Landslide Records’ 40th anniversary album is packed with enough variety to satisfy the needs of every music lover. From piano rockers to low down shuffles, funky guitar wonders to swampy slide truckers, this CD has it. Boasting thirty-three tracks, the double-CD package includes both live and in-studio performances. Artists such as the Derek Trucks Band, Sean Costello, Nappy Brown, and Dave Bartholomew all appear throughout the album.

The album brings the listener from the Mississippi Delta, through Chicago, out to the west coast, down to New Orleans and back. The appearances of Nappy Brown and Dave Bartholomew are welcome, as their sound reminds us of the influences they had on the modern acts of the album. Speaking of such acts, Tinsley Ellis’ cover of Muddy Waters’ “Walkin’ Through the Park” gives us a glimpse of a band with one foot rooted in the heritage of the blues and the other leading forward into the future of the blues. The late Sean Costello’s performances showcase the dynamic singer and guitarist that he was, demonstrating his raw energy and showmanship on stage. The Derek Trucks Band brings even greater variety to the album, illuminating another sect of the blues that derived from the psychedelic swamp tones of the sixties and paved a notorious road for acts like The Allman Brothers Band.

The sheer amount of diversity present on this album demonstrates the respectable amount of work that Landslide has done for the music world in its forty years of operation. Bringing together the old and the new, the raucous and the tame, the heavy and the light, is no easy feat. One can trace the legacy that Landslide has left on the blues, soul, funk, jazz, and rock world throughout this album on the very first listen.

For fans of past American music, or those curious about the sounds that Landslide produced in their productive tenure, this is the album for you.

Rating: A-

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