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Review: Fresh from the first two successful singles of his solo career, Billy Idol was one of the most recognisable faces in the early 80s, with his popularity rising in tandem with the rise of the music video thanks to MTV. The follow up album to his eponymous debut, Rebel Yell would prove to be his most successful and the most critically acclaimed of his career, with hits coming out of its ears. 'Eyes Without A Face', 'Flesh For Fantasy', 'Catch My Fall' and the title track 'Rebel Yell' all helped to make one of the highest selling records of 1982, making Billy a household name. Musically, Rebel Yell is a new wave album with hard rock and other influences. Steve Stevens powerful guitar riffs that helped fuel Billy Idol's singing were a match made in heaven. Ironically, the album also broke barriers as being a rock album powered by a drum machine - setting a trend that ZZ Top, Iggy Pop and even Judas Priest would follow in subsequent years. This version, spread across two LPs, comes with the original album plus a a few demo versions as well as a remix to 'Eyes Without A Face'. Whether you have an original copy or not, this version is the ideal one to get.

Review: Recorded at home in Ringo Starr's Roccobella West studio, the former Beatles drummer has drafted a number of long-term partners in crime for his latest release. Those names include Steve Lukather, Linda Perry, Fave Coz, Jose Antonio Rodriguez, and Bruce Sugar, among others. But, ingredients aside, what's the end result actually like?

Well, for one thing, it feels like a record made with camaraderie. The appropriately-titled 'Everyone & Everything' has a definite Fab Four vibe to its outro, requesting that all in earshot get involved in a chorus designed to get everyone and everything singing along. 'Let's Be Friends' takes that atmosphere to the after party, "Ya, ya, ya, ya" vocal hook making the whole thing sound slightly madcap. Meanwhile, closer 'Free Your Soul' invites us into smoother and sexier surrounds via sax and tropical beats.

Review: Kiss' groundbreaking Creatures Of The Night was something of a shocker, as the band had taken a rather bold step in returning to a more heavyweight sound. The risk paid off, with the album becoming an instant classic and spawning no end of deluxe editions, one of which saw over 100 tracks pressed to a single box set. The kind souls over at UMC clearly saw it fit to release the original album as it was; simply nine tracks, from the massive femme fatale that is 'Killer' to the decadent judgment of 'Rock N' Roll Hell'.

Review: John Mellencamp's 1985 album Scarecrow gets a fearsome remixing, remastering and reissuing. It's the LP responsible for such hits as 'Rock In The USA', 'Small Town' and 'Lonely Ol' Night', and was widely plugged as one of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. With Mellencamp crooning away in a lamentatory fashion, he mourns the death of the American dream in the face of corporate greed, harkening back to a time hardly any of us new music listeners now know; when country and rock music weren't just consumable slices of entertainment.

Review: Every Steely Dan album is a world within itself - part of a broader galaxy of planets that share the same energy source, but ultimately unique and never interchangeable. Can't Buy A Thrill was the very beginning of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker's revered project, fabled for its exacting studio prowess and ruthless commitment to perfection. There's immediacy to the likes of stone-cold pop classics 'Do It Again' and 'Reelin' In The Years', but this is still sublime and subversive music from a band who flew out of the gate fully realised. Now the album has been given a shiny fresh pressing so if you don't own it already, this is the time.

Review: This album was brought together as a look back at some of Paul Weller's lesser-known tunes. The collection dates back to 1991 and takes in many solo recordings across six sides of vinyl. Amongst the inclusions are plenty of rare B-sides and remixes as well as live recordings, none of them appearing on any of his most successful solo albums. It's a mix of rarities that fans are sure to lap up as they travel through 20 years of Weller magic, all compiled by the man himself.

Review: Released in November 1995, 'Love Songs' was a collection of 18 of Elton's best-loved ballads and reached number four in the UK charts, remaining in the listings for 48 weeks. The vinyl version of the release was extremely limited and, as a result, original copies can go for hundreds on resale. Faithfully to the original, 'Love Songs' is now available on 2XLP fully remastered - a much-needed reintroduction for both the vinyl economy and fans who missed out all those years ago.

Review: Remastered at Abbey Road studios, 'Flesh & Blood' saw the first studio album made after the departure of drummer Paul Thompson. With his absence, the British rock group moved to a more accessible and palatable sound that paid off, earning the group their first No.1 Album since 1973 with 'Stranded'. The tone of Brian Ferry's vocal is of melancholy and depression, of unrequited love with a woman who ultimately can't stand the sight of him. The album was a huge hit in the UK but has been lost in the greater discussion of Roxy Music records either due to living in the shadow of the immensely popular 'Avalon' (a la 'Good Kid m.a.a.d City' to 'To Pimp a Butterfly') or thanks to the slamming negative review from Rolling Stone sealing its poor rating with American audiences. 42 years on, the album is finally being given the treatment it deserved on release - 'Oh Yeah!' and 'Rain, Rain, Rain' were arguably a few years ahead of their time and are just a sample of the great instrumental and vocals on this album.

Review: The 1982 glam-rock swan song for British rock group Roxy Music sees another limited reissue, a departure from the more edgy and abrasive sounds the group went for prior. The word that people constantly use to describe 'Avalon' is mature, in multiple senses of the word. At its core, the record is sensual and seductive make-out material, a 10 track package pining on romance named after the fantastical romantic gesture of King Arthur's body being sent to the titular island. It's plain to see why 'Avalon' is the band's most acclaimed and influential project, spawning off other New Wave acts like Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and Tears for Fears. 'More Than This', the title track, has stood the test of time and is still playlisted and cited as one of the greatest British New Wave tracks of all time. 'Avalon' is accessible, seductive and, without doubt, a classic.

Review: Roxy Music's fourth and most phase-heavy album 'Country Life' now gets a half-speed reissue by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, as part of a brand new effort to have every one of their albums repressed in their utmost quality, and repackaged in glossy new covers. Career highlight songs like 'Out Of The Blue', 'Prairie Rose' and 'All I Want Is You' sound better than ever here, doing justice to its comparatively pessimistic sound. It's still got that Bryan Ferry-ish, romantic aristocratic vibe, though!

Review: Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, John Cale, Doug Yule, Maureen Tucker and - a little later - Nico broke the mould with their efforts as The Velvet Underground. The Andy Warhol-managed and produced cult rock icons helped lay the foundations for New Wave and punk about a decade before either sound really started to make inroads in any circles, let alone commercial ones. And, listening back to any of their records now, the music itself isn't just a significant bookmark theoretically: it all still sounds incredible today.

Todd Haynes' highly recommendable documentary charts at least some of that story in a commendable way, more so when you consider it arrived around 50 years after the original lineup disbanded. Using interviews with surviving members Cale and Tucker, alongside archive footage, music and other material, it paints a vivid portrait of an equally vivid band. With tracks by them in question, Bo Diddley, The Primitives and The Diablos, this OST helps colour that picture, and era, properly.

Review: You'd be hard pushed to find anyone with a set of ears who doesn't like at least one of The Police's many hits. Sure, Sting is a pretty divisive figure these days but back in his pomp with this crew he was untouchable. The band was known for bring their love of dub and reggae to their catchy indie-pop sounds and it resulted in global tours, a number of chart topping hits and adoration from fans across the planet. All the best tune are here from the squealing 'Roxanne' to the freaky 'Walking on the Moon' via the funky 'Message In A Bottle.' This 30th Anniversary edition is a real bumper across four sides of vinyl.

Review: The Black Crowes put out their immediately classic debut album Shake Your Money Maker back in 1981. On the occasion of its 30th anniversary it gets a special deluxe reissue treatment with audio taken from the original sessions. The new collection features no fewer than five unreleased songs including 'Charming Mess' and some special studio recording covers of Humble Pie's '30 Days In The Hole' and John Lennon's 'Jealous Guy.' Two further, never-before-heard demos also make the cut, all with liner notes by David Fricke.