No Other was first released in 1974, and has acquired mythic status since. This is due to a number of factors. Foremost was its unavailability-vinyl copies were about as easy to come by as Holy Grails, and so No Other has tended to circulate on homemade cassettes. Then, of course, there was the legendary eccentricity of its creator, Gene Clark, who founded one of the most influential groups of all time, the Byrds, wrote several of their best songs ("Feel a Whole Lot Better", "Here Without You"), and then quit because, ironically enough, he couldn't stand flying (Clark died in 1991). The good news is that No Other sounds just as marvellous when heard on a CD that anyone can buy in a shop. It is an immensely, almost ostentatiously, ambitious work, complete with choirs and orchestras the sort of aggrandising, bombastic accoutrements that were favoured by many Californian musicians in the 1970s, for reasons that may not have been unrelated to the drifts of cocaine everyone was having for breakfast. However, the songs on No Other survive-indeed, flourish-beneath the mountainous arrangements because they're anchored to Clark's essential humility: the opening track recognises that "Man is life's greatest fool". The songs on No Other weave elements of funk and soul in with Clark's country-rock leanings with astonishing success "Strength of Strings" could have been recorded by Isaac Hayes. Gram Parsons, who for a while took Clark's place in the Byrds, was fond of saying that his dream was to create what he called a Cosmic American Music, an overarching synthesis of all America's popular forms. On No Other, Clark did it. [+]

From the first stentorian battle call of the shofar (ram's horn) to the excerpt from a famous Billy Graham speech and the standard it inspired-the Louvin Brothers' "Are You Afraid to Die"-it's obvious that Ricky Skaggs isn't just out to soothe souls, but to save them. Naturally the outspoken Christian fundamentalist delves deeply into his bluegrass roots for supernal inspiration on his first all-gospel album. He serves up fervent renditions of bluegrass-gospel favorites like Ralph Stanley's "The Darkest Hour," Bill Monroe's "Remember the Cross," and the Bill Carlisle-penned, Flatt & Scruggs-covered "Gone Home," but Skaggs also finds inspiration in contemporary gospel tunes like "The Joshua Generation," which features a soaring Crosby, Stills & Nash-style vocal finale. Yet the most amazing cut is "Seven Hillsides," a song that vividly chronicles an Appalachian preacher's overwhelming self-doubt and sense of inadequacy as he prepares to minister to his congregation's immense and tragic losses. Like much of this lovely and aggressively inspirational collection, "Seven Hillsides" speaks to the humanity and spirituality in just about all of us-hardcore Christian and closet agnostic alike. -Bob Allen.

Though America was released in 1971 as a single LP, finger-style guitarist John Fahey conceived it as a double album. This CD finally allows Fahey's full vision to be heard (an additional nine tracks are included here for the first time). It's a true treat for Fahey lovers. The title track features the guitarist on the 12-string guitar, sounding more resonant than ever on the seven-minute composition. "Dvorak" is based on the composer's Eighth Symphony, which Fahey tackles in fine fashion. Fahey also performs a methodical rendition of "Amazing Grace" as well as covers of Sam McGee and Skip James tunes. But Fahey's original tunes-the soul-stirring, 15-minute-long "Mark 1:15", the playfully weird "The Waltz That Carried Us Away. ", and the gorgeous melody of "Song #3"-are obvious highlights. [+]