The Banket 2006

In the latter years of the nineteenth century, England was at its apogee as an imperial power and, as every Englishmen at the time knew, the foundation of that power was the royal navy. In those days, a land army was a fine thing for European wars, but you couldn't beat a navy for projecting imperial power – and nobody could beat the royal navy. An Irish Protestant of English lineage, composer Charles Villiers Stanford deeply appreciated the royal navy – who else could bring an English army across the Irish Sea to put down the an Catholic rebellions? – and his three most popular choral-orchestral works amply prove the sincerity of his appreciation.

Stunning 2006 album of duets, old and new, that brings Sir Cliff together with artists as diverse as Elton John, Daniel O'Donnell, Olivia Newton John, Dionne Warwick, Barry Gibb, Anne Murray, Matt Monro and others. Also features a new track with Queen's Brian May and The Shadows' Brian Bennett. It is a part-compilation and part-studio album of duets. In the UK, the album reached #8 in the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold. The album featured a-reworking of Move It, with Brian May of Queen on guitar as the first single as a double A-Side with 21st Century Christas. The second single Yesterday Once More a cover of a Karen Carpenter song was recorded with Daniel O'Donnell. The album also featured a posthumous track featuring vocals of Matt Monro.

Challenging all those who long ago dismissed them as second-rate and painfully cheesy Teutonic power-thrashers, Rage inaugurate their 18th studio album, Speak of the Dead, with an ambitious, 25-minute song suite subtitled "Lingua Mortis." OK. Get ready for this, though: it's actually very entertaining! Part symphonic orchestration, part Spanish guitar austerity, part organ-driven progressive rock in the style of '70s legends Kansas and, obviously, part heavy metal at its most over-the-top dramatic (and, sure, just a little cheesy, in true Rage tradition), the magnum opus' multiple compositional dimensions are, at the very least, unexpected, and at most, a whole new avenue of expression for the group - who knew…

In late nineteenth century Vienna, renowned illusionist Eisenheim is reunited with the Duchess von Teschen when she is volunteered from the audience to participate in an illusion during one of his performances. Despite having not seen each other in fifteen years when they were teenagers, they almost immediately recognize each other as Eduard Abramovich and Sophie von Teschen, they who had a doomed romance at that time due to their class differences.

"I'm back!" Kicking off her first collection of all new material in over a decade with one of the most unequivocal declarations in her entire catalog, the Divine Miss Q is clearly out for blood. Titled for one of the most self-defining singles of the '70s, the raw roar of "Devilgate Drive," Back to the Drive serves up a dozen tracks that might look back to the Chinnichap era for energy and enthusiasm (Mike Chapman is among her collaborators here), but are eyeing the future too…