Solti in Chicago at his very best. The promising excitement in the first movement opens to a performance of drama and poetry… This is simply great conducting, great orchestral playing, captured in superbly recorded early digital engineering.

Lionel Richie's solo career began while he was still in the Commodores, as he wrote and sang (as a duet with Diana Ross) the theme to the Brooke Shields romance Endless Love, which became a bigger hit than any of the group's singles, thereby setting the stage for his departure and his 1982 self-titled solo debut. He wasn't working in unfamiliar territory, or with new musicians. The Commodores decided to work as their own band, so their producer, James Anthony Carmichael, was able to devote his energy to working on Richie's album. Using the pop-crossover ballad style of "Endless Love," "Three Times a Lady," and "Easy" as their template, the duo turned Lionel Richie into a sleek, state-of-the-art record that, at its best, provides some irresistible pop pleasures.

After nearly a decade trying to make it to "The Show," Twisted Sister were finally up to bat. Their first album was a wild swing, their second had flown just barely foul, but with their third – the unstoppable Stay Hungry – the New York veterans finally hit one out of the park. And few bands were as deserving. Having paid their dues on the tough as nails N.Y.C. club scene (half of the band looked like the Ramones, the other half like the Dictators, and Dee Snider looked like, well, Dee Snider), Twisted Sister had finally worn down the opposition and truly arrived.

At the start of the 1980s, it dawned on somebody in charge of Jimi Hendrix's musical legacy that a whole generation of new listeners had come of age since the guitarist's demise. That meant it was time for a fresh raid on the vaults and a fresh, authorized album release to fly the flag of the Hendrix estate, amid the steady stream of bootleg, gray market, and other unauthorized collections of his early work starting to fill up record store bins and browsers. Kiss the Sky did not just resurrect and recycle old familiar recordings, but included a pair of tracks that were new to most listeners and had a lot of meaning for serious fans. The album walked a fine line, emphasizing the more challenging side of Hendrix's work without ignoring some key elements of his mass appeal…

During her years with Fleetwood Mac, Christine McVie only recorded one album. It was released in 1984, after Mirage had run its course and the band was taking an extended break. Given its release date, it's not surprising that Christine McVie sounds like it could have been recorded during the Mirage sessions – it's a collection of soft rock/pop and ballads that are pleasantly melodic and ingratiating. Only a handful of cuts, such as the wonderfully catchy, lightly bouncy hit single "Got a Hold on Me," work their way into the memory, but nothing on Christine McVie is anything less than agreeable. The record simply suffers from a rather predictable fate – it's a little too sweet and laid-back to be consumed in one sitting, and its best songs would have sounded even better if they were balanced by Lindsey Buckingham's insular, paranoid pop genius and Stevie Nicks' hippie-folk mysticism.

Raw to the Bone is the 13th album by rock band Wishbone Ash. Like its predecessor, Twin Barrels Burning, it is one of the band's heaviest records, capitalising on the popular new wave of British heavy metal that Wishbone Ash had helped influence. It is the only Wishbone Ash album to feature Mervyn Spence on bass and vocals. It is also the last album with guitarist/vocalist Laurie Wisefield, who ended his eleven-year stint with Wishbone Ash after the release of this album.

Going for Broke is a 1984 album by Eddy Grant. Following the major success of the previous Killer on the Rampage, this album takes a similar approach but was not as successful. It featured the U.S. hit "Romancing the Stone", as well as the singles "Till I Can't Take Love No More" and "Boys in the Street". "Romancing the Stone" was intended for the 1984 feature film of the same name, in fact was announced by Casey Kasem on the 30 June 1984 edition of American Top 40 as the title song to the movie, but ultimately was not used, though clips from the film appeared in the song's music video, and the song is mentioned in the film's closing credits.

Kevin Tyrone Eubanks is an American jazz and fusion guitarist and composer who was the leader of The Tonight Show Band with host Jay Leno from 1995 to 2010. He also led the Primetime Band on the short-lived The Jay Leno Show. His first album as a leader, Guitarist, was released on the Elektra label when Kevin was 25. It documented a sophisticated, nuanced voice on the instrument, and was graced by the presence of some peers who are still performing with him today: tenor saxophonist Ralph Moore,(Tonight Show Band member) and his brother Robin. Kevin’s cousins, the late bassist David Eubanks and the pianist Charles Eubanks, also appeared on the recording, which was so well received that it lead to a seven record recording contract with the GRP label, owend by Dave Grusin and the late Larry Rosen.