The bonus disc corrals the single Pool Hall Richard and the jokey trumpet version of I Wish It Would Rain. Faces didn’t outstay their welcome and never took themselves that seriously.

Late in the year, it’s the most all-round glorious reissue of 2024. [Jan 2025, p.90]

DAMN. sees the rapper make a 180 degree turn from the sprawling jazz/funk/hip-hop odyssey of TPAB to deliver 14 taut, tough and wise cutting-edge examples of what’s possible in hip-hop today. ... Essential stuff.

(The CSNY versions of Young’s Sea Of Madness and Everybody’s Alone would’ve been nice for starters), but there’s still a huge amount here for fans. The demos include some absolute stunners: Young and Nash’s wonderfully languid take on the former’s Birds; a delicate and heady solo version of Crosby’s Laughing; and Nash’s reflective solo rendition of Sleep Song. The outtakes, meanwhile, reveal just how much control Stills took in the studio, with enough material here for a fine standalone solo album of gutsy, soul-steeped jams.

There's a lot to digest here. .... Tracks II is a formidable testament. [Aug 2025, p.97]

Exhaustive and impressively curated. .... The "fundamentals" are a bit like Get Back without the laughs, exras surely reserved for the fanatics. Patience may lead to moments of revelation for intrepid listeners, though on the whole, these experiments demystify the process of songwriting itself. [Feb 2025, p.95]

This collection is called Smash for a very good reason.

Packaged with some afterthe-event boisterousness courtesy of Neil McCormick’s sleevenotes and a sprinkling of mythologising, Definitely Maybe remains classic enough.

As you’d expect, plucking the most successful songs from their respective albums and reconfiguring them has both an impressive cumulative effect and sets them in a new context. But fans will have all of this music already. The real interest comes with what else is in the package.

There’s enough previously unissued material, alongside superb liner notes, to make this entertaining collection a boon for Ra’s growing number of disciples.

It’s a sumptuous package of an excellent album that’s made even more essential by the gorgeous packaging of the very limited triple-vinyl edition.

It’s both beefier--practically punching you in the face in places--and more nuanced, the vocal harmonies, for instance (in many ways, GNR’s secret weapon--you don’t notice they’re there, until you do), coming into their own. Amping up its already formidable power, the new mix never loses the sense that this was the work of a bunch of scrappy upstarts, while reminding you just how well-constructed Appetite really was. That’s underscored by the bonus material.

It’s the beautifully resigned sound of a failed search for redemption.

The 1970-71 period was arguably The Who’s, and Pete Townshend’s, most creative, and its celebration is to be welcomed at – almost – any price.

This is a beautiful way to remember--and relive--their purity, their passion and their power.

It is simply one of the most beautiful records ever made and anyone who hasn’t experienced it needs to stop reading and do so immediately. But for those of us who have, while they have already heard the best possible version of No Other (as we tend to learn from all box sets of this ilk, the best version got released), in these newly-discovered versions there is much to learn about and love.

Through The Open Window has, by necessity, a limited aperture – those inclined to do so will argue passionately over the merits of this take or that performance, officially or unofficially sourced, in forums where such discussions can be a bloodsport – but it nonetheless offers an expansive view of the many sides of Bob Dylan. [Dec 2025, p.93]

Otis and his touring band rip it up and the excitable singer thrills, with what now reads like a greatest hits.

Emma Pollock’s fourth – and finest – solo set navigates studies of ageing, loss, relationships and her autism diagnosis, all with a nimble poeticism to counterpoint seemingly weighty material. [Nov 2025, p.105]

Nightclubbing still sounds like nothing else released during the 80s, though its colossal influence repeatedly reveals itself.

Imagine: The Ultimate Collection is a fascinating snapshot of an artist if not quite in his imperial phase, then certainly at his most searching. From the new stereo remix down to the outtakes and an audio documentary pieced together from candid interviews with friend and DJ Elliot Mintz, we’re offered an exhaustive look at Imagine from all angles.

Ultimately, it's the live tracks fans are likely to return to most often, ranging from intimate solo simplicity to the ferocity of Crazy Horse in full gallop. [Nov 2024, p.95]

Songs Of A Lost World is a straight-up, bona fide masterpiece. [Dec 2024, p.102]

Rewardingly, Cinema buries its snout deep into the trough to root out the goods.

Some of the best playing of his career. Essential listening. [Christmas 2024, p.121]

This set, which has been remastered from the original analogue tapes, features sleevenotes by the unmatched Amanda Petrusich, as well as an interview with Sinatra and unseen photos from her personal collection. It’s nothing less than her supreme career warrants. Here’s to the queen of danger-pop, and to Light In The Attic for getting the belated celebrations started.

This new edition adds a second disc of extended 12” mixes, on which his sonic daring truly takes flight.

Put together with love and care, it’s all a grand tribute and beautiful vindication for a once-despised band. Those witless saps who savaged them may be long forgotten but Motörhead are up with the greats. We’ll never see their like again.