Reviews of the latest album releases

100 Hits Legends: B B King ***

THIS mammoth 5-CD set features many of the classic recordings which helped to establish this prolific performer as one of the leading lights of the blues during the 50s, including his first hit Three O'Clock Blues, which topped the rhythm and blues charts in America for five weeks in 1951.

The influence of big-band jazz was also never far from the surface as King applied his distinctive single-note guitar technique to compelling tracks from those much less sophisticated times such as Every Day I Have The Blues, Take A Swing With Me and Sweet Little Angel.

Out now (DMG LEGENDS022: £5.99)

Simply Rock'n'Roll Love Songs ***

THIS romantically inclined anthology is dominated by a succession of bittersweet love songs from rock's golden era in the late 50s, including contributions from The Platters, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard to name but a few.

The smooth harmonies of doo-wop are captured in two fine offerings recorded by The Spaniels a few years earlier, Goodnite Sweetheart, Goodnite and Baby It's You, and the compilers have also found space for Percy Sledge's chart-topping debut single, When A Man Loves A Woman.

Sledge apparently penned this timeless tear-jerker in response to a failed love affair, only to then rather naively hand over the precious writing credits to a couple of his regular backing musicians to reward them for helping him to create an arrangement for the song.

Out now (Union Square SIMPLYCD 254: £2.99)

TV On The Radio: Nine Types of Light ****

THIS Brooklyn band have made quite a name for themselves during the past decade with an eclectic sound which draws on musical influences as diverse as Wire, Prince and Brian Eno and their latest offering found the boys decamping from New York to Los Angeles to record what must rank as their most relaxed and accessible album to date.

Their decision to embark on a variety of solo projects after the release of the critically acclaimed Dear Science in 2008 allowed TV On the Radio to re-evaluate their collective approach to music-making and the genuine pleasure that they obviously feel in working together again is reflected in prime cuts such as Second Song, Repetition and New Cannoball Blues.

Out now (Interscope Records: £8.93)

Allegri String Quartet/James Campbell/Rian de Waal: Brahms - Clarinet and Piano Quintets ****

THIS 1991 collaboration between the Allegri Quartet and soloists Campbell and de Waal showcases the depth and vitality that were such a feature of Brahms' more intimate creations.

Chamber music enjoyed an immense surge in popularity during the mid 19th century, and Brahms' imposing Piano Quintet in F minor was one of the most adventurous and, at times, unsettling pieces to enter the repertoire during this period.

The Clarinet Quintet was completed almost 30 years later and this autumnal work still ranks as one of the composer's greatest achievements in this or any other musical genre.

Out now (Cala CACD 1009: £10.15)

Mastodon: Live at the Aragon ***

THIS inventive metal band's latest Reprise project takes the form of a CD/DVD package recorded in October 2009 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.

The bulk of the set is occupied by a complete performance of their ambitious concept album Crack The Skye, which had been released earlier the same year.

Atlanta-based Mastodon bring a little more freshness and ingenuity to the creative process than many other metal bands are able to muster and Live at the Aragon offers a typically visceral introduction to their densely structured sound.

Out now (Reprise 9362 49647 2: £11.99)

George Jones: Ragged But Right - The Starday Years Plus ***

TEXAS-born Jones has been hailed as the greatest living country singer and this splendid new anthology chronicles the honky-tonk balladeer's early output for the Starday and Mercury labels, along with several rockabilly tracks that he recorded in 1956 under the unlikely pseudonym of Thumper Jones.

The 3-CD set features many of the songs which established this colourful character as a major country performer during the mid-50s, including Why Baby Why, What Am I Worth and Just One More, to name but a few.

Released on May 23 (Fantastic Voyage FVTD 107: £9.00)