At the time of its release, Frampton Comes Alive! was an anomaly, a multi-million-selling (mid-priced) double LP by an artist who had previously never burned up the charts with his long-players in any spectacular way. The biggest-selling live album of all time, it made Peter Frampton a household word and generated a monster hit single in "Show Me the Way." And the reason why is easy to hear: the Herd/Humble Pie graduate packed one hell of a punch on-stage -- where he was obviously the most comfortable -- and, in fact, the live versions of "Show Me the Way," "Do You Feel Like I Do," "Something's Happening," "Shine On," and other album rock staples are much more inspired, confident, and hard-hitting than the studio versions. [The 1999 reissue in A&M's "Remastered Classics" (31454-0930-2) series is a considerable improvement over the original double CD or double LP in terms of sound -- the highs are significantly more lustrous, the guitars crunch and soar, and the bottom end really thunders, and so you get a genuine sense of the power of Frampton's live set, at least the heavier parts of his set, rather than the compressed and flat sonic profile of the old double-disc version. Frampton and the band sound significantly closer as well, even on the softer songs such as "Wind of Change," and the disc is impressive listening even a quarter century later. Of course, one must take this all with a grain of salt as a concert document -- as was later revealed, there was considerable studio doctoring of the raw live tapes, a phenomenon that set the stage for such unofficial hybrid works as Bruce Springsteen's Live/1975-85 and countless others.]© Bruce Eder /TiVo

As a marketing concept, Frank Sinatra's comeback album Duets was a complete success. A collection of Sinatra standards produced by Phil Ramone, the record wasn't a duets album in the conventional sense -- Sinatra never recorded in the studio with his partners. Instead, the other singers recorded their tracks separately, sometimes in different studios, and the two tracks were pasted together to create the illusion of a duet. In the case of several duet partners, including Bono and Barbara Streisand, this means they rely on camp as a way of making their performances interesting. Sinatra, meanwhile, is oblivious to all of the vocal grandstanding, simply because he recorded his tracks well in advance of their contributions. The result is a mess. Not only do the vocalists never mesh, but the orchestrations are ham-fisted and overblown, relying more on bombast than showmanship. Furthermore, Sinatra's performance is uneven; occasionally his voice is remarkable, but just as often it is thin and worn. Nevertheless, Duets was a gigantic hit, selling over two million copies and becoming Sinatra's single most commercially successful record, though it's easily the worst he released during his lengthy career. Duets rose to number two on the pop charts because of its masterful marketing strategy. The album was promoted as a piece of nostalgia, primarily to baby boomers but also to Generation X as a piece of kitsch. Both approaches ignore the emotional core of Sinatra's music, which is evident on only one track -- "One for My Baby," which was essentially a solo performance introduced by an instrumental from saxophonist Kenny G. Perhaps if Duets remained true to the essence of Sinatra's music, it would have been more effective, but as it stands, the album is only admirable as a piece of product, not a piece of music.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

If you've never heard Blind Willie Johnson, you are in for one of the great, bone-chilling treats in music. Johnson played slide guitar and sang in a rasping, false bass that could freeze the blood. But no bluesman was he; this was gospel music of the highest order, full of emotion and heartfelt commitment. Of all the guitar-playing evangelists, Blind Willie Johnson may have been the very best. Though not related by bloodlines to Robert Johnson, comparisons in the emotional commitment of both men cannot be helped. This two-CD anthology collects everything known to exist, and that's a lot of stark, harrowing, emotional commitment no matter how you slice it. Not for the faint of heart, but hey, the good stuff never is.© Cub Koda /TiVo

It would be easy to read too much into the title of Lil Wayne's fourth album, especially in light of a mixtape (cunningly titled The Prefix) that preceded this, which featured the MC over a handful of tracks off Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's Black Album. The title actually refers to Lil Wayne's actual last name (hint: it isn't Wayne), in addition to referencing the apartments run by Wesley Snipes' character in New Jack City. Although much has been made about Wayne's growth and new world view, there's about as much change as you'd expect from a Southern rap star who has been in the public eye from his late teens to his twenties. Mannie Fresh's stout production is in effect as ever, and to the MC's credit, the rhymes are less measured and are all the better for it. To beat that dead horse one more time, the album is far too long and not concerned enough with the quality control, despite including more than enough bright spots to keep the followers following. At just over 79 minutes in length, it's made evident that the length would actually be just over 89 minutes if a CD could hold 90 minutes' worth of music.© Andy Kellman /TiVo

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick's top-tier acid jazz band, Always There is a boxed set of eight discs and almost as many purposes. The first three discs function as a primer of sorts. (Consider that the band's back catalog contains 19 studio albums averaging well over an hour in length.) Discs one and two are designated "the greatest hits," while disc three spotlights Incognito's featured singers -- such as Jocelyn Brown, Maysa, and Pamela Anderson -- though some of those cuts were big, too. Tracks from Incognito's phase-one singles, all archetypal Brit-funk grooves circa 1980-1981, lead the way to selections from their early-'90s return and mainstream peak. Included are the Top 20 U.K. hit versions of "Always There" (Ronnie Laws, Side Effect) and "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" (Stevie Wonder), along with "Everyday," the band's highest-charting original. They're all part of an even-handed overview that extends into the latter half of the 2010s. Disc four, "unreleased tracks + rarities," doesn't provide as much as anticipated and is titled somewhat misleadingly for its inclusion of album tracks. It's followed by a set of instrumentals that, like disc three, contains some of the band's best-known material -- "L'Arc en Ciel de Miles" and "After the Fall" for starters. The sixth disc is a straight reissue of Last Night in Tokyo, a Beneath the Surface-era live recording previously released only in Japan. Maunick then calls upon BBC DJ Gilles Peterson to choose two discs' worth of remixes. A long-standing supporter and friend (and partner in STR4TA), Peterson made Incognito the flagship act on his Talkin Loud label for just over a decade, and likely handpicked some of the remixers. It's no surprise that the round of choices is ideal, and that the majority of the remixes -- executed by DJs/producers ranging from Danny Krivit and Masters at Work to Pete Rock, Carl Craig, and Maunick's son Daniel -- sound like proper creative collaborations rather than exertions of ego. Always There: 1981-2021 has much to offer for everyone but the most serious Incognito collector. © Andy Kellman /TiVo

There is no end in sight to the debate over Billie Holiday's career as a vocalist: Is the essence of her art to be found in her early recordings for Columbia or in the recordings she made for Verve at the end of her short and, by all accounts, miserable life? The early work finds her in clearer voice and singing with energy and conviction, while in the later recordings her voice is ravaged, yet more soulful and perhaps more nuanced. In 1992 Verve made its case for the latter position by releasing a monumental ten-disc box set containing everything Holiday recorded for the company between 1945-1959, and simultaneously released this 16-track sampler as a palliative to those who didn't have 150 dollars lying around. Nothing here will settle the argument for good, but this album does offer a good cross section of the latter part of her career, from the small-ensemble work with pianists Oscar Peterson and Jimmy Rowles to a nice performance of "All the Way" with an orchestra conducted by Ray Ellis. This probably should not be anyone's only Billie Holiday album, but it's a valuable, and at times moving, document of the end of a sad but illustrious career.© Rick Anderson /TiVo

Arriving nearly 30 years after their last studio release (1976's Whistling Down the Wire), this double disc is a long-awaited return from Crosby & Nash, whose time has been spent in various permutations of CSN both with and without Neil Young. For better and worse, little has changed in the duo's approach. Their spare piano and acoustic guitar-driven melodic folk-rock propelled by those terrific harmonies remains consistent. On the downside, their songwriting problems -- which made their previous outings both as a pair and even with Stephen Stills such hit-and-miss affairs -- haven't improved. The mellow, adult contemporary sound doesn't help matters either, as it coats even the best songs with an amiable yet edge-free sheen that gets monotonous over the 20-song, 75-minute playing time. It's difficult to fault the positive messages, but the simple, occasionally simplistic lyrics range from charming to cloying. The opening "Lay Me Down" successfully reintroduces those patented sumptuous harmonies -- still intact after all these years -- over softly strummed guitars and just the hint of percussion. What both Crosby and Nash have lost, though, is their sense of a hook. Most of these tunes meander around searching for memorable choruses to strengthen clunky, sometimes obvious and forced lyrics. "They Want It All"'s vague recriminations about the greedy lack all sense of the mystery and imagination that typify their best work. The most potent tune is "Puppeteer," one of the few where the throbbing melody is strong enough to support the words. Like most double albums, this would have made a stronger single disc, especially since the combined time barely breaks 75 minutes. Nothing is unlistenable, and Crosby and Nash, along with some talented veteran (but ultimately faceless) backing musicians like bassist Lee Sklar and drummer Russ Kunkel, apply plenty of effort and craft into polishing every track. Both singers haven't lost a step vocally either, as their unaccompanied a cappella turn on the haunting "Samurai" plainly shows. Yet for all of Crosby and Nash's obvious work and dedication to this project, these songs seldom rise above the pedestrian. Undeniably pleasant but little more, this falls into the "good try" category. These two agreeable journeyman songwriters can't write enough quality material for a single disc, let alone a double, even after an extended hiatus.© Hal Horowitz /TiVo

Even in the blues, a style capable of wrenching unexplainable emotions from its audience, Blind Willie Johnson has few equals. With a voice capable of alternating effortlessly between sublime, trembling tenor and the sound of pure gravel, and unparalleled skill with the bottleneck (and knife), Johnson recorded 30 sides for Columbia (1927-1930) that stand as a high-water mark for both country blues and raw gospel. Given the fact that his entire output has been issued by both Yazoo and Columbia, it's difficult to imagine opting for this single disc. Anyone looking for more material will be forced to purchase sets with redundant selections. Still, if you are only seeking one collection, you cannot go wrong with Dark Was the Night. Included are both "God Moves on the Water" and "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground," which are both utterly necessary, along with the classics "Praise God I'm Satisfied," "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed," "John the Revelator," and 11 others. "God Moves" is a slide masterpiece in which Johnson's guitar interjections and responses become as captivating as his voice and a tale of the Titanic sinking at the will of God. "Dark Was the Night" is an otherworldly performance of gorgeously spun slide lines and Johnson's wordless moaning, aimed straight at the heart. Everything else on hand is nothing less than emotionally rich, consummately executed and spiritually charged blues at its very best.© Nathan Bush /TiVo