The Guess Who always seemed a bit like the Canadian predecessor/counterpart to Grand Funk Railroad, but they typically fared far better with the critics because of the versatility that they possessed. That trait is very evident on this collection of hits and great songs. From the opening "These Eyes," with its orchestral strings and Zombies-like baroque pop feel to the classic AOR crunge of "American Woman," the Guess Who played a wide variety of music. It is sometimes hard to believe that the same group that brought the world the jazzy "Undun" and the CS&N-ish hippie anthem "Share the Land" is also responsible for the rocking "No Time." This 11-track collection paints a very entertaining picture of a mutli-talented band and is a perfect introduction for the casual fan.

Muddy's "unplugged" album was cut in September of 1963 and still sounds fresh and vital today. It was Muddy simply returning to his original style on a plain acoustic guitar in a well-tuned room with Willie Dixon on string bass, Clifton James on drums, and Buddy Guy on second acoustic guitar. The nine tracks are divvied up between full rhythm section treatments with Buddy and Muddy as a duo and the final track, "Feel Like Going Home," which Waters approaches solo. What makes this version of the album a worthwhile buy is the inclusion of five bonus tracks from his next two sessions: An April 1964 session brings us Willie Dixon's "The Same Thing" and Muddy's "You Can't Lose What You Never Had," while the October 1964 session features J.T. Brown on sax and clarinet on "Short Dress Woman" and "My John the Conqueror Root," as well as "Put Me in Your Lay Away," another strong side. Folk Singer offers both sides of Muddy from the early '60s.

Barclay James Harvest had streamlined their sound considerably after leaving the Harvest label, culminating (so many felt) in the mellifluous music of Gone to Earth. Their pretensions to progressive rock all but abandoned, BJH here invites comparison to contemporaries like Supertramp, REO Speedwagon, and Fleetwood Mac (some of whom were similarly tagged with the prog rock label early on). Even at their most ornate, songwriters John Lees and Les Holroyd were simple balladeers at heart, and the decision to unclutter their arrangements allows the material's intrinsic beauty to shine through with clarity. For this reason, Gone to Earth is regarded by many as the band's best album, and judged on a song-by-song basis, it's hard to argue against it…

The Classics series has undergone the admirable task of reissuing on CD in chronological order every selection (although no alternate takes) of Fletcher Henderson's orchestra. This set finds the post-Armstrong edition of this pacesetting big band swinging hard on a variety of standards and obscurities. With cornetist Joe Smith, trombonist Charlie Green, clarinetist Buster Bailey and tenor great Coleman Hawkins contributing many fine solos and Don Redman's often-innovative arrangements inspiring the musicians, at this period Fletcher Henderson's orchestra had no close competitors among jazz-oriented big bands. Even the weaker pop tunes (like "I Want to See a Little More of What I Saw in Arkansas") have their strong moments.

Born in Ontario and raised near Detroit, Jack Scott was one of the most potent first-generation rockers to come out of the Midwest. If Scott's style wasn't quite rockabilly, it was somewhere in the ballpark, and on his best sides he conjured up the same swagger and menace that Link Wray made with an electric guitar. Scott's hits were few and far between, but no one who has heard "Leroy," "The Way I Walk" or "What Am I Living For" is likely to forget them anytime soon. Like many early rockers, Scott would later cut significantly more polished country and pop sides after he stopped having hits with the harder stuff, but true to its title, Jack Rocks concentrates on the cream of Scott's rock & roll sides (cut between 1957 and 1964), and it's one of the best Jack Scott collections extant. Scott's rich, strong voice anchors this collection, from the slick string-laden "Patsy" to the breakneck "Cruel World"…

The untitled fourth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV, was released on 8 November 1971 by Atlantic Records. Produced by guitarist Jimmy Page, it was recorded between December 1970 and March 1971 at several locations, most prominently the Victorian house Headley Grange. Led Zeppelin IV was a commercial and critical success, featuring many of the band's best-known songs, including "Black Dog", "Rock and Roll", "Going to California" and "Stairway to Heaven". The album is one of the best-selling albums of all time with more than 37 million copies sold. It is tied for third highest-certified album in the United States at 23x platinum. Writers and critics have regularly cited it on lists of the greatest albums of all time.

Home Before Dark is Neil Diamond's second collaboration with producer Rick Rubin. It follows the fine but ill-fated 12 Songs, which was sabotaged by Sony's "Rootkit" program scandal: a nefarious bit of "copy protection" software that invaded the operating system of PCs and wreaked havoc. 12 Songs had to be recalled from store shelves just as Diamond received better reviews than he had in a decade. Sony reissued it in 2007, but the damage was done. Diamond, disappointed but undaunted, sought out Rubin. Rubin enlisted Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench and lead guitarist Mike Campbell, studio guitarist/bassist Smokey Hormel, and former Chavez guitar slinger Matt Sweeney.

'Kooler' is supposed to be the first in a series of collaborations between Peter Namlook and jazz musicians. This is an interesting move, to say the least, and not without it's potential for controversy. 'Urban Isolationism' has Pete Namlook on his usual arsenal of electronics, and what sounds to be electric bass & acoustic guitar. Robert Sattler plays saxophone, and someone called 'Cacciatore' plays trumpet.

Heart is a studio album by French singer Amanda Lear, first released in 2001 by Le Marais Prod. The album was recorded in 2001 at Barouf Studio and Studio Wolf with French producers FX Costello and Laurent Wolf, and was Lear's first album ever to be recorded entirely in France. It was also her first studio release of new material in six years, since 1995's Alter Ego. In an interview, the singer explained that the long gap resulted from her lack of enthusiasm after numerous budget compilations started to appear on the market without her consent. She also revealed that on this album she was given more artistic freedom than before, and decided to include more melodic and sentimental songs. Lear stated that Heart was the album "she has always wanted to make" and that originally, she planned to called it Phoenix.

Jethro Tull's 11th studio album, Heavy Horses, is one of their prettier records, a veritable celebration of English folk music chock-full of gorgeous melodies, briskly played acoustic guitars and mandolins, and Ian Anderson's lilting flute backed by the group in top form. This record is a fairly close cousin to 1977's Songs from the Wood – and was ultimately the hinge-piece and first of an ecologically themed trilogy which concluded with 1979's Stormwatch – except that its songs are decidedly more passionate, delivered with a rough, robust energy that much of Tull's work since Thick as a Brick had been missing. In its lustiness it arguably surpasses even Aqualung.