Though the reissue campaign that presented PJ Harvey's albums with their demos was extensive, it still didn't gather everything in her archives. She fills in those gaps with B-Sides, Demos & Rarities, a comprehensive set of harder-to-find and previously unreleased material that covers three decades of music. Kicking off with a handful of previously unreleased demos, the collection celebrates what makes each track special within Harvey's chronology. Short but fully realized versions of "Dry" and "Man-Size" reaffirm that by the time she hits the record button, she knows exactly what she's doing; the guitar and voice sketches of "Missed" and "Highway 61 Revisited" are as formidable as the finished takes; and the demo of the B-side "Me Jane" (yes, that's how thorough this set is) offers one of the Rid of Me era's catchiest songs in an even rawer state. B-Sides, Demos & Rarities reinforces just how vital Harvey's non-album tracks are to her creative trajectory. The uncanny carnival oompah of "Daddy," a "Man-Size" B-side, feels like one of the earliest forays into the eeriness that gave an extra thrill to To Bring You My Love, White Chalk, and much of Harvey's later work. She continues Is This Desire?'s experimentation on "The Bay," which contrasts songwriting befitting a classic folk ballad with pulsing keyboards and jazzy rhythms, and continues to try to make sense of the world's chaos on Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea-era material spanning the whispery Saturn return of "30" to "This Wicked Tongue," an updated expression of biblical sin, desire, and torment that delivers one of the set's most quintessentially PJ Harvey moments. Fittingly for such an anachronistic-sounding album, White Chalk's B-sides reach back to Harvey's earliest days: "Wait" and "Heaven" date back to 1989 and deliver sprightly, strummy folk-pop that's almost unrecognizable as her work. The set's previously unreleased music contains just as many revelations. One of its most notable previously missing puzzle pieces is the demo of Uh Huh Her's title track. A shockingly pure expression of rage, jealousy, and sorrow, it may have been too raw and revealing even for a PJ Harvey album, but it's a shame that it and the like-minded "Evol" didn't make the cut. Conversely, "Why'd You Go to Cleveland," a 1996 collaboration between Harvey and John Parish, and the 2012 demo "Homo Sappy Blues" are downright playful, proving the complete picture of her music includes something akin to fun. Highlights from the collection's 2010s material include "An Acre of Land," a lush ballad rooted in the British folk traditions that are just as essential to her music as punk or the blues, and the 2019 cover of Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand," which pays homage to a kindred spirit while transforming the song into something more desolate and plaintive. A must-listen for anyone following Harvey's archival series, B-Sides, Demos & Rarities serves as a fascinating parallel primer to her music and the multitudes within it.© Heather Phares /TiVo

An expert in rooting through his archives, Neil Young has now pulled an unreleased studio album recorded in 2001 out of his hat. The album was recorded at Toast Studios in San Francisco with his band Crazy Horse. His fans will have heard him allude to this session, though no one could know for sure if it existed. He said once that 'the music of Toast is about a relationship... there is a time in many relationships that go bad, a time long before the breakup, where it dawns on one of the people, maybe both, that it's over... this was that time.” It was this deep sadness that ultimately pushed the Canadian to bury these tapes which have now finally resurfaced. Two decades later, it’s a treat to experience what had been hidden for so long. Some of the tracks, especially the opening 'Quit', are nothing if not catchy. 'Toast' also further attests to the power of Crazy Horse (featuring Frank "Poncho" Sampedro on guitar, Ralph Molina on drums and Billy Talbot on bass) whose electric guitar causes sparks to fly on 'Standing in the Light of Love'. They know how to pace themselves during electric-fuelled marathons—case in point, the 13-minute long 'Boom Boom Boom'—like no other Neil Young band. While some of these tracks, like 'Standing in the Light of Love', 'Timberline' and 'Gateway of Love', would never have been released, others, such as 'Goin’ Home', would later appear on his 2002 album, Are You Passionate?. It turns out that Toast isn’t just the stuff of dreams. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

By 1969, Gram Parsons had already built the foundation of the country-rock movement through his work with the International Submarine Band and the Byrds, but his first album with the Flying Burrito Brothers, The Gilded Palace of Sin, was where he revealed the full extent of his talents, and it ranks among the finest and most influential albums the genre would ever produce. As a songwriter, Parsons delivered some of his finest work on this set; "Hot Burrito No. 1" and "Hot Burrito No. 2" both blend the hurt of classic country weepers with a contemporary sense of anger, jealousy, and confusion, and "Sin City" can either be seen as a parody or a sincere meditation on a city gone mad, and it hits home in both contexts. Parsons was rarely as strong as a vocalist as he was here, and his covers of "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman" prove just how much he had been learning from R&B as well as C&W. And Parsons was fortunate enough to be working with a band who truly added to his vision, rather than simply backing him up; the distorted swoops of Sneaky Pete Kleinow's fuzztone steel guitar provides a perfect bridge between country and psychedelic rock, and Chris Hillman's strong and supportive harmony vocals blend flawlessly with Parsons' (and he also proved to be a valuable songwriting partner, collaborating on a number of great tunes with Gram). While The Gilded Palace of Sin barely registered on the pop culture radar in 1969, literally dozens of bands (the Eagles most notable among them) would find inspiration in this music and enjoy far greater success. But no one ever brought rock and country together quite like the Flying Burrito Brothers, and this album remains their greatest accomplishment. - © Mark Deming /TiVo

Walls and Bridges was recorded during John Lennon's infamous "lost weekend," as he exiled himself in California during a separation from Yoko Ono. Lennon's personal life was scattered, so it isn't surprising that Walls and Bridges is a mess itself, containing equal amounts of brilliance and nonsense. Falling between the two extremes was the bouncy Elton John duet "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night," which was Lennon's first solo number one hit. Its bright, sunny surface was replicated throughout the record, particularly on middling rockers like "What You Got" but also on enjoyable pop songs like "Old Dirt Road." However, the best moments on Walls and Bridges come when Lennon is more open with his emotions, like on "Going Down on Love," "Steel and Glass," and the beautiful, soaring "No. 9 Dream." Even with such fine moments, the album is decidedly uneven, containing too much mediocre material like "Beef Jerky" and "Ya Ya," which are weighed down by weak melodies and heavy over-production. It wasn't a particularly graceful way to enter retirement.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Issued in September 1969, Another Voyage is one of the Ramsey Lewis Trio's best efforts, during its initial release making it into the R&B Top 35. With the lineup of Lewis, drummer Maurice White, and bassist Cleveland Eaton, the LP serves as a prime example of the muscular Chicago sound while preserving the pianist's trademark elegance. In addition to such throbbing, kinetic workouts as Eddie Harris' "Bold and Black" and "If You've Got It Flaunt It, Pts. 1-2," there's a nice mid-groovin' cover of Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour," Harris' contemplative "How Beautiful Is Spring," and the sumptuous "Opus V," written by Charles Stepney. Of special note is future Earth, Wind & Fire leader White's use of the kalimba on "Uhuru." The pumping "Do What You Wanna" became a post-release favorite during the late '90s and was included on the two-LP set Inside Ramsey Lewis.© Ed Hogan /TiVo

While its sheer bulk negates its interest to a general audience, The Complete Bill Evans on Verve is an essential library piece for any serious jazz fan or historian. Spanning 18 CDs, 269 tracks and 21 hours, the box set includes all of Evans' recordings for the label between 1962 and 1969, including 19 albums, two previously unreleased albums and 98 previously unreleased tracks. During these years, the pianist made some of his greatest music, including his legendary Village Vanguard sessions, and the set charts all of his changes, as he plays with his trio and as a solo artist, as well as a rare session with a rhythm quartet and strings. While the set itself could be a little more user-friendly -- it's encased in a steel box, with a 160-page booklet and an 18-disc fanpack on separate shelves -- the music itself is nearly flawless and nearly essential for most serious jazz fans.© Leo Stanley /TiVo

Berlin's Jazzanova collective have been actively building on their pioneering nu-jazz brand for nearly two decades. They've pursued it as a production team and with their Sonar Kollectiv label as well. In recent years, they've formed a live group for the purpose of touring. Funkhaus Studio Sessions showcases their road band -- a septet -- in a studio collaboration with Detroit vocalist Paul Randolph (aka Randolph of Lonely Eden fame). The program is a fine mix of redone classic tunes such as "The Fedime's Flight," and more recent fare such as 2008's "Look What You're Doin to Me," as well as new songs. The groove-consciousness in these 14 tracks is undeniable. Though this set doesn't pack the body punch that some of their live dates have, it's not meant to. With Randolph's wide range of vocal styles and expressions, the smoother approach is welcome. "I Human," with its old-school synth, popping funky bassline, and electric piano, touches on smooth, late-'70s-era, funky jazzy-soul (à la Norman Connors and Roy Ayers), all the while pushing the frame to include contemporary jazz tropes. "Believer" is a solid stepper with its rumbling samples and keyboards in the intro, while Randolph near scats in his phrasing as the groove builds to include breaking hi-hats, fat, warm, bubbling bass, and washes of ambient sound. The redone instrumental "La Belle et Fou," with its syncopated horn chart and hand percussion, touches on Latin as well as jazz funk. The mid-register trombone solo soars above the handclaps, silvery guitars, and keys. Randolph is the perfect foil for Jazzanova. He croons, growls, hovers, swoons, and gets gritty as the music dictates, becoming an instrument in the mix rather than just a frontman. Funkhaus Studio Sessions may not break much new ground, but who cares when the music is this well-played and presented? © Thom Jurek /TiVo

Maybe it was his time in prison, or maybe it was simply his signing with Suge Knight's Death Row label. Whatever the case, 2Pac re-emerged hardened and hungry with All Eyez on Me, the first double-disc album of original material in hip-hop history. With all the controversy surrounding him, 2Pac seemingly wanted to throw down a monumental epic whose sheer scope would make it an achievement of itself. But more than that, it's also an unabashed embrace of the gangsta lifestyle, backing off the sober self-recognition of Me Against the World. Sure, there are a few reflective numbers and dead-homiez tributes, but they're much more romanticized this time around. All Eyez on Me is 2Pac the thug icon in all his brazen excess, throwing off all self-control and letting it all hang out -- even if some of it would have been better kept to himself. In that sense, it's an accurate depiction of what made him such a volatile and compelling personality, despite some undeniable filler. On the plus side, this is easily the best production he's ever had on record, handled mostly by Johnny J (notably on the smash "How Do U Want It") and Dat Nigga Daz; Dr. Dre also contributes another surefire single in "California Love" (which, unfortunately, is present only as a remix, not the original hit version). Both hits are on the front-loaded first disc, which would be a gangsta classic in itself; other highlights include the anthemic Snoop Dogg duet "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted," "All About U" (with the required Nate Dogg-sung hook), and "I Ain't Mad at Cha," a tribute to old friends who've gotten off the streets. Despite some good moments, the second disc is slowed by filler and countless guest appearances, plus a few too many thug-lovin' divas crooning their loyalty. Erratic though it may be, All Eyez on Me is nonetheless carried off with the assurance of a legend in his own time, and it stands as 2Pac's magnum opus.© Steve Huey /TiVo

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"Labor of love" is the inevitable phrase to describe this album on which composer/conductor/arrangers Quincy Jones and Sammy Nestico, both of whom wrote for Count Basie and His Orchestra, assemble a top-flight big band to perform some of their vintage charts. Despite the use of the bandleader's name in the title and the pictures of him with the two principals on the front and back of the album, the music is more "beyond" than "Basie." It is true that both Jones and Nestico are steeped in the Basie band's light, rhythmic approach to playing and their music is imbued with that style. But both are better understood as graduates of the Basie school than true adherents, people who have spent the better parts of their careers applying their knowledge of swing to other endeavors, notably film scores. As a result, you will hear music that is more "jazzy" than "jazz." Nevertheless, it is exhilarating to listen to a big band recorded with modern fidelity; the rhythm section especially stands out, and, of course, rhythm was everything in Basie's sound. The wealth of talent meant the album had to be recorded quickly, in a couple of days, but it also seems to have inspired the players to do their best. Basie & Beyond is almost a fantasy project, a major-label release of a high-quality jazz date with practically no chance of significant sales. In that sense, the other inevitable term to describe it is "throwback," but you can't help being glad Jones has the clout to indulge in this kind of thing now and then.© William Ruhlmann /TiVo