Out with the old, in with the new: gone was John L. Watson, standing, or rather sitting at the keyboards. In his stead came Dave Lawson, and in celebration of his ensnarement by the band, gone too was the "The" in Web. The new-look Web released the group's third and final album, I Spider, in 1970. It was also their best, bringing to fruition the group's sound and leaving behind the rather stumbling genre experimentations of yesteryear. Moving strongly into progressive rock, the band strode far afield from the psychedelic meanderings they'd undertaken on their last set, Theraphosa Blondi.

9012 Live: The Solos is the third live album by English rock band Yes, released as a mini-LP on 7 November 1985 by Atco Records. Recorded during their 1984 world tour in support of their eleventh studio album, 90125 (1983), the album features a selection of solo tracks performed by each of the five band members, plus live versions of two songs from 90125. The album was an accompany release to the band's 1985 concert film, 9012 Live.

Fresh Cream represents so many different firsts, it's difficult to keep count. Cream, of course, was the first supergroup, but their first album not only gave birth to the power trio, it also was instrumental in the birth of heavy metal and the birth of jam rock. That's a lot of weight for one record and, like a lot of pioneering records, Fresh Cream doesn't seem quite as mighty as what would come later, both from the group and its acolytes. In retrospect, the moments on the LP that are a bit unformed – in particular, the halting waltz of "Dreaming" never achieves the sweet ethereal atmosphere it aspires to – stand out more than the innovations, which have been so thoroughly assimilated into the vocabulary of rock & roll, but Fresh Cream was a remarkable shift forward in rock upon its 1966 release and it remains quite potent.

The success of the Austin Powers movies rekindled an interest in everything groovy, swinging and mod. The Instro Hipsters a Go-Go responded in kind, serving up fun but mostly forgotten instrumentals from the '60s and early '70s that sound equally good in a bachelor pad or discotheque. Instro Hipsters a Go-Go, Vol. 2 is a Wall of Sound made up of twangy surf guitars, tumbling drums, flourishes of brass, and funky organs, exemplified by Excursion's "Switched On," St. Louis Union's "English Tea" and Zoot Money's "Zoot Suite." The Ray McVay Sound's "Revenge" and the Reg Guest Syndicate's "Underworld" sound like gritty spy movie themes, while Purple Fox's "Git Some" and Salon Band's "Disco 2" take things in a mellower direction, but the entire collection makes for very entertaining mood music that still conjures up that swinging, stylish era.

Johnny Winter begins Raisin' Cain, his ninth studio album since signing to CBS Records in 1969 (his records are now issued on the Blue Sky subsidiary), with "The Crawl," a rock & roll dance tune, and he ends it with "Walkin' Slowly," which employs a Fats Domino-style New Orleans rhythm and the saxophone work of Tom Strohman. The two songs serve to reinforce Winter's allegiance to his roots in ‘50s rock, which define him as much as his blues work. In between these bookends, he presents his usual mixture of familiar cover songs and specially written (by others, that is) material, all of which serves, as usual, to showcase his fast-fingered lead guitar playing. His slide guitar dominates "Sittin' in the Jail House," for example, while much of the disc's second side is played in a Chicago blues style that recalls his recent efforts as producer to give Muddy Waters a late-career renaissance, notably the side-opening performance of Waters' "Rollin' and Tumblin'." A notable inclusion is a cover of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone".

After his debut on the tiny Brut Records (a short-lived record label of the famous cologne company), Michael Franks established both his unique sound and a recording process he has continued throughout his career. Primarily a jazz artist, Franks crossed over to pop and rock fans through heavy FM airplay beginning with The Art of Tea. Sensually suggestive and playful tracks, such as "Popsicle Toes" and "Eggplant" contain sly wordplay and almost Henry Mancini-like, breezy jazz-pop. Employing a similar approach as Steely Dan did with its music, Franks' singing and songwriting formed the basis of a sound rooted in the support of top-notch musicians, many of whom were the hottest studio jazz players on the scene. Here, the killer rhythm section of drummer John Guerin and bassist Wilton Felder is augmented by horn pros Michael Brecker and David Sanborn, with Franks and Larry Carlton handling all the guitar work. This winning combination of players, styles, singing, and songwriting would be reshuffled and refined over the years, but perhaps with no finer results than on this official major label debut.

Primarily recorded during Rammstein's 2005 world tour, Völkerball presents the outlandish German industrial-metal band charging through a scorching live set. In addition to successful European singles such as the pummeling "Mein Teil" and the surprisingly melodic, U.S.-skewering "Amerika," the group also performs its sole American hit, "Du Hast," making for a concert document that is sure to please Rammstein's devoted international following.

The eagerly awaited debut album from the London-based four-piece * At the forefront of the new generation of Black British guitar music with Big Joanie and Bob Vylan * Supporting Slowdive on their UK tour in February * Singles playlisted by BBC Radio 6 Music, Spotify and others Whitelands are Etienne, Jagun, Vanessa and Michael and they are ostensibly a shoegaze band ever since Etienne stumbled across Slowdive’s KEXP session in his recommended videos on YouTube a few years ago.

I’m always excited to get my hands and ears on a new release from pianist Mayuko Katakura. Her latest trio disc, recorded with bassist Takumi Awaya and drummer Noritaka Tanaka, is titled The Duality of My Soul and was released earlier this year. It hits the spot as a sharply modern jazz piano trio album.

Presenting Unreal Unearth Unending, Hozier’s collection of songs from the sessions behind his chart-topping 2023 album Unreal Unearth. 3LP and 2CD - The Deluxe Version contains all tracks released around the album from 2022-2024 including the 16 original album tracks plus 10 songs never-before available on vinyl and CD including the global smash hit “Too Sweet” and unreleased track 'Hymn To Virgil'.

This two disc 40 track compilation features some of the biggest Rock hits recorded by some of the most famous artists of all time, many of them taken from the esteemed EMI catalog.
Queen, Pink Floyd, Phil Collins, Van Morrison, Peter Gabriel, Foreigner, The Pretenders, Genesis, Mike Oldfield and many more.