A soaring, spacey set from the mighty David Sancious – one of his 70s albums that's almost a genre unto itself, given the many different elements that David mixes into the music – touches of jazz, fusion, funk, and soul – but also delivered with the proficiency you might find in a record by a prog player too! No surprise, Sancious has backgrounds in all of those scenes, and wraps that experience together wonderfully here – playing keyboards, guitar, and handling lead vocals – with some added vocal support by female singers who emphasize some of the more soulful aspects of the music when the other musicians step out to solo and jam! Titles include "Dance Of The Glory & Playfulness", "The Dawn", "Dance Of Serenity & Strength", "Gone Is The Veil Of Illusion", "Dance Of Gratitude & Devotion", and "Dance Of Purification". (Jazz, Rock) CD

A record with a space age cover, but a set that's every bit as raw and rootsy as all of the previous Liberty Records releases by Canned Heat! The group have really upped their chops here – and guitarist Harvey Mandel really sounds amazing, and is bringing in some of the funky elements that he was using on his own records at the time – almost even making things more complex at times, at a level that hides some of the bluesy elements at the core – a factor that's OK with us, because we love the funky bits so much! But there's also plenty of blues, too – and the vocals of Bob Hite sound as nice as ever – on titles that include "Let's Work Together", "Sugar Bee", "That's All Right Mama", "Skat", "London Blues", "So Sad", and "Shake It & Break It". CD features bonus tracks – "Poor Moon", "Wooly Bully", "Human Condition", and the long version of "Let's Work Together". CD

A great little record from The Damned – even if the set does have them very far away from their punkish roots! Yet like some of the best of their contemporaries, the group grew up fast – shed a bit of anger, learned how to play their instruments, and really developed a way with a tune – an asset that you'll hear here right from the very first note! The songwriting is smart, but sensitive too – and with a slight edge at times, there's almost an evolution to the group's sound that's similar to XTC over the same stretch of time – save for the fact that the guitars are sometimes a bit more ferocious! Captain Sensible's definitely making himself felt more here than earlier – even singing on a few of the best songs too – in a set that includes "Ignite", "Generals", "Stranger On The Town", "The Dog", "Gun Fury", "Life Goes On", "Don't Bother Me", and "Under The Floor Again". 2CD edition includes loads of great bonus tracks – including the cut "Fun Factory", done with Robert Fripp – plus "Lovely Money", "I Think I'm Wonderful", "Take That", "Lovely Money (disco mix)", "Dozen Girls (7" mix)", "Mine's A Large One", "Torture Me", "Disguse", "Citadel Zombies", and even some live versions of tracks on the album too! CD