Paul McCartney's first full-length studio album in four years, Kisses on the Bottom is a collection of vocal standards -- the first of its kind in his discography. The son of a '20s bandleader, McCartney no doubt heard many of these songs while growing up, and this album shows a special kinship between singer and song that goes far beyond the many songbook collections attempted by others of his generation. Produced by jazz and vocal associate Tommy LiPuma, the album features guestwork from the likes of Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, and Diana Krall. The lead-off track (and the inspiration for the album title) is Fats Waller's "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down (And Write Myself a Letter)."

Personnel: Billy Boy Arnold (vocals, harmonica); T.S. McPhee (guitar); Wilgar Campbell (drums).
Audio Remixer: John Tuffy.
Liner Note Author: Alfie Falckenbach.
Recording information: PAthway Studios (10/06/1977-10/07/1977).

Personnel: Mick Box (vocals, guitar, guitars); Phil Lanzon (vocals, keyboards); Bernie Shaw (vocals); Trevor Bolder (bass guitar); Lee Kerslake (drums).
Recording information: Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Oxfordshire, England (02/1998-05/1998); Karo Studios, Brackel, Germany (02/1998-05/1998); The WDR Radio Mobile Recording Studio, The Live Music H (02/1998-05/1998); Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Oxfordshire, England (06/23/1994); Karo Studios, Brackel, Germany (06/23/1994); The WDR Radio Mobile Recording Studio, The Live Music H (06/23/1994); Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Oxfordshire, England (11/1994-02/1995); Karo Studios, Brackel, Germany (11/1994-02/1995); The WDR Radio Mobile Recording Studio, The Live Music H (11/1994-02/1995).
Photographer: Dirk Zumpe.

Recording information: Dvor k Hall, Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic (06/04/2011-06/07/2011).
Photographers: Jiri Hanzl; Jessica Drossin.
The score for Anthony Hemingway's film Red Tails is the 33rd by trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard. The music was performed by the FILMharmonic Orchestra and Choir in Prague, under the direction of Adam Klemens. The orchestration, done by Blanchard in collaboration with Howard Drossin, is large in scale, expansive, and dramatic. The trumpeter also appears here, along with percussionist Kendrick Scott and pianist Fabian Almazan. Given that the film is a WWII-era drama about the Tuskegee Airmen, the music is surprisingly modern; it's a combination of action film textures and dynamics, classical extravagances, and choral overtones in its cues. The "Opening Titles" theme greets even the most ardent Blanchard fans with shock: with blazing heavy metal guitars, pulsing synths and sequencers, nearly bombastic brass, and electronic percussion exploding into the fore. These notions are expanded upon continually, in "The Train," "Lightning in Trouble," and numerous other cues. The rumbling drums, transcendent vocal choruses, horns, strings, and synths give the militaristic bent of the film's subject matter weight. There are more atmospheric cues here though they are at a minimum; while they provide dynamic relief, they heighten the tension even further -- check "Junior's Prison" and "Paper Plane." There is great magisterial content here, too, as evidenced by "Mission Orders/Stance Berlin." Blanchard's task -- to provide a big-budget Hollywood film with a score worthy of its subject -- succeeds. It's obvious he's spent a great deal of time listening to Wagner and Strauss, as well as to German electronic outfits and Hans Zimmer, and has integrated them to reflect his own signature -- in "Attack from Above," he quotes from his score for A Tale of God's Will. Tacked on to the end of Blanchard's score are a few period pieces to make the soundtrack complete. These include the Andrews Sisters' "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and the Ink Spots' "Bless You." Thankfully, you can hit the stop button right after the beauty and grandeur of the "End Credits/America the Beautiful," performed by the trumpeter with percussionist Kendrick Scott and pianist Almazan fronting the orchestra. This is Blanchard's most unusual and populist score by Hollywood standards; that said, it's a complete gas to listen to. ~ Thom Jurek

Pink Floyd: David Gilmour (vocals, guitar); Richard Wright (vocals, keyboards); Roger Waters (vocals, bass); Nick Mason (drums).
Additional personnel: Bruce Johnston, Toni Tenille, Joe Chemay, John Joyce, Stan Farber, Jim Haas, Islington Green School (background vocals).
Producers: Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, Roger Waters.
Recorded at Superbear Studios, Miravel, France; Producer's Workshop, Los Angeles, California; CBS Studios, New York, New York between April and November 1979.
Digitally remastered by Doug Sax (The Mastering Lab, Los Angeles, California).
The Wall was Roger Waters' crowning accomplishment in Pink Floyd. It documented the rise and fall of a rock star (named Pink Floyd), based on Waters' own experiences and the tendencies he'd observed in people around him. By then, the bassist had firm control of the group's direction, working mostly alongside David Gilmour and bringing in producer Bob Ezrin as an outside collaborator. Drummer Nick Mason was barely involved, while keyboardist Rick Wright seemed to be completely out of the picture. Still, The Wall was a mighty, sprawling affair, featuring 26 songs with vocals: nearly as many as all previous Floyd albums combined. The story revolves around the fictional Pink Floyd's isolation behind a psychological wall. The wall grows as various parts of his life spin out of control, and he grows incapable of dealing with his neuroses. The album opens by welcoming the unwitting listener to Floyd's show ("In the Flesh?"), then turns back to childhood memories of his father's death in World War II ("Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 1"), his mother's over protectiveness ("Mother"), and his fascination with and fear of sex ("Young Lust"). By the time "Goodbye Cruel World" closes the first disc, the wall is built and Pink is trapped in the midst of a mental breakdown. On disc two, the gentle acoustic phrasings of "Is There Anybody Out There?" and the lilting orchestrations of "Nobody Home" reinforce Floyd's feeling of isolation. When his record company uses drugs to coax him to perform ("Comfortably Numb"), his onstage persona is transformed into a homophobic, race-baiting fascist ("In the Flesh"). In "The Trial," he mentally prosecutes himself, and the wall comes tumbling down. This ambitious concept album was an across-the-board smash, topping the Billboard album chart for 15 weeks in 1980. The single "Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2" was the country's best seller for four weeks. The Wall spawned an elaborate stage show (so elaborate, in fact, that the band was able to bring it to only a few cities) and a full-length film. It also marked the last time Waters and Gilmour would work together as equal partners.