Of all of the classic-era Pink Floyd albums, Animals is the strangest and darkest, a record that's hard to initially embrace yet winds up yielding as many rewards as its equally nihilistic successor, The Wall. It isn't that Roger Waters dismisses the human race as either pigs, dogs, or sheep, it's that he's constructed an album whose music is as bleak and bitter as that world view. Arriving after the warm-spirited (albeit melancholy) Wish You Were Here, the shift in tone comes as a bit of a surprise, and there are even less proper songs here than on either Wish or Dark Side. Animals is all extended pieces, yet it never drifts – it slowly, ominously works its way toward its destination…

On their second album, Uriah Heep jettisons the experiments that weighed down Very 'Eavy Very 'Umble and works toward perfecting their blend of heavy metal power and prog rock complexity. Salisbury tips the band's style in the prog direction, containing one side of songs and one side dominated by a lengthy and ornate epic-length composition…

Two years after the Lindsey Buckingham/Stevie Nicks/Christine McVie-less incarnation of Fleetwood Mac crashed and burned, their classic '70s lineup reunited for an MTV Unplugged session and an accompanying tour…

This album's tracks show a more focused side of D'Rivera's work during his days in Cuba. Several songs stem from his time with the seminal Cuban fusion band, Irakere; these tracks show his influence upon the band as both a soloist and overall stylist. More pieces from Irakere document their performance with the legendary guitarist Leo Brouwer. Some of these recordings were originally released on the album Great Moments, while others appear here for the first time. These songs demonstrate D'Rivera's ability to bridge distinct styles, from ragtime to classical and Afro-Cuban rhythms.

Maria João is an extraordinary, skilled jazz vocalist. Her stylings can be mesmerizing. And her accompanist, Mario Laginha, is spectacular.

This concert is Renee Fleming's very personal homage to 'Fin de Siecle' Vienna. At the turn of the last century, the capital of the Austrian Empire was also one of the cultural centers for the fi ne arts and, in particular, for music. The city of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, a 'melting pot' of cultures and musical traditions, attracted gifted musicians and composers alike and provided the perfect soil for much of the greatest music of that time. With this selection of works by Hugo Wolf (1860 -1903) and Gustav Mahler (1860 -1911), combined with more progressive songs by Alexander Zemlinsky (1871 - 1942), Arnold Schoenberg (1874 - 1951) and Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897 - 1957), Renee Fleming presents to us the full variety of this unique epoch. The venue of her recital with Maciej Pikulski at the piano is, of course, the Golden Hall of the Musikverein Vienna.

Demon Music are releasing a new Suede compilation called Beautiful Ones: The Best of Suede 1992-2018 which will be available as a 4CD, 6LP vinyl and 2LPs packages.

From the moment he first raised the baton as principal conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2002, Sir Simon Rattle brought electrifying energy and a unique vision to the traditions established under his illustrious German predecessors, Karajan and Abbado. Renowned as one of the finest orchestras in the world, the Berliner Philharmoniker have thrived for 15 years under the guidance of the British maestro, its deep understanding of the great Germanic masterpieces enriched by new directions and broader musical horizons. The Rhythm & Colours box set celebrates this long and fruitful partnership with seven bestsellers and prize-winning Berlin Philharmoniker albums from the Rattle years. From monumental Mahler to the explosive rhythms of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana; from the sensual colours of Debussy to the soaring anthems of The Planets by Rattle’s countryman Gustav Holst, Rhythm & Colours showcases the very best of Rattle’s legacy in Berlin.

The protagonist of Saint-Saëns’ Proserpine, premiered at the Opéra-Comique on 14 March 1887, is no reincarnation of the ancient goddess, but a Renaissance courtesan well versed in culpable amours. According to the composer, she is ‘a damned soul for whom true love is a forbidden fruit; as soon as she approaches it, she experiences torture’. Yet for all the innocence of her rival Angiola, the unexpected happens: ‘It is the bloodthirsty beast that is admirable; the sweet creature is no more than pretty and likeable.’ Visibly enraptured by this delight in horror, Saint-Saëns indulges in unprecedented orchestral modernity, piling on the dissonances beneath his characters’ cries of rage or despair. He concluded thus: ‘Proserpine is, of all my stage works, the most advanced in the Wagnerian system.’ The least-known, too, and one which it was high time to reveal to the public, in its second version, revised in 1899.

Nicholas Payton's third album as a leader is assuredly more commanding than his previous projects, and his technically flawless trumpet is right among the leaders in the neo-bop field. Yet he remains essentially a preservationist, a throwback to the hard bopping '50s and '60s and a staunch believer in the orthodoxies and rituals involved. There are exceptions - a nice '60s Blue Note-style boogaloo for starters ("Zigaboogaloo"), a probing, driving, tempo-shifting workout on Wayne Shorter's "Paraphernalia" from Miles in the Sky (which is about as progressive as the record gets) - but conservatism prevails elsewhere, even in the mild-mannered cover of the Stylistics' "People Make the World Go Round"…

Trombonist Eijiro Nakagawa leads a great jazz group with Randy Brecker (trumpet), Michael Brecker (tenor sax), Andy Ezrin (piano), Jiro Yoshida (Guitar), James Genus (Bass), Rodney Holmes (Drums) and Marlon Sanders (Vocal) . Recorded in November 1997.

This exciting album, capturing a Brecker Brothers set at New York City’s Bottom Line on March 6, 1976, is an important document for those who feel that fusion ruled. This disc is evidence of the sonic combustion that happened in the mid-’70s when versatile musicians mixed the accessibility of rock arrangements and the deep groove of funk with the harmonic language and improvisation of jazz. The Bottom Line Archive is the only official live release of this lineup of the Brecker Brothers Band: Randy Brecker (trumpet), Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone), Don Grolnick (keyboards), Steve Khan (guitar), Will Lee (bass), Chris Parker (drums) and Sammy Figueroa (percussion). Contributing to three tracks is alto saxophonist David Sanborn, who shows off the chops that would make him a superstar in the ensuing years.