Most supergroups don't last long, and GTR was no exception to the rule. Steve Hackett and Steve Howe - lead guitarists for the prime periods of Genesis and Yes, respectively - formed the band in 1986, not with the intention of reviving classic prog rock, but with the idea of making a stadium-shaking hard rock band. It was two veterans with very clear musical identities of their own, teamed with a trio of supporting musicians eager for a big break. Not the ideal formula for a perfect rock album, since the scales were already tipped toward one side as the recording began. And, GTR's lone eponymous album didn't deliver the fireworks that Howe and Hackett fans desired. Part of the problem is that the two guitarists crowd each other out; it rarely sounds like they're trading licks, but rather like they're stepping forward for solos at their pre-scheduled times…

Another excellent recent set from the veteran harpist, cut down in Austin with a mixture of Texans and Chicagoans in support: pianist Pinetop Perkins, guitarists Duke Robiilard and Luther Tucker, and drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. Pryor's made quite a substantial to his long-dormant discography in the last few years.

A new Deluxe Edition of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s critically acclaimed STARLIGHT EXPRESS album, recorded with the 2024/25 cast of the London production at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre. The Deluxe Edition album contains 8 new, specially-commissioned remixes of some of the show’s most popular tracks, which are released alongside the original cast recording. “Starlight Express’ return to London has been an absolute joy for me. I knew immediately that we needed a cast album to capture this brilliant show. I am particularly pleased that ‘Hydrogen’ is one of our first singles – this a totally new track, written for this production as we reimagined the story of Starlight Express for the zeitgeist of 2024.” - Andrew Lloyd Webber

Exactly as advertised, Travers & Appice is a collaboration between two classic rock icons: guitarist and vocalist Pat Travers, of numerous '70s solo guitar hero records fame, and drummer Carmine Appice, ex-member of Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne – heck, you name it! Paired together by the Steamhammer/SPV label, the duo cut 2004's brashly hard-rocking It Takes a Lot of Balls with the help of journeyman bassist T.M. Stevens, who has previously worked with James Brown, Joe Cocker, Tina Turner, and many more.

Atoms for Peace are an English-American experimental rock supergroup comprising Radiohead singer Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano), Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich (keyboards, synthesisers, guitars), drummer Joey Waronker of Beck and R.E.M., and percussionist Mauro Refosco of Forro in the Dark. Yorke formed the band in 2009 to perform songs from his debut solo album, The Eraser (2006). They released an album of original material, Amok, on February 25, 2013.

It s got to be a very special release that has Suzi Quatro announce proudly: The Devil In Me is the best album in my career to date! After all, the American rock vocalist would hardly utter such superlatives lightly. Suzi s enthusiasm for her latest offering has many reasons, twelve of them to be precise. Because The Devil In Me consists of exactly a dozen songs, each of them from the opening track and title song to the final Motor City Riders a real highlight. The reasons for Suzi s remarkable creative explosion: on the one hand the lockdown, which kept her from her usual touring life in spring 2020, and on the other another collaboration with her son Richard Tuckey, which had already worked out extremely well on her predecessor album No Control.

Eliane Elias' debut as a leader (she had been a member of Steps Ahead) finds her abandoning the electric keyboards in favor of acoustic piano. On seven songs she is joined by bassist Eddie Gomez and either Al Foster or Steve Gadd on drums; the remaining two selections feature her accompanied by bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White. With harmonica great Toots Thielemans making guest appearances on two numbers, Elias was at the time easily the least-known of the players on her own CD. However the pianist was already far along toward developing her own sound as she shows on four originals, two obscurities, Herbie Hancock's "Chan's Song," Blossom Dearie's "Sweet Georgia Fame" and the standard "Falling in Love with Love." A fine start to a significant solo career.

In 1963, singer Sathima Bea Benjamin persuaded Duke Ellington to see her future husband, Abdullah Ibrahim (then known as Dollar Brand), play in a club in Europe. Ellington was impressed by both of the recent South African émigrés and arranged with Reprise to record them. While Brand's record came out within a year, Benjamin's debut was lost and not heard for decades, even by the singer. As it turned out, engineer Gerhard Lehner had made a second copy and kept it for all of these years, so the initial 1997 release of this important session was possible. Backed by pianist Ibrahim, bassist Johnny Gertze, drummer Makaya Ntshoko, and (on two songs apiece) Duke Ellington or Billy Strayhorn, and occasionally joined by violinist Svend Asmussen (who here plays exclusively pizzicato, as if he were using a high-pitched guitar), Benjamin's voice sounds quite beautiful…

Tago Mago (1971). With the band in full artistic flower and Damo Suzuki's sometimes moody, sometimes frenetic speak/sing/shrieking in full effect, Can released not merely one of the best Krautrock albums of all time, but one of the best albums ever, period. Tago Mago is that rarity of the early '70s, a double album without a wasted note, ranging from sweetly gentle float to full-on monster grooves. "Paperhouse" starts things brilliantly, beginning with a low-key chime and beat, before amping up into a rumbling roll in the midsection, then calming down again before one last blast. Both "Mushroom" and "Oh Yeah," the latter with Schmidt filling out the quicker pace with nicely spooky keyboards, continue the fine vibe. After that, though, come the huge highlights - three long examples of Can at its absolute best…

'Million Voices Whisper' is the third 'Fantasy' solo album ('Man in Motion' and 'Ashes & Dust') by the remarkable musician/songwriter Warren Haynes. Enlisting an All-Star core of support, New Orleans native Terence Higgins on drums, organist and keyboard wiz John Medeski, Mule bassist Kevin Scott, and genius guitarist Derek Trucks, Hayneshas been inspired to craft his best work, eleven original songs that establish a high bar in a genre that could easily be termed Modern Classic Rock. 'These Changes', (co-written with Trucks and TTB member Mike Mattison), and 'Real, Real Love' (co-written with Gregg Allman, his last work with Haynes before his untimely death in 2017) are absolute highlights. Jamey Johnson and Lukas Nelson join him 'Day of Reckoning' a song co-written with Lukas. All catchy, emotional thrillers brought to life by Warren's husky, soul drenched emoting. The album was produced by Warren Haynes. He brought in his Allman Brothers bandmate Derek Trucks to co-produce and play guitar on four of the songs on the album. Deluxe Edition features 4 bonus tracks. 2-CD Softpak.

CD reissue of this title from the innovative German Electronica outfit, one of the most influential instrumental outfits of the 20th century. Tangerine Dream has never produced anything calculated to make the masses jump off their chairs and start screaming Top 40 tunes, but they have managed to have an immense impact in the world of Electronic and soundtrack music. Their studio, live and soundtrack releases have their own driving hypnotic pieces that might differ from release to release, but they are all uniquely Tangerine Dream. Personnel: Edgar Froese, Jerome Froese (guitar, keyboards); Zlatko Perica (guitar); Linda Spa (saxophone, keyboards). Recording information: Scottsdale Mall Amphitheater (1992).

Johannes Brahms was not a composer who showed much confidence early on in his career, at least as far as large-scale orchestral forms were concerned. Take for instance what we know to be his Piano Concerto No. 1, which premiered in 1859. This work began as a sonata for two pianos, and then Brahms considered developing it into a symphony. But the shadow of Beethoven's nine essays in the symphonic form dogged Brahms so much that his First Symphony didn't appear for almost two decades. It finally emerged into this turbulent and elongated D Minor concerto and, despite receiving a fairly frigid reception at its premiere, it is a work that has come to be seen as Brahms' first true large-scale orchestral masterpiece.

As Bram van Sambeek writes in the liner notes to his new disc, bassoonists consider Mozart’s Concerto in B flat major the absolute pinnacle of their repertoire. A man of great contrasts himself, Mozart recognised the potential of the bassoon as a vehicle for expressing a wide range of moods and attitudes – from the joking and playful to the dreamily tuneful. Another composer who showed a special understanding for the instrument was Carl Maria von Weber, whose Concerto in F major doesn’t come far behind Mozart’s on the list of all-time bassoon hits.

For close to 300 years Bach’s Goldberg Variations have awed performers as well as listeners, through an unparalleled combination of a dazzling variety of expression and breath-taking virtuosity with stupendous polyphonic mastery. No wonder then that other musicians than harpsichordists have wanted to make it their own – pianists, first and foremost, but also accordion players and guitarists, flautists and harpists.

With the arrival of the 1980s, Nancy Reagan was picking out new White House china, MTV was taking its first baby steps, and Pat Benatar was surging forward as a new kind of female rock star. Brassy, eye-catching, and possessed of a four-and-a-half-octave voice, the small-framed, big-voiced New Yorker first caused a stir in 1979 with the hits "Heartbreaker" and "We Live for Love," the latter penned by lead guitarist and Benatar's future husband, Neil Gerardo. In the early '80s, Benatar scored repeatedly with snarling rockers that combined new-wave energy with Middle American grit: "Hit Me with Your Best Shot," "Invincible," "Love is a Battlefield," "Shadows of the Night," and "We Belong" all charted before she began to lose her luster mid-decade. This three-disc retrospective reflects Benatar's commercial descent with a disc marked by her hits, followed by two discs dominated by lesser-known rock tracks and experiments (which include an unremarkable foray into old-school R&B). Some unreleased numbers are scattered in for good measure. Casual fans would be well advised to leave this one to the devotees and opt for the more-to-the-point Best Shots. –Steven Stolder