The news that the RIAA has ceased suing the downloaders of music came as a surprise. It started some five years earlier and covered some 30,000 (or more) unlucky individuals. However in all of these years, the job it set out to do never really took hold as downloaded continued unabated, except for some 30,000 folks. Instead, the labels will work with ISPs (Internet Service Providers) in the hopes that tagging suppliers with warnings from ISPs and possible disconnection, they will be able to further advance their means of figuring a way to make some cash off all of this new distribution.

This is still a twisty road and will undoubtably need several more years to figure out. Actually, the truth is that its going to figure itself out. Everybody will just have to adapt to it, including the labels. It would seem that there should be an all you can eat format, but that really doesn't seem to work too well, especially since there are so many willing to pirate the tunes. But, as stated before, it will end up being what it will be. And it will likley be outside the scope of what sellers want. It just may be that the new method is free music with the payload coming from concert tickets and merchandise. Who really knows; I don't. If anyone did, it'd be in place by now and making money for some people. Maybe LiveNation has it right, and maybe not. I don't see any deals with younger bands as opposed to bands like U2, and Madonna, both who have stars sure to diminish at some point. But that is my next topic. Quite frankly, have we seen the end of Rock as a memorable experience? I've a feeling the answer to that is a big fat ole YES. I'll have some words on that for Wednesday's post, the old 'Night Before Christmas' point of time.

But hey, the holidays are just scant hours away. Hopefully, many of you have concluded your gift shopping and that it has been pleasant experiences regardless of the money spent. It isn't all about that anyway. It's a time of thought, compassion,closeness, and happiness that just seems to spring up around this time despite the unpleasantness of these last six months or so. Fingers are crossed going forward that we'll all rise above the garbage and grow stronger together as people!

We have two reviews today that include the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for The Guitar, scored by David Mansfield, as well as the album called From the Top of My Tree from the band, The Bodies Obtained. We'll have several more reviews to close out 2008 on Wednesday.

We'll have some more release news for Wednesday that you should find interesting including a Blu-ray title. Be sure to come back for those. See you then.

For the long promised Albums You MUST Hear Before You Die! list (#24), I will be posting a letter each post until exhausted (there were only 17 21 25 27 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 emails).  Some were only a few titles, some only one.  But there were more than a few that were massive and a few extended, well-detailed lists.  I’ll post them as I received them.  For today's post, we have an explanatory list of eight or more, provided by John.

Ella Fitzgerald: Songbooks; Sumptuous definitive renderings of Gershwin, Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, etc most people will be surprised to hear how many of these songs they know. They are beautiful lush versions that work for all seasons, and bring smiles to all faces.

Hairy Chapter: Can’t Get Through predates Raw Power by three years with stinging guitar, chugging rhythm, hoarse vocals all for a search and destroy experience.

Flower Travellin Band: Satori ;Sabbathian heaviness rendered through Japanese musicians for a tuneful almost instrumental mystical sonic document.

Taj Mahal Travellers: Live 1972, 71 or ’74 any of these three, sonic swirling droning, space music, goes where Floyd , Heldon, Hawkwind, etc failed to go.

Congos: Heart Of the Congos, music from Scratch Perry’s Black Ark studio, beautiful ethereal sweet soul reggae

Love: Forever Changes classic, high noon psychedelic life affirming classic.

Wynona Carr ‘Our Father’ off of ‘Dragnet for Jesus’ album truly stunning vocal performance of poise and power renders ALL of current vocalists irrelevant (at Aretha Franklin’s father’s church).

Also if you love the Beatles don’t ignore Everly’s Brothers’ 60’s albums great songwriting, singing and playing.

We're going to keep the Best Album of ALL Time up for a long while as we continually update it. But I'll say this: The Beatles took the lead with not only The White Album but also the fact that they have been selected with two albums. Like The Albums You MUST Hear Before You Die! run, which does not show signs of stopping (I'm still getting emails, which I have no problem with and encourage - Send Them In), I'm hoping that this new thing stays strong. Send in your selection (one only, please) for the album that is the ruler of all.

If you have missed the last As The Disc Spins (updated), check it out here.

To access the previous site and catch up, click here.

Flashback Records have a whole list of upcoming 'bare-bones' titles to reintroduce into the market, many of them lisitng at $5.99 or lower. And sometimes that is all that we want, just a nice new shiny copy to replace a lost, scratched, or otherwise worn copy. Flashback will reissue the following titles:

• Twin Peaks Soundtrack
• Batman (Motion Picture Soundtrack) - Prince
• Valotte - Julian Lennon
• Little Feat - Little Feat
• Filth Pig - Ministry
• Maria Muldaur - Maria Muldaur
• South Paw Grammar - Morrissey
• Live in Europe - Otis Redding
• Heroes and Friends - Randy Travis
• T.E.V.I.N. - Tevin Campbell
• Smooth Sailin' - The Isley Brothers
• Greatest Hits...Now and Forever - Air Supply
• All Fly Home - Al Jarreau
• Why is There Air? - Bill Cosby
• Wonderfulness - Bill Cosby
• Bulletboys - Bulletboys
• Chicago 18 - Chicago
• Christopher Cross - Christopher Cross
• Under Lock and Key - Dokken
• Bang - James Gang

All Flashback titles listed here are slated for release on February 3.

Atlantic Records will release a 3CD retrospective Box named Reflections. The Graham Nash set will contain re-mastered tracks, live cuts, and new 2008 Stereo mixes. We'll expand further on this set a little later in the New Year. Reflections is planned for release on February 3.

Epic/Columbia Records and Legacy will reissue some two-fer titles in their X2 series for the following artists:

• Jeff Buckley (Grace/Mystery White Boy)
• Men at Work (Business as Usual/Cargo)
• Sade (Love Deluxe/Stronger Than Pride)
• The Byrds (Mr Tambourine Man/Sweetheart of the Rodeo)
• The Jacksons (Triumph/Destiny)

This X2 batch is planned for February 10.

A collection of career tunes for Annie Lennox will be forthcoming on February 10. Expected are two versions, a 14-track CD set, and a CD/DVD set that adds 14 music videos. The CD will include two brand new Lennox tracks. The set is called The Annie Lennox Collection.

Nettwerk Records will release Light of X from Miranda Lee Richards, slating the album for February 10.

A whisper from way into the 2nd quarter of next year is a title from Elvis Costello (The Secret, The Profane, and Sugar Cane). It is currently scheduled for a May release.

Rounder Records have a new Branford Marsalis album on the horizon for March 17 called Metamorphosen.

Geffen Records will release How to Lose my Life by White Lies, planning the album for March 17.

Telarc Records will release 75 for Joe Zawinul on February 24.

David Mansfield, a Bruce Hornsby and The Range, and Bob Dylan band alumni, who like many of his peer, have dabbled successfully in the soundtrack field for Hollywood. This OMPS for indie film, The Guitar, by Amy Redford (actress/1st time director) contains a mix of Various Artists music and score music.

Female Soul music done in the old manner like Sade and Roberta Flack is a rarity these days. FEMI gives us something that is well sought after. God bless FEMI for giving me a part of the past back to enjoy in a new setting. I love Sweet Water Soul.