Fairport Convention - A Lasting Spirit 1967 - 1997 (3 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 This Fairport Convention triple-CD set represents a startlingly good idea that comes off well -- a compilation of live performances from across the group's history, intermingling class concert recordings from back as far as the late '60s with much more recent work from the Cropredy Festival. What one comes away appreciating anew is just how good a rock band Fairport has been for most of its history -- at their best, in fact, as represented here (including recent performances by Richard Thompson), they come off as at least as good a rock band as, say, Jethro Tull is a folk outfit, if not better. The sound is good, even on the older material (which goes back to Julie Dyble's tenure with the group), and the selection covers a huge range of repertory, some of which will surprise and delight casual fans who may not know all of the strings to this band's bow.

Fairport Convention: Richard Thompson (vocals, guitar); Sandy Denny, Judy Dyble (vocals); Ian Matthews, Simon Nicol (guitar); Ashley Hutchings (bass instrument); Martin Lamble (drums); Chris Leslie, Dave Mattacks, Dave Pegg, Dave Swarbrick, Gerry Conway, Jerry Donahue, Maartin Allcock, Norma Waterson, Ralph McTell, Ric Saunders, Gill Allcock, Martin Cathy, Cathy Le Surf, Vicki Clayton, Bruce Rowland.

 

The Rolling Stones – Atlantic City 1989 (3 CD, 1998/FLAC)

 

On Dec. 19, 1989, as part of their Steel Wheels Tour, The Rollings Stones broadcast a guest-filled concert at Convention Center in Atlantic City (now known as Boardwalk Hall) as a pay-per-view special. The guests were Eric Clapton, Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin of Guns N’ Roses, and legendary bluesman John Lee Hooker.

 

 

Grateful Dead - In and Out of the Garden: Madison Square Garden '81, '82, '83 [17 CD, 2022 / FLAC + 320]

In and Out of the Garden: Madison Square Garden '81, '82, '83 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. Packaged as a box set, it contains six complete concerts on 17 CDs. It was recorded at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1981, 1982, and 1983. It was released on September 23, 2022, in a limited edition of 12,500 numbered copies.

The March 9, 1981 concert included in In and Out of the Garden was also released on September 23, 2022 as a three-CD album called Madison Square Garden, New York, NY 3/9/81.

The title of the box is taken from the opening verse of St. Stephen off their album Aoxomoxoa and performed during the 10/11/83 show. 

 Grateful Dead

    Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals

    Mickey Hart – drums

    Bill Kreutzmann – drums

    Phil Lesh – bass

    Brent Mydland – keyboards, vocals

    Bob Weir – guitar, vocals

 

Joni Mitchell - The Asylum Albums (1972–1975) [4 CD, 2022/FLAC]

The Asylum Albums (1972–1975) is a four-disc box set by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on September 23, 2022, by Rhino Records. 

The set is the tenth overall release and second box set of remastered albums from the Joni Mitchell Archives, a planned series of releases featuring remastered and unreleased material from the singer's personal archives. Formatted in chronological order, the second volume of the remaster series includes Mitchell's first four albums released on Asylum Records: For the Roses (1972), Court and Spark (1974), Miles of Aisles (1974), and The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975).

 

 

Eric Clapton - Transmission Impossible (3 CD, 2018 /FLAC)

 Eric Clapton's musical output across a career spanning 55 years and counting, has been nothing short of extraordinary. But added to this, that the lion s share of his work has been of a quite staggering quality, with more than occasional brilliance displayed, has made Clapton one of a handful of musicians, composers and performers from the rock age who patently deserve their place at the top table of the industry.

This 3 X CD set celebrates and champions the contribution Eric has made to the pantheon of intelligent rock music as it contains three broadcast recordings of live shows from the 1960s, the 1970s and the 1990s. Kicking off with a superb concert the great man gave as part of Cream, the super-group which also of course featured the talents of Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, recorded at the LA Forum in October 1968. Next up on disc two is a unique gig Clapton gave at Dallas s Convention Center in Texas towards the end of 1976, hot on the heels of his No Reason To Cry album. Concluding the collection, disc 3 takes EC forward more than 20 years, to his astonishing show at the Edmonton Coliseum in Alberta, Canada in September of 1998.