In contrast to the earthy, rootsy qualities of Bella Donna, Stevie Nicks took a slicker, more high-tech approach on her third solo album, Rock a Little. But for all its glossiness, this pop/rock CD comes across as sincere and heartfelt rather than formulaic or contrived. From the catchy "I Can't Wait" to the intense "No Spoken Word" to the dark "The Nightmare," everything on Rock a Little is as honest as it is memorable. Assisting Jimmy Iovine and Rick Nowels with the production, Nicks wisely sees to it that technology adds to her songs instead of smothering or overpowering them.

The Cars' disbandment wasn’t necessarily fractious but their afterlife sure was, with the band itching to reunite while their lead voice and face, Ric Ocasek, opted out. Bassist Benjamin Orr died of pancreatic cancer in 2000, but that didn’t slow the desire for a reunion. Guitarist Elliot Easton and keyboardist Greg Hawkes took matters into their own hands in 2005, joining forces with Todd Rundgren and associates for the not-bad-at-all New Cars, and that seemed to be the end of the story until 2010, when all surviving members – Ocasek, Easton, Hawkes, and drummer David Robinson – headed into the studio with producer Jacknife Lee, who also pinch-hit on bass, to cut Move Like This, an album that defies all odds by sounding exactly like a classic Cars album.

[These recordings, dating from 1959 and 1960, have been staple entries in the classical catalogues since they were first issued. This is despite well chronicled unusual tempi in the Rachmaninov and distinctly wiry string tome especially in the Prokofiev. This latter partly to do with age but more to do with the players pushed to their technical limits.[/quote]

Jeff Lynne reportedly regards this album and its follow-up, Out of the Blue, as the high points in the band's history. One might be better off opting for A New World Record over its successor, however, as a more modest-sized creation chock full of superb songs that are produced even better. Opening with the opulently orchestrated "Tightrope," which heralds the perfect production found throughout this album, A New World Record contains seven of the best songs ever to come out of the group. The Beatles influence is present, to be sure, but developed to a very high degree of sophistication and on Lynne's own terms, rather than being imitative of specific songs.

For those listeners for whom the savage sonorities and fierce architecture of Mahler's Sixth don't do it anymore, there's Prokofiev's Third, a vicious and malevolent symphony of ferocious savagery and appalling brutality. But that doesn't mean, however, that the orchestra and conductor can take it easy. It means that they have to keep tight control and firm command or the music will degenerate into mere pandemonium. But as Theodore Kuchar and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine demonstrate, it is possible to be overwhelmingly violent and still make great music. The power and precision of the Ukraine's playing makes every barbed hook and sharpened point audible and the clarity and lucidity of Kuchar's conducting drives every aural agony deep into the listener's ears.

Martinu's alternately bustlingly neo-classical and genially lyrical Sinfonietta La jolla (named after the Californian town whose Music Society commissioned it) is otherwise absent from the CD catalogue at present, and this lively account is welcome. It is one of his most relaxed works, approaching light music at times, especially in the circus-like exuberance of the finale, but the lyrical element continually returns and before the coda a string chorale is heard that more than hints at the luminous simplicity of the finest late Martinu. Valta's is a very good performance, marred only by the rather forward placing and somewhat atmosphere-less sound of the concertante piano and by a certain lack of warmth (La Jolla is distanced from the Pacific by a degree or two of latitude) in the violins.

Grover Washington Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999) was an American jazz-funk / soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with George Benson, John Klemmer, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Dave Grusin, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre. He wrote some of his material and later became an arranger and producer.

Music – Songs from and Inspired by the Motion Picture is the ninth studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Sia. It was released on 12 February 2021 by Monkey Puzzle and Atlantic, in connection with the release of the musical film Music, which was directed and co-written by Sia. Sia wrote 10 original songs for the soundtrack, some of which are included on the album. The album also includes songs inspired by the film, such as "Saved My Life", co-written by Dua Lipa. Three singles preceded the album's release; "Together", the album's lead single, "Courage to Change" and "Hey Boy".

THE BEST IS YET TO COME is what one has come to expect from the saxophonist. This music is polished, streamlined, passionate, and soulful. Washington is in prime form on this 1982 outing, and his solos float effortlessly over the funky rhythm section. Wonderful vocal performances are also delivered courtesy Patti LaBelle on the title track and Bobby McFerrin on "Things Are Getting Better," and McFerrin even scat sings on the latter. THE BEST IS YET TO COME is one of the best of its kind.

This recording is clear, sharp and well-executed. The last two numbers with Katia Ricciarelli are stunning. She has a clear and lush voice with a dark, luminous quality that is finer than any clarinet. I could not get enough of her singing "Tanti affeti" at the end of the opera. What an incredible soprano. Certainly Joyce DiDonato is the current reigning Rossini mezzo but she (Ms. DiDonato) sings this at a slower tempo, with more ornamentation, perhaps to display her gifts better, though I think with less overall emotional impact.