Artist: David Bowie

Of all David Bowie's many distinctive personae, none have done more to lodge this most ingenious of British artists in the world's consciousness than his 1972 amalgam of the alien visitor and Christ-like rock star: Ziggy Stardust. Cheap glamour, spacemen and ambiguous sexuality surface throughout the loosely conceptualised collection that is The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. If its premise sounds faintly ludicrous, then inspired and dramatic songs such as "Starman" and "Five Years" dispel all doubts about Bowie's genius, and the theatrically tragic "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" brings the album and it's fictional protagonist to a close. As a cultural and musical signpost, Ziggy Stardust points simultaneously backwards to early rock & roll and forward to the simpler, tougher inclinations of late-1970s punk and New Wave rock. As one of the defining rock albums of the 20th century, its influence is immeasurable. --James Littlewood
A masterpiece., 2010-08-16
Spacey glam rocker receives a message that the world will end in five years and becomes a messiah before self destructing. There aren't many musicians who would dream up anything like that, let alone pull it off with such style. Oh and it's full of great songs too, from the apocalyptic opener of 'Five Years' to the stunningly weird and wonderful 'Starman' through the title track and 'Suffragette City'. This album deservedly made Bowie a worldwide star and if you don't own it, it's time to find out what you've been missing.

Artist: James Taylor

Any good singer can interpret a song, but it takes a stylist to make it his own. James Taylor is a stylist. You've Got a Friend obviously can't chronicle much more than the hits and high points of Taylor's career, but it nonetheless captures the artistic essence of a performer who's become a virtual synonym for "singer-songwriter" since his emergence in the late 1960s. A lot of ink has been spilled ruminating about Taylor's role in soothing a 60s-burned generation, but given his own well-known demons (depression, addiction) his gentle voice often sounds like the physician wisely healing himself. His muse seems fully formed from the opening "Something in the Way She Moves", a track cut for the Beatles' Apple label in late 1968 (and one that seems to share some symbiotic relationship with George Harrison's own classic "Something" from the period), its tone at once familiar and inviting--if ripe for a few decades of parody--as it wends its way from his seminal early-1970s hits through a slate of later originals, R&B ("How Sweet It Is", "Handy Man") and pop ("Up on the Roof") covers. Tellingly, he delivers those chestnuts with an offhand confidence and illumination that makes th...
Smooth & silky, 2010-06-23
Such a great album and so typical of James Taylor. This is easy listening music with some of his greatest songs. Mmmmmh my favourite.

Artist: Various Artists

Great soundtrack for a great film!, 2010-08-11
I bought this CD after becoming hooked on a few of the songs in the film - was definitely worth it! The variety of music's fantastic- from slower tracks to the more lively/upbeat ones. The music accentuates the storyline well and I can't wait to watch the film again now that I can recognise all the songs!

Artist: Madness

Great value, 2010-09-02
if you were to have only one Madness CD in your collection this compilation with its choice of tracks and the accompaning DVD would be the one to own, just great.

Artist: Take That

It's been a long ten years since Take That disbanded. Their recent reformation and world tour offered overwhelming evidence that, far from being forgotten, the post-Robbie quartet can still command hysterical amounts of goodwill and adoration. Beautiful World illustrates why this is so. Written in conjunction with songwriter/producer John Shanks (Ashlee Simpson, Anastacia, Alanis Morissette), the album is crammed full with the songwriting magic that made their rise to fame so meteoric in the first place. Far from being an exercise in nostalgia, the project moves the band in a slightly new direction. The four come across as more mature, more democratic (all members share songwriting credits on the album, rather than just Barlow), and even more adept at making epic pop that somehow avoids the cheese factor. Lead single "Patience" is a perfect example of how powerful and accessible their songs can be. It'd be a good contender for the album's peak moment if the rest of the tracks weren't so damn good too. With traditional Take That style songs (the immediately likeable "Reach Out", the brimming "Like I Never Loved You At All"), nicely punctuated up by incongruous outings like Ja...
It's TAKE THAT, what more needs to be said, 2010-08-14
Take That have always been great, but they are even better now they are older!!!
Great album. Even the boyfriend likes most of the songs!!!!
Everyone will enjoy this album

Artist: The Beatles

Even as the Beatles began heading toward an inevitable break-up, their prolific ways continued; this two-disc look back only skims the surface of their later achievements. Excerpts from Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, the white album, Abbey Road, and Let It Be compete for space with classic singles that do as much or more to prove their eclecticism: the epic ballad "Hey Jude", the plaintive "Strawberry Fields Forever", straight rock & roll of all stripes from the plainspoken "Revolution" and "Get Back" to the surreal "Come Together". Decades after the split, this (and its companion set of 1962-1966 cuts) remains a favoured introduction for young listeners and a key sampler for veteran fans. --Rickey Wright
The Most Important Collection Of Songs In The History Of Popular Music, 2010-09-08
The Blue Album captures The Beatles at their peak. The period 1967-1970 was when they were at their most creative. There is masterpiece after masterpiece here. This is a two c.d set with 14 tracks on each.

C.D one begins with Strawberry Fields Forever and then Penny Lane. These two tracks are simply wonderful. Every song here is of the same high quality that only The Beatles could achieve. Near the end of the c.d is Hey Jude which is my favourite Beatles track. It is a world away from Please Please Me. The maturity is so easy to hear. The epic Hey Jude is followed by Revolution and that ends the first c.d

C.D two has many stand out tracks such as While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Get Back, Here Comes The Sun, Something And of course Let It Be. While tracks like Let It Be are magnificent there are a couple of tracks which don't quite fit here (Old Brown Shoe and Across The Universe). That is just a small error on what is a fantastic album.

The Blue Album is better than the Red Album but you must buy them both. It is no coincidence instrument players around the world learn the music of The Beatles. If you love music then you must love The Beatles.

Artist: U2

Having nearly exhausted their capacity for pop-song politics on War and The Unforgettable Fire, U2 turned toward themes of personal identity and complex relationships on The Joshua Tree. Not that the group was willing to come down off the barricades entirely: "Mothers of the Disappeared" and "Bullet the Blue Sky" turned a jaundiced eye toward Central America and the United States's role there. But the predominant mood here is one of self-discovery and the hunger for something more on tracks like the pulsating "Where the Streets Have No Name" and the gospel-ish "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". The album's masterstroke, however, is "With or Without You", a nasty love song dressed up as an ode of devotion and care. It ranks with the Police's "Every Breath You Take" as the most misread smash hit of the 1980s. --Daniel Durchholz
As good as I remember, 2010-07-04
I have the original on vinyl, and haven't heard it for a while. Its as good as I remember.

Rated: Exempt
Staring: Shakira, Wyclef Jean, Alejandro Sanz
Director: Nick Wickham

Go get it, 2010-04-23
Was I there in the concert?, no but on my Blue Ray it seem to make me belive this.

Artist: Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's Thriller is the bestselling album of all time, with 45 million worldwide sales powered by eight Grammy Awards. The 1982 album was also a success from which the pop superstar never really recovered--subsequent albums seemed to have no other goal than to beat the records set by Thriller. The highly- polished sound of Quincy Jones's production sounds almost organic compared to Jackson's more recent work, and in the same regard, Thriller was significantly slicker than its predecessor, Off the Wall. Both albums established a Jackson style that aimed for the dance floor with songs built on a state-of-the-art bed of percussion and keyboards. Elements of milestone Thriller tracks like "Billie Jean" (arguably Jackson's best-ever performance) and "Beat It" (with its hard- rock solo by guitarist Eddie Van Halen) influenced not just Jackson's records, but those of the entire dance-pop world. On the song "Thriller", Jackson indulged his taste for the juvenile and invited Vincent Price to rap in a really scary voice. With Thriller the album, Jackson created a different kind of monster--a hit album of such magnitu...
Just really stunning - everybody should own this., 2010-02-14
Jackson is just stunning on this record. The versatility and beauty of his voice is outstanding, particularly on 'Lady of my Life' and 'Human Nature'. When people describe records as "classic" they are mostly wrong. But THRILLER really is a true classic.

What a tragically early death for MJ.

Artist: The Rolling Stones

All time great album, 2010-02-05
A very musical album that has got to be one of the best of the 60's that i have heard, I just love the musical competence of this album, it has a certain quality of music that is long lost, I heard this album for the first time in 2009 and i have to say i just love it!
I'm only 39 so was unfortunately not around during this magical era of british music.
Track wise the strongest is definately Sympathy for the devil, this track is awesome, it's a masterprice that blows you away and is just as good now as 40 years ago!
Parachute Woman is a great blues inspired track that any real music fan will love.
Most of the tracks have a tinge of blues about them, all of them are vibrant with great composition and you can really tell they know how to use those instruments, drumming, guitar and vocals are top notch.
The production of this album is top notch too, good balance, deep bass lines and great use of both speakers.
Overall there is not a single track that you would choose to skip and you have to say they must have cried when they made this album, a real joy to own and treasure.