Audience

For years, Ringo has surrounded himself live with established musicians (here including Paul Carrack and Sheila E), each performing songs of their own. The audience, then, are expected to settle for usually no more than eight from Starr himself. Offsetting this disappointment are the warm scenes off stage and in interviews. CAROL CLERK

Key members of the US rock aristocracy roll across 11 swing states to try to persuade floating voters to ditch Dubya

The beloved entertainer showcases his fine new album north of the border

The legendary guitarist on his first musical steps and how the blues came to Surbiton.

Fine twisted kidnap thriller

Previously unreleased 1969 prequel, plus Edgar and co's last two albums on Harvest

TARANTINO RECENTLY suggested Scorsese's best days are behind him. Kundun, Bringing Out The Dead, Gangs Of New York—it's not just that these movies struggled to connect with audiences, Scorsese himself seemed unable to get a firm grasp on them. Is this still 'the greatest living American film-maker'? At least this long-overdue three-film box set reminds us how he earned that title. Check out his 1969 debut, Who's That Knocking At My Door?

So, the greatest album never made has finally been made. Thirty-eight years on from its conception, Brian Wilson has painstakingly gathered up all the shattered mosaic pieces, and with the help of the best little tribute ensemble in the world, The Wondermints, has produced a reasonably faithful facsimile of the bold, ambitious masterpiece that nearly cost him his sanity back in 1967. The resulting work, rigorously road-tested during this year's tour dates, is a 17-track song suite in three movements which clocks in at a second over 47 minutes.

Barely six months after the demise of Theatre Of Hate, Kirk Brandon was braving it on stage in Manchester in March 1983 with a new band, name and repertoire. That his audience look mighty perplexed by SOD's brassier tribal goth-dub makes his fearless performance, caught here, even more compelling.

Post-punk road movie, ripe for reassessment