Following the major success of his debut, Terence Trent d'Arby made the always-difficult sophomore effort more difficult. In addition to the brash declarations that preceded his first record, d'Arby made ultimately self-sabotaging demands upon his label, concerning Neither Fish nor Flesh's promotion and release (to coincide with the competitive Christmas market). The challenging nature of the album didn't help matters. Neither Fish nor Flesh is a sprawling, overly ambitious work that incorporates Middle Eastern flavorings and even more of a gospel influence into his gritty mix of rock, R&B, and funk. Lyrically, d'Arby's pretensions run a bit wild, but the man does possess a voice that is a force to be reckoned with. Songs like the rousing, soulful "I'll Be Alright" and the sexy "To Know Someone Deeply Is to Know Someone Softly" are masterful. Other highlights include the breezy, Motown vibe of "Billy Don't Fall" (a song actually about AIDS) and the skeletal, fiery "This Side of Love." Neither Fish nor Flesh crashed upon release, but the album remains a compelling, if flawed, effort from a musician that is one of the more baffling unfulfilled talents of his time.© Tom Demalon /TiVo

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In the year of his 90th birthday (which he would have celebrated on the 23rd of September 2020 had he not died in 2004), Ray Charles is honoured with a new 90-track compilation box set. Just another compilation like all the rest? Yes and no. Ray Charles is undoubtedly one of the most-compiled artists in the history of music. Published by Tangerine, the label that the musician set up at the end of the 50s to keep the rights to his songs, this box set starts out like all the others: with the post-Atlantic hits, Georgia On My Mind, Hit The Road Jack, One Mint Julep, Busted... These are timeless treasures of proto-soul, but there doesn't seem to be much novelty here. The rest is much more interesting, and much rarer: tracks recorded between the second half of the 1960s and the 2000s, many of which were only released on vinyl, never reissued on CD and until now unavailable on digital. This is the first time that Ray Charles' lesser-known years have been given the compilation treatment in this way, and it is a revelation. In the 90s and 2000s, the production of his songs had a synthetic feel, and they did not age too well. These rarer songs are often hidden gems of southern soul, flavoured with country and wrapped in sumptuous symphonic orchestrations. Whether he is singing the Muppets (It's Ain't Easy Being Green) or Gershwin (Summertime, a duet with Cleo Laine), Ray Charles is always deeply moving. Now, the dream is to hear reissues of all these albums in their entirety. © Stéphane Deschamps/Qobuz

Surprisingly, very few artists can float a digital-age collection of number one singles without resorting to trickery involving foreign countries or obscure charts. The Beatles had little trouble (The Beatles 1) and Elvis Presley managed both a disc of number ones (Elvis: 30 #1 Hits) and one of number twos (2nd to None), but Michael Jackson bent the rules so far that calling his disc Number Ones is tantamount to consumer fraud. Additionally, a collection of number one singles may not be the best representation of an artist's career; the Elvis volume included nothing from his Sun years, and the Beatles' set skipped "Strawberry Fields Forever." The #1's, Motown's collection of chart-toppers by Diana Ross & the Supremes, fares much better. It benefits from two Supremes characteristics: as a pop group through and through, their biggest hits were often their best songs, and, with the help of the solo Diana Ross, they spent a long time on the charts (nearly 20 years separates the Supremes' debut at the top from Ross' last number one single). While Motown's separate volumes on Diana Ross and the Supremes (in the Ultimate Collection series) remain the best source for a single-disc picture of either act, The #1's works remarkably well. It includes 19 number one pop singles (13 from the group, six from the solo Ross), plus various number ones on the R&B and dance charts, and there aren't any glaring omissions. Granted, fans of early Motown can't live without the girl-group chestnuts "Buttered Popcorn" and "Your Heart Belongs to Me," while those who enjoy latter-day Ross won't find "One More Chance" or "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" -- but of course, this collection wasn't created with them in mind. For the group who recorded more hit singles during the '60s than any other act except the Beatles, and for one of the reigning solo artists of the '70s, The #1's is a worthy tribute.© John Bush /TiVo

The Brothers Johnson first earned national recognition as recording artists by singing the sensuously funky mid-tempo number "Is It Love That We're Missin'," featured on Quincy Jones' album Mellow Madness. The dynamic duo maintains that same groove on this, its debut release for A&M Records. The first single was the moderate number "I'll Be Good to You," which is soothing like a ballad but inducing like a liquid funk cut. The guitar tandem landed on top of the R&B charts with this gold-selling single. They returned to the Top Five with the bona fide funk jam "Get the Funk out of My Face," which peaked at number four. Their remake of the Beatles' classic "Come Together" comes with a soulful twist. Aside from this remake, the Brothers co-wrote every other song on this album, including the untarnished instrumental "Tomorrow," which later became a number one single for Quincy Jones' Back on the Block. This album is consistent throughout.© Craig Lytle /TiVo

The Who’s golden age has long passed, but this release is nothing short of a miracle. The London group’s magic was shattered upon the death of Keith Moon in 1978; their two 1981 and 1982 albums incidentally drew little interest. Their 2006 album, which came four years after the death of bassist John Entwistle barely raised the bar. It was difficult to expect anything great to come from the remaining duo but then, in 2019, Who was released. The tireless efforts of Pete Townshend, the band’s determined guitarist and composer was ready to do anything to make another album after many long years out of the studio. Produced by Dave Sardy (who we know more for his work with bands like Helmet, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Marilyn Manson and System of a Down), this record goes back to a true and honest form of rock that some more experimental additions (such as some electronic sounds) do not tarnish. Townshend, conscience of his age like his associate Roger Daltrey, recognises the futility of trying to chase after a lost youth. On the contrary, many of the songs seem to articulate the image of inevitability, the aging rocker. Are rockers destined for long-lasting careers? Perhaps not. But they have weathered the winds and here they are. The foundation to many of the songs is his novel Age of Anxiety which was intended to be converted into a musical before Townshend turned his interest onto making a veritable Who album. Who is a not the most full-on rock album and is less energetic than what we are used to. But it is incredibly well written (Rockin’ Rage, Detour), containing beautiful, unifying choruses (Street Song) and some forthright messages as heard on the first words to All This Music Must Fade: “I don’t care, I know you’re gonna hate this song, and that’s fair, we never really got along.” It’s a somewhat indirect way of talking about the relationship between Townshend and Daltrey who don’t compose together. The guitarist writes, the singer performs. After years of a love-hate relationship and recurrent feuds, one might imagine that this bad chemistry would show on the album, especially considering the separate recording sessions. However, the result is clear. It works! The rockers who sang of dying before getting old in 1965 now sing of not wanting to get wise (I Don’t Wanna Get Wise). If getting wise means recording songs like these ones, we won’t complain. The Deluxe version offers a remix by Townshend of Beads on One String and also a live acoustic taken from their unique concert given on Valentine’s Day 2020 at Kingston-on-Thames, 50 years day for day after the recording of the famous Live at Leeds. While it lacks some songs played on this day (notably Pinball Wizard and Behind Blue Eyes), simply listening to classics like Substitute and Won’t Get Fooled Again in this new format is enchanting and hard-hitting despite the lack of saturation. Our old rockers are still going strong and know how to interpret tracks that balance the band’s identity without ever making themselves appear old and frail. A real mark of wisdom despite their refusal to accept so. Rock’n’roll still lives. © Chief Brody/Qobuz 

From 1962 to 1965, the Beatles made 52 appearances on the BBC, recording live-in-the-studio performances of both their official releases and several dozen songs that they never issued on disc. This magnificent two-disc compilation features 56 of these tracks, including 29 covers of early rock, R&B, soul, and pop tunes that never appeared on their official releases, as well as the Lennon-McCartney original "I'll Be on My Way," which they gave in 1963 to Billy J. Kramer rather than record it themselves. These performances are nothing less than electrifying, especially the previously unavailable covers, which feature quite a few versions of classics by Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley. There are also off-the-beaten-path tunes by the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly on down to obscurities by the Jodimars, Chan Romero (a marvelous "Hippy Hippy Shake"), Eddie Fontaine, and Ann-Margret. The greatest gem is probably their fabulous version of Arthur Alexander's "Soldier of Love," which (like several of the tracks) would have easily qualified as a highlight of their early releases if they had issued it officially. Restored from existing tapes of various quality, the sound is mostly very good and never less than listenable. Unfortunately, they weren't able to include every single rarity that the Beatles recorded for the BBC; the absence of Carl Perkins' "Lend Me Your Comb," which has circulated on bootlegs in a high-fidelity version, is especially mystifying. Minor quibbles aside, these performances, available on bootlegs for years, compose the major missing chapter in the Beatles' legacy, and it's great to have them easily obtainable in a first-rate package.© Richie Unterberger /TiVo

The Carpenters' radio-friendly soft rock virtually defined the genre in the early 1970s, and this album -- their third full-length -- was the group's ace card. Following on the heels of the wildly successful Close to You, Carpenters features more breezy melodies marked by rich arrangements and beautiful lead vocals, courtesy of siblings Richard Carpenter and Karen Carpenter, respectively. The record is most notable for two of the duo's strongest and best-loved singles. "Rainy Days and Mondays," written by soft pop gods Paul Williams and Roger Nichols, is a bittersweet pop masterpiece fleshed out by Richard's string orchestrations and smoothly produced backing vocals, while Leon Russell and Bonnie Bramlett's "Superstar," from its melancholic verse to its dramatic chorus, is equally hard to resist. (Both songs showcase Karen's sultry alto.) The rest of the album includes Richard's bubble-gum pop originals, another Williams-Nichols tune ("Let Me Be the One"), and a medley of Burt Bacharach-Hal David tunes. Even more commercially streamlined than its predecessors, Carpenters is a classic of early-'70s pop.© Rovi Staff /TiVo

It’s hardly a coincidence that Nathaniel Rateliff is at Stax. With his band The Night Sweats, the native of Denver has become a true ambassador of this muggy southern soul as it was practised on the infamous Memphis label at the end of the sixties. With his instrumental virtuosity, the soul of his songs, the ardour of their interpretation and the preaching of his organ, Tearing at the Seams glorifies the spirit of a vast heritage ranging from Otis Redding to Van Morrison, through Booker T. and the MG’s, Ray Charles and Creedence Clearwater Revival. As can be expected, the rhythmic turbine goes at a million miles an hour, the brass are as incandescent as possible and the voice of Reteliff is a furious rattle that is completely his own. This gang does not care to look in the rearview mirror despite assuming a rather nostalgic sound. © Max Dembo/Qobuz

Before releasing his first solo album, Puff Daddy (aka Sean "Puffy" Combs) was famous as the producer of the Notorious B.I.G., Junior Mafia, Craig Mack, Lil' Kim, and many other rappers. As he was making his solo debut, the Notorious B.I.G. was murdered, and that loss weighs heavily on Puff's mind throughout No Way Out. Even though the album has some funky party jams scattered throughout, the bulk of the album is filled with fear, sorrow, and anger, and it's not only evident on the tribute "I'll Be Missing You" (a duet with Faith Evans and 112 that is based on the Police's "Every Breath You Take") but also on gangsta anthems like "It's All About the Benjamins." That sense of loss makes No Way Out a more substantial album than most mid-'90s hip-hop releases, and even if it has flaws -- there's a bit too much filler and it runs a little long -- it is nevertheless a compelling, harrowing album that establishes Puff Daddy as a vital rapper in his own right.© Leo Stanley /TiVo

One of the world's greatest Arnold Schwarzenegger-themed metal bands working today, Austrian Death Machine return with Triple Brutal, an album of aggressive, chest-thumping metalcore that mines its running gag for all it's worth. Continuing to pack the album with over the top riffs and punishing sonic brutality, As I Lay Dying frontman Tim Lambesis delivers a crushing volley of big dumb metal paired with random Arnold appearances. Although the schtick can wear a bit thin at times, musically Triple Brutal is a solid album ready-made for the mosh pit, and those looking to get some cathartic metal that doesn't take itself too seriously, or maybe just a little more of The Governator, into their lives won't be disappointed.© Gregory Heaney /TiVo

The 58-track Never My Love: The Anthology, very different from the 61-track French and Japanese release Someday We'll All Be Free (2010), appeals slightly more to fanatics than it does newcomers. Disc one covers Donny Hathaway's singles and albums highlights, from 1969 and 1972 A-sides recorded with June Conquest through 1978's "You Were Meant for Me." There's a lot of familiar ground, all of it representative, but many selections differ from the album counterparts, including the two-part 7" version of "The Ghetto," the promo edit of "Thank You Master (For My Soul)," and single edits of "Giving Up," "A Song for You," and "Come Little Children." The second disc consists of unreleased studio recordings, none of which overlaps with the material unearthed on Someday We'll All Be Free. Unfortunately, that means Hathaway's cover of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy" isn't present, but there are two slices of hard and heavy soul that date from the late '60s, a mighty interpretation of "Never My Love" (a platinum hit for the Association), the gorgeously bittersweet "Memory of Our Love," and a fascinating 20-minute concerto. Other tracks, not quite aimless but sensibly left in the archive, help fans fill in the gaps of the mid- to late-'70s period when Hathaway's creativity was severely impaired. Disc three, all newly issued as well, is like an alternate, not quite as hot edition of Live. It draws from the eight sets Hathaway performed during three October 1971 nights at the Bitter End in Greenwich Village. None of it was included on any of the previous Hathaway live albums, yet they're no mere scraps, highlighted by similarly sprawling trips through "Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)" and "The Ghetto" that involve tremendous interplay between Hathaway and his formidable band. Finally, the last quarter of the anthology contains all of the 1972 classic Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, as well as three additional Roberta/Donny duets produced by giants James Mtume and Reggie Lucas: the number two Hot 100 hit "The Closer I Get to You," "You Are My Heaven," and the undervalued boogie gem "Back Together Again." Charles Waring's lengthy essay is an illuminating and deeply emotional read, with quotes from those who worked closest with Hathaway, including Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, and Flack. The CD edition is shaped like a DVD set, fold-out style, with sharp design. It's a long overdue treat for anyone interested in a genius whose talents as a singer, keyboard player, songwriter, arranger, and producer gave the world a bounty of life-affirming and inspiring music. Hopefully an enterprising label has the resources to endure the licensing nightmares required to release a compilation that showcases Hathaway's work for artists like the Unifics, the Impressions, Curtis Mayfield, Phil Upchurch, Roberta Flack, Jerry Butler, and Willie Nelson. Paired with this, we'd get the full scope of the man's work.© Andy Kellman /TiVo