Rock

The Beatles' original producer George Martin worked on a Fab Four soundtrack to a Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas show, which remixed and combined various Beatle songs. Now, Martin and his son Giles have released a modified soundtrack of that production, an album called Love.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews The Captain and the Kid, Elton John's new album.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews White Bread Black Beer, the first album in eight years by the post-punk band Scritti Politti — which is now down to its sole founding member, Welshman Green Gartside.

Rock historian Ed Ward tells us the story of Wire, a British art-rock band from the late 1970s. Wire has broken up and reformed several times, but Ward focuses on the original. Three albums have been reissued and are available in stores: Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154.

Golden Smog is a side-project for veterans of rock bands such as Wilco, the Jayhawks, Soul Asylum, and lesser-known groups.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are marking their 30th year in the business with a U.S. tour, and Petty has a new solo album, Highway Companion.

Thom Yorke is the lead singer and songwriter of the band Radiohead. Along with their longtime producer Nigel Godrich, Radiohead has released six critically acclaimed records and explored the boundaries between rock and electronic music. Yorke's new solo CD, The Eraser, is his first release without the band.

Our rock critic reviews albums by Tom Verlaine of the '70s New York punk band Television: the instrumental album Around, and Songs and Other Things, which includes his compositions and vocals.

The brother-sister team of Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger has a new album called Bitter Tea, which they describe as "sissy psychedelic Satanism." Their other albums include Rehearsing My Choir, made with the participation of their 82-year-old grandmother.

Few musicians are as identified with Texas as the late Doug Sahm. But Sahm also spent five years in exile in California, where rock historian Ed Ward got to know him. Ed takes a look at this period, in which he says Sahm and his band, the Sir Douglas Quintet, did some of their most lasting work.