On their first album of new material since 1991, The Well's on Fire is a return to form for Procol Harum. The band has shed most of the production gloss that dated The Prodigal Stranger and gets back to a beefier rock-based sound, resulting in their finest album in nearly 30 years. By the time you get to the chorus of "An Old English Dream" (the album's first track), you know you've locked onto the classic Procol arsenal - capable of packing plenty of keyboard, drums, and guitar punch. The band is comfortable and unashamed to be working within the classic rock idiom, and their unique blend of progressive and R&B influences is still evident. The playing is tight and lively. "Every Dog Will Have His Day" shows they haven't lost their sense of playful humor, while truly revelling in bouncy R&B rock. Some songs - like the regal "A Robe of Silk" and "The Emperor's New Clothes" - are more than respectable throwbacks to Shine on Brightly and Home-era material…

"Wandering Blues," the driving opener throughout which Hooker keeps time loudly with his foot, should give listeners a sense of what to expect from Sings Blues. These spare, raw recordings, originally made for the King label (the subtitle reads "19 selections - every one a pearl"!), are Hooker at his finest. Hooker's primitive gutbucket electric guitar is the main ingredient here, and it is his hard-edged boogie playing that fuels the fire.
Though somewhat less of a growl than on later recordings, Hooker's voice is no less soulful or urgent. It seethes with dark energy on such cuts as "Heart Trouble Blues" and the pulsing "Nightmare Blues." This work is vintage electric-blues, as cuts like "Thinking Blues" and "Blue Guitar Blues" will attest. Taken together, the tracks on Sings Blues are excellent examples of the gripping synthesis of folk blues and electric power that marks Hooker's early work.

This lavish reissue of Vaughan's 1957 double LP displays a Gershwin different in tone from Ella Fitzgerald's better-known one. Naturally more elastic in her interpretations than Fitzgerald, Vaughan also manages a more intimate tone perhaps better suited for the later hours of late-night listening. Hal Mooney's arrangements wisely alternate between full-blown orchestral backing and a more rhythmic emphasis, as on "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise," which would have fit right in with the singer's string of pop hit singles. Most impressive, though, are Vaughan's intuitively touching readings of ballads like "I've Got a Crush on You," "The Man I Love," and "A Foggy Day": no matter how many recordings of them exist, these must stand near the top of the stack. The original album is augmented here by 13 incomplete takes from one of the sessions.

Kin Ping Meh are not your typical Krautrock band. Although they're quite frequently labelled as such, theor sound is more akin to Art Rock, or "Hard Prog," like in the case of Birth Control. Kin Ping Meh, whose name was of Chinese origin, was founded in 1970 in Mannheim as a quintet featuring Joachim Schaffer, Werner Stephan, Torsten Herzog, Kalle Weber, and Joachim Schafer. In their early years, Kin Ping Meh performed many covers by bands like Blood, Sweat & Tears, Deep Purple, The Steve Winwood Group, etc… Soon, they were discovered by Polydor records, who signed them immediately. Schaffer left before the first album was recorded, but was replaced by Willie Wagner, who wrote perhaps their most famous track, "Fairy Tales."
This box set edition presents 4 1/2 hours of only unreleased stuff, which should be interesting not only for KPM fans…

Between 1974 and 1982, Frenchman Richard Pinhas recorded at least twelve LPs either under the Heldon name or his own, alternating between guitars and keyboards himself and accompanied by a variety of associates on guitars, drums and analog synthesizers. This double CD reissue includes Heldon's very first release, Electronique Guerrilla, and their third, It's Always Rock 'n' Roll (itself a double LP originally). These releases are sometimes referred to as Heldon I and Heldon III (Heldon II, otherwise known as Allez Teia, was recorded earlier in 1975). In spite of the rather aggressive album titles, these early recordings are mellow to the point of ambient, and inscrutably (or perversely), there's very little music in the entire program which would be considered rock & roll by any stretch of the imagination. (Very unobtrusive drums appear only on several of the later tracks on the Rock 'n' Roll reissue)…

Curated by the band’s current label, Cherry Red Records, this three disc box set was released in 2008 to herald a complete overhaul of the band’s catalogue from 1976 to 1997. Cherry Red acquired the rights to these albums, and rolled out a reissue programme that saw each album get a dramatic upgrade in sound quality, accompanied by bonus discs of previously unreleased songs or live takes. However, while Hawkwind’s legacy is impressive, it’s fair to say that not every album is a winner, and certainly in the later years the albums suffered from a lot of filler, and leader Dave Brock tended to recycle and re-record older tracks and simply badge them with new titles. This set manages to filter out a lot of the weaker material, and concentrates on the tracks that define Hawkwind at their best…

Breaking away from Rick Rubin, with whom they had a three-album association, Brad Delson and Mike Shinoda co-produce this time around and retreat from the moody electronica that characterized many of those records. Instead, The Hunting Party is designed as a return to rock, evoking the group's earliest records. Reconnecting with the past is a standard move for a heavy band 15 years into its career, but The Hunting Party is effectively aggressive, partially due to how far into the ether Linkin Park strayed on Living Things and, especially, A Thousand Suns. Written and recorded over the course of a year, The Hunting Party nevertheless packs a visceral punch. Hints of the murky, meditative darkness linger - especially on "Until It's Gone," which builds upon its atmosphere to reach melodramatic heights; "Final Masquerade" is subtler in its approach - but there's good reason why Page Hamilton and Tom Morello both guest on the record: this is a grinding, metallic workout…

A year or two shy of his bossa nova success, Stan Getz set his mind to improvising against a backdrop of darkish yet scintillating string charts. The orchestral muscle was provided by arranger Eddie Sauter; the heady and fluid horn lines, of course, came from Getz. The jazz star might have been all airy samba fog to some, but on this classic date he really showed his expansive horn talents: whether leaping and yelping on such galvanizing sides as "I'm Late, I'm Late" or ingeniously responding to the many shades heard in a grand ballad like "I Remember When," Getz is never short on ideas or panache. Admittedly Getz's most challenging date and arguably his finest moment, Focus roams the vast jazz landscape outside of bop and boogaloo to fabulous and memorable effect.

Jazz-rock combo Sea Level was formed in 1976 by keyboardist Chuck Leavell, bassist Lamar Williams, and drummer Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson following their exit from the Allman Brothers Band; guitarist Jimmy Nalls completed the original lineup, which in 1977 issued its self-titled debut LP on the Capricorn label. Honing its distinctive marriage of rock, blues, and jazz through relentless touring, the group returned to the studio with an expanded lineup including vocalist/saxophonist/keyboardist Randall Bramblett, guitarist Davis Causey, and drummer George Weaver to cut Cats on the Coast, also released in 1977, followed in 1978 by On the Edge featuring Paul McCartney & Wings drummer Joe English; although Jaimoe had returned to the Allmans, Sea Level recorded two more albums - 1979's Long Walk on a Short Pier for Capricorn (finally released in the U.S. in 1998) and 1980's Ball Room for Arista - before dissolving.

With a rich academic and performing background in jazz and classical music, composer/multi-instrumentalist Bill Douglas brings an experienced, creative approach to his playing and compositions. On Circle of Moons, Bill Douglas returns with 13 compositions imbued with his melodic versatility and sensitivity. This album delves deeper into the Celtic foundations of Douglas' music, expressed through dreamy synth textures as well as bassoon, flute, cello, English horn, and piano accents. Adding to the romantic, evocative atmosphere of Circle of Moons are the Boulder-based Ars Nova singers, whose charged harmonies on "Heaven Is a Wild Flower" give the poetic sentiments of William Blake a new, exultant setting. Circle of Moons brings emotion and technology together for an innovative and appealing interpretation of Celtic music on songs like the title track, "Sweet Dancer," "Highstep," and "Azure."

When the studio of ever-groundbreaking Krautrock pioneers Can was sold to Germany's Rock n' Pop Museum, the entire space was disassembled and moved, and in the process, reels and reels of poorly marked and seemingly forgotten tapes were found buried amid other detritus in the studio. These tapes held over 30 hours of unreleased music from Can spanning a nine-year period and including work from both vocalists Malcolm Mooney and Damo Suzuki. Edited down to just over three hours, The Lost Tapes still includes an extensive amount of unheard studio, live, and soundtrack work from the band, and at its heights is as revelatory and brilliant as the best material on their well-loved albums. Early vocalist Malcolm Mooney left the band under doctor's orders after suffering a nervous breakdown connected with heavy paranoia, and his unhinged vocals characterize collections of early Can recordings like Delay…

On his second album Joyriding in the Subway, Vance Kelly pushes into new directions, blending funk and soul into traditional Chicago blues. Armed with a sturdy set of originals and covers, Kelly storms through the album, spitting out hot solos and singing with an abandon. His band provides supple support, giving him the freedom to branch into new areas with both his guitar and voice. The production may be a little too pristine for some tastes, but there's no arguing that Kelly provides enough grit on his own.

John Lewis takes on the music of Gary McFarland - working here in a very cool set of McFarland compositions and arrangements - often with a lot more tone, color, and feeling than usual for a Lewis album! John often punctuates his piano notes, almost as if he's using vibes - and the larger backings have this way of being quite spacious - as in some of McFarland's more modern recordings for Impulse from the same time - very open, and quite revolutionary for the time! Players include Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Eric Dolphy on alto, Phil Woods on clarinet, and Benny Golson on tenor.

One of the foremost Scandinavian progressive rock bands to emerge in the 1970s, Kaipa took root in the Swedish city of Uppsala. Initially the project of keyboardist Hans Lundin and bassist Tomas Eriksson, the band soon grew to include drummer Ingemar Bergman and singer/guitarist Roine Stolt, the latter of whom would eventually go on to form The Flower Kings. While Kaipa's membership would fluctuate wildly in later years, this is the lineup responsible for their 1975 eponymous debut and its follow-up, Inget Nytt Under Solen, which arrived a year later. By 1978, founding member Eriksson had departed and was replaced by the first of two different (and unrelated) bassists named Mats Lindberg. Stolt hung on for 1978's Solo, though he too eventually departed, leaving the vocals to newcomer Mats Löfgren for 1980's Händer…

Mythodea is subtitled "Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey," and it's certainly an epic work. If its aspirations were any higher, it wouldn't even need NASA to break earth's gravity. In essence, it's the focus of Vangelis' symphonic ambitions, utilizing not only an orchestra, but two sopranos and a full choir to go alongside his banks of keyboards. That itself isn't a problem. Epic can certainly be a good thing, and its roccoco grandeur can have its appeal. The problem, and it's certainly one here, comes when things are overblown, and the everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink attitude becomes wearying. After synth space noises, "Movement 1" shows its Mars intentions by borrowing the 5/4 rhythm from Holst's "Mars" (without credit) and overlaying it with symphonic stabs of melody and voices galore…