MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: DAVID BOWIE - GLASTONBURY 2000, BREAKING GLASS LIVE E.P.

It must be time for some more Bowie releases, it's been what, a whole month since the release of a huge box set of 80's material. So now we get not one, but two chunks of previously-unreleased live material. The big one is the first-ever release of a beloved later show in his career, the 2000 concert at Glastonbury Festival in England. It was the first time Bowie had played the festival since 1971, when it was a little hippy thing, and so was he. Now he was closing the show in front of 250,000 or so.

Bowie had spent the '90's in partial denial of his past. He famously announced he was "retiring" his hits after the Sound & Vision tour of 1990, and running off with Tin Machine. That noisy group only lasted a couple of albums and tours, and throughout the rest of the decade, Bowie did several lesser-loved albums and stuck somewhat to his pledge, leaning heavily on later albums with only a handful of old favourites being trotted out. But the Glastonbury show felt different; he'd be back home, in front of a huge crowd that was there for the spectacle. Bowie decided it was time to embrace the fame again.

He hadn't toured in a year, so a couple of warm-up shows were done in NYC before hitting the festival. The band was still a little ragged, but for Bowie, this turned out to be fun. He turned it on for the huge crowd, hamming the vocals in places, smiling lots and enjoying the effects of these great and well-loved songs. After a relative calm opening number, his Station To Station song Wild Is The Wind, the hits came fast and often. China Girl, Changes, Ashes To Ashes and Rebel Rebel all hit the spot, and Absolute Beginners was a great addition, one of his best soundtrack songs from the '80's. When he did dip into later albums, he chose well, Little Wonder and Hallo Spaceboy two of his better, crowd-pleasing songs. Station To Station was perhaps the highlight, the power of that cut perfectly suited to a massive outdoor show. His version of Under Pressure, with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey taking Freddie Mercury's part, was a graceful close to the main set, and the encores of Ziggy Stardust, "Heroes" and Let's Dance took it over the top. In a classic Bowie move, he left the crowd with a reminder he was still making strong music, the intense I'm Afraid Of Americans, which seems quite a prescient statement these days.

I also got a kick out of seeing Canadian singer-songwriter Emm Gryner in the band, doing backing vocals and keyboard parts, part of her two-years in his employ. The set comes as either a 3-LP set or a two CD/DVD combo, thanks to the BBC being there to capture the show, and it's great to see the joy on Bowie's face during the show.

The other new release is a 4-track live EP, part of the ongoing 40th anniversary series of picture disc 45s. This time it's the 40th anniversary of the live single, Breaking Glass, from the Stage album. This is different though, because instead of the usual reissue of that single in question, they've chosen a different performance, from Earl's Court in London in '78, and added three more songs from that show, Art Decade, Hang On To Yourself and Ziggy Stardust. I can't say that they're remarkably different performances from what you'll find on the Stage album, although I'd say the two Ziggy tracks are more intense and better versions.  Hey, at least it's not the same old thing, which is a nice nod to all the people buying up each of these cool picture discs.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: NEIL YOUNG - SONGS FOR JUDY

Who the heck is Judy? Judy Garland, of course. It comes from the rather stony story Young tells the crowd in the opening monologue from this, his latest live album in the ongoing Performance Series of concert collections. This one comes from his U.S  tour of November 1976, when he'd start the shows with seven to nine acoustic songs, then bring on Crazy Horse for the second set. The songs would change nightly, a mix of hits, album cuts and lots of unreleased tunes. It was a great tour for Neil watchers, with lots of revelations and obscurities.

On the tour was wunderkid journalist Cameron Crowe, and Young's photographer pal Joel Bernstein, who took it upon themselves to gather soundboard tapes of each night, and make a compilation tape of the best. Years later, they were called on again by Young to produce this little wonder, based on their experience of the tour. The result is one of the best of these history albums. It features 22 cuts, Young bouncing from guitar to piano to banjo to one crazy organ for A Man Needs A Maid. While he would dole out hits to soothe the savage beasts in the crowds, they were given no more importance than new, unknown numbers or deep cuts from the catalog.

The flashy news here is the first-ever release of No One Seems To Know, a song that has been featured on five different tours over the years, but never on an album. It's a good one, with a better melody than a lyric, but he had better ones up his sleeve to unveil. Several of the shows opened with Campaigner, a new song unveiled during the aborted Stills-Young Band tour earlier that year. It has that fantastic line, "Even Richard Nixon has got soul," which must have been a mind-blower to crowds back then. White Line is here, years before its appearance on his Ragged Glory album of 1990, with different lyrics. Too Far Gone wouldn't show up until 1989's Freedom, and might have been an instant classic if it had been on, say, Comes A Time. Love Is A Rose is played for the only the second time, and just once on the tour.

Young seemed to dig out cuts on a whim, with past tunes such as Mr. Soul, Journey Through The Past, The Losing End and Here We Are In The Years popping up beside hits and big favourites Heart Of Gold, Tell Me Why, The Needle And The Damage Done and After The Gold Rush. There are now lots of Neil Young live albums, and more to come he promises, but this one is home to the only live performances of several songs, thanks to his varying setlist. As for the performances, there are many instances of him stretching and trying out different deliveries, so that's another mark in the album's favour. Certainly there's been no shortage of releases from Young the last few years, but if you've been ignoring these historical albums, this is one not to miss.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: NAT KING COLE - THE CHRISTMAS SONG

White Christmas is the biggest-selling single of all-time, with Bing Crosby's original selling over 100 million copies, but Nat's The Christmas Song has a good argument at being the best. Written by the singer Mel Torme and his partner Bob Wells in 1945, Cole did the original version the next year, and re-recorded it several times. The version we hear these days is one done in 1961 to have it in stereo. It was also at that time added to his existing Christmas album, originally titled The Magic Of Christmas, but re-named after his most famous holiday song after that.

It's such a favourite, that Cole's voice is now associated with Christmas, his gorgeous tones immediately calling up that feeling of warmth. The rest of this album is mostly typical holiday standards and carols, from Adeste Fideles to Joy To The World to The First Noel, Cole joined by choral voices and an orchestra conducted by Ralph Carmichael. Each song is stirring, and immediately puts you in a sentimental, Christmas Past mood, recalling childhood and family memories. It's partly due to the old-fashioned treatments of course, but I still argue that Cole's voice, an amazing instrument, affects us in a special way. I can feel the stress leaving my mind when I listen to him.

For this reissue, some bonus cuts have been added, including God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman, which was the cut dropped off the album when The Christmas Song was added, and a non-album holiday single, Buon Natale/The Happiest Christmas Tree, the latter a cute novelty number from 1959. = Plus there's another of those edits where his daughter Natalie was added to his original vocals, creating a posthumous duet. This was done to The Christmas Song in 1998, and given how familiar we are with the original, it's very successful and seamless.  This is the ultimate album for those late nights just before Christmas, when the children are nestled all snug in their beds.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: BRANDON ISAAK - RISE 'N' SHINE

Warm, that's the word for this one. Isaak and some of his favourite Vancouver pals holed up for an old-school play-along, using minimal studio effects, and just jamming like a band should. The album features 13 Isaak originals that feature a friendly vibe and classic styles. That includes acoustic picking and grinning, up to horn-driven soul jams like I Wanna Be Your Man. His Can't Do No Wrong features some great jazzy guitar by the man himself, grooving along with acoustic bass, drums and his own honkin' harp. It could be a '40's track except for the line "She smokes reefer just like Cheech & Chong."

Adept at bass, drums, dobro, harmonica and more, Isaak could have made this all himself, and did play lots of the parts, but much of the vibe is that group effort and fun approach. Joining him are local musicians he admires, such as Powder Blues' Jack Levin on bass, Twisters Chip Hart and Dave "Hurricane" Hoerl on drums and harmonica, and Willie MacCalder on piano. The songs are stars too, and Isaak has lots of fresh lyric ideas, classic blues themes but said in new ways. His PhD In The Blues name-checks the greats while coming over like a blues version of Little Feat's Rock and Roll Doctor. Best of all is that it comes across so inviting, proper and pleasing. That's the warm.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: GLEN CAMPBELL - SINGS FOR THE KING

Most people know Glen Campbell was a hot-shot guitar player in L.A. in the '60's. He played on hundreds of sessions, for The Beach Boys, Phil Spector, Quincy Jones and other top producers, as part of the famous Wrecking Crew. Here's another side of his session work, as a demo vocalist. Those were the singers hired to do trial run recordings so the stars would have an idea of what the song should sound like before they laid down their vocals.

Campbell did that work for songwriter Ben Weisman, who was a quiet force in pop music, the composer of hundreds of tunes from 1949 on. Most significantly, he wrote 57 songs recorded by Elvis, the most of any songwriter. He was the kind of writer for hire who could compose for specific projects or artists, and had the right style for Elvis, plus was able to knock 'em off for films, which was where the King was at in the '60's. Writing with lyricist Sid Wayne, he came up with the title songs for movies such as Clambake, Stay Away Joe and Spinout.

If you know your Elvis, this wasn't the best of his material. They were catchy and memorable, but lightweight. It's more interesting hearing Campbell putting Elvis-style energy into the songs. On the track There Is So Much World To See, from Double Trouble, Campbell at times sounds exactly like Presley. On others, his country twang comes through and his voice is instantly recognizable, but he does through in some Elvis-like yeah's. He certainly wasn't mocking Presley, the two were friends and the respect is obvious. He's trying his best, even with dubious cuts such as Do The Clam.

Of course, the producers couldn't resist the opportunity to create a posthumous duet between the two singers. Oddly, they chose the bland gospel number We Call On Him, which showed up on the 1967 Elvis gospel album How Great Thou Art. I would have chosen the only track here that was close to a hit, Clambake, which also has a lot more life. Oh well, it's the least important part of this set anyway. It's more interesting as a document of what Campbell was doing, and another way to appreciate his many talents.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: MEGAN BONNELL - SEPARATE ROOMS

Bonnell continues to gather acclaim for her third album, Separate Rooms. The title cut, co-written with Donovan Woods, grabbed the #1 spot on CBC Radio 2's chart, and the follow-up, Your Voice, landed at #4. She's been doing a ton of touring, a favourite road pal of Great Lake Swimmers, and about to start an East Coast jaunt with The Once.

Separate Rooms covers a lot of styles, ranging from piano ballads to folk songwriting to intense, intricate production numbers with tons of sounds. She has a highly appealing voice, which can leap into higher note flights and go to calm and soothing melodies in the same tune. The track California goes from country-fantasy with pedal steel to quirky rhythm sections, Radio Silence is an ethereal piano number with strings, while Someday I'm Going To Kill You is 80's alt-pop. At the heart of the collection are Bonnell's essential and powerful lyrics. "Just let me lay here, no one has to know that I'm having a breakdown," we hear, not overly dramatic or emotional, just part of life for many. The title cut looks at the downs in relationships, just as important as the ups  These are challenging and mature themes, and all the various parts and styles add up to quite a meaningful album.

Catch Bonnell on tour starting tonight, with The Once.

Tuesday, Nov. 27 - Charlottetown, The Mack

Wednesday, Nov. 28 - Riverview, N.B., Riverview Arts Centre

Thursday, Nov. 29 - Halifax, St. Matthew's United Church

Friday, Nov. 30 - Fredericton, Wilmot United Church

Saturday, Dec. 1 - Pictou, N.S., deCoste Performing Arts Centre

MUSIC REVEW OF THE DAY: FLEETWOOD MAC - 50 YEARS - DON'T STOP

Another tour means a new best-of collection is in order for the Mac, although this one also marks 50 years for the group. And in true band form, it also is being marked with yet another controversy. With Lindsey Buckingham fired and suing the other members, it proves once and for all that there just won't be a happily-ever-after ending for rock's ultimate soap opera.

I'm always amused by the idea of a casual Mac fan getting one of these collections, listening to the first song, and being completely confused by the old blues tune they hear. "This isn't Rhiannon," you can imagine them saying, confronted by the rowdy Shake Your Moneymaker. This three-disc set starts off with a hefty helping of the blues band originally called Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, at that point major players in the British blues boom. Their first leader was one of the true guitar heroes, plus the author of several fantastic tracks, including Black Magic Woman, Oh Well and The Green Manalishi. The whole first disc is devoted to the pre-Buckingham/Nicks era, and quite rightly. Even with various guitar player departures and revolving lineups, they still managed to put out high-quality albums, with excellent tracks such as Sentimental Lady and Spare Me A Little Of Your Love highlighting players such as Bob Welch and then-newcomer Christine McVie.

Disc two is the glory years of smash hits from the Buckingham-Nicks-McVie trio of writers, from the megasellers Fleetwood Mac, Rumours and Tusk. These are no-brainer choices, as such highly predictable, with no room for anything other than hit after hit: Monday Morning, Over My Head, Rhiannon, Say You Love Me, The Chain, Sara and more. There's no point trying to find a different way to tell that part of the story, and as familiar as these tunes are, they still remain strong and vibrant.

Disc three is a more complicated story, as the band fought to survive through constant lineup shuffles, as the three singers kept leaving and returning. While Rumours always gets treated as the ultimate Mac album, people forget how wonderful 1987's Tango In The Night was, featuring a run of hits to rival any of their others: Big Love, Everywhere, Little Lies and Seven Wonders. That was the last great album though, and after that the collection has to find odd tracks from lesser lights such as 1990's Buckingham-less Behind The Mask (Save Me), the no-Nicks or Buckingham 1995 album Time (I Do), or the Christine-missing Say You Will in 2003 (Peacekeeper). It's a sad fact that the band has been unable to recapture a recording vibrancy in its later years, but who knows? Maybe they'll be inspired to record with new members Neil Finn and Mike Campbell. Stranger things have happened in Fleetwood Mac's career, and no matter what, you can never count them out.