Woman's World

The 1970s were lost years for Irma Thomas in some respects. She was wholly out of the commercial mainstream and, sometimes, without a recording contract. Nor had she yet carved out her well-deserved niche as a torchbearer of the New Orleans vocal soul tradition. Instead, she was only able to grab some recording time and record releases here and there, usually on small labels. While this 19-song CD, A Woman's Viewpoint: The Essential 1970s Recordings, is probably about as good a compilation as can be assembled from this period, there's no getting around the realization that this is far from her best work on record.

Derek Davis, former Arista Records recording artist and Babylon A.D. front man follows up the successful reception of his first solo debut REVOLT with his new 12-song release, REVOLUTIONARY SOUL—a diverse collection of songs in which Davis pens nine, plays all instruments, sings, arranges, and produces.