Rush's ninth studio album, Signals, had the unenviable task of following up the band's 1981 commercial breakthrough, Moving Pictures. Canadian rockers Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart built on the sound of Moving Pictures with their continued use of electronic instrumentation and were rewarded when the album reached the top ten in the United […]
Continue ReadingPeter Frampton made his solo debut with 1972's Wind of Change, following successful stints with The Herd and Humble Pie. The album put his acoustic guitar up front, while he also demonstrated his virtuosity on the organ, keyboards, drums, percussion, dulcimer, harmonium, and, of course, the lead vocals. Now, more than half a century later, […]
Continue ReadingRick Springfield was the real deal, and the record business knew it. Already a veteran of multiple bands including Zoot, the Australian singer-songwriter had good looks and good songs - not to mention a great voice and strong chops. Yet international superstardom didn't come easily for the future General Hospital star and chart-topping "Jessie's Girl" […]
Continue ReadingWelcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there's plenty of great new/old music to usher you into the weekend. We've got new remixes from David Bowie, old remixes from Madonna, an unheard Lou Reed song and much more - including […]
Continue ReadingWhy Stop Making Sense? Why a movie? Why tour? Why do the musicians come out gradually? What will the band do next? Whe do the odd instruments come from? Are live concerts better or worse than records? Why no "special effects" in the movie? Why a big suit? Why was a digital system used for the […]
Continue ReadingLaunched in 1982 by Fantasy Records, the Original Jazz Classics banner subsequently appeared on more than 850 reissues over the next three decades from the venerable catalogues of Fantasy, Prestige, Milestone, Riverside, Galaxy, Debut, Contemporary, Pablo, and Jazzland Records. Now, Craft Recordings has announced the relaunch of the series whose logo remains a familiar sight […]
Continue ReadingUpon the release of his 1970 self-titled debut for Atlantic Records, Loudon Wainwright III was hailed as a "new Dylan." The comparison wasn't completely off-the-mark, given the artist's incisive, alternately wrenching and wry songwriting; and pinched, somewhat nasal voice as he accompanied himself on acoustic guitar. But the lyrical content of Wainwright's songs was far-removed […]
Continue ReadingEvacuate Your Seats! Walter "Junie" Morrison's 1984 album found the veteran of Ohio Players and Parliament-Funkadelic digging deep into techno-funk sounds with his own singular sensibility. The original credits proclaimed that Morrison produced, performed, wrote, and directed the album - and indeed, Morrison was a one-band man save for the engineers joining him in the […]
Continue ReadingFans of John Williams' sweeping scores to the nine Star Wars films released between 1977 and 2019 must have the patience of a Jedi Knight. While archival-quality expansions of the original trilogy's soundtracks were released in 1997 for the series' 20th anniversary and special edition reissues, the balance of the other six scores remain mostly […]
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