Music Reviews

In Part 3 of our end-of-year multi-part “Best Music Box Sets” series, S&V music editor Mike Mettler serves up five more than mighty fine music box set recommendations for any/all of your potential gift recipients and/or personal wishlist coffers accordingly. . .

Welcome to our end-of-year multi-part “Best Music Box Sets” series to help one and all with legit gift-giving ideas and/or, shall we say, audiophile rationalizations for filling out our own collections accordingly. Read S&V music editor Mike Mettler’s Beatles-related box set recommendations to see which ones—from both The Fabs collectively, and from each of their respective solo careers—rate way beyond compare for any and all holiday shopping endeavors. . .

Hard to believe it’s been 30 years since Coolio’s instant classic “Gangsta’s Paradise” entered our aural lexicon in August 1995—but here we are in the here and now, where the perpetually classic g-funk/rap song has recently been re-released anew as both a blue-vinyl 45 and in a heavenly immersive Dolby Atmos mix. On a recent Zoom call—in their first ever joint interview—“Paradise” producer Doug Rasheed and featured vocalist and hookmaker L.V. tell S&V music editor Mike Mettler how they created the bedtrack that Coolio added his heartfelt lyrics into, what the analog recording reveals that digital doesn’t, and why “Paradise” will endure in perpetuity. . .

With Labor Day Weekend upon us, a pair of “spiritual” Dolby Atmos tracks—one old, one new—honor the divine connection many of us have with the now-passing summer season: Norman Greenbaum’s forever holy Top 5 hit “Spirit in the Sky,” and N’Awlins royalty Jon Batiste’s brand-new “Angels.” Read Mike Mettler’s review to find out if the Atmos mixes of “Spirit” and “Angels” truly reach for the heavens as the almighty 360-degree gods surely intended. . .

Take me to the river, and drop me in the Atmos. In other words, Talking Heads’ second studio album on Sire, July 1978’s More Songs About Buildings and Food, just received some quite-fulfilling Super Deluxe Edition love from Sire/Rhino just a few days ago on July 25, 2025, and in multiple formats. Read Mike Mettler’s in-depth review of the 3CD/1BD version of Food to see how the new Atmos mix of the core album enhances this key early entry in the Heads’ most formidable catalog. . .

CD-centric box sets continue to be released at a fairly reasonable clip, and they’re usually stocked with bonus material, outtakes, alternate takes, and more. Even better, some of these boxes include additional BDs with historical live performances and period videoclips, plus 5.1 and/or Dolby Atmos mixes to boot. One such example is the just released 2CD/2BD deluxe box set from Esoteric Recordings that expands upon onetime Cream bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce’s most excellent 1971 solo release, Harmony Row. Read music editor Mike Mettler’s in-depth review to see how this box opens up the core content of Row in all the right ways. . .

LG Malique is having a moment—and it’s the right moment. The Arkansas-bred rapper is all about sharing positivity and encouraging uplift, vibes that permeate all 22 minutes of his new eight-song mixtape EP, Carved in Gold. Read Mike Mettler’s review to find out if the Dolby Atmos mixes of two key Gold cuts, “Don’t Come Closer” and “Give It to God,” take Malique’s messages into the 360-degree heights where they belong. . .