CD-Charts Position 1
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The Blues Roots of the Rolling Stones

by: Rolling Stones

Release Date March 10, 2008
Not a Rolling Stones album of course, but a fascinating source of information and exploration for anyone interested in finding out about the music that influenced the Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World (and should'nt that be Rhythm & Blues Band anyway?) when they were just a group of music mad teenagers scattered around various parts of North Kent, South London and Gloucestershire.

Rumour has it that Mick Jagger was carrying some of this very music with him when he first met Keith Richards on Platform 3 of Dartford Railway Station c.1962. Meanwhile down in Cheltenham, Brian 'Elmo' Jones was perfecting his Elmore James licks and working his way through the Muddy Waters songbook, including noting that Rolling Stone Blues ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
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Keep It Simple

by: Van Morrison

Release Date March 17, 2008
Some Van Morrison albums take some time to get into but this one hits the spot straight from the off. As a long time fan, it is hard to place this album against his impressive back catalogue, will take living with it for awhile but I can't see any Van lovers being disappointed as it includes some great simple Celtic Soul and Blues music, featuring guitar, harp, organ, banjo, fiddle, accordion, sax, etc and some beautiful singing. Lover Come Back is another great love song, Behind The Ritual another mystical atmospheric classic, Keep It Simple something of a manifesto and all the other songs add up to a quality album. Remember, Van knows.

CD-Charts Position 3
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The Rolling Stones - The Biggest Bang [2007]

starring: Keith Richards (II), Ron Wood, Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger
directed by: Hamish Hamilton

Release Date July 30, 2007
Granted, "Four Flicks" is a titan among DVDs, but this 2007 follow-up is not half bad, if you're a fan. There are two complete concerts - a rocking stadium show in Austin, Texas featuring some rarities in "Bob Wills Is Still The King" and Keith's great rendition of an obscure Buddy Holly cut and a rare outing for "She's So Cold"; and an enormous show played on the Copacabana Beach in Rio where you really can tap into the the massive audiences huge level of enthusiasm and excitement. DVD three features performances from Asia and South America, again featuring some rarities and some new cuts from "The Biggest Bang" album such as "Rough Justice", "Rain Fall Down" and "Streets Of Love". The fourth DVD features a shorter and far less interseting documentary ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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Accelerate (digipack)

by: REM

Release Date March 31, 2008
Really enjoyed this fast-paced exhilerating album. It's actually the exactb album they promised after automatic but they gave us monster instead. Monster would be an interesting avant-guard sort of thing to be doing these days. Instead we get something so good we just don't deserve it. Unbelievably good and so reminiscent of lots of pre-green albums.

CD-Charts Position 5
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Nine Lives

by: Steve Winwood

Release Date May 05, 2008
I find it very hard to criticise Steve Winwood.He is a quality musician with a quality voice. He started out a teenage prodigy who took the charts by storm, then spent much of the 70's doing pretentious but quality material typical of the era with various line ups. In the 80's he went commercial and had massive success, particularly in the States. Then he tried to carry this theme into the 90's and somehow it didn't work any more. His last album 'About Time' was largely based on latin rhythms with an intimate sounding combo and was a classy piece of work. This new effort seems to fall somewhere in between that album and his 70's work. Whilst it lacks a certain focus and dynamism, it is still a quality piece of work. For me, the bluesy minimalistic opener 'I'm Not Drowning' ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
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Pacific Ocean Blue/Bambu (The Caribou Sessions): Legacy Edition

by: Dennis Wilson

Release Date June 16, 2008
I bought POB on the strength of the reviews on here having never heard it (or heard of it) before and because I'm a big Beach Boys/Brian Wilson fan.
After several plays it still leaves me with mixed feelings. I admire much of the musical diversity of the tracks but often find the words hard to decipher (partly due to DW's diction and partly to the vocals often being set back in the mix) What the songs do have however is a soul-baring openess and honesty to them, which I think music should be about. POB is a worthwhile addition to an Beach Boy's collectors library but (at this stage) I cannot personally call it a 'classic' album. Listening on the ipod brings out more of the musics subtlety. I like the Bambu tracks (cd 2) as much ,if not more, than POB itself, with clearer production. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
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All I Intended to Be

by: Emmylou Harris

Release Date June 09, 2008
I liked this album a lot. It starts off strong and gets better through to the two songs at the end, which for me were the highlights. Beautiful lyrics, beautiful voice, beautiful music, beautifully produced. A melancholy album pretty much through and through I felt, and that would be my only criticism. Nothing pacey and upbeat to help mix it up a bit. Four stars from me.

CD-Charts Position 8
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Shine A Light (2 Disc Collectors Edition with Bonus Digital Copy) [2006]

starring: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood, Jack White
directed by: Martin Scorsese

Release Date November 10, 2008
Scorcese's long running love affair with music - first cemented with The Last Waltz, confirmed with Bowie's best ever role in "After Hours" and the Dylan documentaries- becomes full scale flesh with "Shine A Light". Ostensibly a record of a Rolling Stones concert in New York, "Shine A Light" is an unwitting comedy classic.

Guffaws could meet every outrageous archive interview statement from a po-faced Keef Richards, every bizarre haircut from the age style forgot with Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger, every craggy faced grimace from the band as they trade out Ancient Rock Riffs, or Jagger as he pouts and preens as a sexagenarian jogs and runs around the stage in an impossibly expensive shirt and becomes a one dimensional walkin' talkin' rock'n'roll cliche. He jumps and preens and pouts, an ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
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Very Best Of + DVD

by: Mick Jagger

Release Date October 01, 2007
This to a Stones fan would always be expected to raise the question; "why did Mick want to do it?" Well over the years I've bought everything any of the Stones has produced and I find this album has grown on me over the months I've had it in the car.
Yes I know Disco beats and such are "Out of Time" but it does still sound good! As most of the album does not try to be anything other than a different slant on the same Stones theme; with its mixture if Soul, Reggae and Rock, it genuinely reflects Mick's work and the energy he brings to it.
Listen and pick out your favourites because I have been surprised how some of the less well known have really grown on me. You might be disappointed at first listen but Memo from Turner to Just another Night records part of the journey of one of the most influential ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
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Mess of Blues

by: Jeff Healey

Release Date March 24, 2008
'Mess Of Blues' is an absolutely sensational collection of live, predominantly blues recordings from the sadly departed guitar virtuoso and his brilliant band. If you like blues guitar played with passion and feeling, coupled with a tight, jumping rhythm section then this album is for you. Jeff Healey, in the liner notes, describes his band as "the very best bar band that anyone could ask for" and he wasn't wrong - they're tremendous.

The choices of songs are interesting and varied and make for a rich, eclectic, engaging listen, including tracks such as The Band's 'The Weight', Neil Young's 'Like A Hurricane' and Hank Williams' 'Jambalaya', all performed brilliantly. Standards such as 'I'm Torn Down', 'Mess O' Blues' and 'Shake, Rattle And Roll' are executed as if they're being played for the very first ... Read More: