Hollywood Jam Sessions - Maynard Ferguson

Advantages: The tracks are all hits and the playing is out of this world
Disadvantages: None

...This album is a great introduction to Maynard Ferguson's music and includes all his best known and loved hits. If you've never heard him play before you will be awestruck. There is still no one to rival his amazing upper register playing. All the recordings are good quality and unlike some compilations, there are detailed sleeve notes including band personnel and origins of the recordings (for some tracks) and a biography. The first track, Birdland, is one that just listening to it makes you feel happy and all the playing is superb. Then Everybody loves the Blues really showcases Maynard's talents with some beautifully subtle, laid-back playing in the opening and some real screaming at the end. MacArthur Park is just a great tune and Maynard simply soars over the band. The Fox Hunt is an exciting, fast and furious live... Read review

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Advantages: JBJ playing alone before the band; good tracks; different styles
Disadvantages: A few weak tracks

...An early collection of tracks by the masterful Jon Bon Jovi - but back in the days when he was an Italian-American wannabe rockstar Bongiovi, who just happened to be blessed with a close cousin who owned a recording studio - "Power Station". His cousin Tony, who recognized the potential in his relative (and worked with him early on) gave JBJ a few recording sessions in out-of-office hours. This is the result - the best 14 tracks from 1980 to 1983 by JBJ as an (almost) solo artist, before the band Bon Jovi and the track that hit the big-time, "Runaway". I bought this in Virgin Megastores a few months ago, with a few quid left over from my lunch break. I'd only just got into Bon Jovi, and wasn't actually sure that this album was them (it was entitled John Bongiovi)- but at £2.99 it was a risk I was more willing to take, I figured... Read review

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Advantages: A great collection of live recordings
Disadvantages: All but the last 3 tracks have already been released on the Peel Sessions CD

...After a few years of no releases from Adam Ant, there seems to be something of a revival at the moment. With the Antbox boxed set released in december and now this excellANT CD. The Complete Radio 1 Sessions is exactly what it says on the cover. The tracks are taken from four recording sessions at Radio 1. Tracks 1-4 recorded for John Peel 23/1/78, tracks 5-8 recorded for John Peel 10/7/78, tracks 9-12 recorded for John Peel 26/3/79 and tracks 13-15 recorded for Simon Mayo 13/1/95 16 years later. The tracks on the CD are..... 1. Deutscher Girls 2. Puerto-Rican 3. It Doesn't Matter 4. LOU 5. You're So Physical 6. Cleopatra 7. Friends 8. Zerox 9. Tabletalk 10. Ligotage 11. Animals and Men 12. Never Trust a Man (with egg on his face) 13. Wonderful 14. Antmusic 15. Gotta Be A Sin The first recording session brings... Read review

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