Album

Gene Vincent was the real deal and, together with his backing group The Blue Caps, fronted The First Gang In Town. With Cliff Gallup and later Johnny Meeks on lead guitar, they, as much as The Crickets and Chuck Berry, defined the sound of rock's classic three guitars and drums line-up. Though originally pushed as Capitol's answer to Elvis, Gene wasn't nearly as orchestrated as the Memphis Flash.

Post-acid alchemy, with sleevenotes by Donovan

Filmed last year in Nashville, this finds Skynyrd—now under the leadership of JohnnyVan Zant—still plying their raucous brand of southern blues-rock, wheeling out the hits (notably "Sweet Home Alabama", "Travelin' Man" and "Free Bird") to an enthusiastic crowd. This is noticeably well-filmed with superior sound quality.

The best of Oldham's early work, revisited Nashville-style

Second album from Aussie brats

Brazenly morbid deathbed blues

Post-rock supergroup of sorts create delicate avant-pop masterpiece

Bumper '70s reissues from country's First Lady, 10 bonus tracks in tow

The rapturous romantics' classic third album makes waves again

Another random trawl through the Whistle Test archives proves perhaps just too random—it's unlikely fans of Half Man Half Biscuit (their 1986 TV debut) or The Jam ('78's "'A' Bomb...") will be tempted by strange bedfellows like Supertramp and Chris Rea. So something for everyone but far too diverse a range to fully satisfy any camp.