Universal Music Group International

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Frankie Miller is one of the great unsung rockers of the '70s, a blue-eyed soul singer on par with Rod Stewart and Joe Cocker who could also rock as hard as Bob Seger. All three of these artists recognized a kindred spirit in Miller, with all three covering his songs in the '70s and '80s. Like all hard-working rockers, Miller kept working right into the '90s, when he tragically suffered a brain hemorrhage while woodshedding a new band with Joe Walsh. After five months, he emerged from a coma but was paralyzed and lost his speech. His friends did their best to keep his legacy alive, a mission that peaks with 2016's Frankie Miller's Double Take. Instigated by the curiosity of Rod Stewart, producer David Mackay asked Miller's wife if there were any unreleased songs, and she sent him a bunch of tapes, which he then polished and refurbished into Double Take. Figuring that the best way to garner attention for the album was to get his friends and fans aboard, he constructed the album as set of duets, adding some additional instrumentation along the way. He got a bunch of heavy hitters: Stewart, Walsh, Elton John, Huey Lewis, Paul Carrack, Willie Nelson, and Kid Rock are all here, along with Bonnie Tyler and Kim Carnes -- two raspy-voiced soul singers who are natural foils for Miller -- Delbert McClinton, Steve Cropper, and John Parr. All these superstars do attract headlines, but they don't quite attract attention on Double Take, as each of the performers chooses to keep the focus on Miller's songs and, to a lesser extent, his singing. While the production is just a tad too polished to feel as gritty as Miller's best '70s works, the music is nevertheless in that vein and many of the songs are quite good, particularly the gospel-drenched Elton John number "Where Do the Guilty Go?" and the swaggering "Way Past Midnight" (performed with Lewis). "Kiss Her for Me" (with Stewart) is a pretty ballad and "Jezebel Jones" (with Kid Rock) is a prime slice of soulful rock. While it's tempting for the Miller faithful to wish he was singing lead on every song, it's clear this is a labor of love and we're fortunate to have these fine songs resurrected in whatever fashion we can get. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Frankie Miller is one of the great unsung rockers of the '70s, a blue-eyed soul singer on par with Rod Stewart and Joe Cocker who could also rock as hard as Bob Seger. All three of these artists recognized a kindred spirit in Miller, with all three covering his songs in the '70s and '80s. Like all hard-working rockers, Miller kept working right into the '90s, when he tragically suffered a brain hemorrhage while woodshedding a new band with Joe Walsh. After five months, he emerged from a coma but was paralyzed and lost his speech. His friends did their best to keep his legacy alive, a mission that peaks with 2016's Frankie Miller's Double Take. Instigated by the curiosity of Rod Stewart, producer David Mackay asked Miller's wife if there were any unreleased songs, and she sent him a bunch of tapes, which he then polished and refurbished into Double Take. Figuring that the best way to garner attention for the album was to get his friends and fans aboard, he constructed the album as set of duets, adding some additional instrumentation along the way. He got a bunch of heavy hitters: Stewart, Walsh, Elton John, Huey Lewis, Paul Carrack, Willie Nelson, and Kid Rock are all here, along with Bonnie Tyler and Kim Carnes -- two raspy-voiced soul singers who are natural foils for Miller -- Delbert McClinton, Steve Cropper, and John Parr. All these superstars do attract headlines, but they don't quite attract attention on Double Take, as each of the performers chooses to keep the focus on Miller's songs and, to a lesser extent, his singing. While the production is just a tad too polished to feel as gritty as Miller's best '70s works, the music is nevertheless in that vein and many of the songs are quite good, particularly the gospel-drenched Elton John number "Where Do the Guilty Go?" and the swaggering "Way Past Midnight" (performed with Lewis). "Kiss Her for Me" (with Stewart) is a pretty ballad and "Jezebel Jones" (with Kid Rock) is a prime slice of soulful rock. While it's tempting for the Miller faithful to wish he was singing lead on every song, it's clear this is a labor of love and we're fortunate to have these fine songs resurrected in whatever fashion we can get. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Thematic albums tend to be quite successful for vocal artists, especially for Andrea Bocelli, whose large discography is dominated by such attention-getting collections. For Cinema, his 2015 release on Decca, Bocelli performs passionate songs that have become famous through the films that featured them. Three of the songs first became popular in musicals, so Maria from West Side Story, The Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera, and No llores por mi, Argentina from Evita have been included because of their later film versions. The program includes many popular movie melodies, such as Lara's Theme from Dr. Zhivago, Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany's, Be My Love from The Toast of New Orleans, Mi Mancherai from Il Postino/The Postman, and other well-known songs that receive the Italian tenor's smooth treatment in lush arrangements. The inclusion of duets with rising singers is another feature of best-selling vocal albums, and true to form, Bocelli shares the limelight with Veronica Berti in Cheek to Cheek from Top Hat, Ariana Grande in E più ti penso from Once Upon a Time in America, and Nicole Scherzinger in No llores por mi, Argentina. This is Bocelli's 15th studio album, his first in two years, so his fans will embrace it enthusiastically. © Blair Sanderson /TiVo

Daniel Barenboim has long held a deep affinity for the epic symphonies of Anton Bruckner, and by recording them with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Staatskapelle Berlin, he has demonstrated a profound understanding of the music, comparable in importance to the interpretations of such legends as Günter Wand, Georg Tintner, and Eugen Jochum. This live cycle on Deutsche Grammophon with the Staatskapelle Berlin presents only the nine numbered symphonies, unlike Barenboim's Chicago Symphony set, which included the Symphony in D minor, "Die Nullte," along with the Te Deum, and the Berlin Philharmonic set, which offered the choral work Helgoland. Barenboim has chosen a mix of original versions and revisions, relying for the most part on Leopold Nowak's editions, though the seldom-heard 1878 version of the Symphony No. 3 in D minor appears in the 1950 edition by Fritz Oeser, and the Symphony No. 8 in C minor is the 1939 edition by Robert Haas, not the 1887 original, as listed. These are the finer points which serious Bruckner fans will note, though the popular Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, "Romantic," and the Symphony No. 7 in E major will be quite familiar to many listeners, and the remaining symphonies present no obstacles for appreciation. Bruckner devotees will acquire this set for the sake of completeness, though newcomers to the symphonies should give these inspired readings a try. © TiVo

Anthrax's first album with vocalist Joey Belladonna is a huge leap forward, featuring strongly rhythmic, pounding riffs and vocals that alternate between hardcore-type shouting and surprising amounts of melody. Two tracks left over from the Dan Lilker days are here as well. The traditional metal lyrical fare is more original, while also introducing a penchant for paying tribute to favorite fictional characters and pop culture artifacts ("Lone Justice" and "Medusa" are prime examples). One of Anthrax's best efforts. © Steve Huey /TiVo