Tim Morse – Transformation – 20th Anniversary

Tim Morse’s Transformation, released in 2015, is an impressive showcase of sophisticated songwriting, progressive rock ambition, and heartfelt musicianship. Best known for his work as a keyboardist, author (Yesstories), and member of the band Parallels, Morse brings a profoundly personal and musical sensibility to this solo effort, his second following Tim Morse (2005). On Transformation, Morse not only occasionally handles vocals and a variety of instruments but also crafts a narrative arc about change, resilience, and personal growth.

The 2025 rerelease expands on what is already a good thing with 15 bonus tracks. The remastered bonus tracks are a must-have for Morse fans. The live tracks were recorded at the original record release party and reinforce the strength of Morse’s vision and the high level of musicianship. The bonus track of “Apocalyptic Visions Redux 25” is worth the price of admission alone. Additional favorites include the live take of Genesis’ “Dance on a Volcano” and the demo of “Haulin’ Oats.”

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Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber – If You Can’t Dazzle Them With Your Brilliance, Then Baffle Them With Your Blisluth Pt. Two – 2025 Reissue (originally released 2005)

Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber has been defying categories for over two decades, blurring the lines between funk, rock, soul, and free jazz. If You Can’t Dazzle Them With Your Brilliance, Then Baffle Them With Your Blisluth Pt. Two captures that renegade energy in raw, live form. Recorded in Detroit and Ohio, it is an improvisational summit where groove and chaos coexist in glorious balance.

From the starting tease, “Chicken Scratching Dre Shows SaxTone the Way” lays down a sly, greasy funk wiggle with bubbling bass, teasing sax, and a groove that just will not quit. Then, without warning, the epic “Hollering Hoodoo Ghosts Conduction #1” drops you into a 12-minute cosmic sprawl of shifting tempos and controlled chaos. It is Burnt Sugar in full command of their conduction magic, stretching sound until it snaps back funky.

This is not a record that plays by the rules. It rewrites them mid-jam. If You Can’t Dazzle Them does not just blur the line between genres; it obliterates it, fusing funk, jazz, rock, and soul into one free-flowing celebration of improvisation.

⸻Tim Morse – Transformation – 20th Anniversary

Tim Morse’s Transformation, released in 2015, is an impressive showcase of sophisticated songwriting, progressive rock ambition, and heartfelt musicianship. Best known for his work as a keyboardist, author (Yesstories), and member of the band Parallels, Morse brings a profoundly personal and musical sensibility to this solo effort, his second following Tim Morse (2005). On Transformation, Morse not only occasionally handles vocals and a variety of instruments but also crafts a narrative arc about change, resilience, and personal growth.

The 2025 rerelease expands on what is already a good thing with 15 bonus tracks. The remastered bonus tracks are a must-have for Morse fans. The live tracks were recorded at the original record release party and reinforce the strength of Morse’s vision and the high level of musicianship. The bonus track of “Apocalyptic Visions Redux 25” is worth the price of admission alone. Additional favorites include the live take of Genesis’ “Dance on a Volcano” and the demo of “Haulin’ Oats.”

⸻

Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber – If You Can’t Dazzle Them With Your Brilliance, Then Baffle Them With Your Blisluth Pt. Two – 2025 Reissue (originally released 2005)

Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber has been defying categories for over two decades, blurring the lines between funk, rock, soul, and free jazz. If You Can’t Dazzle Them With Your Brilliance, Then Baffle Them With Your Blisluth Pt. Two captures that renegade energy in raw, live form. Recorded in Detroit and Ohio, it is an improvisational summit where groove and chaos coexist in glorious balance.

From the starting tease, “Chicken Scratching Dre Shows SaxTone the Way” lays down a sly, greasy funk wiggle with bubbling bass, teasing sax, and a groove that just will not quit. Then, without warning, the epic “Hollering Hoodoo Ghosts Conduction #1” drops you into a 12-minute cosmic sprawl of shifting tempos and controlled chaos. It is Burnt Sugar in full command of their conduction magic, stretching sound until it snaps back funky.

This is not a record that plays by the rules. It rewrites them mid-jam. If You Can’t Dazzle Them does not just blur the line between genres; it obliterates it, fusing funk, jazz, rock, and soul into one free-flowing celebration of improvisation.

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Dear Mr Fantasy – A Celebration for Jim Capaldi (Esoteric Recordings, 2025 Reissue)

Some tribute albums feel polite. Dear Mr Fantasy is anything but. Captured live at London’s Roundhouse in 2007 and now remastered for 2025 on 2CD and Blu-ray, this is a night where giants showed up to testify. Steve Winwood, Paul Weller, Joe Walsh, Gary Moore, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Simon Kirke, Bill Wyman, and Jon Lord all bend Capaldi’s songs into living, breathing momentum.

Paul Weller’s “Paper Sun” glows with refined psych-soul, while Winwood’s double strike, “Light Up or Leave Me Alone” and “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” sounds less like tribute and more like destiny fulfilled. Joe Walsh attacks “Forty Thousand Headmen” with twisted swagger, and Simon Kirke’s “Whale Meat Again” lands with dockside grit. On Disc Two, Gary Moore’s “Evil Love” smolders, and Jon Lord’s presence adds cathedral weight to “Let Me Make Something in Your Life.”

Capaldi’s songwriting proves indestructible here, flexible, soulful, and built to travel through other voices. A sacred night, finally restored with the power it always deserved.

Yes – Fly From Here: The Return Trip – Expanded and Reissued 2025

You may have noticed that this is the third release of Yes’ Fly From Here. The album, produced by former Yes member Trevor Horn and featuring then-Yes vocalist Benoit David, was a welcome return for the band. The Return Trip, released in 2018, featured remixed and extended versions of the original album. More significantly, it included newly recorded lead vocals, with Trevor Horn replacing David’s vocals.

This 2025 rerelease of The Return Trip is significant for its remixed sound, available Atmos Blu-ray mixes by Richard Whittaker, and a wonderful instrumental-only mix of the album. Revamped versions of “Hour of Need” and “Don’t Take No for an Answer” add to what was already a stellar album, but the instrumental version adds a new dynamic to one of Yes’ best albums from the 2000s.

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Celia Cruz – Son con Guaguanco – 2025 Reissue

Before the crowns, before the international glare, before “Azucar” became a global spark, there was Celia Cruz locked into the deep root system of Afro-Cuban rhythm. Son con guaguanco catches her in that sweet spot where tradition is not preserved; it is alive, sweating, and moving bodies.

Right out of the gate, “Bemba Colora” snaps with playful authority, percussion bubbling underneath while Celia rides the groove with elastic phrasing and sly confidence. She does not chase the rhythm, she bends it around her smile. On “Oye Mi Consejo,” the mood darkens into a ritual space, folkloric tension, layered voices, and drums speaking in coded language, while Celia cuts through with spiritual command.

The album’s mission statement arrives in the title track, “Son con guaguanco,” where everything locks into sacred motion. This is Celia in full rhythmic authority, phrases snapping across the clave, swing embedded in every breath. The band does not simply follow her, they revolve around her gravity.

What gives this album its lasting voltage is not archival reverence, it is how dangerously alive it still sounds. The percussion speaks. The horns testify. And Celia, already a force of nature, moves between elegance and raw expression without ever blinking.

Not a relic, a living transmission. Son con guaguanco is Celia Cruz in root-command mode, rhythm first, power always. If you want to understand where Latin music’s modern authority truly begins, start here. This reissue is available in all formats, remastered in its full glory.

https://youtu.be/h3LhARNYIXM?si=F0XInujiZkCpFxUg⸻

Dear Mr Fantasy – A Celebration for Jim Capaldi (Esoteric Recordings, 2025 Reissue)

Some tribute albums feel polite. Dear Mr Fantasy is anything but. Captured live at London’s Roundhouse in 2007 and now remastered for 2025 on 2CD and Blu-ray, this is a night where giants showed up to testify. Steve Winwood, Paul Weller, Joe Walsh, Gary Moore, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Simon Kirke, Bill Wyman, and Jon Lord all bend Capaldi’s songs into living, breathing momentum.

Paul Weller’s “Paper Sun” glows with refined psych-soul, while Winwood’s double strike, “Light Up or Leave Me Alone” and “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” sounds less like tribute and more like destiny fulfilled. Joe Walsh attacks “Forty Thousand Headmen” with twisted swagger, and Simon Kirke’s “Whale Meat Again” lands with dockside grit. On Disc Two, Gary Moore’s “Evil Love” smolders, and Jon Lord’s presence adds cathedral weight to “Let Me Make Something in Your Life.”

Capaldi’s songwriting proves indestructible here, flexible, soulful, and built to travel through other voices. A sacred night, finally restored with the power it always deserved.

Yes – Fly From Here: The Return Trip – Expanded and Reissued 2025

You may have noticed that this is the third release of Yes’ Fly From Here. The album, produced by former Yes member Trevor Horn and featuring then-Yes vocalist Benoit David, was a welcome return for the band. The Return Trip, released in 2018, featured remixed and extended versions of the original album. More significantly, it included newly recorded lead vocals, with Trevor Horn replacing David’s vocals.

This 2025 rerelease of The Return Trip is significant for its remixed sound, available Atmos Blu-ray mixes by Richard Whittaker, and a wonderful instrumental-only mix of the album. Revamped versions of “Hour of Need” and “Don’t Take No for an Answer” add to what was already a stellar album, but the instrumental version adds a new dynamic to one of Yes’ best albums from the 2000s.

⸻

Celia Cruz – Son con Guaguanco – 2025 Reissue

Before the crowns, before the international glare, before “Azucar” became a global spark, there was Celia Cruz locked into the deep root system of Afro-Cuban rhythm. Son con guaguanco catches her in that sweet spot where tradition is not preserved; it is alive, sweating, and moving bodies.

Right out of the gate, “Bemba Colora” snaps with playful authority, percussion bubbling underneath while Celia rides the groove with elastic phrasing and sly confidence. She does not chase the rhythm, she bends it around her smile. On “Oye Mi Consejo,” the mood darkens into a ritual space, folkloric tension, layered voices, and drums speaking in coded language, while Celia cuts through with spiritual command.

The album’s mission statement arrives in the title track, “Son con guaguanco,” where everything locks into sacred motion. This is Celia in full rhythmic authority, phrases snapping across the clave, swing embedded in every breath. The band does not simply follow her, they revolve around her gravity.

What gives this album its lasting voltage is not archival reverence, it is how dangerously alive it still sounds. The percussion speaks. The horns testify. And Celia, already a force of nature, moves between elegance and raw expression without ever blinking.

Not a relic, a living transmission. Son con guaguanco is Celia Cruz in root-command mode, rhythm first, power always. If you want to understand where Latin music’s modern authority truly begins, start here. This reissue is available in all formats, remastered in its full glory.