Capitol Records initially planned to release a live album from the Beatles in 1964, recording the band's August 23 concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Nobody at the label found the results satisfactory so they attempted it again almost exactly a year later, taping the August 29 and 30, 1965 shows at the Hollywood Bowl but, once again, it proved hard to hear the Fab Four from underneath the roar of the crowd, so those tapes were also shelved. They remained in the vaults until 1977, when Capitol president Bhaskar Menon asked George Martin to assemble a listenable live album from the two sets of Hollywood Bowl tapes, all with the idea of combating the rise of bootlegs and quasi-legit Beatles live albums. It was a difficult task, yet Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick managed to assemble a 13-track LP of highlights that was quite well received upon its 1977 release yet managed to earn a reputation as something of a disappointment in part due to the screams that overwhelmed the band…

Live album featuring Dio first appearance at Castle Donington during Holy Diver tour. Originally publised as a double album including his '87 concert as well, now it's released as a single edition with remastered sound.
For a brief spell during the mid-'80s, the heavy metal quintet Dio were one of the top U.S. concert attractions, boasting one of the most over the top stage acts of its time loaded with props and special effects (lasers, explosions, a giant dragon, etc.). The group's leader was singer Ronnie James Dio, who had previously become acquainted with the metal masses as the frontman of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow from 1975-1978 and Black Sabbath from 1979-1982. Come the early '80s, Ronnie James was ready to finally head out on his own, forming Dio and recruiting a stellar backing band, consisting of a few former bandmembers, ex-Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain and ex-Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice…

This rare album from singer/pianist Tânia Maria, backed by bassist Hélio and drummer Boto, documents that in the mid-'70s, the swinging samba-jazz interpreter was already developed - even if still closely emulating Elis Regina. The album opens with the heavy pounding of "Samba de Orly" (Vinícius de Moraes/Chico Buarque de Hollanda), and the same atmosphere follows with a Jorge Ben medley, giving room to the lyrical "Até Quem Sabe" (Lysias Ênio/João Donato). "Abre Alas" traces very closely Elis Regina's take. Another Ben classic, "Fio Maravilha" (which was written in homage to the celebrated soccer player Fio, from Botafogo, who later sued Ben for using his name, which is the reason why this song is currently interpreted as "Filho Maravilha") restores that heavy swing…

On Culpeper's Orchard self-titled debut album they play a style of heavy psych-prog influenced by a mixture of the proto-prog sounds of the late 1960s and the West Coast folk-rock of the same time period. Gideon's Trap, for instance, sounds uncannily like a slightly harder-rockin' Procol Harum, whilst the brief piece Hey You People features vocal harmonies which put me in mind of a blend between the Moody Blues and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Bookended by the extended jams of Mountain Music, the album visits a range of styles over its running time, with occasional visits to folk and good old-fashioned rock and roll rooted in a psych-prog foundation. The group didn't make a whole lot of note after this, but in terms of artistic accomplishment they didn't really need to - this is a rare example of a "forgotten gem" which really is a gem.

Simon Green aka Bonobo returns with his third album and the kind of quantum leap in quality that very few artists make. "Days To Come" has the feeling of a classic all over - a big, brooding, emotional and uplifting record that you can dance to, do the dishes to, or sit and really study. Green has always been expert at welding together music dripping with atmosphere, combining his own musical and technical talents in such a way as to make utterly organic-sounding machine music. This is not just a knob-twiddling producer but a multi-instrumentalist at work, who writes, plays and then manipulates almost every note of music he releases. And "Days To Come" shows a new structural awareness growing from this, a feeling for the song form and the gradual build which raises it way above the work of many of his contemporaries and cries out for him to achieve the kind of mainstream success that has talent has long hinted at.

Decades into his storied career, Vince Gill is showing that inspiration doesn’t fade, it multiplies. In a historic move, MCA Records has announced a lifetime recording agreement with the Grammy-winning musician, reinforcing a bond that's defined his career and launching a year-long wave of new music.

With Pianosong, Tharaud pays homage to the great French singers and songwriters of the 20th century (Brel, Piaf, Barbara, Gainsbourg, Trenet, Ferré, Berger) by transposing their songs into a new pianistic and symphonic language.

Pianist Rafał Blechacz announces his upcoming album, on which he performs a selection of Chopin’s Mazurkas. It is exactly 20 years after winning the prestigious International Chopin Competition in 2005 that he revives these works, which are part of the competition’s key repertoire. His brand-new interpretation of the Mazurkas opp. 6, 17, 24, 41, 50, 56 & 63 is the starting point of an overarching project to record the complete Mazurkas on DG.

Several years in the making, the record is a 78-minute collection of songs loosely based upon the concept of human and cosmic interaction and relationships. Produced by the band and mixed by acclaimed engineer Stephen W Tayler (known for his work with Kate Bush, Rush, Howard Jones, Rupert Hine, Tina Turner and many more), Relativity is a true group effort by John Lees, Craig Fletcher, Jez Smith and Kevin Whitehead and draws upon the fine musical heritage of Barclay James Harvest whilst also being a body of music made for these current times. The result is one of the finest albums by any incarnation of BJH in many years.

To celebrate 60 years of this incredible journey, From The First Sting takes you through the band's most iconic and defining eras. Featuring 16 handpicked tracks, this collection showcases the band’s decades of work featuring 2 unreleased song versions.