This legendary 1983 debut by the fallen torchbearer of the 1980s-90s blues revival sounds even more dramatic in its remixed and expanded edition. Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar and vocals are a bit brighter and more present on this 14-track album. Texas Flood captures Vaughan as rockin' blues purist, paying tribute in his inspired six-string diction to his influences Larry Davis (who wrote the title track), Buddy Guy, Albert King, and Jimi Hendrix. His own contemplative "Lenny", a tribute to his wife at the time, also suggests a jazz-fuelled complexity that would infuse his later work. -Ted Drozdowski.

The full-tilt blues album that Clapton had been promising for years, From the Cradle proves the guitarist's enduring devotion to a form he had long relegated to merely a flavour in his music rather than the main ingredient. Clapton's singing on the album is somewhat mannered; he tries to compete with original versions of these songs by Muddy Waters, Charles Brown, and others, and there's no way he's going to win that battle. Still, you can feel the emotional connection Clapton has with these songs, and guitar aficionados will swoon over his fretwork on songs such as "Third Degree", "Someday After a While", and the incendiary "Groanin' the Blues". -Daniel Durchholz.

Another decade, another repackaged Hendrix compilation; but like the Beatles and the Doors, his music has a timeless quality perfect for younger generations to rediscover time and time again. Voodoo Child covers the best of his studio work and live performances recorded over the four years in the run-up to his untimely death in 1970. As with many of the previous "best of" collections, CD 1 (the studio side) is packed heavily with the instant pop hits of his debut Are You Experienced with only a handful of hits from his subsequent two "proper" albums. All the usual big names are here, "Purple Haze", "Hey Joe", "Crosstown Traffic", "Voodoo Child" etc. but tacked on the end are some of his finer low-key moments, such as the soulful funk of "Izabella", the epic theme to his Rainbow Bridge film, "Hey Baby" and the sublime space-rocking car ad "Third Stone from the Sun". CD 2 is collected from his numerous live albums and includes some defining moments in the guitarists brief history such as the passionate political thriller "Machine Gun" with his Band of Gypsies; mammoth blues romp "Hear My Train a Comin'"; the now legendary version of him tearing through "Wild Thing" at Monterey and of course his signature tune, the "Star Spangled Banner" Live at Woodstock. Being such a prolific writer, performer and recording artist it will always be difficult to cram his best work into two discs but Voodoo Child serves as a more than adequate introduction to one of the greatest rock icons in history, with no glaring omissions (apart from the bold decision not to include the studio "Foxey Lady") or unworthy inclusions to upset his many disciples. -David Trueman.