In Memoriam was a rather hastily conceived ten-song LP issued by Immediate Records in the wake of the group's breakup in early 1969 — slapped together from a quintet of live tracks recorded at Newcastle Town Hall and five odd single B-sides and cuts from what would have been the group's next album. Actually, it wasn't a bad collection, as far as any ten songs could go, and side one was worth its weight in gold, capturing the band's rather awesome live sound for the first time — hearing Steve Marriott (maybe England's second-greatest soul shouter after Chris Farlowe) with a decent repertoire with almost any competent accompaniment on-stage was a profound experience, and this band was his best, and those five sides (which have been reissued many times since) were taped on a particularly good night. This reissue contains 14 bonus tracks.

Discordant, elusive and utterly hypnotic, Loop conjured a dark, trance-like spell that contrasted sharply with the prevailing British pop music trends of their time. Equal parts the Stooges, Can and Hawkwind, in tandem with fellow travellers Spacemen 3 they resurrected the concept of space-rock for a new era, creating droning soundscapes of bleak beauty and harsh dissonance. Loop was formed in London in 1986 by vocalist/guitarist Robert Hampson, who at the time of the group's inception claimed to know only four chords; with wife Bex on drums and Glen Ray on bass, they debuted with the single "16 Dreams," its raw, feedback-powered sound offering clear evidence of a serious garage fixation. New drummer John Wills and bassist Neil MacKay were signed on a short time later, with their arrival heralding a more primal rhythmic foundation; the reconfigured Loop then issued its 1987 full-length debut Heavens End, winning acclaim for its densely distorted sound.

Hard Rain , Dylan’s 19th album and his second live one, once seemed a generally poor selection from two concerts that were far from his best. After Dylan and the 1967 Greatest Hits collection, this seemed, at the time, Dylan’s least essential album. His voice even sounded oddly anonymous at first. Hindsight shows that this album introduces the ragged, postmodern Bob Dylan, right from the grungy instrumental ground-pawing ahead of the start of the first number. Moreover the running order now seems surprisingly well thought out. It represents, too, the late phase of the historic Rolling Thunder Revue tour and captures the distinctive, bare-wired sound of Dylan’s existential gypsy band.

From the Beginning was the (unofficial) retrospective album released by English Mod, Rhythm and Blues band Small Faces in 1967 on Decca Records. The album was released by Don Arden on Decca after the group had made a switch to the Immediate label headed by Andrew Loog Oldham. The album contains their hit records on Decca including their number one song "All or Nothing". The album also includes a cover of Del Shannon's classic hit song "Runaway".

Taking the first, electric side of Bringing It All Back Home to its logical conclusion, Bob Dylan hired a full rock & roll band, featuring guitarist Michael Bloomfield, for Highway 61 Revisited. Opening with the epic "Like a Rolling Stone," Highway 61 Revisited careens through nine songs that range from reflective folk-rock ("Desolation Row") and blues ("It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry") to flat-out garage rock ("Tombstone Blues," "From a Buick 6," "Highway 61 Revisited"). Dylan had not only changed his sound, but his persona, trading the folk troubadour for a streetwise, cynical hipster. Throughout the album, he embraces druggy, surreal imagery, which can either have a sense of menace or beauty, and the music reflects that, jumping between soothing melodies to hard, bluesy rock. And that is the most revolutionary thing about Highway 61 Revisited — it proved that rock & roll needn't be collegiate and tame in order to be literate, poetic, and complex. This limited edition, audiophile gold disc was mastered by Steve Hoffman.

Spirit was formed with the intention to combine jazz, rock, classical, and folk with a mystical orientation. Led by the family duo of Hendrix-inspired guitarist Randy California and his uncle, jazz drummer Ed Cassidy (whose shaved head--some 20 years ahead of its time--was the band's visual focus), Spirit had a few idiosyncratic hits such as "I Got A Line On You." The band didn't reach its prime until Twelve Dreams, after which they promptly broke up. A loosely constructed sci-fi concept album, it contains the band's biggest hit, the ecological "Nature's Way" (complete with booming kettle drums), the surreal rock of "Animal Zoo," and the orchestral psychedelia of "Life Has Just Begun." Bristling with ideas, energy, and California's meaty guitar, Twelve Dreams exemplifies the best of the late '60s experimentalism.

Stereolab was poised for a breakthrough release with Emperor Tomato Ketchup, their fourth full-length album. Not only was their influence becoming apparent throughout alternative rock, but Mars Audiac Quintet and Music for the Amorphous Body Center indicated they were moving closer to distinct pop melodies. The group certainly hasn't backed away from pop melodies on Emperor Tomato Ketchup, but just as their hooks are becoming catchier, they bring in more avant-garde and experimental influences, as well. Consequently, the album is Stereolab's most complex, multi-layered record. It lacks the raw, amateurish textures of their early singles, but the music is far more ambitious, melding electronic drones and singsong melodies with string sections, slight hip-hop and dub influences, and scores of interweaving counter melodies. Even when Stereolab appears to be creating a one-chord trance, there is a lot going on beneath the surface. Furthermore, the group's love for easy listening and pop melodies means that the music never feels cold or inaccessible. In fact, pop singles like "Cybele's Reverie" and "The Noise of Carpet" help ease listeners into the group's more experimental tendencies. Because of all its textures, Emperor Tomato Ketchup isn't as immediately accessible as Mars Audiac Quintet, but it is a rich, rewarding listen.

In order to finance his artier excursions, which increasingly required more expensive technology, Frank Zappa recorded several collections of guitar- and song-oriented material in the late '70s and early '80s, which generally concentrated on the bawdy lyrical themes many fans had come to expect and enjoy in concert. Sheik Yerbouti (two LPs, one CD) was one of the first and most successful of these albums. Social satire, leering sexual preoccupations, and tight, melodic songs dominated the rest of the record as well, as Zappa stuck to what had been commercially successful for him in the past. The "dumb entertainment" (as Zappa liked to describe this style) on Sheik Yerbouti was some of his dumbest, for better or worse, and the music was undeniably good -- easily some of his best since Apostrophe, and certainly the most accessible.

With her debut recording In the Heat of the Night, Pat Benatar wasted no time starting out of the gate with the furious leadoff track "Heartbreaker," which solidified her place in a class of women who were taking the rock world by storm in the late '70s. In the Heat of the Night was an album that obviously had its share of filler, but the one-two punch of "Heartbreaker" and the John Cougar Mellencamp tune "I Need a Lover" leading off the album made enough of a statement to put her on the pop charts. The deflated three tracks following are easily forgettable, especially the sci-fi '50s ballad "My Clone Sleeps Alone," but the remainder of the album packs enough grit and solid songwriting (especially the Blondie-esque "So Sincere") that it remains an impressive debut and foreshadows a glimpse of great things to come.

X were undeniably not just one of the greatest punk bands, but one of the greatest live rock acts of all time. Although they never issued a true live set featuring the stellar, original lineup with guitarist Billy Zoom, X's one and only live album, 1988's Live at the Whiskey a Go-Go, is still a great sample of the band in concert. Recorded during the tour in support of their album See How We Are (with new addition Tony Gilkyson on the six-string), the quartet sounds ferocious playing at one of their favorite early venues. Many of the versions found here come pretty close to topping the originals, especially in terms of energy, most notably the classics "Los Angeles," "The New World," "Burning House of Love," "Hungry Wolf," "Riding With Mary," "White Girl," "Unheard Music," and "Johnny Hit & Run Pauline."

Alice Cooper wasted little time following up the breakthrough success of Love It to Death with another album released the same year, Killer. Again, producer Bob Ezrin was on board and helps the group solidify their heavy rock (yet wide-ranging) style even further. The band's stage show dealt with the macabre, and such disturbing tracks as "Dead Babies" and the title track fit in perfectly. Other songs were even more exceptional, such as the perennial barnstorming concert standard "Under My Wheels," the melodic yet gritty "Be My Lover," and the tribute to their fallen friend Jim Morrison, "Desperado."

Alice Cooper's third album, Love It to Death, can be pinpointed as the release when everything began to come together for the band. Their first couple of albums (Pretties for You and Easy Action) were both largely psychedelic/acid rock affairs and bore little comparison to the band's eventual rip-roaring, teenage-anthem direction. The main reason for the quintet's change was that the eventually legendary producer Bob Ezrin was on board for the first time and helped the Coopers focus their songwriting and sound, while they also perfected their trashy, violent, and theatrical stage show and image. One of the band's most instantly identifiable anthems, "I'm Eighteen," was what made the album a hit, as well as another classic, "Is It My Body." But like Alice Cooper's other albums from the early '70s, it was an incredibly consistent listen from beginning to end.

At the start of the 1960s Los Angeles was a kooky backwater, barely visible on the musical map. By the end of the 1970s it was the artistic and industrial hub of the American music industry. This film explores how the socially-conscious folk rock of young hippies with acoustic guitars was transformed into the coked-out stadium excesses of the late 70s, and the biggest-selling album of all time. Set amongst the sun-dappled porches of Laurel Canyon and perched above LA's iconic Sunset Strip, this is an epic tale of drugs, genius and greed - all set to a stunning soundtrack.

The Small Faces were the best English band never to hit it big in America. On this side of the Atlantic, all anybody remembers them for is their sole stateside hit, "Itchycoo Park," which was hardly representative of their psychedelic sound, much less their full musical range -- but in England, the Small Faces were one of the most extraordinary and successful bands of the mid-'60s, serious competitors to the Who and potential rivals to the Rolling Stones. This is the best collection to date of odd outtakes, obscure B-sides, and other rarities, remastered for superior sound and reconfigured so that, among other advantages, the live tracks from The Autumn Stone are assembled together in sequence. Also contains lots of alternate takes, instrumental backing tracks etc.

Culled from 30 years of material, this collection of moments from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson contains some of most inspired bits of lunacy ever recorded. Whether cajoling with Hollywood's biggest stars or normal folk with special talents, Carson was a master of finding the right joke, with timing second to none. Along with bits of his opening monologues, skits, and early standup appearances from the likes of David Letterman and Eddie Murphy, there are many highlights with perhaps the perfect Carson guest--exotic animals that stole the show. This collection was released shortly after Carson's reign ended in 1992. Although most of the tapes from his first decade are lost, there are plenty of highlights from the '70s through the '90s. Although many followed--and a few have even succeeded--Carson's Midwest charm made him the king of TV in a period when America was defined by television.