Following their massive 1986 European stadium tour for the A Kind of Magic album, Queen took an extended break. Rumors swirled about an impending breakup, but it turned out the break was brought on by a painful marital divorce for guitarist Brian May (who subsequently battled depression and contemplated suicide), and Freddie Mercury being diagnosed with AIDS. Instead of sinking further into misery, the band regrouped, worked on each other's mental state, and recorded one of their most inspired albums, 1989's The Miracle. Lyrically, the songs tend to reflect on the band's past accomplishments ("Khashoggi's Ship," "Was It All Worth It") as well as the state of the world in the late '80s (the title track, "I Want It All").

Mamouna is the ninth solo album by the British singer Bryan Ferry, released on Virgin Records in September 1994. The album name refers to a city in Morocco called Mamouna and means 'safe' in arabic. It was Ferry's first album of original material in seven years and he spent six years writing and recording it, under the working title Horoscope. The album peaked at number 11 on the UK Albums Chart. The album features contributions former members of Ferry's band Roxy Music, including Brian Eno who left the band in 1973.

'Plays Live' was compiled from live recordings made at four venues across the American Midwest in late 1982. It is effectively a sign-off to the first phase of Peter Gabriel the solo artist. As such, it's a celebration of all that was achieved on that opening quartet of self-titled long-players, while also standing as confirmation that Peter was an engaged and engaging frontman. At the time, all bar one of the tracks would be familiar to the Gabriel completist, the exception being the previously unreleased 'I Go Swimming'. A studio vocal version of the song has still never been released. The touring band captured by the recordings consists of Peter, alongside Jerry Marrotta (drums and percussion), Tony Levin (bass and stick), David Rhodes (guitar) and Larry Fast (synthesizer and piano), whilst the iconic cover image of Peter in 'monkey mask' make-up was taken by long-time collaborator Armando Gallo.

PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED RADIO SESSIONS 1966 - 1972 While David Bowie s early career was somewhat fragmented, a little disjointed and often sporadic, he was rarely off the wireless. And the sessions he recorded for radio across this period, makes for a fascinating body of work. This 2 x CD collection features nearly 2 hours of such FM sessions, previously unreleased on CD and in near perfect quality. Including cuts originally recorded for shows such as Top Gear, Sounds Of The Seventies, The Sunday Show and a number of other programmes, this set will delight Bowie fans as it completes the availability of material originally intended to be heard only via the airwaves.

Guts is a retrospective compilation album by John Cale, released by Island Records in February 1977. It is perhaps most notable for including the songs "Leaving It Up To You", which was deleted from Helen of Troy, and the previously unreleased "Mary Lou". It was compiled by Howard Thompson.

As if the flood of compilations called Best of Bowie in 2002 weren't confusing enough – there was a different track listing for each territory around the world, all bearing the same name and album cover – in 2004, a double-disc version of Best of Bowie was released in U.S., which was different than the "bonus CD" edition released in North America in 2002. It's not too different – a slightly different sequencing, it's a track longer, it has a couple different songs (and there's an edition with a bonus CD containing remixes) – but even if the details are slightly different, the overall gist remains: this is an excellent double-disc overview of Bowie's '70s and '80s peak.

Zappa ’80: Mudd Club/Munich combines two historical performances from the spring/summer 1980 band. The first is from a set at FZ’s favorite NYC nightclub – the famous Mudd Club. Presented from a hi-res transfer of the original master tape. The second, from Olympiahalle in Munich, is the first ever live direct to digital stereo recording of Zappa. Mastering by Bernie Grundman, 2022.

With its titanic guitar solos, symphonic suites, and multi-layered melodies, Muse's fifth album operates under the assumption that bigger is better. This is the very definition of a super-sized album, an album that takes its cues from Queen, its lyrics from science fiction novels, and its delivery from rock opera. It's also the first time that Muse has truly sounded like Muse, as few bands since Queen have so readily explored the intersection of bombast and extravagance. The Resistance is most certainly extravagant – there are snatches of classical piano entwined throughout, not to mention bilingual lyrics, concert hall percussion, coronet solos, and song titles like "Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 2 (Cross-Pollination)" – but it's also quite beautiful, capable of moving between prog rock choruses and excerpts from Chopin's "Nocturne in E Flat Major" within the same song.

Minimalist, rhythmic electronic band whose Motorik style became a major influence on artists ranging from David Bowie to Sonic Youth to Stereolab. Collection includes: Neu! (1972); Neu! 2 (1973); Neu! '75 (1975); Neu! '86 (2010).

Kraut! Demons! Kraut!: German Psychedelic Underground 1968-1974 Review by Richie Unterberger
This is the kind of compilation you can expect to flourish as the realization comes to pass that several types of special-interest rock cults will not be catered to by the CD explosion. There's no label or catalog number on it, but if you're in a big city or hip college town with a record store oriented toward specialty collectors, you might be able to find it. What we're dealing with here is rare Krautrock, some taken from private pressings that reached only into the three figures. None of these artists will be familiar, even to those who listen to college radio stations willing to play vintage Krautrock, with the exception of Can (represented by a 1969 single, on one side of which the band backed Margareta Juvan). This is actually more accessible than the more widely known, progressive rock-oriented style of Krautrock's salad days, as it bears a heavier influence of late 1960s psychedelia.

Opening with Mike Hugg's title track, which builds on Mick Rogers' intense riffing and the killer vocals of Vicki Brown, Judith Powell, Liza Strike, and Ruby James, Messin' is pretty intense and involving from its very first bars. It's also damned topical and serious, for all of the free-wheeling rock & roll spirits and the progressive rock complexities that go into the playing. And the result is a spellbinding whole, featuring some astonishing keyboard flourishes by Manfred Mann himself (who ventures into Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson territory on "Buddah," even as the rest of the band seems to be emulating Deep Purple) and killer guitar from Mick Rogers, while Colin Pattenden and Chris Slade lay down the rhythm section like a pair of articulate pile-drivers.

One of rock's most important singer/songwriters, the creator of a daring body of work who proved rock & roll could be art.
The career of Lou Reed defied capsule summarization. Like David Bowie (whom Reed directly inspired in many ways), he made over his image many times, mutating from theatrical glam rocker to strung-out junkie to avant-garde noiseman to straight rock & roller to your average guy. Few would deny Reed's immense importance and considerable achievements. As has often been written, he expanded the vocabulary of rock & roll lyrics into the previously forbidden territory of kinky sex, drug use (and abuse), decadence, transvestites, homosexuality, and suicidal depression…

Fve CD set. The complete Eyeless in Gaza Cherry Red recordings, compiled and curated by Martyn Bates and Pete Becker. Their entire 1981-1986 output for the label re-worked into five thematic suites by the band, bringing new life and light to familiar and much-loved material. Includes the classics 'Invisibility', 'Veil Like Calm', Kodak Ghosts Run Amok', 'New Risen' and many more. A brilliant introduction for the curious and a fascinating re-visit for long-term fans. During the first half of the 1980s, few artists cut a path as individual and self-contained as Eyeless in Gaza. Over six albums and several classic singles, the duo followed their muse in multiple different directions at once, unrestrained by any desire to fit in with whatever was going on around them. Bursts of primal electronica sat comfortably alongside reflective ballads and lo-fi recordings and polished productions were equally valued, all of it pulled together by Martyn Bates' unmistakable vocals and a singular, minimalist approach to songwriting.

Present is the ninth studio album by British progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator, released in 2005. It was the band's first studio album since The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome in 1977, and the first with the 'classic' line-up since World Record in 1976. The Charisma Records label was reactivated for its release, as well as a reissue series of Van der Graaf Generator's back catalog and Peter Hammill's solo releases from 1972-80. For many years the band's lead singer and principal songwriter Peter Hammill had rejected the idea of a VdGG reunion, but in 2004 (following two one-off, unannounced reunions at Hammill concerts), work began on an official reunion album. Present was the result. It consists of one disc of songs (plus an instrumental, "Boleas Panic"), and one disc of studio improvisations. The band had always improvised in the studio throughout their history, but never before (excepting the bootleg-quality Time Vaults), had these improvisations been officially released. In 2005, the band embarked on a successful reunion tour. Only two songs from Present, however, were played on the tour: "Every Bloody Emperor" and "Nutter Alert". The album was named as one of Classic Rock‘s 10 essential progressive rock albums of the decade.

Excellent five CD set containing albums from a quintet of Krautrock's finest bands packaged in mini LP sleeves and housed in a slipcase. Collects Parzival's "BaRock" (1973), Message's "Synapse" (1976), Satin Whale's "Lost Mankind" (1975), Kin Ping Meh's "Concrete" (1976) and Gift's "Blue Apple" (1974).