Spectrum Music, a British division of PolyGram devoted to budget-priced compilations of material from the major label's vaults, is responsible for this CD-length collection drawn from the fourth Grin album, 1973's Gone Crazy (the other three were on Spindizzy and now are owned by Sony), and bandleader Nils Lofgren's first five solo albums: Nils Lofgren (1975), Cry Tough (1976), I Came to Dance (1977), the live Night After Night (1977), and Nils (1979), all of which were released originally on A&M Records. Since no chart singles emerged from these LPs, there isn't any objective criterion for what might constitute the best of them, though a subjective consensus of Grin/Lofgren fans no doubt would agree with the inclusion of the Keith Richards tribute "Keith Don't Go (Ode to the Glimmer Twin)," "Back It Up," and "The Sun Hasn't Set on This Boy Yet," all from Nils Lofgren.

The first studio album of Band originals since 1971's Cahoot – in many respects, Northern Lights-Southern Cross was viewed as a comeback. It also can be seen as a swan song, in that its recording marked the last time the five members would work together in the studio as a permanent group, with a commitment to making a record they would tour behind and build on as a working band. The album was also, ironically enough, the Band's finest since their self-titled sophomore effort, even outdoing Stage Fright.

Tracks taken from his albums 'Bay Of Kings' and 'Genesis Revisited' with members of King Crimson, Yes, Asia and The Zombies assisting. There is nothing older than two pieces from '83 acoustic guitar album Bay of Kings (except 'Horizons' from it appeared originally in Foxtrot, and 'Steppes' from Tokyo Tapes live album in Defector '80). Each song is served with liner notes and thus clearing the 'Genesis' concept also in tracks that at first seem to have nothing to do with it. Two instrumental tracks from '99 Darktown? As well or better could have been some (new versions perhaps) from earliest solo albums that are closer in style to Genesis. But this kind of limited compiling principle suits well. The sense of compilation is almost absent if you haven't heard all the source albums. It's principally just an extended version of "Watcher of the Skies - Genesis Revisited" (96) and it works as that.

Opening slowly with the dark, swampy "Born on the Bayou," Bayou Country reveals an assured Creedence Clearwater Revival, a band that has found its voice between their first and second album. It's not just that "Born on the Bayou" announces that CCR has discovered its sound – it reveals the extent of John Fogerty's myth-making. With this song, he sketches out his persona; it makes him sound as if he crawled out of the backwoods of Louisiana instead of being a native San Franciscan. He carries this illusion throughout the record, through the ominous meanderings of "Graveyard Train" through the stoked cover of "Good Golly Miss Molly" to "Keep on Chooglin'," which rides out a southern-fried groove for nearly eight minutes.

Formed in 1971 by old schoolmates Dane Stevens and Cedric Sharpley, along with local bass player Neil Brewer, Druid spent years playing clubs as a trio before winning a competition by Melody Maker for the best unsigned band. At this point they added Andrew McCrorie-Shand, a recent London College of Music graduate. The Melody Maker prize included new instruments and a recording contract, and their debut album appeared in July 1975 among envious whispers by rival bands and music publications. The band had a difficult time shaking the charge of hype, and they were also charged in some quarters as being Yes soundalikes – Starcastle in the U.S. was later to be tarred with the same brush.

Broken China is a progressive rock solo album by Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright. It was his second and final solo album. The album is a four-part concept album based on Wright's then-wife Mildred's battle with depression, and is very much like a classic Pink Floyd concept album in its structure and overall feel. Two songs, "Reaching for the Rail" and "Breakthrough" feature Sinéad O'Connor on lead vocals, with Wright singing elsewhere. The album was recorded in Wright's personal studio in France. Broken China was only Wright's second solo record after 1978's Wet Dream and the last to be released before his death in September 2008. Wright asked fellow Pink Floyd bandmate David Gilmour to perform on the album, and Gilmour agreed to play on "Breakthrough." However, the approach for the song was changed later on, and Gilmour's performance was not used on the finished release.

The Tikiyaki Orchestra exist in a class by themselves. There really is no other band quite like them on the planet. They take the Exotica tradition as established by pioneers Denny, Lyman and Baxter and bring it into the 21st century. Their unmistakable sound is a blend of the coolest retro styles–exotica, lounge, space-age bachelor pad, crime jazz, spy, surf, spaghetti western and more. They headline sold out shows, have appeared at the major Tiki festivals and have had their music featured in numerous television shows and Tiki documentaries.

Epic/Legacy expanded Stevie Ray Vaughan’s second album Couldn’t Stand the Weather in 1999, adding four outtakes and an interview excerpt to the eight-track original, but the 2010 Legacy Edition expands it further still, retaining those four cuts, adding four songs from the posthumous compilation The Sky Is Crying (“Empty Arms,” “Wham!,” “Close to You,” “Little Wing”) along with three previously unreleased alternate takes (“The Sky Is Crying,” “Stang’s Swang,” “Boot Hill”), and a full, unreleased concert SRV & Double Trouble gave at the Spectrum in Montreal on August 17, 1984. Apart from “Empty Arms” and “Stang’s Swang,” every studio outtake is a cover, underscoring how Vaughan spent much of Couldn’t Stand the Weather drawing from his influences and synthesizing them into his own voice, and their addition actually strengthens the album considerably. With that in mind, the lively concert on the second disc is a bonus treat, evidence that SRV & Double Trouble were flying very high during 1984 and one of the better complete live sets in Vaughan’s discography.

Helloween are one of Germany’s most respected metal exports and considered the founders of German melodic speed metal. As godfathers of the genre, they have grown to become one of the most influential metal bands in the world. Formed in Hamburg in 1984 the band have released 14 studio albums and 3 live albums and are still active today with their last album debuting at number 4 on the German chart, their highest position ever. They have sold over 8 million records and their Noise albums Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1 and 11 are considered masterpieces of their genre. Ride The Sky, The Very Best Of The Noise Years 1985-1998 features the killer riffs and haunting melodies of the band’s greatest songs. Ride The Sky is one of 8 new 2CD and digital compilations released as part of the Noise Lebt reissue series. Features striking generic packaging in a stylish digipack with new sleevenotes featuring band interviews, photos and memorabilia.

IT'SNAZ is a double live album by the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, released in late 1981. The full album title is It's Naz but the artwork spread the title, in block-capitals, fully over the outside of the gatefold-sleeve: when not opened only 'S NAZ is visible on the front. The back of the original album cover includes the letters "I" and "T" causing many to misinterpret the title of the album as "'Snaz" which is incorrect. That no space was left between the 'S' and 'NAZ' seems deliberate, as contemporary adverts for the album in the music press write it as IT'SNAZ. The band's official website gives the title as It's Naz.

While the jazz fascists (read: purists) may be screaming "sellout" because Diana Krall decided to record something other than standards this time out, the rest of us can enjoy the considerable fruit of her labors. The Girl in the Other Room is, without question, a jazz record in the same manner her other outings are. The fact that it isn't made up of musty and dusty "classics" may irk the narrow-minded and reactionary, but it doesn't change the fact that this bold recording is a jazz record made with care, creativity, and a wonderfully intimate aesthetic fueling its 12 songs. Produced by Tommy LiPuma and Krall, the non-original material ranges from the Mississippi-fueled jazzed-up blues of Mose Allison's "Stop This World" to contemporary songs that are reinvented in Krall's image by Tom Waits ("Temptation"), Joni Mitchell ("Black Crow"), Chris Smither ("Love Me Like a Man"), and her husband, Elvis Costello ("Almost Blue").

Having reunited with her longtime mentor, former Wombles singer/songwriter Mike Batt, for her 2012 symphonic album, Secret Symphony, vocalist Katie Melua continues in an orchestral vein with her sixth studio album, 2013's Ketevan. Much like its predecessor, Ketevan is a languid, often cinematic-sounding album that builds upon Melua's talents as an interpreter of other people's material as well as her own songs. Having taken a creative detour to work with electronic producer William Orbit for 2010's The House, Melua once again returns to her roots as Batt's protégée. Raised in the Eastern European state of Georgia, Melua moved with her family to England when she was eight.

2CD set best of the 6 albums he released on the Monument and Warner Brothers labels, incl Polk Salad Annie, Willie & Laura Mae Jones, Rainy Night in Georgia, Five Summers For Jimmy & more. 42 tracks. Tony Joe White was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie" and for "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but was first made popular by Brook Benton in 1970. He also wrote "Steamy Windows" and "Undercover Agent for the Blues", both hits for Tina Turner in 1989; those two songs came by way of Turner's producer at the time, Mark Knopfler, who was a friend of White. "Polk Salad Annie" was also recorded by Elvis Presley and Tom Jones.

Into the Sun is a 2015 album by five-time Grammy nominee and blues artist Robben Ford. Sophisticated guitar hero Robben Ford's new album Into the Sun shines a bright light on his artful, contemporary songwriting and the stunning playing that s made him a favorite foil of Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell and other legends. With guest appearances by ZZ Ward, Grammy winner Keb Mo, Gov't Mule and Allman Brothers guitarist Warren Haynes, pedal steel guitar star Robert Randolph, six-string slide legend Sonny Landreth and up-and-coming star Tyler Bryant, Into the Sun explores the depths of Ford's vision, and which equally incorporates his jazz, pop and rock chops.

There has been no shortage of Cream compilations over the years – as a matter of fact, they far outnumber the group's actual albums, of which there were merely four (true, they were recorded during an insanely productive two-year lifespan) – but 2005's Gold is arguably the best of the lot. Released as part of Universal's ongoing Gold series, Cream's installment spans 29 tracks over the course of two discs, with the first CD being devoted to their studio work (it weighs in at 21 tracks) and the second devoted to live recordings (it runs only eight songs, which illustrates how much they improvised in concert).