A real gem from that key moment in Japanese fusion when some of the nation's best artists were hopping over to the American scene - cutting records like this, which often beat the American soul fusion scene at its own game - thanks to the help of a big array of all-star players! Masayoshi Takanaka plays guitar solos throughout, but also gets some help from Lee Ritenour on the electric strings - in a group that also has arrangements from Greg Adams of Tower Of Power, who brings in the rest of the TOP horns too - plus keyboards from Patrice Rushen, bass from Chuck Rainey, and drums from the great Harvey Mason - a rhythm combo that really keeps things groovy throughout. There's two vocal tracks on the set - which feature work from Jim Gilstrap, Maxi Anderson, and The Waters.

The debut solo album by the Lindisfarne frontman, cut shortly after that band's initial breakup, Pipedream is very much the son of its father, a faintly folky collection of songs that, one presumes, were originally intended for the next Lindisfarne album before events finally overtook them. As usual with Alan Hull's post-Dingly Dell output, nothing here truly leaps out to grab your attention; rather, Pipedream is a meditative, reflective collection characterized as much by Hull's often-plaintive vocal than by any particular melody. But "Country Gentleman's Wife," "Song for a Windmill" and the gorgeous "Justanothersadsong" are latter-day Hull jewels, while the biting "The Money Game" reflects on the end of the band with grandiose venom. [Originally released in 1973, the LP was reissued on CD in 2005 and includes six bonus tracks.]

In Search of The Lost Chord (1968). "In Search of the Lost Chord" is the album on which the Moody Blues discovered drugs and mysticism as a basis for songwriting and came up with a compelling psychedelic creation, filled with songs about Timothy Leary and the astral plane and other psychedelic-era concerns. They dumped the orchestra this time out in favor of Mike Pinder's Mellotron, which was a more than adequate substitute, and the rest of the band joined in with flutes, sitar, tablas, and cellos, the playing of which was mostly learned on the spot. The whole album was one big experiment to see how far the group could go with any instruments they could find, thus making this album a rather close cousin to the Beatles' records of the same era…

Sunstorm changed its skin with the new album "Restless Fight", the third to feature lead vocalist Ronnie Romero (Rainbow, MSG, Lords of Black etc.). Romero’s debut album with Sunstorm, “Afterlife” was released in early 2021 and showcased a rejuvenation of Sunstorm's previous musical formula, mixing Melodic Rock/AOR with more '70s oriented hard rock, ala Rainbow (for which Romero performed as singer). The new line-up that backs Romero, comes from a heavy background, featuring Aldo Lonobile ( Secret Sphere, Ring Of Fire, Sweet Oblivion) on guitars, Andrea Arcangeli (DGM) on bass, Alfonso Mocerino (ex-Temperance, Virtual Simmetry) on drums and Antonio Agate (one of the most talented Italian keyboard players and arranger for symphonic orchestras, featured in countless albums) on keyboards, brings back the Sunstorm’s classic AOR/Hard Rock formula with a strongest dose of energy, reaching a more dynamic and bombastic approach.

Going by the title, the Retro: Active series from Canada's Hi-Bias label sounds like it could be a nightmare of new wave and '80s-alternative singles remixed by modern producers to put a new spin on old favorites. Thankfully, the label has simply plucked extended versions and remixes from previously existing 12" singles - like the ones you might have sitting in your closet, or the ones you heard in clubs or even on the radio.
A-ha, Erasure, The Cure, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Alphaville, Duran Duran, INXS, New Order, Peter Schilling and many more.

Basically, there are two things that rock bands do: they make an album and they go on tour. Since Paul McCartney fervently wanted to believe Wings was a real rock band, he had the group record an album or two and then took them on the road. In March of 1976 he released Wings at the Speed of Sound and launched a tour of America, following which he released Wings Over America, a triple-album set that re-created an entire concert from various venues. It was a massive set list, running over two hours and featuring 30 songs, and it was well received at the time, partially because he revived some Beatles tunes, partially because it wasn't the disaster some naysayers expected, and mostly because – like the tour itself – it was the first chance that millions of Beatles fans had to hear McCartney in concert properly (the Beatles had toured, to be sure, and had played before millions of people between 1963 and 1966, but as a result of the relatively primitive equipment they used and the frenzied, omnipresent screaming of the mid-'60s teen audiences at their shows, few of those present had actually "heard" the group).