He may have made his name as one of those strangely genre-resistant singer-songwriters of the 70s, but Billy Joel's pedigree in pop dates back at least a decade prior to 1973's breakthrough Piano Man album. In 1964, Joel's prowess on Hammond organ even saw him playing on The Shangri-Las' "Leader Of The Pack". It was to these fledgling years in pop that Joel looked for inspiration when recording the most successful album of his career. To spend an afternoon in the company of An Innocent Man is to transport yourself to a New York diner in the early 60s, not a care in the world beyond waiting for your date to turn up. And when it works, it's positively life-affirming. "Uptown Girl" is surely the finest song The Four Seasons never recorded, while "The Longest Time" and "Leave A Tender Moment Alone" offer a humane return to the thrill of young love. Less successful are a couple of forays in more R&B influenced material (Joel doesn't quite have the voice for it) but never again did he quite sound like he was having this much fun. -Peter Paphides.

It was Dylan himself who said "the present now will later be past" and there's no better proof of it than this bizarre live collection of his old hits performed in big band versions where nothing seems to mean what it originally did. There's something going on here and even Dylan doesn't know what it is. Following the success of Cheap Trick and Neil Diamond-who both scored with Japanese live albums-Dylan took his Las Vegas revue with him and handed up "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Shelter from the Storm," and even "The Times They Are A-Changin'" without the vehemence that made them anthems for a past generation. Weird. -Rob O'Connor.

He may have made his name as one of those strangely genre-resistant singer-songwriters of the 70s, but Billy Joel's pedigree in pop dates back at least a decade prior to 1973's breakthrough Piano Man album. In 1964, Joel's prowess on Hammond organ even saw him playing on The Shangri-Las' "Leader Of The Pack". It was to these fledgling years in pop that Joel looked for inspiration when recording the most successful album of his career. To spend an afternoon in the company of An Innocent Man is to transport yourself to a New York diner in the early 60s, not a care in the world beyond waiting for your date to turn up. And when it works, it's positively life-affirming. "Uptown Girl" is surely the finest song The Four Seasons never recorded, while "The Longest Time" and "Leave A Tender Moment Alone" offer a humane return to the thrill of young love. Less successful are a couple of forays in more R&B influenced material (Joel doesn't quite have the voice for it) but never again did he quite sound like he was having this much fun. -Peter Paphides.

Elton John has been a force in pop music since the mid-1960s. This extravagant and colourful box set presents, in chronological order, his hit songs through 1990. Designed to accommodate a large booklet and the four CDs, which when placed side-by-side present a likeness of Elton, the package indicates the care and expense this huge-selling artist commands. With the exception of some very early work with Long John Baldry, the music is exclusively focused on the songs Elton wrote in conjunction with lyricist Bernie Taupin. Their unique songwriting method, whereby Taupin first submits lyrics to which John then gives musical shape, is discussed at length in an insightful interview with the two men. This method has produced a truly astonishing number of hit records, particularly throughout the 70s. Discs 2 and 3 contain all the monster hits-"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Daniel", "Benny and the Jets", "Crocodile Rock", as well as many others. The combination of John's pliable and emotive voice, Taupin's well-wrought words and strong production values led to mega-stardom. The 1980s were a period of transition and growth for Elton John. Disc 4 has a number of hits from that period-"Sad Songs", "Sacrifice" and "You Gotta Love Someone"-as well as featuring several live performances before a full orchestra, including "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me". [+]

Lea Salonga, best known as the voice of Jasmine in Aladdin, steals the show here as the title character in Disney's Mulan. The former star of Miss Saigon adds touching elements to the feature, especially on introspective numbers such as "Reflection. " Unfortunately, the voice of Donny Osmond, relegated to anthems such as "I'll Make a Man Out of You" doesn't really enhance the story line, a saga set in ancient China. Jerry Goldsmith provides the Far East tinge to the score, almost reminiscent of early Les Baxter. While Mulan is a far cry from the memorable Beauty and the Beast, it is both funny and charming. -Jason Verlinde.

The Basement Tapes can be heard as a manifesto for the 1990s underlying Americana agenda or as the greatest album never intended for commercial release. Homegrown 1967 recordings taped in the Band's fabled Big Pink hermitage in Saugerties, New York, many of the 24 songs resonated across American and English rock and folk long before their belated 1975 release, through studio interpretations by the Byrds, Fairport Convention, Manfred Mann, Peter, Paul & Mary, and numerous other acolytes, as well as through myriad unauthorised bootlegs. Good as the covers were, Dylan and the Band rolled their own with an extraordinary coherence that sounds only more authentic in these rough-hewn, intimate, always musical performances, which dovetail with Dylan's stark John Wesley Harding and the Band's stunning debut, Music from Big Pink as well as the presciently lo-fi The Band. At a time when most rock culture was entranced with its post-atomic origins, these songs sounded timeless, plunging into pre-industrial folk, turn of the (20th) century barrelhouse and blues, and crackling, vintage rock and roll excursions with offhand verve and a thrilling disregard for what was hip. Time has only reinforced their visionary power. -Sam Sutherland The Basement Tapes can be heard as a manifesto for the current decade's underlying Americana agenda, or as the greatest album never intended for commercial release. Homegrown 1967 recordings taped in the Band's fabled Big Pink hermitage in Saugerties, New York, many of the 24 songs resonated across American and English rock and folk long before their belated 1975 release through studio interpretations by the Byrds, Fairport Convention, Manfred Mann, Peter, Paul & Mary, and numerous other acolytes, as well as through myriad unauthorized bootlegs. Good as the covers were, Dylan and the Band rolled their own with an extraordinary coherence that sounds only more authentic in these rough-hewn, intimate, always musical performances, which dovetail with Dylan's stark John Wesley Harding and the Band's stunning debut, Music from Big Pink as well as the presciently lo-fi The Band. At a time when most rock culture was entranced with its post-atomic origins, these songs sounded timeless, plunging into pre-industrial folk, turn of the (20th) century barrelhouse and blues, and crackling, vintage rock & roll excursions with offhand verve and a thrilling disregard for what was hip. Time has only reinforced their visionary power. [+]