Back catalogue: Rock

Review: 51 years have now passed since Funkadelic dropped their first two albums, Funkadelic and Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow. The latter album's numerous highlights included 'Funky Dollar Bill', a flash-fried funk-rock masterpiece that's as bonkers as it is low-slung and floor friendly. This anniversary edition of the song, which was released as part of a double A-side single in 1971, combines the pioneering Detroit crew's original vocal version (side A), with a never-before-heard instrumental take from the original recording sessions (B). This is particularly revelatory, as it offers a chance to hear everything that was going on below George Clinton's singing - and trust us, that's a lot! It's genuinely refreshing to hear an alternate take on a such a fantastic funk-rock gem, so we'd recommend giving it a listen.

Review: It had been five years since fans had received any new, original material from Marianne Faithful by the time Vagabond Ways landed, and it's safe to say the record was worth the wait. Containing both her own work, and re-interpretations of songs by the likes of Roger Waters, Elton John, and Leonard Cohen, if the track list is impressive then the delivery is astounding.

Continuing in her neo-cabaret persona, Vagabond Ways is a theatrical and dramatic piece of work to say the least. Packed with emotion and stage presence, to call this rock would be reductive. More a journey into a kind of surreal, experimental pop realm that's filled with mystery, beauty, and unease, this is an excellent example of how a record can invoke incredibly vivid imagery of your own devising.

Review: Originally released in 2004, Marianne Faithfull's Before The Poison gets a repress on clear vinyl courtesy of Naive. The album was no less than her 17th studio effort, and it featured a powerful ensemble of supporting characters to help make it one of the finest in her accomplished career. PJ Harvey played a vital role, producing and performing on five tracks as well as giving Faithfull three songs and co-writing another two with her. As if that wasn't enough, Nick Cave also wrote the music to Faithfull's lyrics for three of the songs and produced them with his Bad Seeds on performing duties. Damon Albarn also popped up for good measure on 'Last Song'. A late day classic from a British icon and her incredibly talented pals.

Review: British heavy metal outfit Fastway was of course put together in 1982 by 'Fast' Eddie Clarke. He is best known for his work as a guitarist with Motorhead but this band's debut album - originally released in 1983 - was also a hit with fans old and new. Its biggest moments are the singles 'We Become One' and 'Easy Livin', but the title track - which oddly was never actually put out as an official single, managed to become the band's most successful hit. This 40th-anniversary version is one of 1000 individually numbered copies on red vinyl.

Review: This is the second volume of live recordings from UK supergroup The Firm's best ever live shows at the Oakland Coliseum on 15th March in 1986. It was a year after the group was formed by singer Paul Rodgers (formerly of the Bad Company) - who was responsible for enlisting Led Zep's Jimmy Page - released their self-titled debut, becoming one of the most successful rock outfits of their era and playing across the UK and US in the years after. This second album of live sounds captures their extraordinary energy in a show which was recorded for live FM Radio Broadcast.

Review: The Firm was a UK supergroup that formed in 1984. Singer Paul Rodgers was the man responsible for getting together with guitarist Jimmy Page and the group became one of the most successful rock outfits of their era. They released a brace of brilliant albums - the self-titled debut in 1985, then a year later Mean Business - and played across the UK and US in the years after. One of the best shows they did was at the Oakland Coliseum on 15th March. Their extraordinary energy and fine set list was recorded for live FM Radio Broadcast and now you can listen back to the whole thing on vinyl for the first time ever.

Review: No matter your age, you are likely to be a fan of Fleetwood Mac's self-titled and legendary album from 1975. It was their tenth album and second eponymous work after their 1968 debut and is often known by fans as The White Album. The lineup was the first to feature Lindsey Buckingham as guitarist and Stevie Nicks as a vocalist, with Bob Welch having left in 1974. The album hit the numbering spot on the Billboard 200 and gave rise to three top-twenty singles 'Over My Head', 'Rhiannon', and 'Say You Love Me.' This reissue comes on limited edition heavyweight vinyl.

Review: It might not be as widely celebrated as their self titled full length, but Fleetwood Mac's Rumours is still a towering album from one of the greatest bands of the last 50 years. It was the British-American outfit's 11th and came back in 1977, then just months later a live version was recorded capturing the opening night of the band's tour at The Forum - that's the one in Inglewood, California rather than Kenitsh Town - on 29 August. It captures the energy and excellent of the band, the crowd, the music and nothing from it aside from ''Gold Dust Woman' (in 2020) has ever been officially released before. It now gets full treatment across four sides of limited edition vinyl and is superb reminder of a band at the peak of their power.

Review: Since 2019, Fleetwood Mac has used Record Store Day to deliver "alternate" versions of the band's most famous albums. These are comprised of demos, early recordings and alternative mixes from the period that have laid dormant in the archives for decades.
This box set - which weirdly drops just as the band's Christine McVie is widely mourned - brings together these 'alternative' albums - the bluesy 'Fleetwood Mac', gazillion-seller 'Rumours', the rambling and epic 'Tusk', 'Mirage' and 80s power-pop-goes-AOR masterpiece 'Tango In The Night' - alongside a disc of rare live recordings of various fan favourites. As you'd expect, many of the versions are either stripped-back, laidback or more acoustic, though there are some genuinely revelatory alternative arrangements -not least an even deeper, warmer and dream-like early take on 'Mystified' whose effects-laden drums are mesmerising.

Review: Everyone has their favourite Fleetwood Mac jams and that's because the band had such great versatility. That is displayed on this collection of BBC2 Sessions which were recorded between 1968-9. The 14 tracks all take in a mix of R&B, electric blues, acoustic blues and more. The sessions were originally recorded for a variety of TV and radio programs and these versions have never made it onto any studio album. This collection is a sister release to the official Live At The BBC album and includes tracks that have guest spots from Christine Perfect, who as Christine McVie became a big part of the band going forwards.

Review: If ever there was a pivotal year in the history of a band then Fleetwood Mac's 1977 was probably it. Having dived deep into the world of hard, blues-infused, psychedelic rock & roll for most of their previous albums, they turned to the self-titled debut, also known as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, and its slightly poppier, more commercially saleable sound as a jumping off point here, but instead wound up making something that's hard to define in reductive terms like 'pop'. Selling over ten million copies within months of release, the three-way vocals and insanely catchy hooks resonated worldwide, and a global tour ensued. Their show at Tokyo's legendary Nippon Budokan was a standout, and this live recording shows exactly why, presenting all facets of a band that have successfully cracked many sounds.

Review: Arena rock heroes Foreigner crushed with their 1977 self-titled album debut, spawning some of the biggest FM hits of that year, including the anthemic 'Feels Like the First Time' and 'Cold as Ice,' both of which were anchored - like most of Foreigner's songs - by the muscular but traditional riffing of guitarist Mick Jones, the soaring vocals of Lou Gramm, and the state-of-the-art rock production values of the day. The architect behind Foreigner's extraordinary catalog, Jones has crafted some of rock music's most enduring songs. After starting his own rock band and opening for the Rolling Stones in pubs across South London, his first big break came in 1964 when he moved to Paris and was hired to play with French singer Sylvie Vartan. After a brief stint in England to reform the band Spooky Tooth, Jones moved to New York and formed Foreigner with Ian McDonald and Dennis Elliott and Americans Lou Gram, Alan Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi. Foreigner defined a generation of rock music to people across the globe; now on 180-gram 45 RPM double LP, you can hear Foreigner in all its phenomenal glory.

Review: Cleveland Francis, the stalwart of US black folk, coined the term "soulfolk" to describe his uniquely bleak style of acoustic music. Growing up and coming to prominence in the state of Virginia, he rarely missed an opportunity to play at every college campus, coffee shop, bar and odd corner he could find. Now some of his earliest and most important recordings get compiled into this double 21-track anthology, 'Beyond The Willow Tree', which, like no other, does wonders in chronicling the experience of black segregated youth in the 60s and 70s.

Review: Freedom Hawk are Virginia Beach-based stoner heavyweights sounding stronger than ever on this, their sixth studio album. When the whole world went into shut-down, these hard-rockin' stalwarts made the most of the chance to build their own studio and immediately set about crafting the thunderous tracks you can hear on Take All You Can. Matching squalling riffage and solos with a grandiose approach to songwriting, this is the sound of a band at the absolute peak of their powers. If you love anything from Sabbath-soaked doom to anthemic metal a la Maiden, you're going to be all over this album.