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). Wings were never a particularly gifted band, and nowhere is that more evident than on Wings Over America. Matters aren't really helped by the fact that the large set list gives McCartney full opportunity to show off his vast array of affected voices, from crooner to rocker to bluesman. Also, the repertory, in retrospect, is weighted too heavily toward the recent Wings albums Wings at the Speed of Sound and Band on the Run, which weren't really loaded with great tunes. (It's also hard to believe that there were two Denny Laine vocals so early in the program, or that the concert ended with the plodding rocker "Soily," which was never released on any other McCartney album.) In its defense, the album offers bracing renditions of "Maybe I'm Amazed" -- arguably the best of McCartney's post-Beatles songs and possibly his single greatest composition -- and "Band on the Run," as well as nicely distilling the harder side of his repertory, with a few breaks for softer songs such as "My Love" and "Silly Love Songs"; another highlight is the rippling bass sound, showing off that instrument in a manner closer in spirit to, say, a John Entwistle solo LP than to McCartney's more pop-focused studio work. The triple LP, issued two weeks before Christmas of 1976, was priced so low that it was offered by most stores as a "loss leader" to pull customers in; what's more, the Beatles mystique was still very much attached to record and artist alike -- at the time, John Lennon had seemingly burnt out a major chunk of his talent, George Harrison was losing his popular edge and had done a disastrous 1974 American tour, and no one was expecting great things from Ringo Starr -- and it seemed like McCartney represented the part of the group's legacy that came closest to living up to fans' expectations. Thus the album ended up selling in numbers, rivaling the likes of Frampton Comes Alive and other mega-hits of the period, and rode the charts for months. The double-CD reissue offers considerably improved sound, though the combination of workmanlike performances and relatively pedestrian songs diminishes the appeal of such small pleasures as the acoustic Beatles set or the storming "Hi Hi Hi." Wings Over America is most valuable as a souvenir for hardcore fans and also as a reminder of the excitement -- beyond the actual merits of the group's work -- that attended McCartney and Wings' work in the lingering afterglow of the Beatles.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Bruce Eder /TiVo

A limited-edition five-CD box set comprising both albums that Janis Joplin made with Big Brother & the Holding Company (Cheap Thrills and Big Brother & the Holding Company), both of her solo albums (I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! and Pearl), and a bonus EP with five previously unreleased recordings. Each of these four albums includes previously unreleased bonus tracks (including live material), and each is available separately with the same bonus cuts. The tracks on the bonus EP aren't available anywhere else, and if you're devoted enough to consider laying out for this deluxe box, you're probably most interested in what's on that fifth disc. There are a couple of Cheap Thrills outtakes, "It's a Deal" and "Crazy Once You Know How," with a garagey feel and some typically scorching, uninhibited Big Brother lead guitar; it can be seen why they may not have been deemed strong enough for the album, but they're pretty cool to have. The live versions of "Maybe" (April 1969) and "Raise Your Hand" (October 1969) are OK, but not essential; of greater curiosity is the raw live charge through "Bo Diddley" (also October 1969). In the original long-box shaped release, each of the CDs is packaged in a mini-LP-type jacket, which would be really cool except for the fact that, cheapskates that Sony management is, none has an inner-sleeve, so the CDs tend to roll out of the sleeve once they're unsealed, unless you put them back in the box very carefully; additionally, the producers didn't re-create the gatefold design of Cheap Thrills; there are two subsequent versions of the set, a domestic wide CD-sized box containing full, jewel-cased versions of the five discs, and a Japanese version in mini-LP sleeves (with inner sleeves) and with two accompanying booklets. Note that this box does not include a good deal of material that has shown up on the Janis box, the Janis movie soundtrack, In Concert, and Farewell Song, so it's not a complete collection of Joplin's recordings.© Richie Unterberger & Bruce Eder /TiVo

Driven by lockdown to rethink his art and his approach, Theo Croker conceived of BLK2LIFE // A FUTURE PAST like music for a film. “I want the listener to feel like they are in the movie” explains the trumpet player, who was born in Florida in 1985. This sixth album is inspired by the journey of a forgotten hero towards self-fulfilment, in a tale tracing the universal origins of Afro-identity. Past, present and future intertwine in a furious and enjoyable symphony of Great Black Music with all the blinkers removed. Jazz, funk, soul, electro, rock, ethno, hip hop: everything passes through the Croker filter! In addition to his trumpet, the grandson of the great Doc Cheatham also used his old Fender Rhodes to compose the thirteen themes of BLK2LIFE || A FUTURE PAST. And to make this stylistic pile-up even crazier and more overwhelming, he brought in Gary Bartz, Kassa Overall, Ari Lennox, Charlotte Dos Santos, Iman Omari, Malaya and Wyclef Jean of the Fugees. So while for some less might be more, more is more for Theo Croker. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

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Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes picks up where Dynamic Duo left off, digging a little further into the one-time-only Wes Montgomery/Jimmy Smith sessions and coming up with more fine music -- mellower in general than Dynamic Duo but first-class nonetheless. Unlike most of the studio sessions from this time, Montgomery gets plenty of room for his single-string work as well as his famous octaves, and both techniques find him in full, mature bloom, needing fewer notes in which to say more (Smith, of course, is precisely the opposite). All but one of the tracks on the original LP find Smith and Montgomery interacting only with themselves, the drums of Grady Tate, and the congas of Ray Barretto; Roger Miller's "King of the Road" (not often covered by jazzers) and Montgomery's "O.G.D." (later known as "Road Song") come off best. Oliver Nelson's big band makes a sole appearance with a swaggering chart of "Milestones." Though Dynamic Duo is probably the priority purchase by a hairsbreadth margin, you'll need to have both that album and Further Adventures eventually.© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo

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