Annihilator's brand of technical, thinking man's thrash metal garnered many fans with this fine debut, arguably the best release of the band's career. A brief acoustic guitar piece called "Crystal Ann" introduces the excellent title track: a psychological murder thriller supposedly based on a disturbed young girl's true story. Leader Jeff Waters takes himself a little too seriously at times (see the Edgar Allan Poe-influenced "Ligeia" and his ridiculously erudite commentary on each song's lyrics), but he is equally prone to refreshing flashes of humor on "Word Salad" and "Schizos Are Never Alone." The spectacularly named Randy Rampage proves himself to be a versatile vocalist on "Wicked Mystic" and "Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade" (seriously). The careening closer "Human Insecticide" is magnificent for its sheer speed.

Destination Docklands was an event consisting of two concerts by musician Jean Michel Jarre on the Royal Victoria Docks, Docklands, London on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9 October 1988, to coincide with the release of Jarre's new album Revolutions. The concerts were attended by 100,000 people on each night. Accompanied by fireworks and a light show, the concert also featured The Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin who joined Jarre on the tracks "London Kid" and "Fourth Rendez-Vous". The Saturday performance was broadcast on BBC Radio One. The Sunday show, during which it rained heavily, was recorded for a live album and VHS released in 1989. The Sunday show was also recorded for TV and shown on C4 some weeks or months later.

When filmmaker David Lynch backed a disquieting scene in Blue Velvet with Roy Orbison's "In Dreams," he demonstrated the eerie atmosphere behind its pre-'60s innocence. Orbison disciple Chris Isaak played those qualities to the hilt in his shimmering, spare "Wicked Game," so it was no surprise when Lynch included the ballad in Wild at Heart. What was surprising, given the fact that it sounded like nothing else on pop radio in 1990, was that "Wicked Game" became a breakout Top Ten hit, pushing Isaak's accompanying album Heart Shaped World to platinum status. Of course, there's more than that one moody masterpiece of a single to recommend Heart Shaped World.

Lefty Dizz had a great reputation amongst those in the know but had rarely left Chicago. So, when a UK tour was planned, a proven formula was used: get the record made in Chicago, use it to secure tour dates, then use the tour to promote the album. So this wonderful record was made - Blues of great depth and passion - raw and powerful. And Carey Bell and his sons were on hand to supply the tightest of support.

The finest compilation of Roy Wood's work to date, drawing on his closing years with The Move, his sole album with Electric Light Orchestra, the biggest hits of Wizzard, and Wood's official solo albums and singles.

After a career as a local bluesman and blues promoter in Texas and Oklahoma, Gary Coleman found his niche when he signed over his first album, a self-produced outing originally issued on his own label, to the fledgling Ichiban company out of Atlanta in 1986. Since that time, both Coleman and Ichiban have made their marks in the blues field: not only did Coleman release half-a-dozen of his own albums, he also oversaw production of the bulk of Ichiban's hefty blues catalog, bringing to the studio a number of artists he'd booked or toured with in his previous career (Chick Willis, Buster Benton, and Blues Boy Willie, among others). A singer/guitarist on-stage, Coleman often took on a multi-instrumentalist's role in the studio. His music remained true to the blues and to the King legacy saluted in his "B.B." moniker and in his acknowledged debt to fellow Texan Freddie King.

Steve Tibbetts is the thinking-man's guitar player whose music spans a host of influences – folk, jazz, rock, ethnic, modern classical – without being bound by any of them. Opening with a tabla-driven folksy cover of Led Zeppelin's "Black Mountain Slide," the album leads us through a collection of original pieces written by Tibbetts and his band members that are full of rich tone colors and inventive rhythms. His main instrument is acoustic guitar, but he also uses guitar synth, dobro, kalimba and something called a pianolin, while his colleagues add tabla, cello, steel drums and assorted percussion.

Fourteen rarities from the seemingly bottomless 1948-1952 stash of Detroit producer Bernie Besman, joined by a 1961 stereo "Blues for Abraham Lincoln" that's painfully out-of-tune. Includes "Boogie Chillen" and an alternate version of "I'm in the Mood."