Everyday I have the Blues by Joe Williams from Count Basie & his Orchestra(EMI Roulette Jazz 50999 5 04826 2 7). Also, " What Did You Win?" from the same album.

Livingston Taylor: "Isn't She Lovely?"; The Yuri Honing Trio: "Walking on the Moon"; The Dave Brubeck Quartet: "Take Five"; Marla Glenn: "The Cost of Freedom"; Oscar Peterson Trio: "You Look Good to Me"; Allegro from Mozart's Violin Concerto No 4 in D major (KV 218) on the Nordic Sound label.

I would love to hear Robert Plant & Alison Krauss sing "Killing The Blues" (Raising Sand) or I would really enjoy Lamb of God playing "Blacken The Cursed Sun" (Sacrament). From both those songs you should be able to get fair samples from opposite sides of the audio spectrum—in an extreme way.

Alice in Chains: Unplugged, any track; Rage Against the Machine—the entire album but tracks 3,5, and 6 may present the bigger challenge.

I would like the reviewer to use well-recorded music with which he has extensive experience of listening to in live performances. If a reviewer cannot meet this criterion, then he should not be a reviewer at all.

Together Again and "Tonight's the Night" from Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope. Close-miked, breathy female vocals, crisp highs and round-sounding, tuneful bass. I've wanted to recommend these as demo/evaluation tracks for a long time.