Where Pyromania had set the standard for polished, catchy pop-metal, Hysteria only upped the ante. Pyromania's slick, layered Mutt Lange production turned into a painstaking obsession with dense sonic detail on Hysteria, with the result that some critics dismissed the record as a stiff, mechanized pop sell-out (perhaps due in part to Rick Allen's new, partially electronic drum kit). But Def Leppard's music had always employed big, anthemic hooks, and few of the pop-metal bands who had hit the charts in the wake of Pyromania could compete with Leppard's sense of craft; certainly none had the pop songwriting savvy to produce seven chart singles from the same album, as the stunningly consistent Hysteria did.

Some classic rock reunions are driven by marketing, some driven by a desperate need to reconnect to the past, some exist merely for the music. Red Velvet Car, Heart’s first album since 2004’s Jupiter’s Darling, belongs to the latter camp: it’s music with no seeming commercial aspirations, music that is connected to the past but doesn’t strive to replicate it. Heart eschews their teased, corseted ‘80s bombast and sticks to the Zep worship of the ‘70s, an obsession that’s proved quite fertile. The Wilson sisters are clearly older than they were when they belted out “Barracuda” – the tempos are generally slower, Ann’s voice doesn’t reach the same heights – but they embrace their age, a move that gives their excursions into folk including a revival “Sand” from their 1990 Lovemongers sideproject, a record that pointed the way toward the textured movie here. Red Velvet Car has something of a meditative mood – the punchy Townshend power chords are used as color, not fuel – triggered somewhat by a preponderance of textured, acoustic-laden arrangements and miniature epics, all elements that hearken back to Heart’s golden age yet wind up feeling right in line with their vibe in 2010.

South African model and singer, native English speaker, originally from South Africa, Nicole Magolie is best known in Italy through her presence on the main television networks. She has taken part in many TV programs on the RAI networks (most recently in the cast of the RAI 2 program “Voice Anatomy” conducted by Pino Insegno). She appears in numerous national commercials as a protagonist, including that of the last European Football Championships and is currently testimonial of Matera European Capital of Culture.

Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA-certified platinum albums and sold over 40 million records worldwide. Vandross was recognized by Rolling Stone as one of the 200 greatest singers of all time (2023) and was named one of the greatest R&B artists by Billboard. NPR also included him among its 50 Great Voices. He won eight Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year in 2004 for "Dance with My Father". He has been inducted into both the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame and the Grammy Hall of Fame.

What do we know about this record? It feels like Syd Barret, Beatles, Twink, The Deviants, T-Rex, Tomorrow and The Small Faces got together for a boozy and smoky jam session out of which a handful of beautiful songs have emerged, ranging from straight, powerful beat tunes towards joyful flower pop anthems with a bubble gum edge with a layover at melancholic folksy singer / songwriter sounds. What most people do not know ist that the participating musicians are only partly British. This album is the brainchild of renowned Japanese world music / ethno jazz rock artist Osamu Kitajima, who later on went to fame under his own name with some extraordinary progressive albums in the later 70s. He spent a year in England around 1970 to 1971 and recorded this album under the monicker of „Justin Heathcliff“, to make the impression of a true British pop / psyche record with a distinctive late 60s feel perfect. It might not have been a commercial starship around the time it got released, but it stood the test of time and even nearly 50 years after it’s initial release this record still flatters our ears with songs of unearthly beauty on par with the above mentioned English legends.

Europe's new jazz big band star, Danish Kathrine Windfeld, has captured the essence of the sea predator on her third release with her own music with her own big band, each composition largely devoted to maritime themes. In her instrumental choices, we really hear how dark Dark Navy can be.

A four-hour, 90-track overview of the Los Angeles music scene between 1965 and 1968
Featuring a dazzling combination of major league LA players, enduring cult acts and ultra-rare garage punk 45s Housed in a stylish clamshell box, ‘Heroes and Villains’ is a fascinating four-hour trip into the heart of the late ‘60s LA music goldmine. After The Beatles captivated a generation with their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Los Angeles music scene moved beyond the previously-dominant surf, hot-rod and girl group discs to fashion a spirited response to the British Invasion.

The band's fifth release, Rain Dances is Camel at its best, offering the most consistent and representative package in their saga. The addition of Caravan-cofounder Richard Sinclair proves profitable, as do a few colorist touches by Brian Eno on "Elke." Mel Collins' woodwinds are among the highlights, especially on "Tell Me" and the title track. From beginning to end, this project flows gracefully.

This program offers three lively, colorful, and captivating orchestral works by two United States composers, born almost a century apart. These pieces exhibit the fruitful exchange and flow of musical material between North and South America that has long played a role in popular music, apparent not only in commercial song and dance music using Latin American melodies and rhythms but also in early jazz and blues where tango rhythms are so often heard, as in W. C. Handy's St. Louis Blues. And both Gottschalk in the 1850s, close to the beginning of a creative American musical tradition, and Gould in the 1950s, when such a tradition had flowered considerably, show a combination of seriousness of approach with a popular touch.