Maybe our favorite Beatles album ever – a key set that bridges the catchiness of the early years and the sharper ideas of later albums – with a slightly sinister undercurrent that really keeps things fresh! The album's got some great early psych in spots, offset with wonderfully mature and sweet lyrics on the love songs – cross-cut with a bit of witty social commentary too! The blend is amazing – a pre-Sgt Peppers moment of the group that maybe captures them at their most honest and open – all the depth of records to come, but some of the more direct modes of previous sets too. Tracks include "Taxman", "Eleanor Rigby", "Love You To", "Here There & Everywhere", "She Said She Said", "And Your Bird Can Sing", "Tomorrow Never Knows", and "For No One". CD

Maybe our favorite Beatles album ever – a key set that bridges the catchiness of the early years and the sharper ideas of later albums – with a slightly sinister undercurrent that really keeps things fresh! The album's got some great early psych in spots, offset with wonderfully mature and sweet lyrics on the love songs – cross-cut with a bit of witty social commentary too! The blend is amazing – a pre-Sgt Peppers moment of the group that maybe captures them at their most honest and open – all the depth of records to come, but some of the more direct modes of previous sets too. Tracks include "Taxman", "Eleanor Rigby", "Love You To", "Here There & Everywhere", "She Said She Said", "And Your Bird Can Sing", "Tomorrow Never Knows", and "For No One". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe our favorite Beatles album ever – a key set that bridges the catchiness of the early years and the sharper ideas of later albums – with a slightly sinister undercurrent that really keeps things fresh! The album's got some great early psych in spots, offset with wonderfully mature and sweet lyrics on the love songs – cross-cut with a bit of witty social commentary too! The blend is amazing – a pre-Sgt Peppers moment of the group that maybe captures them at their most honest and open – all the depth of records to come, but some of the more direct modes of previous sets too. Tracks include "Taxman", "Eleanor Rigby", "Love You To", "Here There & Everywhere", "She Said She Said", "And Your Bird Can Sing", "Tomorrow Never Knows", and "For No One". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe our favorite Beatles album ever – a key set that bridges the catchiness of the early years and the sharper ideas of later albums – with a slightly sinister undercurrent that really keeps things fresh! The album's got some great early psych in spots, offset with wonderfully mature and sweet lyrics on the love songs – cross-cut with a bit of witty social commentary too! The blend is amazing – a pre-Sgt Peppers moment of the group that maybe captures them at their most honest and open – all the depth of records to come, but some of the more direct modes of previous sets too. Tracks include "Taxman", "Eleanor Rigby", "Love You To", "Here There & Everywhere", "She Said She Said", "And Your Bird Can Sing", "Tomorrow Never Knows", and "For No One". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe our favorite Beatles album ever – a key set that bridges the catchiness of the early years and the sharper ideas of later albums – with a slightly sinister undercurrent that really keeps things fresh! The album's got some great early psych in spots, offset with wonderfully mature and sweet lyrics on the love songs – cross-cut with a bit of witty social commentary too! The blend is amazing – a pre-Sgt Peppers moment of the group that maybe captures them at their most honest and open – all the depth of records to come, but some of the more direct modes of previous sets too. Tracks include "Taxman", "Eleanor Rigby", "Love You To", "Here There & Everywhere", "She Said She Said", "And Your Bird Can Sing", "Tomorrow Never Knows", and "For No One". CD

Maybe our favorite Beatles album ever – a key set that bridges the catchiness of the early years and the sharper ideas of later albums – with a slightly sinister undercurrent that really keeps things fresh! The album's got some great early psych in spots, offset with wonderfully mature and sweet lyrics on the love songs – cross-cut with a bit of witty social commentary too! The blend is amazing – a pre-Sgt Peppers moment of the group that maybe captures them at their most honest and open – all the depth of records to come, but some of the more direct modes of previous sets too. Tracks include "Taxman", "Eleanor Rigby", "Love You To", "Here There & Everywhere", "She Said She Said", "And Your Bird Can Sing", "Tomorrow Never Knows", and "For No One". CD

Maybe our favorite Beatles album ever – a key set that bridges the catchiness of the early years and the sharper ideas of later albums – with a slightly sinister undercurrent that really keeps things fresh! The album's got some great early psych in spots, offset with wonderfully mature and sweet lyrics on the love songs – cross-cut with a bit of witty social commentary too! The blend is amazing – a pre-Sgt Peppers moment of the group that maybe captures them at their most honest and open – all the depth of records to come, but some of the more direct modes of previous sets too. Tracks include "Taxman", "Eleanor Rigby", "Love You To", "Here There & Everywhere", "She Said She Said", "And Your Bird Can Sing", "Tomorrow Never Knows", and "For No One". This is also an enhanced version that includes a mini-Revolver documentary. CD

An insane package of work from this wonderful British group – a studio pop creation who stormed the charts with one huge hit, but also recorded some really great overlooked material! The style of First Class is a brilliant extension of the sound of American harmony pop of the 60s – and one that blends it together with a good deal of 70s soft rock as well – but always with a super-catchy style that's completely wonderful! The group is the brainchild of Brit studio legend John Carter – and they're kind of a recast take on the sound of the Beach Boys in later years – filtered through a nicely compressed UK mid 70s pop approach that brings in some sweeter, softer modes, but which also has some of that "bump" of glam-era pop as well. The group's best known for their massive 70s hit "Beach Baby" – but they've got a great sound that's more than worth rediscovering all these years later – which you will definitely do when digging through this massive set. The 3CD package features 82 tracks in all the group's two full albums and singles, plus unreleased tracks – and, even cooler, a whole host of rare jingles they recorded – for Right Guard deodorant, Eveready batteries, Singer sewing machines, and many other products. The jingles alone are worth the price of admission – and the whole thing is super groovy, all the way through! CD

An overlooked gem from Genesis – a record that maybe forms a perfect bridge between their early concept years and the tighter mode that drove them into the 80s – and a set that really has the trio version of the group finding their way forward! There's some of the catchiness of Abacab to come, but there's also more of a sense of scope – that long form instrumental exploration that Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks continued from the early years – honed into more focus, and driven by the increasingly strong drum talents of Phil Collins! Phil's a few years away from being an MTV figure here – and is instead more of a proud progger, finding a way to bring things into tighter energy – and really balance the whole thing beautifully. Titles include the hits "Turn It On Again" and "Misunderstanding" – balanced with "Duke's Travels", "Dutchess", "Behind The Lines", "Heathaze", and "Cul De Sac". CD

An overlooked gem from Genesis – a record that maybe forms a perfect bridge between their early concept years and the tighter mode that drove them into the 80s – and a set that really has the trio version of the group finding their way forward! There's some of the catchiness of Abacab to come, but there's also more of a sense of scope – that long form instrumental exploration that Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks continued from the early years – honed into more focus, and driven by the increasingly strong drum talents of Phil Collins! Phil's a few years away from being an MTV figure here – and is instead more of a proud progger, finding a way to bring things into tighter energy – and really balance the whole thing beautifully. Titles include the hits "Turn It On Again" and "Misunderstanding" – balanced with "Duke's Travels", "Dutchess", "Behind The Lines", "Heathaze", and "Cul De Sac". LP, Vinyl record album

Underground work from the Manchester scene at the start of the 80s – and work that's even more deeply underground than some of the city's post-punk classics at the time! Spider King only ever issued a track or two back in the day, but the music on this first full LP is worthy of the best from the North England indie world at the time – sometimes as dark as the early cold wave material, sometimes more witty and catchy, with almost a new wave vibe – all done with a homemade brew of electronics, keyboards, and basslines – plus maybe a slight bit of punkish sneer in the vocals. Only two of the album's ten tracks was released before, and titles include "Shot To Pieces", "City Girls", "Mad Dog", "Chinese Takeaway", "Back On The Pills", and "Would You Wanna Die For England". LP, Vinyl record album

Joni Mitchell's second album, and the one where she really seemed to find her voice – quickly moving past the more folk-styled music of her roots, into that special territory that was very much her own! The album has some incredibly deep songwriting for such a young artist – tunes that are unabashedly full of love, wonder, and worry – graced with acoustic guitar and those amazing vocals – exploding into sunshine and life with a power that still holds up strongly after all these years! Stephen Stills plays bass and guitar on the record, but Joni clearly doesn't need any superstar help at all – as she shines brilliantly on titles that include "Both Sides Now", "I Don't Know Where I Stand", "Chelsea Morning", "Tin Angel", "That Song About The Midway", "Songs To Aging Children Come", and "I Think I Understand". CD

Joni Mitchell's second album, and the one where she really seemed to find her voice – quickly moving past the more folk-styled music of her roots, into that special territory that was very much her own! The album has some incredibly deep songwriting for such a young artist – tunes that are unabashedly full of love, wonder, and worry – graced with acoustic guitar and those amazing vocals – exploding into sunshine and life with a power that still holds up strongly after all these years! Stephen Stills plays bass and guitar on the record, but Joni clearly doesn't need any superstar help at all – as she shines brilliantly on titles that include "Both Sides Now", "I Don't Know Where I Stand", "Chelsea Morning", "Tin Angel", "That Song About The Midway", "Songs To Aging Children Come", and "I Think I Understand". LP, Vinyl record album

Joni Mitchell's second album, and the one where she really seemed to find her voice – quickly moving past the more folk-styled music of her roots, into that special territory that was very much her own! The album has some incredibly deep songwriting for such a young artist – tunes that are unabashedly full of love, wonder, and worry – graced with acoustic guitar and those amazing vocals – exploding into sunshine and life with a power that still holds up strongly after all these years! Stephen Stills plays bass and guitar on the record, but Joni clearly doesn't need any superstar help at all – as she shines brilliantly on titles that include "Both Sides Now", "I Don't Know Where I Stand", "Chelsea Morning", "Tin Angel", "That Song About The Midway", "Songs To Aging Children Come", and "I Think I Understand". LP, Vinyl record album

The second full length set from The Monkees – a record that was issued at a time when global interest in the group was at an early peak, and when the group were able to deliver way more than just the "More" promised in the title! All the vocal performances here are top shelf – that careful blend of pop catchiness and deeper feeling that made the group such a sly act over the years – a depth that's sometimes overshadowed by their initial reputation as a packaged pop product – but which is certainly evident over the years, especially with repeated plays of a treasure like this! The album's overflowing with gems – including "She", "Your Auntie Grizelda", "Steppin Stone", "Mary Mary", "Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow", "The Day We Fall In Love", "Laugh", and "Sometime In The Morning". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal album from the American underground of the late 70s – the debut of Pere Ubu, bursting forth from the Cleveland scene with a sound to challenge the greatness of anything coming from New York or LA at the time! The album's not exactly punk, not exactly art rock, but has strong elements of both – all wrapped around the unique conception of singer Dave Thomas, whose vocals are some of the oddest ever recorded! The tunes here are a lot more straightforward and upfront than some of Pere Ubu's later work – in a way that definitely makes the album their biggest favorite with new generations of indie rockers. But there's also still a fair number of more experimental touches too – odd sonic tricks and almost-abstract moments that were quite revolutionary for the time – especially from Cleveland! Titles include "Non Alignment Pact", "The Modern Dance", "Chinese Radiation", "Real World", "Life Stinks", "Over My Head", and "Humor Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Remarkably strong stuff from Lou Reed in the early 80s – even if it's somewhat overlooked in his canon! As he was often doing in the period, it's fairly straight-forward rock & roll – which may have been something of a sly rebellion at a time when many of his late 60s and 70s peers were tripping over themselves to modernize and dive headlong into drum machines and synths. No skews towards timelessness, and with Robert Quine playing guitar, it's pretty great! Includes "Legendary Hearts", "Don't Talk To Me About Work", "Pow Wow", "Betrayed"m "Rooftop Garden", "Home Of The Brave" and more. CD

Melodic space rock from Secret Machines – who smartly developed a unique niche in the post millennium rock scene by pairing early 70s Eno style and Krautrock era moody atmospherics with accessible hooks and relatable lyricism – smartly eschewing trends and making it pretty timeless, so it's as listenable now as ever! Includes "Alone, Jealous & Stoned", "All At One (It's Not Important)", "Lighting Blue Eyes", "Daddy's In The Doldrums", "I Hate Pretending", "Faded Lines", "I Want To Know If It's Still Possible" and "1,000 Seconds". CD

A pair of records from this important early 70s group! First up is the fantastic debut from Sugarloaf – a group who managed to use the Hammond organ in ways that were just as strong as the guitar in most other groups! The approach here seems to draw a lot from all the best changes taking place in soulful jazz – as Jerry Corbetta manages his keyboards with this lean quality that's wonderful, and balanced with the bass, drums, and guitar in this perfect way – almost funky at many moments, and still pretty damn sharp even if not! You'll probably know that quality from the group's classic hit "Green Eyed Lady" – but it really shines through on the whole album, on titles that include "Bach Doors Man", "Chest Fever", "Things Gonna Change Soon", and "Train Kept A Rollin". Spaceship Earth is the searing second album from Sugarloaf – a set that has Jerry Corbetta wailing even more heavily on the organ than before, and the group working with the kind of razor-sharp intensity that made them such a big act at the time! Corbetta also handles most of the lead vocals, but the group draws plenty of strength from an ability to harmonize warmly too – not in the softer modes of some of their contemporaries, but with a soaring vibe that really works well with the edges on the guitar, and the full-on bass and drums that propel the whole album along! A gem of a record that was big at the time, and never gets the due it deserves all these many years later – with cuts that include "Rusty Cloud", "Hot Water", "Spaceship Earth", "Woman", "Music Box", "Tongue In Cheek", and "Mother Nature's Wine". CD

A well-remembered soundtrack from the 90s – mostly because of its use of work by some of the bigger alt-rock names of the time! Tracks include "Color Me Once" by Violent Femmes, "Dead Souls" by Nine Inch Nails, "Burn" by The Cure, "Golgotha Tenement Blues" by Machines Of Living Grace, "Big Empty" by Stone Temple Pilots, "Darkness" by Rage Against The Machine, "Ghostrider" by Rollins Band, "Milktoast" by Helmet, "Snakedriver" by Jesus & Mary Chain, and "After The Flesh" by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. (Soundtracks, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album