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Top Picks: May New Releases

Santana - Shape Shifter

Live performance albums, new studio releases and plenty of vintage vinyl await us in the new release pipeline in May.

Who's new in May
Classic Rock Spotlight10

New Soon

Friday May 18, 2012

Couple of end-of-the-month live releases you might want to take a look at:

  • Bachman & Turner - Live at the Roseland Ballroom, NYC

    After releasing their debut studio album as a duo in 2010, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner went on the road, with a set list songs from their new album, and from the Bachman Turner Overdrive catalog. This CD takes us to one of the stops on that tour.

    Read a review of the studio album, Bachman & Turner

  • Foreigner - Alive & Rockin'

    The scene is Germany's annual Bang Your Head Festival in 2006. On stage, Foreigner, doing what some say they do best: performing live in front of a large audience. The CD recording of that concert is about to be released. If this title seems familiar, that's probably because, in a reversal of what you're probably used to, the DVD version was released in 2007.

    Read a review of the DVD version of Foreigner's Alive & Rockin'

If you're a Pink Floyd fan you do NOT want to miss this

Friday May 18, 2012

If you are, indeed, a Pink Floyd fan, I probably don't have to ask if you remember the last time the three surviving members appeared on stage together. But in case you may have forgotten, it was a year ago (May 12, 2011) at London's O2 Arena during one of Roger Waters' performances of The Wall.

We knew to expect David Gilmour to show up sometime during Waters' tour, because when Waters surprised the audience at a Gilmour show in 2010, Gilmour promised to return the favor. What wasn't known until just before the O2 show was that Nick Mason would also be putting in an appearance.

 
Now showing on the Pink Floyd YouTube channel, behind-the-scenes footage of the reunion. Don't ask me why, but I got goose bumps.


Pink Floyd reunion at Live 8 in 2005 (Photo by MJ Kim / Getty Images)

Top 10 Santana songs

Thursday May 17, 2012

Santana - 'Zebop!' Pick a few of the best Santana songs? This ought to be easy. Wait a minute, what? Let me think: about three dozen original albums, say an average of 12 tracks per. Hey, that's more than 400 songs!

So, I need your help in meeting the challenge. I've come up with my list of 10 great songs by Santana. Now, help me. Show us yours!

Image courtesy Columbia Records

Review: Santana - 'Shape Shifter'

Wednesday May 16, 2012

Carlos Santana Carlos Santana has a strong affinity for spiritualism, culture, and (of course) music. Santana's new album, Shape Shifter represents a convergence of the three.

Santana has been writing songs for this album for years, waiting for the right place and the right time to use them. For him, the time is now, and it's the right place "to acknowledge the first people" of the land, in this case, Native American Indians.

The 36th album in the catalog of Santana, the band, is a very personal one for Santana, the man. And that's what makes it so good.

Photo by Ethan Miller / Getty Images

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