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Review: contains:
LP1: American Recordings (1994)
LP2: American II: Unchained (1996)
LP3: American III: Solitary Man (2000)
LP4: (2xLP) - American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002)
LP5: American V: A Hundred Highways (2006)
LP6: American VI: Ain't No Grave (2010)

Review: A Gift from a Flower to a Garden made for a few firsts: the first double LP of Donovan's career, one of the first box sets in pop and, most importantly for Donovan himself; the first pop album for the children of tomorrow. He resolved to make A Gift from a Flower to a Garden an album of two halves. The first, Wear Your Love Like Heaven, was intended for his own generation as they started to think about the kind of world they wanted to leave behind. The second, For Little Ones, was for the children they had or would have in the years to come. The result was a kaleidoscopic folk-jazz suite on the power of love, imbued with all the romance and mystery of an Arthur Rackham illustration for an ancient English fairy tale. The songs, remarkably adventurous given Donovan was a globally famous singer at his commercial height, combined the influences he had amassed so far. There is something about A Gift from a Flower to a Garden that could never be repeated, though. It is such an innocent evocation of the childlike imagination, so redolent of its time, yet set apart from it too. All these years later, the peaceful qualities of this pioneering, enchanting, deeply unusual album feel more valuable than ever.

Review: Norah Jones have travelled far from her debut album in 2002, but it would be tough for her to match the knockout success she found with that first canny fusion of pop, jazz, country and soul. She won five Grammys for the certified diamond Come Away With Me, including Record Of The Year and Best New Artist. Listening back after all this time the big hits 'Don't Know Why' and the title track sound as spellbinding as ever, and now Blue Note are issuing this special four-vinyl edition with a mammoth amount of unreleased tracks, session takes and alternate versions. For Jones fans, of which there are literally millions, this will be hard to resist.

Review: The 1971 classic album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, Blue is widely thought by many music lovers to be one of the best albums of all time. Already well into her career by the time of its release - it's her fourth album - it was certainly Mitchell's best yet, reflecting a period in her life where she took a break from touring and live performing to focus on creation. Its confessional and poetic lyrics, not to mention the distinctively groggy yet idyllic guitar and piano playing on songs like 'All I Want', 'River', 'A Case Of You', heard Mitchell encapsulate the various milestones, Renaissances and turning points of the contemporary rock landscape of the 1970s, into a singular LP.