Perhaps more so than on any other Paul carrack solo project, Groove Approved represents the influence of the more commercial pop success of his work with Mike and The Mechanics in the mid to late 1980s. Released after the first two successful Mechanics albums (the self-titled 1985 album and Living Years), Groove Approved completely sheds Carrack Pub Rock sound and ventures on for a more period '80s pop feel far beyond what his previous solo project, One Good Reason, did.

Once upon a time, in the '70's, there was a genre of singers called "troubadors." Troubadors usually began their musical careers as folkies, and evolved into troubadors when they became better musicians. Yet, like folkies, they didn't sing songs; they sang stories. The finest of the Troubadors included Harry Chapin, Jim Croce, and Gordon Lightfoot. Today, only one troubador remains; Gordon Lightfoot. Now sixty, with a voice that has lost most of its resonance, Gord continues to make recordings. Yet, despite his loss of youth, he refuses to sink into maudlin self-pity, or pretend that he is still a young man. His title song "A Painter Passing Through" is the narrative of a troubador who lost his youth, found perspective, and still refuses to surrender, despite being past his prime.

One of the best introductions to Jarre's music is this live compilation of his most significant compositions of the "classical" period (1976-1990). Originally released in 1987 the only regret is that is too short to cover such a big event as the concert was. This live record goes some way to recreating the spectacle and atmosphere of the record breaking concerts in Houston, Texas and Lyon, France (1987) - with the majority of the incidental commentary and sound bites coming from the Houston concert. These concerts where both huge affairs which featured immense laser lighting shows and in many cases local highways and road were shut off.

“

Heather Phares, All Music Guide wrote: New age composer/keyboardist Davol had an early interest in music, receiving classical piano training as a child and studying jazz and classical harpsichord in college. Electronic music also interested him, and Davol began writing and recording his own pieces as a hobby while he studied microbiology. Some of the tapes he passed out to friends made their way to Silver Wave Records, who offered Davol a recording contract. In 1989, he released his debut album, Mystic Waves, and also received his Ph.D. in microbiology. Though he continued to write and record music, including his 1992 album The Nature of the Beast, Davol worked as a medical researcher until 1996, when he began writing music for multimedia along with his new age works.

”

It's hard to tell exactly where NYC duo Delia Gonzales & Gavin Russom fit into electronic music's grand scheme; their work references '70s electro-boffins Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno, but also deftly encapsulates the current state of urban electronic composition. Major players in both the NYC art-electronics circuit and the DFA's gradual diversification process, Gonzales and Russom had already carved out a name for themselves in film, sculpture and performance art circles before they unleashed the blissed-out and brilliant "Casual Friday" under the moniker Black Leotard Front. The mighty synth-burner "El Monte" followed, and before long the buzz was fully substantiated by loads of press and inclusion on the label's now legendary #2 compilation. This brings us to Days of Mars, a bubbling hot collection of modern electronic craft created on arcane technology by a pair of soulmates who still believe in the ideals of art over logic. It's a leftfield masterpiece, equal parts krautrock precision and late-night trance-rave chilldown; given the opportunity, it could be this generation's answer to Music for Airports.

In 1978, Jeff Wayne recruited Justin Hayward to sing and perform on the highly acclaimed "War Of The Worlds" album. Wayne went on to produce the album, including Hayward's single "Forever Autumn", which became a worldwide hit. As a way of saying "thank you" for Hayward's contribution, two years later Wayne returns the favor by producing Hayward's 1980 album "Night Flight".

Les Misérables: The Dream Cast in Concert a.k.a. Les Misérables in Concert is a concert version of the musical Les Misérables, produced to celebrate its 10th anniversary. It was filmed in October 1995 at the Royal Albert Hall and released on DVD and VHS in 1998 and re-released on DVD in North America in 2008. It stars Colm Wilkinson as Jean Valjean, Philip Quast as Inspector Javert, Michael Ball as Marius Pontmercy, Lea Salonga as Éponine, Judy Kuhn as Cosette, Ruthie Henshall as Fantine, and several others, and was directed by John Caird. The performers were chosen from London, Broadway and Australian productions of the show.

"220 Volt Live" is a recording from Tangerine Dream's tour of the USA in 1992. It is also the companion CD to the "Three Phase" video of the same tour featuring the same music. All in all, the concert is an inspired mix of the traditional Tangerine Dream elements of massed synthesiser choirs over sliding sequencer-driven rhythms with the newer elements of Linda Spa's bluesy sax playing, Zlatko Perica's guitar lines and a heavy drum-kit driven rock beat, so characteristic of many 90s Tangerine Dream studio albums. The main set consists of nine numbers, played in the usual TD live manner of two half-hour seamless segues.

Exit marks the beginning of a new phase in Tangerine Dream's music: Gone were the side-long, sequencer-led journeys, replaced by topical pieces that were more self-contained in scope, more contemporary in sound. Johannes Schmoelling's influence is really felt for the first time here; Tangram, for all its crispness and melody, was simply a refinement of Force Majeure's principles, and the soundtrack to Thief not an album proper. On Exit, listeners are introduced to electronic music's next generation, notably on "Choronzon" and "Network 23," which brought the sound of the dancefloor into the mix (it hasn't left since). That's not to suggest that Tangerine Dream has stopped creating eerie, evocative music; both "Pilots of Purple Twilight" and the stately "Exit" will feel familiar to fans, and the opening "Kiew Mission" is a captivating commentary on nuclear war that includes vocals after a sort (a woman's voice reading locations in Russian).

“

Rodney Batdorf, All Music Guide wrote: Underwater Sunlight was the first album Paul Haslinger recorded with Tangerine Dream and his presence is immediately felt. With Haslinger, the group relied more heavily on strict structures and jarring compositional flourishes, which is only appropriate, since he came directly from a classical background. The group hadn't quite figured out how to fully incorporate these techniques into their music, but the results on Underwater are nevertheless fascinating.

”

Bill Nelson, the guitar wizard who led the brilliant Be Bop Deluxe from glam rock to new wave in the Seventies, entered the 80s with this extraordinary debut solo album produced by legendary British producer John Leckie (XTC, Simple Minds, Lucy Show). After Nelson broke up Be Bop Deluxe in 1978, following their extraordinary techno swan song "Drastic Plastic" LP, he formed Red Noise, a New Wave five-piece that produced one album, "Sound on Sound," which would eventually function as the template for the first two or three XTC albums. "Quit Dreaming," which began life as the second Red Noise album, eventually transformed into Nelson's first full-blown post Be Bop Deluxe solo album, producing a couple of UK hit singles ("Banal," "Do You Dream In Colour?") and climbing to number 7 on the British charts.

“

Amazon.co.uk wrote: Undoubtably his finest work starting strongly with a wistful/ hopeful "Still not free" followed by upbeat "Messengers", both of which will come back to haunt you time and again. Some tracks grab you immediately with their strong hooks and melodies, others burn slowly into in your brain. "Where do Angels really come from?" and "Contrary" belong to the former. "Before the world was round" and "The best is yet to come" are achingly sad and could move you to tears. "World" has a superb elongated guitar piece that wrenches your emotions. Still more to come, as if this was not enough... Clifford sadly died of MS related complications in December 2001. A biography aptly entitled "Bittersweet" by Dave Cartwright, due to be released in autumn in paperback, graces this album with a spoken word extract by the author. It will make you dearly wish Clifford was given the recognition in life he so richly deserved. He is one of England's finest ever singer songwriters. Come on Sir Paul McCartney and others.. cover these and other songs of Mr Ward's. You could do a lot worse.

”

This new compilation from EMI Classics features 2 CDs and a DVD of famed violinist Itzhak Perlman playing what has been described as some of the finest klezmer music of the last 50 years. The 2 CDs feature klezmer favorites such as “Jewish Wedding Medley,” “Hasidic Dance,” and “Klezmer Suite,” while the DVD contains a variety of bonus footage such as “Perlman’s first Klezmer lesson”, “Klezmer and Mazeltov,” “The Polish Klezmer Festival,” and “Perlman live in New York.”

Manchester documents a reformed ensemble, this time with 10CC's Lol Creme and Kevin Godley sitting in along with Andy MacKay (Roxy Music). Of the original line-up, only Phil Manzanera and Bill MacCormick survive, with Dave Skinner (keyboards, vocals), Paul Thompson (drums), and Simon Ainley (guitar, vocals) forming the core group. The material also switches to the bulk of the 801 / Manzanera studio works, as Phil was then releasing solo albums along with 801 and Roxy materials. On the other hand, T.N.K. (Tomorrow Never Knows) and You Really Got Me made the cut as covers, fan favorites stoking up this concert recorded at Manchester University.

This is one of the trio's better 80s efforts, beyond a doubt. As befitted the new era, the band's sound was somewhat updated, clear, and fresh, but retained more than enough of the old mystic magic to please their devoted followers. All of the essential TD elements, from gently drifting spacey parts, to more rhythmic sequences and almost frightening sections, can be found here, along with an increased focus on melody (which would only grow in the years to come).