CCMusic.com

• Track Listing

This new Def Leppard compilation of hits and fan favorites comes three different ways. On CD or double vinyl, you get their hits "Animal," "Photograph," "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Love Bites," "Let’s Get Rocked," "Two Steps Behind," "Foolin’," "Armageddon It," "Rocket," "Hysteria," "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad," "Make Love Like a Man," "Rock of Ages" and more. All the formats also include their Spotify Singles session cover of Depeche Mode’s "Personal Jesus" (previously unreleased remix) and the 2-CD expanded edition adds "Rock On," "Bringin’ On the Heartbreak," "Let’s Go," "Promises," "Dangerous," "Now," "Undefeated," "Tonight," "Man Enough" and more. Lastly, you get a special treat if you go for the vinyl: a bonus 7" with that "Personal Jesus" plus their brand-new holiday tune "We All Need Christmas"! Mercury.602567934394 Listening to this new "best-of" reminds us that Petty crafted hits seemingly at will—hits that would far outlive their time. Cameron Crowe penned the loving liner notes that join both the 2-CD and 4-LP (180-gram vinyl) versions: two unissued tracks ("For Real" and an alternate version of "The Best of Everything"), the hits "Free Fallin’," "I Won’t Back Down," "You Don’t Know How It Feels," "Don’t Do Me Like That," "Breakdown," "Refugee," "American Girl," "Runnin’ Down a Dream," "Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around" (with Stevie Nicks), "The Waiting," "Into the Great Wide Open," "Mary Jane’s Last Dance," "Don’t Come Around Here No More," "Jammin’ Me," "You Got Lucky," the Mudcrutch songs "Trailer," "Hungry No More" and more! Geffen.602567955740 In 2015, "Hemispheres" was remastered at Abbey Road, and now—in honor of this pivotal Rush album’s 40th anniversary—that remaster is available on CD for the first time. This was a band on a mission—an artistic mission and not a commercial one, for here were two tracks in the four-minute range ("Trees," "Circumstances"), one topping nine minutes ("La Villa Strangiato") and an opening suite exceeding 18 ("Cygnus X-1 Book II Hemispheres"). And yet this complex prog-rock concept album reached #47 on the pop charts—a testament to the band’s redoubtable craftsmanship and chops. The 2-CD and triple 180-gram vinyl editions also include the band’s June 1979 show at the Pinkpop festival in the Netherlands ("A Passage to Bangkok," "Xanadu," "Closer to the Heart," "The Trees," the aforementioned epic suite and more) plus a 1978 live-in-Arizona performance of "2112." Go super deluxe to get all that (the CD and vinyl editions) plus a 5.1 surround mix of "Hemispheres" on a Blu-Ray disc, which also includes the videos "Circumstances," "The Trees," "La Villa Strangiato" and footage of their 1970 Pinkpop performance of that last tune. That set also contains a 40-page book with photos, artwork and an 11,000-word essay plus a reproduction of the 1979 tour program, a new art poster, Pinkpop memorabilia replicas and an iron-on patch—perfect for the Rush fan whose jeans are nearing their 40th anniversary as well! Mercury.602567995548 He rode his own songs to stardom, but on his 24th studio album Mellencamp breathes new life into his favorite folk, country, gospel and blues standards. He delivers stirring renditions of "Wreck of the Old 97," "Gambling Bar Room Blues," "Dark As a Dungeon," "In My Time of Dying," "Stones in My Passway," "To the River," "I Don’t Know Why I Love You" and more! Republic.602577014253 Not only did Richard Carpenter write many of the songs and play keyboards on the Carpenters’ best-selling albums, but he was renowned for deftly arranging the hits that sent him and Karen soaring up the charts. This new album, which combines the Carpenters’ original vocal and instrumental tracks with new performances by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, features opulent orchestral arrangements by Richard—and that’s what really sets this apart from the Royal Philharmonic’s recent albums of songs by Elvis, Aretha, Roy Orbison and the Beach Boys. This is the only one of the bunch in which the artist behind the original hits has gotten involved with the new presentation—and, of course, it’s the only one in this series to feature these indelible Carpenters classics: "(They Long to Be) Close to You," "We’ve Only Just Begun," "For All We Know," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Superstar," "Hurting Each Other," "Goodbye to Love," "Yesterday Once More," "Top of the World," "Touch Me When We’re Dancing" and more. Richard and the RPO created these new versions at Abbey Road, bringing a new, layered richness to songs that were delicate beauties to begin with. Providing a more beautiful backdrop than ever for Karen’s cherished original vocal performances, these new orchestrations proved deeply satisfying for Richard. Hear them now on CD or double 180-gram vinyl! A&M.602577017124 This 4-CD celebration of the great jazz impresario features sides he put out on labels he founded—Verve, Clef and Norgran—as well as those he issued through Mercury. These historic moments take us from ’42 to ’60 and include many magic Jazz at the Philharmonic moments: "I Blowed and Gone" Dexter Gordon, "Blues" Nat King Cole/Illinois Jacquet/Les Paul, "I Got Rhythm" Coleman Hawkins/Charlie Parker/Lester Young, "Tenderly" Oscar Peterson/Ray Brown, "Lullaby of the Leaves" Anita O’Day, "The New Basie Blues" Count Basie, "Castle Rock" Johnny Hodges, "No Strings" Fred Astaire, "I Thought About You" Billie Holiday, "Can’t We Be Friends" Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong, "On the Sunny Side of the Street" Dizzy Gillespie/Sonny Stitt/Sonny Rollins, "If I Were a Bell" Blossom Dearie, "Chelsea Bridge" Gerry Mulligan/Ben Webster, "It Never Entered My Mind" Stan Getz, "I Know That You Know" Stuff Smith and more! Verve.602577020186 Following his rise on Prestige and Atlantic, Coltrane really started pulling away from the jazz mainstream when he signed with Impulse! in ’62. These new sets—3 CDs or five vinyl LPs—present every track Coltrane recorded during the pivotal year of 1963, when he balanced beauty with avant-garde invention like no other jazz artist on the planet. In addition to the complete "Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album" (which made seismic waves when first released earlier this year) you’ll hear "Lush Life," "Autumn Serenade," "Dedicated to You," "My One and Only Love," "You Are Too Beautiful" and more from "John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman," "Dear Old Stockholm" and "After the Rain" (released on "Dear Old Stockholm"), "Impressions," "My Favorite Things" and "I Want to Talk About You" (released on "Newport"), "Afro Blue," "The Promise," "Alabama," "Your Lady" and more tracks released on "Birdland" and all the rest of John Coltrane’s recordings from ’63, presented here in the order in which they were originally performed! Impulse!602577051401 Mark has been noticeably absent since touring a lot in 2015 (he even skipped the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction of Dire Straits). Now, though, he’s returning with a new studio album—a deeply personal, richly detailed set of songs in which he reflects on his past including his early years with that famous band of his. His distinctive vocals and bluesy guitar lead the way as he joins Dire Straits keyboardist Guy Fletcher plus fiddle, flute, sax, whistle, keyboards and more on "Good on You, Son," "Trapper Man," "Nobody’s Child," "Just a Boy Away from Home," "Slow Learner," "Nobody Does That" and more. Go deluxe to get three additional songs on your CD plus a 16-page booklet, or get Knopfler’s long-awaited new album on double 180-gram vinyl. And the elite edition here: the boxed set featuring the deluxe CD, the double 180-gram vinyl, a third vinyl LP with four bonus tracks, a download card, a 12" artwork print and a special treat for you guitarists out there: the guitar tab for the album’s song "Back on the Dance Floor"! Blue Note.