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Black Sabbath The Rules Of Hell [Box]
Black Sabbath: Ronnie James Dio (vocals); Tony Iommi (guitar); Vinny Appice, Bill Ward (drums); Geezer Butler.
Audio Mixer: Mack.
Arrangers: Geezer Butler; Ronnie James Dio; Bill Ward .
More than a box set of remastered materials, Rhino's release of THE RULES OF HELL is a five-disc testimonial chronicling one of the most exciting yet underrated episodes in hard rock/heavy metal history: that of Ronnie James Dio's contributions to the Black Sabbath mythos. The combination of Dio's operatic refinement with Sabbath's trademark bulldozing thunder catapulted the band into a fresher, more expressive period. THE RULES OF HELL has captured all that magic in a box, and consists of the following full-length albums: HEAVEN AND HELL, MOB RULES, the double disc LIVE EVIL, and DEHUMANIZER. Complete with extensive liner notes, photos, and biographical information, THE RULES OF HELL proudly displays the evolution of metal's most influential ambassadors.
A sequel to the 2004 set Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978, Rules of Hell rounds up all the Black Sabbath albums with Ronnie James Dio, beginning with 1980's Heaven and Hell and its 1981 follow-up Mob Rules, spending two discs on the 1982 live album Live Evil, then skipping forward a decade for Dehumanizer, Sabbath's reunion with Dio. Some may complain that this skips over a large chunk of Sabbath's latter-day history but 1983-1990 was a time when singers passed through the lineup like grains of sand, and the results were equally transient, leaving these Dio-fronted albums as the last great albums Black Sabbath recorded. Well, at least that's true of Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules; opinion is divided on Live Evil and Dehumanizer but taken altogether, these records form a legacy. Although it is not expanded upon with bonus tracks, that legacy is treated well on Rules of Hell as the four albums are remastered, the set is given good liner notes for each album and it's housed in a slipcase. It's a handsome package but not as deluxe and luxe as Black Box, which truly felt like an indulgence. Instead, it feels like a group of individual reissues gathered together in a simple slipcase -- a nice, affordable away to get all these well-done reissues at once, but some fans may want to wait and see if Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules are eventually released on their own. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
5 CD SET

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Various Artists Genie
This outfit (a.k.a. Brooklyn Bronx & Queens Band) has long been prized among disco and club music aficionados, and this is their fourth and last album, released in 1985. It marked a departure for the band, as the record was written and produced by Kay Williams instead of founding producer Jacques Fred Petrus, and the change resulted in a couple of minor hits, 'Dreamer' and the title cut, as well as chart action in Europe. Hits aside, this one’s a stone-cold club classic, to which we’ve added notes by 'Billboard' R&B editor Gail Mitchell. Also includes 'Main Attraction; Won’t You Be with Me Tonight; Don’t Force It; Minutes Away; On the Shelf', and 'Ricochet'. A 'Collectors’ Choice Music' exclusive, ready for spins September 16!

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Blondie Parallel Lines
Blondie: Deborah Harry (vocals); Chris Stein (guitar, 12-string guitar, E-bow); Frank Infante (guitar); Jimmy Destri (keyboards); Nigel Harrison (bass); Clem Burke (drums).
Producer: Mike Chapman.
Reissue producer: Kevin Flaherty.
Recorded at The Record Plant, New York, New York in June & July, 1978. Originally released on Chrysalis (1192). Includes liner notes by Mike Chapman.
All tracks have been digitally remastered using 24-bit technology.
Blondie: Debbie Harry (vocals); Christ Stein, Frank Infante (guitar); Jimmy Destri (keyboards); Nigel Harrison (bass guitar); Clem Burke (drums).
Blondie turned to British pop producer Mike Chapman for their third album, on which they abandoned any pretensions to new wave legitimacy (just in time, given the decline of the new wave) and emerged as a pure pop band. But it wasn't just Chapman that made Parallel Lines Blondie's best album; it was the band's own songwriting, including Deborah Harry, Chris Stein, and James Destri's "Picture This," and Harry and Stein's "Heart of Glass," and Harry and new bass player Nigel Harrison's "One Way or Another," plus two contributions from nonbandmember Jack Lee, "Will Anything Happen?" and "Hanging on the Telephone." That was enough to give Blondie a number one on both sides of the Atlantic with "Heart of Glass" and three more U.K. hits, but what impresses is the album's depth and consistency -- album tracks like "Fade Away and Radiate" and "Just Go Away" are as impressive as the songs pulled for singles. The result is state-of-the-art pop/rock circa 1978, with Harry's tough-girl glamour setting the pattern that would be exploited over the next decade by a host of successors led by Madonna. ~ William Ruhlmann
Madonna and Michael Jackson aside, this is supreme pop music and as good as the genre can ever get. Everybody loved Blondie; fans, children, critics, other musicians and senior citizens - and not just because Debbie Harry was its frontperson. This is an unintentional greatest hits record that doesn't let up until the last note of 'Just Go Away' has died. If one wanted to carp, you could have asked for 'Denis' and 'Call Me' to have been included, but that would be just plain greedy. One of the greatest 'up' records of all time.

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The Pretenders The Singles
The Pretenders includes: James Honeyman Scott (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Chrissie Hynde (vocals, guitar); Pete Farndon (vocals, bass); Martin Chambers (vocals, drums); Robbie McIntosh (guitar); T.M. Stevens (bass); Blair Cunningham (drums).
Recorded between 1979 & 1986.
This riveting collection of videos covers the group's first decade. Some of the clips are grainy, but the band is very interesting to watch, at least up through "Learning to Crawl," and this is a major augmentation to its albums. ~ Bruce Eder
The Pretenders burst on the scene in the early '80s with one of the most compelling presentations of rock & roll ever seen. This collection, which highlights their A and B sides up until the mid-'80s, shows that Chrissie Hynde and co-conspirators were true masters of the rock single. Tracks such as "Brass in Pocket," "Middle of the Road," and the highly underrated "Message of Love" are spectacularly performed, written, and produced. The early band, especially with James Honeyman-Scott's hook-laden guitar playing, was capable of miracles, and you'll find examples of that on virtually every cut. ~ Matthew Greenwald
While THE SINGLES may misrepresent The Pretenders, concentrating as it does on their jangly, radio friendly material rather than their punkier, proto-Riot Grrrl fare, there isn't a track here that fails to delight. Of course, it helps that Chrissie Hynde is arguably the most emotionally compelling female pop vocalist of the second half of the 20th century. But THE SINGLES also proves something that's too often overlooked--that Hynde is the first distaff rocker whose songwriting can stand comparison with the genre's biggest guns.
High points here are almost too numerous to mention, including the Motown influenced "Don't Get Me Wrong" (which spawned a charming video with Hynde intercut with her idol Patrick Macnee in footage from TV's' "The Avengers,"), the exquisite Christmas song "2000 Miles," the chiming, Byrdish "Talk of the Town," and (best of all) the killer garage rocker "Middle of the Road." There are also some great covers, including two Ray Davies songs, a fun version of Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" with UB40, and a take on the Persuaders' "Thin Line Between Love and Hate" that allows Hynde to show of her 70s soul roots. Bottom line: Greatest Hits albums don't come any better.

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The Traveling Wilburys Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1
The Traveling Wilburys: George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison.
The music of supergroup the Traveling Wilburys was never meant to be taken too seriously. And perhaps because of this, the records had fallen completely out of print by the mid 1990s, a shocking occurrence for a triple platinum band. Rhino Records came to the rescue, however, with this fantastic set that includes not only both proper Wilbury albums (VOL. 1 and VOL. 3), but a handful of bonus tracks from each session, a DVD with all the videos and behind-the-scenes footage, and detailed liner notes.
The meat of the order here is definitely the first disc, TRAVELING WILBURYS, VOL. 1, a certified masterpiece with five legends at the top of their game. Roy Orbison's "You're Not Alone Anymore" may be his finest performance since the '60s; George Harrison's "Handle With Care" is as good as any solo Beatle hit; and Tom Petty's "Last Night" shows why he belongs rubbing shoulders with Orbison, a Beatle, and Dylan. Disc 2 features their follow-up record, TRAVELING WILBURYS, VOL. 3, and while it still holds up, the material is not quite as strong as on VOL. 1 (sadly, Roy Orbison, for one thing, had passed away by this point). There are still some gems, though, mostly from Petty: the country stomp "Poor House," the longing "New Blue Moon," and the playful "Inside Out." Disc 3 is a DVD featuring complete music videos and a short behind-the-scenes documentary about the supergroup. This is a must-have for fans of the band and of the legendary musicians that comprise it.
Famously, the Traveling Wilburys came about nearly by accident: in 1987, George Harrison mentioned to his dinner companions Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Roy Orbison that his record company wanted a b-side for the new single from his then-current album, CLOUD NINE. The group's near-spontaneous collaboration, "Handle With Care," turned out so well that rather than waste it on a b-side, they turned the legendary late-1960s hoax, the Masked Marauders (a purported bootleg of the Beatles and Rolling Stones jamming with Bob Dylan, created by Rolling Stone writer Greil Marcus as a joke), into reality. Choosing the personas of a bunch of old-timey traveling musicians (the sons of a mythical itinerant country singer, Charlie Wilbury), the Traveling Wilburys deliberately kept things simple. A low-key album filled with catchy, often humorous songs with heavy country, blues, and early rock influences, THE TRAVELING WILBURYS VOLUME ONE is the sound of five rock legends having the time of their lives.
There never was a supergroup more super than the Traveling Wilburys. They had Jeff Lynne, the leader of ELO; they had Roy Orbison, the best pop singer of the '60s; they had Tom Petty, the best roots rocker this side of Bruce Springsteen; they had a Beatle and Bob Dylan, for crying out loud! It's impossible to picture a supergroup with a stronger pedigree than that (all that's missing is a Rolling Stone), but in another sense it's hard to call the Wilburys a true supergroup, since they arrived nearly two decades after the all-star craze of the '70s peaked, and they never had the self-important air of nearly all the other supergroups. That, of course, was the key to their charm: they were a group of friends that fell together easily, almost effortlessly, to record a B-side for a single for George Harrison, then had such a good time they stuck around to record a full album, which became a hit upon its 1988 release. Looking back, the group's success seems all the more remarkable because the first album is surely, even proudly, not a major statement. Even under the direction of Lynne, who seems incapable of not polishing a record till it gleams, it's loose and funny, even goofy. It's clearly a lark, which makes the offhanded, casual virtuosity of some of the songs all the more affecting, particularly the two big hits, which are sunny and warm, partially because they wryly acknowledge the mileage on these rock & roll veterans. "Handle with Care" and "End of the Line" are the two masterworks here, although Roy's showcase, "Not Alone Anymore" -- more grand and moving than anything on the Lynne-produced Mystery Girl -- comes close in the stature, but its stylized melodrama is a ringer here: it, along with Dylan's offhand heartbreak tune "Congratulations," is the only slow thing here, and the rest of the album just overspills with good vibes, whether it's Tom Petty's lite reggae of "Last Night," Jeff Lynne's excellent Jerry Lee Lewis update "Rattled," or Dylan's very funny "Dirty World," which is only slightly overshadowed by his very, very funny Springsteen swipe "Tweeter and the Monkey Man." These high times keep The Traveling Wilburys fresh and fun years later, after Lynne's production becomes an emblem of the time instead of transcending it. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
There never was a supergroup more super than the Traveling Wilburys. They had Jeff Lynne, the leader of ELO; they had Roy Orbison, the best pop singer of the '60s; they had Tom Petty, the best roots rocker this side of Bruce Springsteen; they had a Beatle and Bob Dylan, for crying out loud! It's impossible to picture a supergroup with a stronger pedigree than that (all that's missing is a Rolling Stone), but in another sense it's hard to call the Wilburys a true supergroup, since they arrived nearly two decades after the all-star craze of the '70s peaked, and they never had the self-important air of nearly all the other supergroups. That, of course, was the key to their charm: they were a group of friends that fell together easily, almost effortlessly, to record a B-side for a single for George Harrison, then had such a good time they stuck around to record a full album, which became a hit upon its 1988 release. The Traveling Wilburys was big enough to convince the group to record a second album, cheerfully and incongruously titled Vol. 3, two years later despite the death of Orbison. Like most sequels, the second didn't live up to expectations, and by the time it and its predecessor drifted out of print in the mid-'90s, with the rights reverting to Harrison, nobody much noticed. A few years later, though, it soon became apparent that the Wilburys records -- mainly, the debut, widely beloved thanks to its two hits, "Handle With Care" and "End of the Line" -- were out of print, and they soon became valuable items as the Harrison estate dragged its heels on a reissue. Finally, the two albums were bundled up as a two-CD set simply called The Traveling Wilburys and reissued with a DVD containing a documentary and all the videos in the summer of 2007 (there is also a deluxe edition containing a longer, lavish booklet).
Looking back via The Traveling Wilburys, the group's success seems all the more remarkable because the first album is surely, even proudly, not a major statement. Even under the direction of Lynne, who seems incapable of not polishing a record till it gleams, it's loose and funny, even goofy. It's clearly a lark, which makes the offhanded, casual virtuosity of some of the songs all the more affecting, particularly the two big hits, which are sunny and warm, partially because they wryly acknowledge the mileage on these rock & roll veterans. "Handle With Care" and "End of the Line" are the two masterworks here, although Roy's showcase, "Not Alone Anymore" -- more grand and moving than anything on the Lynne-produced Mystery Girl -- comes close in the stature, but its stylized melodrama is a ringer here: it, along with Dylan's offhand heartbreak tune "Congratulations," is the only slow thing here, and the rest of the album just overspills with good vibes, whether it's Tom Petty's lite reggae of "Last Night," Jeff Lynne's excellent Jerry Lee Lewis update "Rattled," or Dylan's very funny "Dirty World," which is only slightly overshadowed by his very, very funny Springsteen swipe "Tweeter and the Monkey Man." These high times keep The Traveling Wilburys fresh and fun years later, after Lynne's production becomes an emblem of the time instead of transcending it. (The album contains two bonus tracks in this reissue, the excellent Harrison song "Maxine" -- a low-key waltz that should have made the cut -- and "Like a Ship," a folky dirge that builds into ELO-esque pop which is pretty good but doesn't have the effervescence of the rest.)
The Traveling Wilburys built upon Harrison's comeback with Cloud Nine and helped revitalize everybody else's career, setting the stage for Dylan's 1989 comeback with Oh Mercy, Petty's first solo album, Full Moon Fever, produced by Lynne (sounding and feeling strikingly similar to this lark), and Orbison's Mystery Girl, which was released posthumously. Given the success of this record and how it boosted the creativity of the rest of the five, it's somewhat a shock that the second effort falls a little flat. In retrospect, Vol. 3 plays a little bit better than it did at the time -- it's the kind of thing to appreciate more in retrospect, since you'll never get another album like it -- but it still labors mightily to recapture what came so effortlessly the first time around, a problem that can't merely be chalked up to the absence of Orbison (who after all, didn't write much on the first and only took lead on one song). Where the humor flowed naturally and absurdly throughout the debut, it feels strained on Vol. 3 -- nowhere more so than on "Wilbury Twist," where Petty implores you to put your underwear on your head and get up and dance, the epitome of forced hilarity -- and the production is too polished and punchy to give it a joie de vivre similar to the debut. That polish is an indication that Lynne and Petty dominate this record, which only makes sense because they made it between Full Moon Fever and Into the Great Wide Open, but it's striking that this sounds like more like their work, even when Dylan takes the lead on "Inside Out" or the doo wop-styled "7 Deadly Sins." Both of these are quite good songs and they have a few other companions here, like the quite wonderful country stomp "Poor House," but they're songs more notable for their craft than their impact -- nothing is as memorable as the throwaways on the debut -- and when combined with the precise production, it takes a bit for them to sink in. But give the record some time, and these subtle pleasures are discernible, even if they surely pale compared to the open-hearted fun of the debut. But when paired with the debut on this set, it's a worthy companion and helps support the notion that the Traveling Wilburys were a band that possesses a unique, almost innocent, charm that isn't diminished after all this time. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
2 CD/1 DVD

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Billy Idol The Very Best Of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself
Personnel: Billy Idol (vocals); Steve Stevens (guitar); Derek Sherinian (keyboards); Brian Tichy (drums).
Audio Mixer: Ryan Williams.
Liner Note Author: David Wild.
Recording information: Pulse Recording, Los Angeles, CA.
Photographers: Andy Freeberg; Bob Alford; Richard Aaron; Robert Matheu; Chapman Baehler; Richard Croft.
Issued in 2008, IDOLIZE YOURSELF essentially repackages the 2001 GREATEST HITS collection, albeit with an altered track listing and two brand-new songs by the punked-out U.K. popster. While the latter tracks (particularly the moody "John Wayne") seek to recapture Idol's 1980s heyday, the other tunes still are the real deal, showcasing the playfully sneering singer at his best, as on the fierce "Rebel Yell" and the bleak "White Wedding."
Hard to believe, but Capitol's 2008 collection Idolize Yourself: The Very Best of Billy Idol is only the second Billy Idol hits album to be released in America, following the first -- 2001's Greatest Hits -- by just seven years. Greatest Hits weighed in at 16 tracks and Idolize Yourself spans 18, adding two OK new songs to the mix (the moody "John Wayne" and the ham-fisted "New Future Weapon"), swapping out a live acoustic "Rebel Yell" and a cover of Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)" for the latter-day cuts "Speed" and "World Comin' Down," but otherwise this is built upon the same core 14 hits as Greatest Hits. This means that either compilation would serve the needs of most Idol fans well, but Idolize Yourself gets the edge, as the latter-day songs are just a bit better and it's also available in a deluxe edition with a DVD containing almost all of Billy Idol's music videos (two, "Hot in the City" and "Cradle of Love," are present in previously unreleased alternate cuts), which are essential to truly appreciating an artist whose fame was built in large part on his videos. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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Billy Idol The Very Best Of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself
Liner Note Author: David Wild.
Issued in 2008, IDOLIZE YOURSELF essentially repackages the 2001 GREATEST HITS collection, albeit with an altered track listing and two brand-new songs by the punked-out U.K. popster. While the latter tracks (particularly the moody "John Wayne") seek to recapture Idol's 1980s heyday, the other tunes still are the real deal, showcasing the playfully sneering singer at his best, as on the fierce "Rebel Yell" and the bleak "White Wedding."
Hard to believe, but Capitol's 2008 collection Idolize Yourself: The Very Best of Billy Idol is only the second Billy Idol hits album to be released in America, following the first -- 2001's Greatest Hits -- by just seven years. Greatest Hits weighed in at 16 tracks and Idolize Yourself spans 18, adding two OK new songs to the mix (the moody "John Wayne" and the ham-fisted "New Future Weapon"), swapping out a live acoustic "Rebel Yell" and a cover of Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)" for the latter-day cuts "Speed" and "World Comin' Down," but otherwise this is built upon the same core 14 hits as Greatest Hits. This means that either compilation would serve the needs of most Idol fans well, but Idolize Yourself gets the edge, as the latter-day songs are just a bit better and it's also available in a deluxe edition with a DVD containing almost all of Billy Idol's music videos (two, "Hot in the City" and "Cradle of Love," are present in previously unreleased alternate cuts), which are essential to truly appreciating an artist whose fame was built in large part on his videos. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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Tesla Gold
Tesla: Jeff Keith (vocals, tambourine); Frank Hannon (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, harmonica, keyboards, background vocals); Tommy Skeoch (acoustic 12-string guitar, electric guitar, background vocals); Dave Rude (electric guitar); Brian Wheat (piano, bass guitar, background vocals); Troy Luccketta (drums, percussion).
Audio Mixer: Michael Rosen.
Audio Remasterer: Ellen Fitton.
Liner Note Author: Dave Thompson.
Tesla fans looking for something a little more fulfilling than 1995's Time's Makin Changes: The Best of Tesla or 2001's 12-track 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tesla will find Geffen's two-disc 2008 Gold compilation to be an aptly titled career summary, especially considering the fact that it's the first anthology to include songs from 2004's Into the Now and 2005's all-covers release, Real to Reel. At 32 cuts, Gold is clearly aimed at listeners who have more than just a passing interest in the underrated California pop-metal outfit. Fans who have followed the group since its late-'80s heydays will find all of their favorites ("Modern Day Cowboy," "Little Suzi," "Heaven's Trail [No Way Out]," "Love Song," and "Signs"), along with a bevy of live tracks, covers, and deep album cuts that follow the group well into the 21st century. ~ James Christopher Monger

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Squeeze The Complete Bbc Sessions *
Liner Note Author: Terry Staunton.
Recording information: Egton 4 (08/17/1977-12/13/1994); Maida Vale (08/17/1977-12/13/1994).
Squeeze's The Complete BBC Sessions runs from 1977 until 1994 -- from the release of their debut EP until just after their tenth album, 1993's Some Fantastic Place -- and that time span suggests that the double-disc, 29-track collection covers more ground than it does in actuality. As it happens, Squeeze didn't have too many BBC Sessions during their salad days of 1979-1982, when they were one of the biggest and best new wave bands: they only had one in March of 1982, a few months before Sweets from a Stranger, where they managed to not perform any of the album's singles but did find room for the B-side, "Elephant Girl." That's a pretty good indication of the for-fans' nature of The Complete BBC Sessions -- not to mention a pretty good example of Squeeze's subtle commercial self-sabotage -- but even diehards might be surprised by how these radio performances play as a collective package, how the first eight tracks speed by in a cacophonic blur, and how Squeeze quickly settles into a mellow unplugged groove. Of course, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook were instrumental in pioneering that stripped-down acoustic sound as the '80s gave way to the '90s, appearing on the very first episode of MTV Unplugged just weeks after they performed on the Saturday Sequence BBC session that closes disc one here, so it's no great surprise that most of this collection does offer variations on that sound -- sometimes including full band support, sometimes just featuring a piano and acoustic -- including a nice 1992 set where they rework "Take Me I'm Yours," "Up the Junction," "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)" (made into a medley with "Labelled with Love") and "Tempted." There are two other versions of "Tempted" on the second disc, along with two versions of "Some Fantastic Place," so the set list isn't as varied as the setting, and even that difference is rather minute as the vibe is always simple, warm, and direct. Barring those first few chaotic sessions, the performances here are always close and intimate, and that atmosphere serves Difford and Tilbrook's songs well, offering a good showcase for Difford's wry storytelling and Tilbrook's finely honed melodies. None of Squeeze's other live recordings comes close to capturing this coziness and that's why this collection is valuable for more than just completists. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
2 CD SET

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