May Blitz were formed by vocalist/guitarist Jamie Black who recruited Tony Newman on drums, (ex Sounds Incorporated and Jeff Beck Group), and Reid Hudson (bass, vocals) in 1969. The original lineup featured bassist Terry Poole and drummer Keith Baker, from Bakerloo, but both left before recording anything for the band. Baker had a better offer from Uriah Heep, and went to record "Salisbury" with the band.
The band survived long enough to record two incredibly heavy, powerful and psychedelic albums with strong blues undertones and progressive tendencies, despite the lack of keyboards. These were released on Vertigo, who we also associate with Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep - but the music is probably heavier than either. Their style comes in somewhere around High Tide and the Pink Fairies - but these are really ballparks…

Frequently classified as the first album by the group Mountain, which was named after it, Leslie West's initial solo album featured bass/keyboard player Felix Pappalardi, who also produced it and co-wrote eight of its 11 songs, and drummer N.D. Smart II. (This trio did, indeed, tour under the name Mountain shortly after the album's release, even performing at Woodstock, though Smart was replaced by Corky Laing and Steve Knight was added as keyboard player for the formal recording debut of the group, Mountain Climbing!, released in February 1970.) Pappalardi had been Cream's producer, and that power trio, as well as the Jimi Hendrix Experience, were the models for this rock set, which was dominated by West's throaty roar of a voice and inventive blues-rock guitar playing. Though West had led the Vagrants for years and cut a handful of singles with them, this was his first album release, and it made for an auspicious debut, instantly establishing him as a guitar hero and setting the style of Mountain's subsequent recordings.

Sonic Alter was originally issued by Kim Cascone on his Silent imprint in 1994. The original Sonic Alter was one of the best selling atmospheric records, and possibly the best on Silent. Many brain-hemisphere synchronization techniques / frequencies are employed.
Michael Mantra (1950-2014) creates Ambient music. More than that, he creates tools for "brain hemisphere synchronization" (after synchronizing the mind and the body, Mantra’s work claims to release endorphins - part of the human body’s natural pharmacy which work at the level of opiates). Mixing modulating high and low harmonic tones (low deep drones and high resonating harmonics) with didgeridoo, ocean waves, rain, water, birds and other natural sounds and instruments, Michael creates a perfect ambient soundscape…

Michael Bolton has been called many things over the years, but never savvy – and that may actually apply, judging by his last few albums. He stopped having giant hits somewhere around the mid-'90s, but it took him only one album to realize that he need to change direction, bringing Tony Rich and Babyface aboard 1997's All That Matters to help him adjust to shifting tides. It was a move that worked, even if it didn't sell all that much, and now, two albums (a forgotten covers album and a bizarre foray into opera) and one record label later, he does a similar thing with Only a Woman Like You, teaming with such adult contemporary stalwarts as Richard Marx, Shania Twain, and Twain's husband, Mutt Lange, for a variety of cuts but, more importantly, paying attention to the trends that get music on the radio.

UK cd-r for 7IN-83-88 boxset, purchased from Reckless Records in London around time of release Tracks 13 & 23 are UK singles never released in the US.

R.E.M. verscheen ten tonele toen post-punk overging in alternatieve rock. Hun eerste single, "Radio Free Europe," uit 1981, veroorzaakte een terug-naar-de-garage beweging in de Amerikaanse underground. Door de combinatie van gitaarsolo's, gemompelde, cryptische teksten en een D.H.Z. esthetiek die was overgenomen van de post-punk, klonk de band zowel traditioneel als modern. Gedurende de jaren '80 werkten ze onafgebroken; ze brachten elk jaar platen uit en waren voortdurend op tournee. Tegen het eind van de jaren '80, was hun fanbase groot genoeg om goede verkopen te garanderen, maar het top tien succes van Document en "The One I Love" in 1987 was toch onverwachts. Na Document groeide R.E.M. langzaam uit tot een van 's werelds populairste bands.

Michael Jackson's This Is It (or simply This Is It) is a posthumous two-disc soundtrack album by American singer Michael Jackson. Released by MJJ Music on October 26, 2009, This Is It features previously released music, as well as six previously unreleased recordings by Jackson. This Is It was released to coincide with the theatrical release of Michael Jackson's This Is It, a concert film documenting Jackson's rehearsals for the This Is It concert series at the O2 Arena in London. This Is It is the sixth album to be released by Sony and Motown/Universal since Jackson's death on June 25, 2009. This Is It debuted at number one in fourteen countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan, Italy, and France. This Is It also peaked within the top 10 of the charts in several other nations. This Is It has been certified gold, platinum, or double-platinum in multiple countries. This Is It was the twelfth best-selling album of 2009 in the United States and the third best-selling album of 2009 based on worldwide sales. By March 2010, the soundtrack had sold 5 million copies globally. The title track from the album, "This Is It", earned Jackson a nomination in 2011 for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

R.E.M. Rock band from Athens, Georgia, USA Formed 1980-2011, 2024.

Stick Around for Joy is the third and final studio album by Icelandic alternative rock band The Sugarcubes. The album was supported by four singles: the aptly titled "Hit" which reached #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the US and #17 on the UK Singles Chart, "Walkabout", "Vitamin" and "Leash Called Love" which went #1 on the US Dance chart.

Jimi Hendrix's show at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival was the performance that broke him in the United States. While half of this was previously available as one side of an LP that also featured a side of live Otis Redding from the same event, Jimi Plays Monterey has his whole performance. Jimi and the Experience were in fine, lean, fiery form on this nine-song set, which showcased the most well-known tunes from the Are You Experienced? album and covers of "Killing Floor," "Like a Rolling Stone," "Rock Me Baby," and "Wild Thing."

The legendary guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen is set to release his brand new album, 'Tokyo Live' on 28 March via Music Theories Recordings.

Speaking about Johann Sebastian Bach’s second son Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714-1788), Mozart said “he is the father, we are the children”. Indeed, Carl Philipp Emanuel is one of the major musical figures of this key period, the turning point between the baroque and classical aesthetics. Although he left a large body of work written for instruments of all kinds, the keyboard was always his favourite. He produced a number of collections for it, featuring numerous sonatas and freestyle works such as fantasias, a genre in which he excelled. Aline Zylberajch and Alice Piérot offer a selection of pieces for both violin and keyboard and solo keyboard, all composed during Carl Philipp Emanuel’s mature years, from the 1760s up until his death.

2CD collection of extracts, elements from studio recordings, alternate takes, live tracks, rehearsals & finished recordings from 1969-2014, much of it previously unreleased on CD. This also comes with a 24 page tour booklet.

Valentin Silvestrov is hardly a household name in the United States; however, in the Ukraine, he enjoys a similar standing to that of his Estonian counterpart Arvo Pärt. But that is where the resemblance ends. Whereas Pärt in his holy minimalism reinvents techniques that derive from Renaissance practice, Silvestrov's roots are planted in late Romanticism. His music is steeped in all of the emotion and drama that such a stylistic association would imply. Leggiero, pesante is a collection of Silvestrov's chamber music, and as an introduction to the musical world of Silvestrov, this ECM New Series release admirably fits the bill. Most impressive are the performances of the Sonata for violoncello and piano (1983) and the third Postludium by cellist Anja Lechner and pianist Silke Avenhaus. In these works, Silvestrov strives toward a synthetic union between the two instruments. Lechner and Avenhaus achieve this end spectacularly well and manage to blanket the performances in an emotional sensitivity that gives voice to Silvestrov's intentions, yet retains the personality of the performers.

This set of Edgar Winter's jazzy remakes of older tunes and some new ones is all over the place. With a cast that includes guitarists Robben Ford and Hiram Bullock, Steve Lukather, and Michael Hakes, and bassists like Will Lee, Mark Meadows, and Tom Lilly, as well as trumpeter Lee Thornburg, one gets exactly what one expects: a slick, groove-infested ride through Winter's past and present.