In celebration of musical icon Barry Manilow's 2024 residency at the London Palladium, his #1 UK album 'Barry Live in Britain' is being reissued on CD. Recorded at the capital's famed Royal Albert Hall in 1982, the album was certified Platinum in the UK, and includes a number of Manilow's most loved hit singles, including 'Mandy', 'Copacabana (At the Copa)', and 'Could It Be Magic'.

Fifty years after Don McLean's seminal release, American Pie, Don headed into the studio to record new original tracks for his upcoming release, American Boys. Don had not thought he would do another original album, but the pandemic hit us all, and he had time to consider and write. American Boys was conceived with the help of Vip Vipperman, Mike Severs, and many musical friends. Much like McLean's American Pie and its nostalgic shift of music from the '50s through the '60s, along with subsequent releases confronting other socio-political flaws within America, American Boys also examines the severedness within the country, its injustices, inequality, and more. True to his artistic nature, Don delivers a thoughtful record.

George Harrison went quiet not long after the second Traveling Wilburys album, surfacing only for the Beatles' Anthology in the mid-'90s. He was recording all the while, yet he died before completing the album that would have been the follow-up to 1987's Cloud Nine. His son, Dhani, and his longtime friend/collaborator Jeff Lynne completed the recordings, released late in 2002, nearly a year after George's death, as Brainwashed. Given its baggage it's easy to be suspicious about the merits of Brainwashed prior to hearing it. Posthumous efforts often feel incomplete, Harrison's albums were frequently inconsistent, and Lynne favors ornate, cinematic productions that run contrary to George's desire for this project to be simple and low key - nothing that would suggest that Brainwashed would be a success…

Originally released in the UK in 1977 as the Sound of Bread and as ^Anthology) in the United States, this is a solid collection for these soft rock giants of the early '70s. Contained within are all of their hits, plus some delectable gems unknown to those familiar with Bread only from the radio. This set begins with "Make It With You," which hit the number one spot in 1970, and ends with the group's last Top Ten hit, "Lost Without Your Love" from their reunion album of 1977. Other Top Ten hits include "If," "Baby I'm-a Want You," "Everything I Own," "It Don't Matter to Me," and "Guitar Man," which reached number 11. The popular songs have held up well, but perhaps the most interesting cuts here are the lesser-known ones, like "Dismal Day," "Down on My Knees," and "The Last Time." David Gates and company had quite a run, and this anthology shows why.

Chris de Burgh's storytelling prowess comes into fruition on Spanish Train and Other Stories as he carefully grasps the listener's attention with his soft-spoken candor. With songs that are reminiscent of tales told to a young child by his bedside, de Burgh captivates his audience with his serene anecdotes that are enhanced by the music that envelops him. The opening "Spanish Train" is a mysterious yarn about a poker game between God and the Devil, where the victor inherits the soul of a dying train engineer. de Burgh's vocal escalation from serene to flamboyant makes this one of his best songs, as does the marvelous twist at the end of the story. "A Spaceman Came Travelling" has de Burgh blanketing his wispy voice in a tale about the birth of Jesus, only his version substitutes the Star of Bethlehem for an alien visitor who has arrived to reveal a startling message…

Damian and Adam will release their 3rd full-length studio album 'Can We Leave The Light On Longer?' on January 12th.

On Chris de Burgh's debut album, his gentle, beguiling vocal style is introduced, which instantly trademarks him as a genuine master of the soft ballad. de Burgh's engaging dominance of words and lyrics carries both his love songs and his simple light rock tunes to a higher level, thanks to the attention and care given to each of his pieces. As an inaugural album, the songs hold well as they are delicately cushioned by his voice, but are substantially thin where melody or appealing choruses are concerned. Both "Windy Night" and "Watching the World" draw the most attention, bringing de Burgh's silkiness to the focal point. "Satin Green Shutters" beautifully illustrates his knack for sounding sincere and charismatic within the boundaries of a love song…

For some time, Judie Tzuke has secretly harboured a desire to branch out from her niche as the blonde girl who sings weepy ballads. And although she's managed it with this, her 13th studio album, the exquisite 'Queen Secret Keeper' achieves the objective without compromising artistic integrity or the selling short of existing fans.

In an era where it's not uncommon for a superstar act to wait three or four years between releases, it's astonishing to realize that Carole King wrote and recorded a strong follow-up to 1971's bazillion-selling "Tapestry" that was released before the year was up! "Music" was a big commercial success, but anything would pale next to the ecstatic commercial response to "Tapestry", which was still high in the charts when this follow-up was released. The generically-titled "Music" didn't spawn any hits as big as "It's Too Late" or "So Far Away," but with several decades' hindsight, it's clear that "Tapestry" was no fluke; in its more low-key way, "Music" is every bit as fine an album.
Highlights include two jazz-tinged tracks, "Brother Brother" and the waltz-time title track, which features a remarkable saxophone solo by Curtis Amy…

Released in 1978 after London Town gave McCartney another huge hit, Wings Greatest rounds up McCartney's greatest hits from 1971 to 1978 – which means it skips "Maybe I'm Amazed" but touches on Ram. The main strength of this collection is that it contains many hits that never appeared on any album, and these are among McCartney's very best non-Beatle singles: the eccentric domesticity of "Another Day," the choogling rocker "Junior's Farm," the Bond anthem "Live and Let Die," the piledriving "Hi Hi Hi," and "Mull of Kintyre," a Scottish-styled folk ballad that was his biggest hit in England. And yes, it's fair to peg these as McCartney successes, since some of them were billed as McCartney, not Wings, and as such, this record is a great overview of McCartney's first decade of solo recording, containing many of his very best solo tunes.

Following the success of Sundown, Gordon Lightfoot continued his success by releasing a greatest-hits compilation. A double album (now a single CD), it contained the most popular songs from his Warner Bros. years on disc two, and he re-recorded many of his early songs for side one of record one. Although not as good, perhaps, as the originals, this did bring them up to date with his current sound style. Just about all the favorites are here (except "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," which hadn't been recorded yet when this set was put together and appears on Lightfoot's second volume of Gord's Gold), making this a good general overview of a strong talent. When Warner transferred the double LP to CD, "Affair on 8th Avenue" was dropped from the program to make the set fit on a single disc. Randy Newman arranged the orchestration on "Minstrel of the Dawn," by the way.

Beautiful Dreams holds interest mainly because Chris de Burgh is backed by a full orchestra, which adds brilliant depth to his material, presenting his romantically based ballads in an entirely new fashion. While the strings and woodwinds that accompany de Burgh showcase their splendor on "Say Goodbye to It All" and "Snows of New York" better than any other of the album's 13 tracks, there is still a certain posh grandeur that is carried on all of them, which is bolstered by the band's luxurious sound. "Missing You" and "In Love Forever" gain illustriousness through the lavish backdrop of violins, which ease in to de Burgh's graceful lyrics, and the familiar "Lady in Red" sounds full-bodied and even more enchanting with a thicker curtain of instruments behind it.