Back when live albums were fixtures of rock & roll discographies, common practice dictated that a band should accumulate…oh, about four studio long-players' worth of material before even considering itself deserving of releasing such a "career-crowning" document. Of course "common practices" never applied to metallic trio Sodom, one of three legendary German thrash bands (along with Destruction and Kreator) to steamroll through the 1980s and help pave the way for virtually all European extreme bands that followed. Believe it or not, to many of these, 1988's Mortal Way of Live was as influential and thrilling a live album as Deep Purple's Made in Japan had been to previous generation…

From the disc's provocative cover art, you might expect lots of muscle from the future Tonight Show music director and Jay Leno sidekick. But except for the two funk tunes, "Cullerton Street" and "Haze," Eubanks sticks to fluid and finesse, finding both passion and elegance, but only bits and pieces of true excitement along the way. Luckily, the killer bass bounce of Kenny Davis and Eubanks' powerful electric strings on "Cullerton Street" more than compensate for the simple moodiness of material like "Eyes of a Lost Child" and the soft breeziness of "Promise of Tomorrow." There is a lot of good material here, such as "Angel with the Blues" and the elegant "Passage of a Prince," but simply not much to blow you away.

Catch the Catch is the debut album by pop singer C. C. Catch, released on April 28, 1986. The album consists of euro disco and synthpop songs. It includes the major Top 10 European pop hits "I Can Lose My Heart Tonight", "'Cause You Are Young" and "Strangers By Night". Born Caroline Catharina Müller in the Netherlands, she moved with her family to Germany in the late '70s. In 1980, she became a member of the girl quartet Optimal, who issued two singles. During one of the band's concerts in Hamburg, she was approached by songwriter/producer Dieter Bohlen who had just taken the continental charts by storm with his duo Modern Talking. She signed up with Bohlen who then changed her stage name to C.C. Catch, and the debut single of the newly christened singer – "I Can Lose My Heart Tonight" – was released in the summer of 1985. Her collaboration with Bohlen lasted until 1989, resulted in four albums and 12 singles, and made C.C. Catch a queen of continental discos.

Joe Pass - Appassionato (1991) {Pablo-Carrere Music 9031-75811-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 299 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 135 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 83 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1991 Pablo Records / Carrere Music | 9031-75811-2
Jazz / Bop / Guitar

Guitarist Joe Pass reunited with the same musicians he had used on his classic 1963 album For Django for this relaxed exploration of a dozen jazz standards: rhythm guitarist John Pisano, bassist Jim Hughart and drummer Colin Bailey. Alternating romps with ballads, Pass is in typically fine form throughout with "Relaxin' at Camarillo," "Red Door" and "That's Earl, Brother" receiving rare revivals. This CD is one of literally dozens of worthy Joe Pass Pablo recordings.

Despite playing many songs with geographic titles and including a map of the world in the liners, keyboardist Don Grusin's release is not about world music. The performances are actually overly safe and uniformly easy-listening with upbeat melodies, highly competent but anonymous players and gentle background vocalists.

This is one of the most beloved comtemporary jazz recordings that I own. I fell in love with JUST AN ILLUSION when it was first released, and because of that one song, I brought the cassette. LOVED IT! Years later, I found it in cd format and purchsed it again, only to have it taken from me. Came across it again and brought it. Now, it stays with me. The additional vocal performances by Jeffrey Osbourne, Will Downing, Freddie Jackson & Caron Wheeler, the instrumentals….everything just came together and fit perfectly. This is one of those cd's that can be played anywhere…at home while relaxing, in the car…just anywhere. This is a classic that smooth jazz fans will not forget.

James Brown - It's A Man's Man's Man's World (1966) {Universal Music Japan Mini LP UICY-9287 rel 2003}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 193 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 74 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 35 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1966, 2003 Polydor / Universal Music Japan | UICY-9287 | Cardboard Sleeve | 24bit remastering
Funk / R'n'B / Soul / Funky Jam

Limited to 5000 copies. Paper sleeve. 'It's A Man's Man's Man's World/Soul Brother #1' was released as KING-985 in 1966. The title single is now an iconic calling card for his music, when first released it went straight to the top of the R&B charts, and made a respectable showing on the Pop charts at #8.