Back catalogue: Rock (All)

Review: Paul McCartney's long-lost project, One Hand Clapping, is finally seeing a near-complete release 50 years after its inception. Filmed and recorded over four days in August 1974 at Abbey Road Studios, the sessions feature a new Wings lineup with Paul, Linda, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch, and drummer Geoff Britton, alongside Del Newman and Howie Casey. The album includes recent hits like 'Live and Let Die,' 'Band on the Run,' and 'Jet,' alongside Beatles classics 'Let It Be,' 'The Long and Winding Road,' and 'Lady Madonna.' Denny Laine covers the Moody Blues' 'Go Now' and Paul revisits 'Maybe I'm Amazed' and the Tin Pan Alley classic 'Baby Face.' Previously unreleased, except for a few tracks scattered over the years, One Hand Clapping is now available as beautiful packages with exclusive solo performances recorded in the backyard of Abbey Road. This release is a nostalgic treat for McCartney and Wings fans that harnesses the band at a unique moment in their storied career.

Review: Paul Weller has aged as well as any of the original rockers if you ask us. And so too his music. In 1998 he was already of such status that he put out this backslapping collection, Modern Classics: The Greatest Hits, and why not? The bumper double disc collection featured most of the solo singles he had successfully released up to then as well as a new track in the form of 'Brand New Start'. It will always be hard to beat the lovely 'You Do Something To Me' but plenty makes a claim here from the more energetic 'Wild Wood' to 'Sunflower.' It's well worth having all these in one place.

Review: Rock opera - a niche genre with a few forerunners in the late 60s, but surely defined by this monumental project by The Who. As the band were hitting their stride and still relatively early on in their career, it was a bold move for Pete Townshend to compose this magnum opus, which came out in 1969 and sparked a run of theatre and cinema adaptations. Telling the story of deaf, dumb and blind pinball wizard Tommy Walker was a gamble that paid off, as critics hailed the album as their critical breakthrough and the accompanying stage show dazzled fans the world over. Now the album has been given the half speed remastering treatment at Abbey Road, meaning it sounds better than ever.