For listeners willing to overlook the fact that this Crusaders retrospective begins the story in 1970 – nine years after the combo began recording excellent hard bop and soul-jazz – the two-disc set Gold is just as good and nearly as thorough as the 1996 four-disc box Way Back Home. (Since the running time is only 17 seconds shy of 160 minutes, it's truly jam-packed.) Focusing on the '70s allows the set to dwell considerably on each record the group released during the decade that produced its most popular (although not most rewarding) music. After grabbing a pair of tracks from the Crusaders' two Chisa LPs of 1970-1971, the set moves on to the Blue Thumb years with multiple selections from every main album of the '70s – 1, The 2nd Crusade, Scratch, Chain Reaction, Free as the Wind. The material is primarily fusion and jazz-funk, moving into crossover jazz by the second disc, and while the group never quite matched great themes with great grooves, this is the easiest way to get to the heart of their discography. (Rare groove fanatics may agree or disagree with the inclusion of the shortened 12" version of "Street Life," although it still clocks in north of five minutes.)

The Choir of Girton College, Cambridge, continues its pioneering exploration of the music of the Italian Renaissance master Marc’Antonio Ingegneri (c. 1535/36–92) with a journey through the liturgical year, as mirrored in Ingegneri’s motets. A ‘concept album’ of Renaissance polyphony may be an unusual undertaking, but this one illustrates how Ingegneri took his lead from the emotions implicit in each major celebration of the church – from sorrow and awe to joy and jubilation – expressed in music of extraordinary beauty, belying the internal complexity that gives it its emotional power.

Anthology is a compilation album by The Alan Parsons Project. This compilation of songs was released by Arista Records in 1991, as part of their "Connoisseur Collection" series. Note that the tracks are in chronological order.

Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was the guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of the Velvet Underground, and his solo career spanned five decades. Reed began a solo career in 1972. Reed was known for his distinctive deadpan voice and poetic lyrics, and for pioneering and coining the term ostrich guitar tuning. Rolling Stone magazine voted Reed's 1989 New York album the 19th best of the 1980s. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time included two albums by Reed as a solo artist: Transformer and Berlin. Rock n Roll Animal is a live album by Lou Reed, released in 1974. In its original form, it features five songs, four of which are Velvet Underground songs. They are all re-arranged into what will later be called a powerful glam rock set. The album was recorded live on December 21, 1973, at Howard Stein's Academy of Music in New York. A remastered version was released on CD in 2000. It featured two tracks not included on the original LP or 1990 CD release.

Stand in Line is the first studio album by heavy metal band Impellitteri, released in 1988 through Relativity Records. The album reached No. 91 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and remained on that chart for twenty weeks. Whitney Z. Gomes at AllMusic gave Stand in Line four stars out of five, noting "Secret Lover", "Tonight I Fly", "Goodnight and Goodbye" and the title track as highlights. He mainly praised singer Graham Bonnet's vocals throughout the album, but heavily criticized the guitarist and bandleader Chris Impellitteri's cover versions of "Since You Been Gone" and "Over the Rainbow" as "excessive and useless", writing that they "almost [run] the record into the ground". Further criticism was directed at the album's mixing and production, but he concluded by saying, "When Stand in Line works, it rules."

Armchair Theatre is the first solo album by Jeff Lynne, released in 1990. The album reunited Lynne with Electric Light Orchestra's keyboard player Richard Tandy and featured fellow Traveling Wilburys member George Harrison. A remaster by Frontiers was released on 19 April 2013 in the UK, and on 23 April 2013 in the US, and included two bonus tracks, one of them being previously unreleased.

The Devils Orchard (Live At Rock Hard Festival 2009) is a live gem an exclusive cd album that came with the September 2011 issue of the German Metal Hammer magazine. It has an advance copy of the album version (from Heritage) of The Devil’s Ochard, which was still a week or so from the albums release. The album clocks in at about an hour, making it as long as a full-length album. While the sound of the live recording is not quite as sharp as those of Opeth’s other live albums, it’s much better than bootleg quality, as this is basically an official release, although a very limited one. The physical cd is high-quality, with a beautiful cover and a booklet that opens up to a great two-panel photo of Opeth onstage at the 2009 Rock Hard Festival…

If The Times They Are a-Changin' isn't a marked step forward from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, even if it is his first collection of all originals, it's nevertheless a fine collection all the same. It isn't as rich as Freewheelin', and Dylan has tempered his sense of humor considerably, choosing to concentrate on social protests in the style of "Blowin' in the Wind." With the title track, he wrote an anthem that nearly equaled that song, and "With God on Our Side" and "Only a Pawn in Their Game" are nearly as good, while "Ballad of Hollis Brown" and "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" are remarkably skilled re-castings of contemporary tales of injustice. His absurdity is missed, but he makes up for it with the wonderful "One Too Many Mornings" and "Boots of Spanish Leather," two lovely classics…

The Solemnity of Corpus Christi celebrates each year the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. On this album, the Choir of Buckfast Abbey presents a musical offering bearing witness to this great celebration through music rooted in the words and ancient chants of this feast. At the heart of this album is a Mass setting by Martin Baker, Missa O sacrum convivium!, newly commissioned for the Choir of Buckfast Abbey and here given its premier recording, which develops chant melodies into a passionate tour de force for choir and organ. This work is complemented by chants and hymns of the day for Mass and Vespers, as well as sumptuous choral settings by Guerrero, Palestrina and Laloux and a suite for solo organ by Anton Heiller.

Jazz pianist Mal Waldron and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy became acquainted at the Five Spot in 1958. The following year, the saxophonist approached Waldron to guest on his New Jazz debut, Reflections: Steve Lacy Plays Thelonious Monk. They continued playing concerts and making records together until Waldron's death in 2002. Both collaborated with multi-disciplinary artists including filmmakers, poets, painters, and sculptors. While their collaboration was by no means prolific, releasing less than 15 albums together - their duo offerings usually contained compositions by both men - and idiosyncratic readings of tunes by Monk or Herbie Nichols. The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp is a previously unreleased 1995 quartet concert with drummer Andrew Cyrille and bassist Reggie Workman. Released by the Barcelona-based Elemental Music in collaboration with producer Zev Feldman, the double-disc package contains six long tracks spread over an hour-and-40 minutes…

In the early 90s a wave of King Crimson inspired new progrock bands emerged in Scandinavia. One of the first was four piece formation Anekdoten from Sweden. Gravity is the fourth studio album from this progressive rock act. The music on Gravity continues in the emotional style that was started on From Within but adds an alternative rock touch and a bit more commercial appeal to the overall sound. The dark mood and the famous extensive use of mellotron are still trademarks in Anekdoten´s sound on Gravity. The vocal melodies have become slightly more memorable, but they are still far from commercial rock melodies.

"Bualadh Bos" means "Clap Your Hands" in Irish, and popular Irish alternative rock band the Cranberries encourage their audiences to do just that on this collection, the group's first official live album. Bualadh Bos: The Cranberries Live features 15 songs recorded between 1994 and 1998 at concerts in the United States, Canada, Norway, and Sweden, with the group performing most of their best-known songs for enthusiastic fans. Selections include "Linger," "Zombie," "Dreams," "Sunday," "Ridiculous Thoughts," "Free to Decide," and many more.

Café del Mar Aria is a CD compilation series that combines chill-out music with opera arias, thereby expanding the existing Café del Mar series. The Café del Mar concept originated from the "sunset bar" with the same name in Sant Antoni de Portmany on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza. Café del Mar Aria is produced by Paul Schwartz.

The late John Martyn was a legend in British music circles, a phenomenal guitarist and arranger whose influence has been acknowledged by everyone from Bob Marley and Eric Clapton to Brian Eno and the Edge, and whose approach to soundcraft helped lay the foundation for an entire generation of trip-hop artists and DJs. Heaven and Earth is sort of of a tribute album; it consists of unfinished tracks that Martyn was working on at the time of his death in 2009, some of them bluesy, some reggae-inflected or jazzy, but all of them imbued with a powerful sense of space and an expansive approach to melody. "Heel of the Hunt" is among the most spacious and powerful tracks on this album, while "Stand Amazed" hints strongly at reggae while guitars, clavinets, and soulful backing vocalists respond with more of an R&B vibe.

Back To The World is a powerful concept album dealing with America's social issues, the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the environment (years before it became fashionable), as well as Curtis' optimism for the future. It peaked at number 16 on the Billboard 200 chart, as well as number 1 on the Top R&B Albums chart.