Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Paul Williams (1981)

Paul Hamilton Williams Jr. was born on 19 September 1940 in Omaha, Nebraska, and comes from a musical family, with his bother Mentor Williams also becoming a songwriter, composing Dobie Gray's 1973 hit 'Drift Away'. He began his professional song-writing career with Biff Rose in Los Angeles, who he met while the two of them were working together on a television comedy show. They wrote the song 'Fill Your Heart' (later covered by David Bowie) which was recorded by Rose on his first album, 'The Thorn In Mrs. Rose's Side' in 1968, and they later collaborated again on 'I'll Walk Away', which Rose recorded for his third eponymous album. Rose was instrumental in getting Williams his break with A&M Records, which resulted in him working with songwriter Roger Nichols, and together they were responsible for a number of successful pop hits from the 1970's, including several hits for Three Dog Night, with 'An Old Fashioned Love Song', 'The Family Of Man' and 'Out In The Country', as well as Helen Reddy with 'You And Me Against The World', and probably most notably for The Carpenters, giving them 'Rainy Days And Mondays', 'I Won't Last A Day Without You', and 'We've Only Just Begun'. An early collaboration with Nichols was on 'Someday Man', which was covered by the Monkees, for whom he unsuccessfully auditioned on a 1969 single, and he later worked on the music for a number of films, including writing and singing on 'Phantom Of The Paradise' in 1974, in which he starred and earned an Oscar nomination for the music, and also 'Bugsy Malone' in 1976. He also had a successful career as a recording artist, with his first album, 'Someday Man', appearing in 1970, followed by 'Just An Old Fashioned Love Song' being released the following year, and this featured his own versions of songs that had been already been hits for other artists. The album included one cover by him, of Graham Nash's 'Simple Man', so for this collection I've left that off and replaced it with a couple of his other songs from the same time period which were later recorded by Jack Jones and Art Garfunkel. 

Track listing

01 Waking Up Alone (David Soul 1981)
02 I Never Had It So Good (Dobie Gray 1973)
03 We've Only Just Begun (The Carpenters 1970)
04 That's Enough For Me (The Lettermen 1972) 
05 A Perfect Love (Gladys Knight And The Pips 1973)
06 An Old Fashioned Love Song (Three Dog Night 1971)
07 Let Me Be The One (Anne Murray 1971)
08 When I Was All Alone (Colin Blunstone 1974)
09 My Love And I (Mary Travers 1972)
10 Gone Forever (Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77 1971)
11 Talk It Over In The Morning (Jack Jones 1971)
12 Traveling Boy (Art Garfunkel 1973)

Allie X - CollXtion IV (2015)

This second collection of unreleased tracks from Allie X was also recorded in 2015, and forms volume VI in her CollXtion series.  

Track listing

01 Hunter And The Prey
02 Summer '98
03 Boom Boom
04 Double Dutch
05 Not Broken
06 After The Flame
07 Fast Cars
08 Glow
09 Intervention

10 Didn't Start The War (Interlude)

11 Coma

12 Doorbell
13 You Only Live When You Know What You're Dying For

14 Losing My MInd
15 Never Again

16 You Don't Scare Me

Black Sabbath - The Fallen (2007)

Black Sabbath were formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, and are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. Signing to Philips Records in November 1969, they released their first single, 'Evil Woman', in January 1970, and their debut album, 'Black Sabbath', was released the following month. Though it received a negative critical response, the album was a commercial success, leading to a follow-up record, 'Paranoid', later that year. The band's popularity grew, and by 1973's 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath', critics were starting to respond favourably. This album, along with its predecessor 'Vol. 4' in 1972, and its successors 'Sabotage' in 1975, 'Technical Ecstasy' in 1976 and 'Never Say Die!' in 1978, saw the band explore more experimental and progressive styles. Osbourne's excessive substance abuse led to his firing in 1979, and he was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who recorded three albums with the band before he too left, and was replaced by former Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan. 'Born Again' was released in 1983, and the following year the band split up, with Iommi assembling a new version of the group the following year. For the next twelve years, the band endured many personnel changes that included vocalists Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen and Tony Martin, as well as several drummers and bassists. In 1991, Iommi reunited with Butler, Dio and Carmen Appice to record 'Dehumanizer' in 1992, though Dio and Appice had both departed again by the end of the year. 

After the release of 'Forbidden' in 1995, which was Black Sabbath's last studio album for eighteen years, the band went on a one-year hiatus until the original line-up reunited in 1997. They released a live album, 'Reunion', the following year, and continued to tour sporadically until 2005, most of which saw them headline Osbourne's annual festival tour Ozzfest. The band went on hiatus in 2006, and in 2007 a compilation CD of material recorded by Black Sabbath during vocalist Ronnie James Dio's tenure in the band was released, which saw the band reunite and record three new tracks for inclusion on it. After the recording was completed, the members decided to tour under the name 'Heaven & Hell', so that the working partnership between Iommi and Dio on the three new songs would not be wasted, and they recorded 'The Devil You Know' album in 2009 before disbanding after Dio's death in the following year. The original line-up of Black Sabbath reunited once again in 2011, though Ward departed prior to the recording of their final studio album and 19th overall, '13'. This collection includes contributions from most of the vocalists who sang with the band, and includes b-sides, outtakes, demos, bonus tracks, and those three Dio recordings from 2007, giving a complete over-view of the history of the band. Although Ozzy only appears on one track here, he was part of the classic early line-up, and so I've used his image on the cover, which was my favourite picture of them that I found. 

Track listing

01 Weevil Woman '71 (outtake of Crow cover 1971)
02 Slapback (demo 1979)
03 The Fallen ('Born Again' outtake 1983)
04 Stonehenge (extended b-side of 'Trashed' 7" vinyl 1983)
05 Black Moon (b-side of 'The Shining' 12" vinyl 1987)
06 Some Kind Of Woman (b-side of 'The Shining' 12" vinyl 1987)
07 Cloak And Dagger (bonus track from picture disc of 'Headless Cross' 1989)
08 Bad Blood (outtake from 'Dehumanizer' 1992)
09 What's The Use (bonus track from Japanese edition of 'Cross Purposes' 1993)
10 Loser Gets It All (bonus track from Japanese edition of 'Forbidden' 1995)
11 The Devil Cried (new recording from 'Black Sabbath - The Dio Years' 2007)
12 Ear In The Wall (new recording from 'Black Sabbath - The Dio Years' 2007)
13 Shadow Of The Wind (new recording from 'Black Sabbath - The Dio Years' 2007)

Anjel - Heavenly (2003)

When original members of Destiny's Child, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, left the group in 2000, they planned to form a new band called Anjel. They wanted a third member of the group, so Linda Casey, the mother of two members of Jagged Edge, held a talent search in Connecticut, and Natasha Ramos landed the gig. Due to personality differences, Ramos soon left the group, but before leaving she introduced them to Naty Quinones, who auditioned and was added in her place, and in 2001 Tiffany Beaudoin was introduced to them by a mutual friend, and joined after an audition. The new group made one live appearance in 2001 on 'Good Day, NY', where they talked about the album they were working on, and sang part of their song 'Missing You'. They recorded 22 songs for their album in Atlanta, with the assistance of Jagged Edge, and were preparing to release it on Columbia Records through Jagged Edge's production company 581 Productions. However, Jermaine Dupri's leaving Columbia Records caused problems with 581 Entertainment, and while these business issues were being sorted out, the individual members of Anjel decided to look into other projects. Before the issues could be resolved, 581 Records folded in 2003 and the album was cancelled, leading to the break-up of the group. Since the break-up, Beaudoin has appeared on Jagged Edge's 2003 album, 'Hard', while Luckett signed to Capitol Records in 2004 and released her platinum selling debut solo album in 2006. Quinones, now going by the name Nativida or Nati Q., still works with Phar-City and is on an independent label, Soul-Empire, while Natasha Ramos signed to Star Trak in 2005, recording an unreleased album of her own with the Neptunes in 2006. Here are twenty of the songs that the final track listing of their album would have been chosen from had it not been cancelled, and you can hear that Luckett and Roberson put their experience with Destiny's Child to good use on the sessions.  

Track listing

01 Reach The Top  
02 Break (Check This Out)
03 Let Em Know
04 Best Of All Time
05 I Ain't With That
06 Trippin'
07 Be With You
08 Holla Back (feat. Rocky)
09 Me & My Boyfriend
10 Missing U
11 Lonely
12 Lingerie
13 Keep It Real
14 U Can Get It (Feat. Jagged Edge) 
15 Misery Loves Company  
16 Movin On 
17 Officially (Givin' You The Keys To Me) 
18 Cryin' Shame
19 Ain't My Style  
20 Not The Way I Pictured It

Ezra Collective - Chasing The Square (2024)

Before I discovered English Teacher, my new favourite modern band was Ezra Collective, after I stumbled on their 'You Can't Steal My Joy' around two years ago. I was late to the party, as it had been released in 2019, but after getting that album and then being pointed in the direction of the band's previous EP, 2017's 'Juan Pablo: The Philosopher' by my mate in the record shop, I was eagerly awaiting their new album. 'Where I'm Meant To Be' duly arrived in 2022, and was every bit as good as I'd hoped, and it seems that I wasn't the only person to be impressed by it, as it went on to win the Mercury Prize in 2023, as the first jazz act ever to win the prestigious award. The members of the band met at the jazz programme 'Tomorrow's Warriors', run by Gary Crosby, which gave young musicians an opportunity to overcome challenges in succeeding as young jazz musicians in London. Drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso puts down the group's success to being able to freely express their musical influences from their youth, and together with bassist TJ Koleoso, keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones, trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi, and tenor saxophonist James Mollison, they fuse elements of afrobeat, calypso, reggae, hip-hop, soul and jazz to produce a unique sound. Their first release was the 'Chapter 7' EP in 2016, followed two years later by the seven track 'Juan Pablo' EP, and their debut album appeared the next year on Enter The Jungle Records. 2020 saw them release a split single with Jorja Smith, where both artists covered a jazz classic as part of the 'Blue Note Re:Imagined' series, with Ezra Collective's choice being Wayne Shorter's 'Footsteps', and they reinforced the connection by covering Smith's 'Little Things' for Radio 1's New Music Show in April 2024. That same year saw them release a new single for Record Store Day 2020, with 'Samuel L. Riddim' being a re-titled re-issue of their 2018 single 'Mace Windu Riddim', which was later added as a bonus track to the Japanese edition of 'You Can't Steal My Joy'. In 2023 the band released their first new music under their own name for two years, with the single 'May The Funk Be With You', and to celebrate the 50th anniversary release of Fela Kuti's 'Shakara' album, they recorded versions of two tracks from it, with 'Lady' being released as a single in 2023. They rounded off the year by recording their take on the Christmas classic 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen', as part of Spotify's Christmas celebration, and if you don't already know the band then this collection will introduce you to one of the best modern jazz groups around, and you can hear just why they scooped last year's Mercury Prize.     

Track listing

01 Enter The Jungle (from the 'Chapter 7' EP 2016)

02 Chasing The Square (from the 'Chapter 7' EP 2016)

03 Chapter 7 (feat. TY) (from the 'Chapter 7' EP 2016)
04 I Have A God (feat. Zara McFarlane) (from the 'Chapter 7' EP 2016)

05 Colonial Mentality (from the 'Chapter 7' EP 2016)
06 Footsteps (split single with Jorja Smith 2020)
07 Samuel L. Riddim (single 2020)
08 Dark Side Riddim (b-side of 'Samuel L. Riddim')
09 May The Funk Be With You (single 2021)
10 Lady (single 2023)
11 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (single 2023)
12 Little Things (live for BBC Radio 1's New Music Show April 2024)

Jade Ewen - Heart Lights (2009)

Jade Ewen was born on 24 January 1988 and grew up in Plaistow, London, and she started singing and taking dance classes before she was even four. She attended New City Primary School, then Brampton Manor Academy, before transferring to the Sylvia Young Theatre School on a scholarship, and while there she appeared in the television productions 'The Bill', 'Casualty', 'Mr. Harvey Lights A Candle' and 'The Ghost Hunter'. At the age of ten she went to an open audition for The Lion King, and was offered the part of Young Nala. In 2005, Ewen became a member of the girl group Trinity Stone, which signed with Sony BMG, but they disbanded in 2007, and she later recorded with rapper Kwamé. She released a digital single, 'Got You', in 2008 under Kwame's Make Noise label, and also co-wrote the song 'A Little Bit' for the girl group Booty Luv, and 'Let Me Be Me' for Jessica Mauboy. In January 2009, Ewen was approached for and participated in the process to select the UK representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, and she was selected to represent the UK with her performance of the song 'It's My Time', composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. 

She finished in fifth place at Eurovision, but that was the highest placing for the UK since 2002. Having already signed with Polydor Records before the Eurovision selection, she began working on her debut album. In September 2009, Ewen joined Sugababes as the replacement for Keisha Buchanan, and while her single, 'My Man', had already been released in the week she joined the trio, promotional activities for it were cancelled. In an interview with the BBC, she confirmed that her commitment to the Sugababes was her main priority, and that her solo album had been put on hold. Sugababe's single 'About A Girl' debuted at number eight in the UK, and was followed by their 'Sweet 7' album in early 2010, after multiple delays during 2009. Ewen remained with the group until 2013, when it was revealed that Sugababes were no longer recording in the studio together, and that the group was "pretty much done". Following the split, Ewen concentrated on theatre work, and all thoughts of her debut album were put on the back burner. Alongside the two singles which were released in 2009, a few tracks had been laid down before it was cancelled, and so we have enough to reconstruct what her debut could have sounded like had she not joined Sugababes in 2009.  

Track listing

01 My Man
02 Stolen Love
03 Ruthless
04 Got You
05 Got My Shit Together
06 I Had Him First
07 Wake Up
08 Burn It Up
09 Punching Out
10 It's My Time
11 Teardrops

Copperhead - Copperhead 2 (1973)

Following the recording and release of Quicksilver Messenger Service's 'Just For Love' and 'What About Me' albums in 1970, both of which had been recorded in a studio in Hawaii with no electricity, John Cipollina left the band, as he thought that their music had become a little rudimentary, and he also wanted to play more sessions, which didn't sit too well with the other QMS members. He started looking around for a new group to play with, and soon teamed up with Mark Unobsky on guitars & vocals, Jim Murray on guitars, tablas & harmonica, Jim McPherson on piano & vocals, David Weber on drums, and Cyrus on bass, and this ensemble recorded a number of tracks in his home studio, for a proposed album by the newly-christened Copperhead. A second attempt was made in late 1970 and early 1971, with over twenty recordings being laid down in a professional studio, and they also starting gigging around California in 1971 and 1972, building up a reputation as a promising new band. The group's only album, a self-titled effort, was not released until mid 1973, which drummer Dave Weber recalls as being something of a mistake, as by the time it was recorded they were growing tired of playing the songs chosen for it. They also suffered other problems, mostly in that the two main songwriters didn't always see eye to eye, and some of their recorded work didn't reflect the spontaneity of their live shows. Unfortunately the band got caught up in the whole drug scandal episode that surrounded CBS's Clive Davis just after the album came out, and when he was removed from CBS a lot of groups were also dropped from the label, including Copperhead. They had already started recording a second album, but with no label backing it, the band folded, and Cipollina went on to form Raven, and then Terry And The Pirates. In January 1973 they had recorded a number of tracks at Roy Chen's Studio, and a couple of months later they laid down some more at KSAN Record Plant, and these can be added to the four completed songs from their second album sessions to start a reconstruction of that second record. Before they were dropped by Columbia, Copperhead had released a one-off single titled 'Chameleon', and so by adding that we now have 45 minutes of studio recordings, which make up a very creditable follow-up to the 'Copperhead' album. The opening track is a slithering untitled instrumental, which I've named 'Sidewinder', in keeping with the snake theme of the band's name, and had they stayed together and not been dropped by Columbia, then the 'Copperhead 2' album could well have been released in late 1973.  

Track listing 

01 Sidewinder 
02 Chameleon
03 My Own Twisted Way 
04 Read Between The Lines 
05 Drunken Irish Setter
06 Local Color 
07 Puttin' It To You
08 California Blues
09 Heebies Jeebies 

10 Bigelow 6-9000
11 Keeper Of The Flame

The Neptunes - Love, Euphoria (2001)

The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1992. Williams and Hugo met at a summer camp for the school of the Gifted and Talented in Virginia Beach, where Williams played drums and Hugo played tenor saxophone. On entering a local talent contest in 1992 as the Neptunes, they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio was close to Williams' school, and through working with Riley, the Neptunes wrote Wreckx-n-Effect's 1992 song 'Rump Shaker' while still in school. They also worked with Riley's group Blackstreet, co-writing the single 'Tonight's The Night' from their self-titled debut album. In 1998, they produced New York City-based rapper Noreaga's single 'Superthug', as well as Ol' Dirty Bastard's 1999 single 'Got Your Money' featuring singer Kelis, and this led to the duo producing the entirety of her debut studio album, 'Kaleidoscope', in 1999. In 2000, the Neptunes produced Jay-Z's single 'I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)' from his fifth studio album, 'The Dynasty: Roc La Familia', as well as Mystikal's 'Shake Ya Ass', from his fourth studio album, 'Let's Get Ready', and in 2001, N.E.R.D. released their debut studio album, 'In Search of...', featuring production from the Neptunes. In the same year they gained their first worldwide hit with Britney Spears' single, 'I'm a Slave 4 U', for her eponymous third studio album, 'Britney'. By this time they had also produced a number of tracks from a variety of lesser known artists, many of which remain unreleased, as the artists' record companies couldn't fit them into their release schedules, so in the first of three compilations, here are a dozen Neptunes productions from 1997 to 2001 which have yet to see an official release. 

Track listing 

01 The Funeral (Clipse aka Malice & Pusha T)
02 New Glasses (Alana Davis feat. Pharrell)
03 Make This Run (Royce da 5'9 feat. Pharrell, Le Femme Nikita & Kelis)
04 I Wish It Would Rain Down (Brian McKnight)
05 Hostage (Clipse feat. Tammy Lucas)
06 Seeing Things (Elan feat. Pharrell)
07 I Don’t Know What (Krayzie Bone feat. Kelis )
08 Love, Euphoria (N.E.R.D.)
09 Love Don't Love Me (Eric Benet feat. Clipse & Pharrell)
10 Here Inside (Alana Davis)
11 Got Caught Dealing (Part 1) (Clipse feat. Pharrell & Tammy Lucas)
12 Turn Out The Lights (Tammy Lucas)

The Runaways - Yesterday's Kids (1975)

In early 1975, rock music impresario Kim Fowley had an idea for assembling an all-female rock band, in a time when, according to guitarist Joan Jett, there were no young girls at all playing guitar or any sort of instruments. Fowley met lyricist Kari Krome at a party held for Alice Cooper, put her on salary, and had her begin looking for female performers, and when Krome met Joan Jett she brought her straight to Fowley, where she successfully auditioned for Fowley by playing ukulele to a Sweet album. She later picked up rhythm guitar as her instrument, and soon afterward, in the parking lot of the Rainbow Bar and Grill, Fowley met Sandy West, who agreed to play drums. Fowley had Jett rehearse with West at the latter's home in Huntington Beach, and then he turned to two radio stations to advertise for further auditions, which brought lead vocalist/bassist Micki Steele (later of The Bangles). The trio were christened The Runaways in August 1975, and Fowley touted the new group as "an all girl answer to Grand Funk", with the band signing to Kim Fowley Productions for management in September 1975. The line-up of Jett, West, and Steele made their live debut playing the Whisky a Go Go in late September, opening for Fowley's previous conceptual band the Hollywood Stars. In late 1975 the three-piece went into Cherokee Studios in West Hollywood, California, and with the help of Mark Andes on bass they laid down ten demos, with vocals alternating between Jett and Steele. 

At the end of October Steele left due to creative differences and was replaced by lead vocalist Paul Goldwin, with Peggy Foster added as bassist in November. By this time Lita Ford had joined the group as lead guitarist, allowing Jett to focus on rhythm guitar, and after Goldwin left, Fowley and Jett discovered Cherie Currie at the teen nightclub The Sugar Shack and brought her in as lead vocalist for the group. Two weeks later, Foster left and was replaced by Jackie Fox, whom Fowley's colleague Rodney Bingenheimer found at the parking lot of the West Hollywood nightclub the Starwood. With the classic line-up of the band now in place, Denny Rosencrantz agreed to sign The Runaways to Phonogram/Mercury Records in December 1975, and they recorded their debut album 'The Runaways' in January 1976, and released it in March through Mercury. Five of the songs from the 1975 demos were re-recorded by the new line-up for that debut album, but the rest have remained hidden away. Other recordings have also surfaced over the years, and I've added a couple that were recorded after the band had only been together for a week to the end of this album, as although the sound quality was particularly bad, they are a historical record of Steele's time with the group. I've boosted the vocals and cleaned them up as much as possible, and they now don't sound too bad, but the other ten tracks are superb quality for their age. 

Track listing

01 Who Do You Voodoo

02 Born To Be Bad
03 California Paradise
04 I'm A Star
05 American Nights
06 Yesterday's Kids
07 Secrets
08 Thunder
09 You Drive Me Wild
10 Rock 'n' Roll
11 Is It Day Or Night
12 Let's Party Tonight

Jess Mills - Twist Of Fate (2013)

Jessica Rosemary Frances Mills was born in 1981, and grew up in Kentish Town, North London. She is the daughter of Labour MP Tessa Jowell and lawyer David Mills, and attended Acland Burghley School, where she met Niomi McLean-Daley, better known as Ms. Dynamite, and they became friends. After graduating from Sussex University, she began working in a local pub to fund a continued interest in music on the side, and after a steady string of collaborations with various musicians throughout the 2000's, she eventually got her real break when she toured with Leftfield in 2010. In 2011 she signed a record deal with Island Records, who released her singles 'Vultures' and 'Live For What I Die For' that year, and she also recorded a cover of The Cure's 'A Forest', of which Robert Smith himself has admitted to be a fan. Her debut album, 'Twist Of Fate', was originally set to be released on 28 January 2013, but due to her label's poor promotion of her single 'For My Sins', the album was pushed back and ultimately shelved. Since her departure from Island Records, she has signed with Warner/Chappell Music, and her first release with this label is a free download of 'Sweet Love', an original song that incorporates lyrics from Anita Baker's song of the same name. We have a rough guide to the track-listing of the album, which would have included all the singles she released in 2011 and 2012, and I've added that Cure cover, as well as 'Sweet Love', even though that was fractionally outside the timeframe of the record, as it would be a shame to ignore it because of that.   

Track listing 

01 How Could This Be Love
02 For My Sins  
03 Chasing The Hurricane  
04 Live For What I'd Die For
05 Where Have You Been
06 Pixelated People
07 Vultures
08 A Forest
09 Gabriel
10 Silent Space  
11 Sweet Love
12 End Credits

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Billy Joel (2023)

In 1976 Billy Joel released his fifth studio album, and fourth for Columbia Records, 'Turnstiles', which sold modestly and peaked low on the US charts, prompting Columbia to consider dropping him if his next release sold as poorly. He wanted the new album to feature his touring band, formed during the production of 'Turnstiles', consisting of drummer Liberty DeVitto, bassist Doug Stegmeyer, and multi-instrumentalist saxophonist/organist Richie Cannata, and so seeking out a new producer he first turned to veteran Beatles producer George Martin, before coming across and settling on Phil Ramone, whose name he had seen on albums by other artists such as Paul Simon. Recording took place over three weeks in July and August 1977, and featured DeVitto, Stegmeyer and Cannata, with other studio musicians filling in on guitar when needed. Four of the songs were released as singles in North America, with the opening song, 'Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)', centered around Anthony, a grocery-store employee from Long Island who "dreams of making it big", receiving pressure from his family to move out and go his own way, while 'Just The Way You Are' was inspired by Joel's love for his wife at the time, Elizabeth Weber, and she also inspired the song 'More Than A Woman'. The seven and a half minute epic 'Scenes From An Italian Restaurant', was stitched together from three shorter songs, 'The Italian Restaurant Song', 'Things Are OK In Oyster Bay' and 'The Ballad Of Brenda And Eddie', into one of his best know pieces. When 'The Stranger' was released in September 1977 it spent six weeks at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200, and it is considered Joel's critical and commercial breakthrough record. All four singles that were released in the US became Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, with 'Just The Way You Are' making it to number 3. It remains his best-selling non-compilation album to date, and with so many memorable songs on it, it's no surprise that many of them have been covered over the years, by artists as diverse as Barry White and Umphrey's McGee. 

Track listing

01 Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) (Alex Goot 2014)    
02 The Stranger (I_Like_It_Here 2020) 
03 Just The Way You Are (Barry White 1978)
04 Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (Umphrey's McGee 2019)
05 Vienna (Couch 2023)
06 Only The Good Die Young (Taryn Southern 2015)       
07 She's Always A Woman (Lynda Carter 1978)
08 Get It Right The First Time (The Billy Joel Experience 2019)
08 Everybody Has A Dream (The Manhattans 1978)

Allie X - CollXtion III (2015)

Following the cancellation her 'The Hard Way' album, Allie Hughes developed her synth-pop and electronic inspired band, ALX, in late 2011. The group released their debut and only single, 'I Will Love You More' in March 2012, and had their final known live performance at the Hillside Festival in July, where they performed seven unreleased original songs and one cover. In July 2013 Hughes moved to Los Angeles to pursue a full-time career as a songwriter, but despite this she didn't stop working on her solo material, and as she had not been satisfied with her sound, she also spent time learning about sound design and production. Adopting the stage name Allie X, she began working with producers Cirkut and Billboard, whom she had met during her time in Los Angeles, and in early 2014 she released her debut single under the Allie X name, titled 'Catch'. On its release 'Catch' received praise from multiple sources, including both music critics and other artists such as Katy Perry, who praised the track on Twitter, calling it her "spring jam". Prior to the release of Hughes's debut EP, 'CollXtion I', two singles were released, with 'Prime' appearing on 18 March and 'Bitch' following on 6 April 2014. 'CollXtion I' was then released a year later, on 7 April 2015 in Canada, with the worldwide release being pushed back to 21 April, but when it was eventually issued it was well received, with Edmonton Journal's Julia LeConte calling it "a smartly written seven-song EP that offers up a smorgasboard of indelible hooks" and goes on to say Hughes's song-creating ability matches her spectacular voice. 

By the time that 'CollXtion I' was released, Hughes had amassed a large collection of songs which had been recorded between 2014 and 2015, and so she announced a project called 'CollXtion II: Ʉnsolved', which saw her release a collection of demos and songs on Spotify over the course of the summer, in order to shortlist the songs that her fans wanted to see on the 'CollXtion II' album. This project ended on 6 November 2016, with Hughes saying no new music would be released until the album was out, and it was first teased by her in February 2017, with it being officially announced for a 9 June release date. Before 'CollXion II' was released, 'Paper Love' was issued as the lead single from it, with 'Need You' following in May, and the album duly appeared on 9 June as announced. Now that her debut album as Allie X was out, she could think ahead to her second studio album, and 'Focus' was released as its first single in June 2018, but she still had all those songs from 2014/2015 which were sitting there doing nothing, and as she was writing new material for her second album, they were not being used, so I've taken them and compiled a further four volumes in the 'CollXtion' series, with volumes III to VI following on from the 'I' EP and the 'II' album, and 'Volume III' starts off with a collection of tracks recorded in 2015.

Track listing

01 Oh My God
02 Thief
03 Sorry
04 Debut
05 To Better Times
06 This Is The Jam
07 Remember Forever (feat. Noonie Bao)
08 Prove Me Wrong
09 Civil War
10 When/How
11 East Of Eden (Naked Lunch)
12 Stranger
13 Following The Noise
14 Break My Heart (feat. Johan Lindbrandt)
15 Reborn

Gary Moore - Road To Pain (2001)

Gary Moore first met Phil Lynott when he joined Skid Row in 1968, where Lynott was the vocalist, and the two soon became friends and shared a bedsit in Ballsbridge. After a medical leave of absence, Lynott was asked to leave Skid Row by the band's bassist Brush Shiels, who had taken over lead vocal duties, following which the band signed a recording contract with CBS, and they released their debut album 'Skid', which reached number 30 on the UK Albums Chart. After their follow-up album '34 Hours' came out in 1971, Moore decided to leave the band, opting to start a solo career. After leaving Skid Row, Lynott had formed the hard rock group Thin Lizzy, and when guitarist Eric Bell left the group, Moore was recruited to help finish their ongoing tour in early 1974. During his time with the group, Moore recorded three songs with them, including 'Still In Love With You', which he co-wrote and which was included on Lizzy's fourth album 'Nightlife' in 1974. Moore then left Thin Lizzy in April 1974, as he felt that it wasn't good for him healthwise, but in 1977 he rejoined them for a tour of the US after guitarist Brian Robertson injured his hand in a bar fight. After finishing the tour, Lynott asked Moore to join the band on a permanent basis, but he declined, although when Robertson left for good in 1978, Moore took his place once again. This time he was with them for long enough to record the album 'Black Rose: A Rock Legend', and this post includes a demo that Moore recorded for the album that wasn't included on the final track listing. 

In the middle of a tour to promote the album, Moore abruptly left Thin Lizzy, as he'd become fed up with the band's increasing drug use, and the effects it was having on their performance. Between stints in Thin Lizzy, Moore had released his first proper solo album 'Back On The Streets' in 1978, which spawned the hit single 'Parisienne Walkways', which featured Phil Lynott on lead vocals and bass. After leaving Thin Lizzy in 1979, Moore relocated to Los Angeles where he signed a new recording contract with Jet Records, and recorded the album 'Dirty Fingers', which was shelved in favour of the more "radio-oriented" G-Force album, which came out in 1980. 'Dirty Fingers' was eventually released in Japan in 1983, followed by an international release the next year, and after moving to London and signing a new recording contract with Virgin, he released his second solo album 'Corridors Of Power' in 1982. While not a major success, it was the first album to feature Moore on lead vocals throughout, as well as his first solo release to crack the Billboard 200 chart. In 1984, he released 'Victims Of The Future', which marked another musical change, this time towards hard rock and heavy metal, and it also saw the addition of keyboardist Neil Carter, who would continue to push Moore in this new musical direction. 

In 1985, Moore released his fifth solo album 'Run For Cover', which featured guest vocals by Phil Lynott and Glenn Hughes, and following Lynott's death in 1986, Moore dedicated his sixth solo album, 'Wild Frontier', to him. Despite the success of this album, and his next, 1989's 'After The War', Moore had grown tired of his own music, and so for his next record he returned to his blues roots and released 'Still Got The Blues', which saw him collaborating with the likes of Albert King, Albert Collins and George Harrison, and it proved to be the most successful album of his career, selling over three million copies worldwide. He followed it with 1992's 'After Hours', which went platinum in Sweden and gold in the UK, where it became his highest-charting entry in the UK Charts, reaching number four. After releasing a tribute album to his friend and mentor Peter Green, with 1995's 'Blues For Greeny', and experimenting with electronic music on 1997's 'Dark Days In Paradise' and 1999's 'A Different Beat', he again returned to his blues roots with 2001's 'Back To The Blues', 2004's 'Power Of The Blues' and 2006's 'Old New Ballads Blues'. This collection of demos, outtakes and b-sides spans the whole of Moore's post-Skid Row career, from that 1978 demo for Thin Lizzy, through the various line-ups and guest vocalists on his solo albums, his G-Force side-project, and his own vocal takes of the two Lynott-sung tracks from his 'Back On The Streets' album. 

Track listing

01 Bad Is Bad (Thin Lizzy demo 1978)
02 Track Nine (b-side of 'Back On The Streets' single 1978)
03 Road To Pain ('Back On The Streets' outtake 1978)
04 Track Ten ('Back On The Streets' outtake 1978)
05 Don't Believe A Word (Gary Moore vocal 1978)
06 Parisienne Walkways (Gary Moore vocal 1978)
07 Spanish Guitar (single 1979)
08 The Woman's In Love (G-Force demo 1980)
09 Trust Your Lovin' (b-side of 'You' by G Force 1980) 
10 Don't Take Me For A Loser (Gary Barden vocal 1982)
11 Don't Ever Give Your Heart Away (Glenn Hughes demo 1985)

12 Livin' With The Blues ('Back To The Blues' outtake 2001)

13 Oh Pretty Woman (demo 1990)