The Monkees - The Monkees Present [3 CD Deluxe Limited Edition, 2013/FLAC]

 By October 1969, things were radically different for The Monkees. Their NBC show had left prime time, Peter Tork had left the group, and Top 40 hits were no longer a sure thing. It was in this atmosphere that Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and Michael Nesmith exerted more creative control to record THE MONKEES PRESENT. The resulting album is one of the group's most varied, from the iconic single, "Listen To The Band," to Micky's anti-war anthem, "Mommy And Daddy," Davy's lush "French Song," and Michael's Nashville-tinged barn-burner, "Good Clean Fun."

Strictly limited to 5,000 individually numbered boxes, the newly re-mastered and expanded THE MONKEES PRESENT is the latest release in Rhino Handmade's lavish Monkees boxed sets. Packed with a whopping 85 tracks (60 previously unreleased!) over 3 CD's, Monkees historian and reissue producer Andrew Sandoval has raided the vault, pulling previously unheard songs, alternate versions and backing tracks from the original master tapes. THE MONKEES PRESENT also includes an exclusive bonus 7" vinyl single for "Good Clean Fun (Alternate Mix)" b/w "Mommy and Daddy (Mono Mix)" in a picture sleeve.

Van Halen - Sammy Hagar era (4 CD, 1986-1995/FLAC)

 

It’s one of the ongoing debates of rock: David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar? The issue has divided fans of the mighty Van Halen for decades. It’s no surprise that a large portion of fans side with the band’s original incarnation featuring David Lee Roth which took the rock world by storm in 1978.  The Hagar years have often garnered antipathy which, to this writer, seems unwarranted.

Fats Domino - Out Of New Orleans (8 CD, 1993/FLAC)

 

An amazing piece of work -- a massive eight-disc boxed set that contains every one of Fats Domino's 1949-1962 Imperial waxings. That's a tremendous load of one artist, but the legacy of Domino and his partner Dave Bartholomew is so consistently innovative and infectious that it never grows tiresome for a second. From the clarion call of "The Fat Man," Domino's 1949 debut, to the storming "Dance with Mr. Domino" in 1962, he typified everything charming about Crescent City R&B, his Creole patois and boogie-based piano a non-threatening vehicle for the rise of rock & roll. A thick, photo-filled book accompanies the disc, and there's an exhaustive discography that makes sense of Domino's many visits to Cosimo Matassa's studios. 

Earth, Wind & Fire - Original Album Classics (5 CD, 2008/FLAC)

 

• That’s the Way of the World (1975) 
• Gratitude (1975) 
• Spirit (1976) 
• All ’n All (1977) 
• I Am (1979) 

Jimi Hendrix - Recording Session Outakes 1969.Vol.1-4 [8 CD, FLAC]

 

JIMI HENDRIX

The 1969 Studio Recordings