Deep Purple's definitive Mark II lineup reunited for 1984's Perfect Strangers. It is one of the better examples of a reunion album, although the band's uneasy camaraderie only lasted a few more years. "Knocking at Your Back Door" opens the album with a roar. Ian Gillan's lyrics don't make much sense, but Ritchie Blackmore's guitar riffs and Ian Paice's thunderous drumming carry this song as well as the rest of the album. The robotic rhythm of the title cut relies on Jon Lord's organ work. The 1999 remastered reissue features the bonus track "Son of Alerik." This fascinating, mid-tempo, ten-minute instrumental was the B-side of the "Perfect Strangers" 12" single in the U.K.© Bret Adams /TiVo

A relentlessly bleak cornerstone of mid-'90s hip-hop, the Queens duo's second album has all the foreboding atmosphere and thematic sweep of an epic crime drama.© TiVo

One of the cornerstones of the New York hardcore movement, The Infamous is Mobb Deep's masterpiece, a relentlessly bleak song cycle that's been hailed by hardcore rap fans as one of the most realistic gangsta albums ever recorded. Given Mobb Deep's youthful age and art-school background, it's highly unlikely that The Infamous is drawn strictly from real-life experience, yet it's utterly convincing, because it has all the foreboding atmosphere and thematic sweep of an epic crime drama. That's partly because of the cinematic vision behind the duo's detailed narratives, but it's also a tribute to how well the raw, grimy production evokes the world that Mobb Deep is depicting. The group produced the vast majority of the album itself, with help on a few tracks from the Abstract (better known as Q-Tip), and establishes a spare, throbbing, no-frills style indebted to the Wu-Tang Clan. This is hard, underground hip-hop that demands to be met on its own terms, with few melodic hooks to draw the listener in. Similarly, there's little pleasure or relief offered in the picture of the streets Mobb Deep paints here: They inhabit a war zone where crime and paranoia hang constantly in the air. Gangs are bound together by a code of fierce loyalty, relying wholly on one another for survival in a hopeless environment. Hostile forces -- cops, rivals, neighborhood snitches -- are potentially everywhere, and one slip around the wrong person can mean prison or death. There's hardly any mention of women, and the violence is grim, serious business, never hedonistic. Pretty much everything on the album contributes to this picture, but standouts among the consistency include "Survival of the Fittest," "Eye for a Eye," "Temperature's Rising," "Cradle to the Grave," and the classic "Shook Ones, Pt. 2." The product of an uncommon artistic vision, The Infamous stands as an all-time gangsta/hardcore classic.© Steve Huey /TiVo

Jeff Buckley was a mess of contradictions: a perfectionist who believed in spontaneity, a man who was at once humble and vain, a musician who shunned his father's tumultuous legacy while creating one of his own. These are some of the reasons why he took his time writing and recording the material for his second album, laboring over many songs for months at a time. Given such painstaking methods, it shouldn't have been a surprise that recording was an equally fastidious process. Buckley recorded enough material for an album with producer Tom Verlaine, but deciding that the results weren't quite right, he scrapped them and moved to Memphis to record the album again. He reworked a few songs as home demos as he prepared to cut the album, but it was never made -- Buckley died in a tragic drowning accident before entering the studio. As a way to enlarge his legacy, his mother and record label rounded up the majority of the existing unreleased recordings, releasing them as the double-disc set Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk. Excepting a few awkward moments and middle-eights, it's hard to see why Buckley rejected the Verlaine productions that make up disc one. The material isn't necessarily a progression from Grace; it's more like a stripped-down, edgier take on the sweeping, jazz-tinged goth folk-rock that made the first album so distinctive. Neither the nearly finished first disc nor the homemade demos and re-recordings on the second disc offer any revelations, but that's not necessarily a disappointment. Sketches adds several wonderful songs to his catalog, offering further proof of his immense talent. And that, of course, is what makes the album as sad as it is exciting.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

With Alterations, Robin McKelle celebrates all the women that have helped shape her into the artist she is today. “Their memory has an infallible power. I wanted to pay tribute to all these female creative singer/songwriters and make their songs my own.” The American with Irish origins has covered songs by Dolly Parton, Sade, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Janis Joplin, Carole King, Billie Holiday, Joni Mitchell and Lana Del Rey. These are all artists with strong creative personalities which McKelle manages to preserve while also adding her own personal touch. Blues, soul, rhythm’n’blues and especially jazz: she has always easily flitted between genres and this eighth album underlines her ability to concentrate on her voice and the dialogue she shares with her musicians, nevermind the stylistic differences. Alterations introduces an element of shared timelessness to all these singers from different genres and eras. ©️ Clotilde Maréchal/Qobuz

One of the attractions of Céline Dion's sixteenth album (her fourth in English) is that it presents the missing link between the Quebecoise star and David Bowie's Space Oddity. That is, the conductor and arranger Paul Buckmaster, who worked for Bowie, but also for Elton John until 1978. For Céline, he put his signature on the song that gave the album its title: with its elegant strings, its nonchalant Latin rhythm and its torrid saxophone solo, Falling Into You lends a certain seductive suavity to the singer's image. As the cover of this release attests, Céline Dion was then a young woman (28 years old in 1996) who was no longer afraid to please: a natural "girl next door" (You make me feel like a natural woman), whose aura is enveloped by a positive light (Your light).In addition to Buckmaster, we will meet Jean-Jacques Goldman, another prominent behind-the-scenes man (If That's What It Takes, I Love You...). The Dion / Goldman duo had just released the world's best-selling francophone record (D'eux, 1995). Anecdotally, a third star of the studios could have been one of the pillars of Falling Into You, as Phil Spector had started to produce it, before his mood swings led René Angélil (manager and husband of Céline) to put a stop to the collaboration. Only the song River Deep, Mountain High, written by Spector, is a remnant of this fleeting encounter. Finally, a year before Titanic and the global hit My Heart Will Go On, Céline Dion is here doing her classes in the cinema with Because You Loved Me, a piece written by the "queen of the ballad" Diane Warren, for the feature film Up Close & Personal. The film depicted the meteoric rise of a TV journalist, played by Michelle Pfeiffer. It's hard not to draw a parallel with Céline Dion's in the 1990s (Falling Into You was one of the best-selling albums in history with 32 million copies sold worldwide). ©Nicolas Magenham / Qobuz

Chris Botti's sixth album is a wonderfully, even perfectly crafted group of originals and covers that accent his deep crossover appeal as both a jazz and pop musician. Botti's phrasing is very keen, uncanny in the way it works with simple rhythmic structures, and his tone is rich and warm. His use of keyboards and drum loops is pretty much up to the minute in terms of its hip factor, and his arrangements appeal to serious jazz fans and are something akin to blessed-out ecstasy to smooth jazz aficionados. Therein also lies the problem. Botti hasn't significantly developed his sense of artifice since his debut album and, if anything, has delved deeper into its oh-so-cool bachelor pad faux elegance than ever on A Thousand Kisses Deep. The title track, a very moving song written by Leonard Cohen, is the finest moment on the disc. A spare guitar backdrop is adorned simply; Botti plays the melody in short, clipped staccato phrases for an entire full verse before the rhythm section enters. The effect is haunting, lushly romantic, and full of a sensual warmth that is as spooky as it is silky. The spare keyboards and brushed drums offer the song as something slightly Latin (thanks to the gorgeous guitar playing by Dean Parks). It could have been the love theme in Robert Rodriguez's Once Upon a Time in Mexico -- yes, it really does feel slightly mariachi! Burt Bacharach's "The Look of Love," despite a marvelous vocal by Chantal Kreviazuk, suffers from cute syndrome -- as does "The Last Three Minutes," another Bacharach tune. The straight pop stuff, such as "Ever Since We Met" with Bridget Benenate's breathy vocals, work very well. Botti's solo entwines the refrain and carries the singer's voice along into the ether. A duet with pianist Billy Childs on "My Funny Valentine" feels a tad stilted, but there is great tension resolution in the third chorus. "If I Could," another original, with the great Smokey Hormel on guitar in addition to Parks, is a true mood-setter. Smoky, slightly steamy with just a hint of a funk backdrop and Botti whispering through the pastel keyboard sounds with his own shade of deep blue and gauzy elegance, it's the babymaker on the album. In all, as with each of Botti's recordings, there is nothing inherently wrong here, and the formula is successful; it's one of the better mood records out there, but it's still formula, contrived and calculated to establish and keep the listener paying some degree of attention, but not too much.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

By most accounts, Deep Purple's 1993 European tour was quite a memorable one, not so much for the musical performances, but because it was in the middle of this tour that founding guitarist Ritchie Blackmore left the band for good -- marking the last time the group's classic Mk II lineup ever toured together. With the band supporting the appropriately titled The Battle Rages On... at the time, there are a few latter-day Purple songs included, but to the delight of many fans, the vast majority of 2007's Live in Stuttgart 1993 is comprised of classics. It doesn't sound like the group was resting on its laurels during this advanced stage of its career, either -- as evidenced by a simply ferocious reading of "Speed King," as well as other highlights like the set-opening "Highway Star" and "Knocking at Your Back Door." There may have been some tension behind the scenes at this time, but on the concert stage, Deep Purple were definitely still a functioning unit, as evidenced throughout Live in Stuttgart 1993.© Greg Prato /TiVo

Throughout their long existence, Oregon have consistently performed music that is difficult to categorize. Some of their acoustic ventures, particularly in the group's earlier days, could be considered "world jazz" or "folk-jazz" due to the unusual instrumentation, avoidance of conventional blue notes, and original pieces. On 1000 Kilometers, there are times when the group actually sounds close to Weather Report in the 1970s, particularly when electronics and Paul McCandless' soprano are utilized. But there are also performances that sound far from Weather Report, focusing on Ralph Towner's acoustic guitar, McCandless' other instruments, and the rhythm team of bassist Glen Moore and drummer Mark Walker. The music constantly keeps one guessing, and although McCandless is generally the lead voice in the ensembles, all four musicians make strong contributions. 1000 Kilometers is a fine effort from a unique band. The improvisation by Paul McCandless on the title track was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007 for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, and Mark Walker's "Deep Six" was nominated for Best Instrumental Composition.© Scott Yanow /TiVo

The immense output of Sun Ra and his many backing bands, coupled with the limited production of many of his releases has long defied dedicated collectors. Parallel to a vast list of LP releases, Sun Ra released numerous 45 RPM singles; one-off meteorites from his prolific cosmic journey. Working closely with Sun Ra LLC and Art Yard Records, it is with great pride that Strut presents a definitive collection of the rare singles released by Sun Ra across his illustrious career, spanning 1952 to 1991. Released prolifically during the 1950s and more sporadically thereafter, primarily on the Saturn label, the 45s trace the development of Sun Ra’s forward-thinking “Space-Bop” and his unique take on jazz and blues traditions which remains unlike anything else from the period. As with his LPs, most 45s were only pressed in small runs and have since become extremely rare and sought after. Some have only been discovered in physical form in recent years; some were planned and penciled but allegedly never made it to vinyl and some appeared as one-off magazine singles and posthumous releases.

Prior to the release of Odyssey, Gary Barlow declared the days of the standard-issue Greatest Hits album were "over," which is why this 2018 compilation deliberately doesn't follow a straight path. Instead, Take That hired a bunch of remixers to give their old hits a fresh coat of paint, sequencing so the double-disc set flows seamlessly and feels vaguely modern. The amount of tinkering on Odyssey isn't limited to the rhythm tracks: there are tweaks in the vocals and the arrangements, all turning the original versions into music that could be played in any high-end lobby around the world. And that's the rub about Odyssey: It's not quite about what Take That was about, but what they aspire to be in 2018. There's enough of the old boy band to provoke a bit of nostalgia, but there's not anything new (or daring) enough to make this exercise anything other than aural wallpaper.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

The powers that be at Capitol-EMI haven't been as thorough with their Peggy Lee reissues as they have been with, say, June Christy (a much less commercially successful artist), not to mention Frank Sinatra or Nat "King" Cole. Luckily, in 2009, the DRG label saw fit to put out domestic U.S. reissues of the previously unavailable THE MAN I LOVE and JUMP FOR JOY, from 1957 and 1958 respectively, complete with two bonus tracks each and informative liner notes by JAZZ SINGING author Will Friedwald.JUMP FOR JOY, Peggy Lee's second (and last) album with Nelson Riddle arrangements, was conceived as the extroverted, swinging follow-up to THE MAN I LOVE (which was itself produced and conducted by none other than Sinatra himself to mark her return to Capitol Records after a five-year absence). At the very least, it succeeded in securing Lee's status on the label with its solid production, classy arrangements, and, of course, her own masterful singing. JOY is also notable for including a number of older tunes from the '20s and '30s--songs like "Back In Your Own Backyard," the Boswell Sisters' "When My Sugar Walks Down The Street," "Aint We Got Fun," Billie Holiday's "What A Little Moonlight Can Do," and Fred Astaire's "Cheek To Cheek." Far from making the album something of a novelty session--both Lee and Riddle can make any material sound fresh and contemporary, anyway--they only add to the bright, insouciant mood the singer and her arranger are trying to establish here. Apart from Sinatra's SONGS FOR SWINGIN' LOVERS! and A SWINGIN' AFFAIR!, these are some of Nelson Riddle's most hard-swinging charts, the brass sounding particularly forceful in the superb stereo recording. Of course, it all comes down to Peggy Lee's equally superb vocals--she has never sounded more confident or more in charge, as she looks forward to a renewed and successful association with the label where she first became a major star.© TiVo