The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau has been one of television's most celebrated programs of all time. Jean Michel Jarre, a countryman of Jacques Cousteau's, composed and performed an e-music opus in honor of the oceanographer. En Attendant Cousteau (aka Waiting for Cousteau) is a departure from Jarre's usual format. This disc has three tracks that are longer than his normal tracks. (They are between six and nine minutes.) The fourth track is a major work, clocking in at 47 minutes. That track, "En Attendant Cousteau," is an epic minimalist creation. This is groundbreaking stuff, an unusual mode for Jarre, who hasn't gone this far out on a limb since his debut in 1976. It is a worthy risk. The atmospheric minimalism of the title track is deep and substantial. This is a great CD, certainly one of Jarre's top three. It will appeal to fans of Robert Scott Thompson, Jeff Pearce, James Johnson, and Mychael Danna…

DYNAMIC OUTDOOR SHOW FROM BOWIE BROADCAST FOR LIVE TRANSMISSION IN 1990 The turn of the 1980s was a busy time in the life and career of David Bowie. He shelved his solo career in 1989, retreating to the relative anonymity of band membership for the first time since the early 1970s. A hard-rocking quartet, Tin Machine came into being after Bowie began to work experimentally with guitarist Reeves Gabrels. The line-up was completed by Tony and Hunt Sales, whom Bowie had known since the late 1970s. Their first album Tin Machine (1989), was initially popular, although its politicised lyrics did not find universal approval. Work on a second album began, but Bowie put the venture on hold and made a return to solo work. Performing his early hits during the seven-month Sound+Vision Tour, he found commercial success and acclaim once again. On Sunday 5th August 1990, Bowie performed at the UK s 65,000 capacity Milton Keynes Bowl, where he put on a quite extraordinary show of favourites, interjected with just one rarity, his own take on the song Pretty Pink Rose which he d composed for ex-King Crimson man Adrian Belew. Previously unreleased, the full set Bowie performed on this glorious and delightful Sunday afternoon, 30 years ago, is now available for this first time on this superb CD.

Tres Hombres is the record that brought ZZ Top their first Top Ten record, making them stars in the process. It couldn't have happened to a better record. ZZ Top finally got their low-down, cheerfully sleazy blooze-n-boogie right on this, their third album. As their sound gelled, producer Bill Ham discovered how to record the trio so simply that they sound indestructible, and the group brought the best set of songs they'd ever have to the table. On the surface, there's nothing really special about the record, since it's just a driving blues-rock album from a Texas bar band, but that's what's special about it.

This is a record that even those who aren't Deep Purple fans can listen to two or three times in one sitting – but then, this wasn't much like any other album that the group ever issued. Actually, Deep Purple was highly prized for many years by fans of progressive rock, and for good reason. The group was going through a transition – original lead singer Rod Evans and bassist Nick Simper would be voted out of the lineup soon after the album was finished (although they weren't told about it until three months later), organist Jon Lord and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore having perceived limitations in their work in terms of where each wanted to take the band.

In the 1980s and early '90s, there was often a very fine line between "hard rock" and "heavy metal." But with Annihilator, there was never a question - this was most definitely a metal band to the core. Comparable to Metallica and Judas Priest at their heaviest, Never Neverland is a blistering gem that takes no prisoners either musically or lyrically. In fact, Annihilator's lyrics could be quite substantial, and the headbangers offer hard-hitting commentary on subjects on subjects ranging from drunken driving ("Road to Ruin") to religious fanaticism ("I Am in Command") to environmental destruction ("Stonewall"). More accessible than death/grindcore bands like Deicide, Cannibal Corpse and Hellwitch but certainly much heavier than the many pop/metal units flooding the market in the late '80s and early '90s, Never Neverland was one of 1990's strongest metal releases.

ZZ Top returned after an extended layoff in late 1979 with Degüello, their best album since 1973's Tres Hombres. During their time off, ZZ Top didn't change much – hell, their sound never really changed during their entire career – but it did harden, in a way. The grooves became harder, sleeker, and their off-kilter sensibility and humor began to dominate, as "Cheap Sunglasses" and "Fool for Your Stockings" illustrate. Ironically, this, their wildest album lyrically, doesn't have the unhinged rawness of their early blooze rockers, but the streamlined production makes it feel sleazier all the same, since its slickness lets the perversity slide forth. And, forget not, the trio is in fine shape here, knocking out a great set of rockers and sounding stylish all the time. Undoubtedly one of their strong suits.

Tejas is the fifth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released in late November 1976. The title is a Caddo language word meaning 'friends', which is the origin of the name of the band's home state, Texas. On Tejas, ZZ Top countrified the bluesy posture of their previous albums, resulting in a slight detour between the madcap spirit of Fandango and the psychedelic strut of Deguello. While the album lacks any singles as strong as "Tush" or "La Grange," "Arrested for Driving While Blind" is one of ZZ's classic anthems, capturing the group's wacky humor and jaunty good-time boogie. Other highlights include the driving "Enjoy and Get It On," "Avalon Hideaway," and the fine instrumental "Asleep in the Desert."

Still Got the Blues is the eighth solo studio album by Northern Irish guitarist Gary Moore, released in 1990. It marked a substantial change in style for Moore, who, prior to this album, was predominantly known for rock and hard rock music with Skid Row, Thin Lizzy, G-Force, Greg Lake and during his own extensive solo career, as well as his jazz-fusion work with Colosseum II. As evidenced by its title, Still Got the Blues saw him delve into an electric blues style. The album features guest contributions from Albert King, Albert Collins and George Harrison. The title track was released as a single and reached No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album reached No. 83 on the Billboard 200 on 16 February 1991, then was certified gold on November 1995. This was the most successful album both in sales and chart positions from Gary Moore in the US.

Alice Cooper wasted little time following up the breakthrough success of Love It to Death with another album released the same year, Killer. Again, producer Bob Ezrin was on board and helps the group solidify their heavy rock (yet wide-ranging) style even further. The band's stage show dealt with the macabre, and such disturbing tracks as "Dead Babies" and the title track fit in perfectly. Other songs were even more exceptional, such as the perennial barnstorming concert standard "Under My Wheels," the melodic yet gritty "Be My Lover," and the tribute to their fallen friend Jim Morrison, "Desperado."

This is as close to Latin purist Mongo as we have heard in recent years, an eight-piece salsa band – including several members of the 1997 Tito Puente ensemble, like trumpeter Ray Vega, altoist Bobby Porcelli and tenorman Mitch Frohman – playing a brace of Mongo classics and Latin jazz pieces live before a hushed crowd in Seattle's Jazz Alley. There are no pop covers, one electric instrument (a bass), lots of extended jazz solos (Porcelli and Frohman really burn on the pioneering Afro-Cuban classic "Manteca"), and an unusual (for Mongo) emphasis on the timbales on many tracks, which shoves the rhythms closer to the salsified Puente manner.

During her years with Fleetwood Mac, Christine McVie only recorded one album. It was released in 1984, after Mirage had run its course and the band was taking an extended break. Given its release date, it's not surprising that Christine McVie sounds like it could have been recorded during the Mirage sessions – it's a collection of soft rock/pop and ballads that are pleasantly melodic and ingratiating. Only a handful of cuts, such as the wonderfully catchy, lightly bouncy hit single "Got a Hold on Me," work their way into the memory, but nothing on Christine McVie is anything less than agreeable. The record simply suffers from a rather predictable fate – it's a little too sweet and laid-back to be consumed in one sitting, and its best songs would have sounded even better if they were balanced by Lindsey Buckingham's insular, paranoid pop genius and Stevie Nicks' hippie-folk mysticism.

Excellent early-70's Italian progressive trio (still around today) with classical stylings, featuring keyboards to the fore and a unique dreamy/powerful style. Le Orme was one of the three major Italian groups, the other two being PFM and Banco. This band is usually considered as the Italian Emerson, Lake & Palmer and even Banco del Mutuo Soccorso by the Italian singing. Its music is based upon organ developments and soli reminding Seventies groups which works are essentially built upon keyboards parts.
The band's truly classic period begins with their third next releases. "Uomo Di Pezza" (1972) is one of Le Orme's definitive Italian progressive rock albums…

David Bowie n'était pas une "légende du rock" comme les autres. Avoir traversé les décennies et les modes de la sorte a toujours conféré à Bowie un statut d'innovateur, artiste singulier réussissant à se réinventer perpétuellement, à se remettre en question aussi… Qu’il s’agisse du glam, de la new wave, du funk ou de la soul, du disco ou de l’électro, David Bowie a endossé tous les genres ; parfois même avec une longueur d’avance. De Major Tom à Ziggy Stardust, d’Aladdin Sane au Thin White Duke, il s’est inventé et réinventé, s’est métamorphosé et a exhibé son corps devenu spectacle. Corps qu’il a fait voyager aux quatre coins du monde, de Londres à New York en passant par Berlin.

Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician, and activist whose contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest or social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 55 years, releasing over 30 albums. Fluent in Spanish and English, she has recorded songs in at least six other languages. She is regarded as a folk singer, although her music has diversified since the counterculture days of the 1960s and now encompasses everything from folk rock and pop to country and gospel music. Although a songwriter herself, Baez generally interprets other composers' work, having recorded songs by the Allman Brothers Band, the Beatles, Jackson Browne, Leonard Cohen, Woody Guthrie, Violeta Parra, The Rolling Stones, Pete Seeger, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan and many others.

You is the fifth studio album by the progressive rock band Gong, released by Virgin Records in October 1974. You is the third of the "Radio Gnome Invisible" trilogy of albums, following Flying Teapot and Angel's Egg. The trilogy forms a central part of the Gong mythology. The structure of the album mixes short narrative pieces with long, jazzy instrumentals (such as "Master Builder", "A Sprinkling of Clouds" and "Isle of Everywhere"), building to a climax/conclusion with "You Never Blow Yr Trip Forever". Rolling Stone named You one of its "50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums Of All Time".