Phil Collins certainly has enough hits to fill out a double-disc compilation -- in the U.K. he had 25 Top 40 singles and he reached the Billboard Top 40 21 times in the U.S., with many of them overlapping -- but the 2016 set The Singles doesn't march through these hits in chronological order. Opening with "Easy Lover," his 1985 duet with Earth, Wind & Fire's Philip Bailey, this 33-track compilation happily hopscotches through the years. Such non-chronological sequencing does mean certain hits are saved for the greatest emotional impact -- naturally, "Take Me Home" closes out the proceedings -- but it also focuses attention on songs that weren't blockbusters, whether it's such meditative turn-of-the-'90s adult contemporary hits as "That's Just the Way It Is" or the brooding early single "Thru These Walls." Ultimately, this forced perspective is why The Singles is something more than just a collection of big hits: it helps illustrate that Collins' solo catalog ran deeper than "In the Air Tonight," "You Can't Hurry Love," "Sussudio," "One More Night," "Against All Odds," and "Another Day in Paradise."© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

This isn't an opera, strictly speaking; this Acis and Galatea by Handel, most likely dating from 1718, is much more a part of the very English genre of the "masque", or pastoral divertimento. That said, its hour-and-a-half running time is redolent of a lot of operas... It seems that Handel wrote it for a rich private patron, in those politically turbulent days when the Royal Theatre had more bad days than good; James Brydge, the count of Carnarvon, had assembled a little troupe of singers and musicians at his manor, as well as a choir, which allowed him to offer purely private musical entertainments of high quality. Of course, the work is sung in English; the orchestration, which is very original, calls for inter alia a soprano recorder for the songbirds; and it unfurls a number of theatrical "tricks" to highlight the personalities of the various characters. Twenty years later, Handel would revise his work for public performances in London, but this is a recording of the 1718 original. Elegance, sensuality, a strong dose of humour in spite of the often-sombre subject matter: this is the best of Handel, and it should be noted that the composer used almost none of his normal "recycling": apart from an aria, all the music here is original, and was not re-used in any other works. Acis and Galatea was one of Handel's most-performed works in his own lifetime, which rather prevented him from re-using any of the tunes too often, as he might have been able to do with a lesser-known piece. The Early Opera Company conducted by Christian Curnyn proves here that private lyrical enterprises, supported by crowdfunding and generous subscriptions from patrons have got a long and happy future ahead of them still. © SM/Qobuz

The Dunedin Consort, led by John Butt, has moved into the niche of recording original or obscure versions of Baroque choral masterworks using forces as close as possible to those of the original performances. Its 2006 performance of the Dublin version of Messiah is one of the liveliest and refreshingly intimate recordings of the work, and won a Gramophone Award for Best Baroque Vocal Album of the year. Here the group turns its attention to a much earlier Handel work, the 1718 pastoral oratorio Acis & Galatea. Through ingenious musical detective work, Butt has reconstructed the most likely constitution of the ensemble that originally performed the piece while the composer was employed at Cannons House in Middlesex. Acis & Galatea is a work stronger on charm than substance, but its charms are considerable, from its lively and lyrical solos and ensembles to its inventive and clever orchestration. While Handel is not known for comedy, and this piece is in fact a tragedy (a rejected suitor kills his rival, but the heroine transforms her slain lover into a fountain, so things don't turn out too badly), the librettists and composer treat the subject lightly and with genuine wit. The villain is portrayed as a buffoon, and Butt and his singers play up the work's humor. Baritone Matthew Brook is vocally virtuosic and comically convincing as Polyphemus; his arias "O ruddier than the cherry" and "Cease to beauty to be suing" are among the highlights of the recording. As Galatea, soprano Susan Hamilton sings with purity and unmannered grace. Tenor Nicholas Mulroy as Acis has a somewhat covered sound that keeps him from being truly heroic. Thomas Hobbs, in the secondary role of role of Damon, has a light but bright and clarion tenor. The orchestra plays with exquisite finesse and expressiveness. Butt and his exemplary forces make a strong case for this odd little piece and give it a depth and coherence that make their performance stand out among the recorded versions.© TiVo

For this notable set, pianist Jacky Terrasson teams up with the smoky, chance-taking vocalist Cassandra Wilson, either Lonnie Plaxico or Kenny Davis on bass and percussionist Mino Cinelu. The music is quite impressionistic and atmospheric. Terrasson and Wilson stick to standards, but their renditions of such songs as "Old Devil Moon," "My Ship," "Tea for Two" and even "Tennessee Waltz" are quite haunting and floating, slightly disturbing and occasionally sensuous. Terrasson, who takes "Autumn Leaves" and "Chicago 1987" (the one non-standard) as solo pieces, was on his way to forming his own style, while Wilson had certainly found her niche. An intriguing matchup.© Scott Yanow /TiVo

The discovery of Artaxerxes by Thomas Arne was a nice surprise for Joseph Haydn, who was unaware that such operas existed in England. Performed practically without interruption in London from 1762 to 1830, it was probably also seen by the young Mozart. At any rate, this is a likelihood suggested by the conductor Ian Page, a great connoisseur of British musical life in the eighteenth century, who has released this album with his ensemble The Mozartists.Adapted into English from the libretto of Metastasio's Artaserse, which was probably written by the composer himself, this 'opera seria' premiered at Covent Garden in 1762 to great acclaim before falling into obscurity until it was revived two hundred years later at the St Pancras Festival. The work is bursting with virtuoso arias, some of which have remained in circulation among singers.This recording was made in 2009 following a series of performances to mark the three-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Thomas Arne, at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden where Artaxerxes was created. It was selected as record of the year by Audiophile Audition and BBC Radio 3's CD review, and was named record of the month by the UK magazine Opera. Thomas Arne wrote around 30 operas, and is seen as a representative of the "gallant style" that extended throughout Europe. His fame was somewhat overshadowed by the ubiquitous output of the "bulldozer" Handel, whose genius reigned over English opera for more than fifty years. © François Hudry/Qobuz

While he was still leader of progressive rock group Genesis, Phil Collins launched his solo career and released Face Value in 1981. A record which quickly proves to be one of the biggest musical surprises of the year, and one which allows the British artist to begin his ascension as one of the biggest stars of the 1980s. Thanks to the deep and passionate voice of the singer, as well as the numerous pop/soul ballads and his talent for aggressive rock'n'roll, this record has sold (and is currently selling) better than any installment by Genesis. The Town House studio recording sessions in London have obviously greatly inspired Collins who experiments with many studio techniques and leaves plenty of room for his own rhythm guitar, in spite of the fact that he is widely known and admired for his drumming skills. He also takes advantage of his own independence to do a tribute to black American music which is so dear to him, as he invite Phenix Horns, the prestigious brass section for Earth, Wind & Fire, to perform on the record. ©LG/Qobuz

Nearly 30 years into a career that's moved on and off the fringes of the indie underground, Blonde Redhead continues to delight with their thoughtful approach to highly textured melodic pop. While Sit Down For Dinner is technically the band's follow-up album to 2014's sleepy-sounding Barragán, the intervening near-decade saw two notable things happen for the band. The first was the Masculin Féminin box set, which collated their earliest releases, and then there was 2019's release of Adult Baby, a solo album by guitarist/vocalist Kazu Makino. These releases helped foster the idea that Blonde Redhead was done as a band. Instead, they seemed to revitalize them. Sit Down For Dinner certainly doesn't find the band returning to their noisy roots or even the high-impact shoegaze of their mid-career era, but it seems as though there was a conscious effort to move away from the spare, icy whispers of Barragán. That said, for the most part, Dinner still works around a similar set of loping, midtempo grooves; it's much less minimalist in its approach, evoking the warm, diaphanous sounds associated with the band at its peak. While one would struggle to ever call a Blonde Redhead song "space rock"—the vocals of Makino and Amedeo Pace are far too distinct for interstellar hypnosis—there is a spaciousness to cuts like "Kiss Her Kiss Her," "If," and "I Thought You Should Know" that gives the album a sense of textural richness that's certainly welcome. The thematic centerpiece here—a title track split into two distinct parts—is a great example of the creative energy still at play with Blonde Redhead; the first part is all dreamy ambience with Makino's near-spoken-word lyrical delivery demanding the listener's attention, while the second part unfolds into a rhythm-driven pop number that bears little resemblance to its predecessor beyond the echoes of a keyboard figure that persist throughout both. And although there's a good deal of middle-age melancholy coursing through the material here, it's nonetheless exciting to see the band still finding ways to experiment with and evolve their sound. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz

One year after ...But Seriously, England's best-selling album in the year of its release, Phil Collins followed up with a live worldwide tour. The former Genesis drummer was at the height of his fame, and this Berlin concert on July 15th, 1990, perfectly documents his impressive performances from that time. Surrounded by four virtuosos (Leland Sklar on bass, Daryl Stuermer on guitar, Chester Thompson on drums and Brad Cole on keyboards), here Phil Collins reveals a kind of ‘best of’ album with the hits Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now), One More Night, In the Air Tonight as well as a rather muscular cover of You Can't Hurry Love by The Supremes. Everything here is XL! Brass, rhythm and melodies! And the remastered edition of this live album in 24-Bit Hi-Res quality makes the experience even more powerful. © Clotilde Maréchal/Qobuz

Backed by the Sun King despite a lukewarm audience reception at first, Lully's Atys (1676) went on to become one of the composer's most successful operas, with revivals at French court theaters as late as 1753. In modern times, however, it is a considerably rarer item due to the massive forces and time required. Christophe Rousset was in the pit as harpsichordist when conductor William Christie gave the first modern revival of the work in the late '80s. That experience marks this 2024 release, which made classical best-seller lists at the beginning of that year. That is not common for a hefty five-act Baroque opera, but even a bit of sampling will confirm why it happened: Rousset, from the keyboard, brings tremendous energy to the opera. He pushes the tempo in the numerous dances and entrance numbers, and the musicians of Les Talens Lyriques and the singers of the Choeur du Chambre de Namur, all of whom have worked closely with Rousset in the past, keep right up. The singers in the solo roles are all fine; haut-contre Reinoud Van Mechelen in the title role and Ambroisine Bré as the goddess Cybèle, who sets the tragic plot in motion, are standouts. The sound from the increasingly engineering-expert Château de Versailles label is exceptionally clear in complex textures, and the sensuous cover art (representing, it is true, not the Roman mythological figure of Atys but Hippomène and Atalante) is a bonus. In the end, this is Rousset's Atys, and that is a very good thing.© James Manheim /TiVo

The only sad thing about Lizzo's fourth studio album is that it didn't come out weeks earlier to light up the summer even faster. "Hi motherfucker/ Did you miss me?" she leaps right in on opener "The Sign." Bouncy, sunny and glorious, it finds her touching on familiar themes: body empowerment ("I'm worth my weight"), self-confidence ("I'm still that bitch, yeah!"), dude problems ("I keep on writing these songs/ Because he keep on doing me wrong") and that one line everyone will be singing for the next year ("I got that 'oh hell no you can't get this at the store'—whoooooaaaa!"). Lizzo has called in a Who's Who of songwriters and producers to lend a hand, including mid-aughts superstar Max Martin for the title track, a blaze of R&B fire that encourages listeners to ignore the haters and remember: "In case nobody told you today/  You're special." A throw-pillow platitude for sure, but nobody pulls that off more believably than Lizzo. Gorgeous "If You Love Me" was written with English singer-songwriter Kid Harpoon, who also had a hand in Harry Styles' Harry's House—and honestly, the song wouldn't be out of place on that record, with its blending of soul and '70s Elton John vibes. On "Break Up Twice," Mark Ronson continues to traffic in retro glory, helping Lizzo channel both Dusty Springfield and Lauryn Hill—the singer borrows liberally from "Doo Wop (That Thing)"—and samples the suave "Private Number" by William Clay and Judy Bell. In fact, this is a fun record for playing "name that sample." A shout-out to her ladies, "Grrrls" nicks the carnival-like melody of the Beastie Boys' "Girls." "Naked" lifts the satiny smooth groove of Kool and the Gang's "Summer Madness." Layering on super funk bass, disco shimmer and—of course—a celebratory flute bridge, "About Damn Time" also weaves in a piano sample from "Hey DJ" by the World's Famous Supreme Team. It's a song made for roller-skating—and the carefree, self-assured lyrics might even convince you that's a good idea: "Oh, I'm not the girl I was or used to be/ Uh, bitch, I might be better." Soul-queen closer "Coldplay," meanwhile, puts an elfin spin on that band's "Yellow" and cribs the cool yacht-rock piano from "Sudden Death" by Quelle Chris & Chris Keys. Lizzo delves into some '80s fun, too: Hyper-beat "2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)" could be a workout anthem from that era, while "Everybody's Gay" is delicious dance-floor cheese á la Midnight Star. But go ahead and get ready to be sick of "Birthday Girl," because you're going to hear it so much for the next decade. It's pretty savvy to write a new spin on a happy-birthday song, even more so to make it just for the ladies, and brilliant to go staccato on the chorus—"Is it your birthday girl/ Let's celebrate it"—so anyone can sing along. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz