever need.