title: WARNING  WARNING...LISTEN AT YOUR OWN RISK!

text: broadening my own personal range and taste, I happened to casually pick up this here dj Sasha cd, on a whim.  I popped it in the car and blithely bobbed my head to it on the way home, becoming increasingly pleased the  more i listened..i quickly dubbed the cd good , one to clean the house to.  Acting upon my rash and premature judgement, I foolishly popped disc one  into the cd player, with the purpose of listening while i cleaned the  house...I never fisnished.  Halfway thru song three on disc one, my feet  were itching to move to beat of the rythym...by song four, my hips joined  in and halfway thru song four...total eargasm! ....next thing i know  its damn near track 11 , i've been dancing like a club groupie on  the  living room floor, exhausted yet insanely happy panting "more,  MORE! " and im thinking "MY GOD ITS  BRILLIANT"! 1..Needless to say, that casual little purchase  paid off and thensome.  Overall the cd is very listenaable and very  addictive, yet i cannot give 5 stars only because to me, disc two starts  off way to slowly, i dont really get into it until track 5..But overall, if  you like aggresive, hardcore trance with a danceable beat, this is just  what the doctor ordered(though i must say, not the heart doctor, as this cd  coudld make u have a cardiac arrest! )peace out y'all!  Anaisnine


title: Rare Live Album

text:
This is a pretty rare live recording done at a 2005 concert at Myrtle Beach. I've heard Vertical Horizon's Live Stages album and was definitely excited to listen to live music from the "Go" tour. There aren't as many songs as you would expect on a two disc album, but they do a great job showing off their chops at simply being a really good jam band on more than one tune.

My one complaint with the album, and it cost it a star, is that the sound wasn't quite balanced. It felt like the vocals were either given too little emphasis or too much emphasis most of the time. At the end of the second disc it finally seems to come into balance. Still, that shouldn't detract from the fact that this is a good, fun live album from a band I'd enjoy seeing in concert.


title: Soothing

text: I use this CD for when I am writing.  Very soothing and the disc came right on time and no scratches.


title: Soft, soothing classic worship music, all instrumental

text: Exactly as expected from a Maranatha music collection


text: Exactly what I expected


title: Appalled

text: I am truly amazed  by the people who insist on tearing apart what I consider one of the best singers I have heard in a long time. Bocelli has made a classical singing fan out of a confirmed opera hater. For shame! .  He has a very soulful voice in my opinion. One that has struck a chord with  most people I share his CDs with.


title: It did NOT have the 2 bonus songs on it. That's the ONLY reason I purchased this!!!! I am angry!!!!

text: I already have the regular "Dangerous " album. This is my third try at getting the album with the bonus tracks. Can I return this?? I am out of the state right now on vacation. But I will be home June 22.


title: Five Stars

text: awesome ministry of the psalms…excellent way to get God's word in us...love it!


title: Mary, Cindy & Jean

text: This was the first release from the post-diana ross Supremes and it is wonderful.  I loved it back in 1970 and I love it even more today.  The songs are great, the harmonies are wonderful and Jean Terrell can really belt out a tune.  I highly recommend this CD.


title: Five Stars

text: Excellent DVD


title: Excellent quality recording.

text: Classic Frank with first class orchestra backup.  LP way better than cd sonically.


title: Five Stars

text: Love salsa!


title: ENTER THE SEASONS OF THE DEAD!!...

text: A QUINTESSENTIAL DEATH METAL ALBUM. Must buy for death metal collectors.

user_id: AEMPPTINVUMXJFSHFWLQKZWZNYTA


title: Comment not in response to any particular edition

text:
I have owned the vinyl of this album since it first came out, worn out and replaced once, and eagerly bought the CD in order to hear the entire Dark Star/St. Stephen/Eleven/lovelight sequence without the breaks imposed by the original vinyl.  Bottom line - whenever I entertain a discussion with others about our favorite albums, this one never falls out of my top five, and as often as not is at the top of the list.  I would gladly have this version of Dark Star as the soundtrack for the rest of my days, if i had to choose only one recorded track.

Regarding context for the music, it is worth mentioning that the Dark Star/St. Stephen/part of Eleven are taken from a set also documented in the Fillmore West 1969 box.  I actually like listening to that version more, as it reveals that the spacey intro leading up to the start of the Dark Star chords is a jam out of the end of Mountains of the Moon, which is really pretty nice itself.  Where the jump from the Fillmore West show to a different show in the Eleven occurs is pretty distinct once you are aware of it.  I think (no guarantee) that the jump is to a show recorded in St. Louis sometime in March 1969).


title: Hmmmm - not sure

text: I'm a real fan of Dani's earlier work, but I can't get a grip on this one.  It seems too low-key compared to his earlier solo CD's and even 21, his extensive tribute to the art of supporting vocalists.  This one just seems, I dunno, weak?


This is very engaging, and well thought out progressive ROCK in every sense of the word.

Like Epilogue, it's totally instrumental, but in my opinion, a bit more refined and peaceful.

This has everything that you would expect from the band, with excellent guitar, Mellotron, Hammond organ. some moog, remarkably creative drumming and percussion, and excellent flute.

The melodies are still strongly influenced by Nordic folk, but you also get a lot of nice jazzy moments, along with heavy rock, and 20th century music.

I wholeheartedly recommend this to any fan of the band, or to any fan of serious and sophisticated progressive rock


title: Delicate singer-songerwriter stuff with a unique twist

text: Delicate folkrock with a very celestial vibe mainly due to the creative arrangements and playing by the all-star backing band. This was the very first release on the jazz-based CTI label and a lot of the musicans that appear here would later go on to jazz fame recording for CTI. I must make it clear though that this is quite different from the other releases on CTI as this is definately a folk(rock) album and not a jazz album. Anyways, this is pretty diverse, with a lot of delicate songs that have great semi-psychedelic arrangements, there are a couple of slightly ragtime sounding songs, and an upbeat song that reminds me of some of the feel good Grateful Dead stuff of the early 70's. The album opens with a great folk song that has a bridge which builds into a frenzy while featuring a really wild guitar solo by Jim Hall. Kathy's acoustic guitar playing and singing is nice enough as well. Reccomended to fans of the female singer-songwriter genre, with a unique twist


title: Excellent country rock/Americana

text: This is a true lost gem from 1970. It is fairly bluesy country rock with a real Americana edge! He has a wonderful voice, and his acoustic guitar playing along with this excellent Nashville band is a joy to behold. The MINI LP from Korea is done beautifully and the mastering is amazing. If your are into artist like Lucinda Williams, then you will love this.


title: really cheezy

text: This is just to campy for me. It appeals to the progressive rock crowd because it has loads of Mellotron, and it contains an unusual lounge cover of King Crimson's "Epitaph". Other than the KC cover, this contains strange reworkings of "crooner" standards. The singers voice is highly irritating as well. I will give this credit for being interesting, but its really more of a novelty album than a real "progressive rock" album.


title: Very nice stuff!

text:
This is very delicate singer-songwriter/folk music with mostly just Macleod's pleasant voice and his excellent finger-picked acoustic giutar. Some songs have flute, some have a bass, and it sounds like crumhorn on the first song. Well recorded, and with a loaner folk vibe on some songs, this it totally recommended for any folk/singer-songwriter fan.

By the way, I believe this album is from 1979 and Macleod is Canadian.


title: At 68 cents for a used CD - what the heck

text: I got this CD at a Pottery Barn years ago and was surprised to see it on Amazon. It's a collection of 12 laid-back covers of a wide range of famous artist's well-known songs. These are toned down, easy-listening versions that would fit into the background at a Starbucks. Tom Jones covering Prince's 'Kiss' is mostly good for a laugh, while Aztec Camera's version of Van Halen's 'Jump' is actually an improvement, and Aretha Franklin's gospel arrangement of Elton John's 'Border Song' stands out. For less than a buck for a used copy, you can not go too far wrong.


title: not as advertised

text: sent me a cd that was intended for promotional purposes only


title: enjoy listening to it

text: I have all of the Playing Our Song CD's and they are easy listening, and bring back memories of a mellower time.


title: Five Stars

text: Love it!


title: Five Stars

text: So glad I found this! Thank you!!


title: Five Stars

text: Came in good condition and they included lots of cute freebies!


title: buy

text: love


title: Four Stars

text: super


title: Dynamite TP Show

text: This show is full of interesting covers and the hottest versions of TP originals. Sound is really good, considering the FM radio source. Of all live TP, this one will get the most play.


title: Trove of Fab TP Radio Shows

text: Given its dubious origins (not officially sanctioned) this box is really fabulous. The audio quality is very listenable, if not professionally recorded. The producers must have carefully tracked down the best source for each show. I was really surprised. And of course the performances are top notch. There's also a bunch of unexpected treats, like an early version of "Don't Come Around Here No More" before Dave Stewart got his mitts on it, and a host of cool cover songs. I only docked it a star because of the imperfect sound quality, but that's more of an A minus than a B plus. The price is right, too.


title: Raw and Classic Radio Show

text: If you understand where RL is coming from, I think you'll enjoy listening to this album. The audio quality is slightly rough, but the performances are blistering. It fills a gap in the previously heard catalog, and I'm very glad to have it.


title: Outrageously Good Show, Very Careless Production

text:
NOTE - The five star rating is for the performances only. The sound quality gets 2 stars, and here's why: First, the EQ (frequency balance) is way off. This is not a matter of opinion. If you don't already have tinnitus, you will have it after listening to this awfully harsh presentation. Use your own EQ to shave off about 8 dB at around 7 kHz. Peel back a little 12 kHz while you're at it. And boost 70 Hz a tad. There. Now it's not like an ice pick through your eardrums. Second, there is noticeable wow and flutter (tape speed fluctuations) but you may be able to tolerate that. Finally, the pitch sounds like it's a bit sharp (overall tape speed runs fast) but I didn't check it because knowing that would make me sadder. Also be forewarned that there are some blunt between-song edits and at least one song (Ballad of a Thin Man) that is incomplete.

That aside (and I know that's a lot) the show itself is stellar. Dylan is quoted in the liner notes as saying this was a low point in his life, but you wouldn't know it from his performance. He is fierce and edgy, perhaps more than ever. It definitely rivals Before the Flood in terms of unbridled energy. Dylan is even chatty and revealing between songs sometimes, in a way you may not have heard before. If you want a convenient way to obtain this show, here it is. But it's most certainly a bootleg. I'm sure you can find it on line (torrent site or other means) for zero dollars and with much improved sound. Here's hoping there's an official release from this tour (and related studio sessions) very soon!


title: G-B-V! G-B-V! G-B-V!

text: Are there enough live GBV products out there? Probably not. In case GBV is not raw enough in its normal state, we have this nice example of the completely unfiltered version. It's a party from start to end. There is a fun birthday theme and plenty of shenanigans to go along with that. The songs are of course amazing -- from that prime vintage between Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes. There are a few rarities too. Sound is not terrible, considering. I docked it one star just cuz the audio quality is about a B+.


title: The Muffs at Their Best

text: If you have wondered if the Muffs still sound great, wonder no longer. They do! This album is a little more raw around the edges than their bigger-budget projects, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. These songs are as good or better than any on earlier Muffs records, and they are delivered in characteristic confidence and skill. Get this. It's power-punky-poppy in all the best of ways. Oh yeah -- and there are more patented Kim screams per minute than ever.


title: Ulalena

text: I love this music.  It is one of my favorite CDs.


title: Excellent in every way.

text: I will be playing this one for years to come. So glad to have it in my life.


title: Reminiscent of Mary of "Peter, Paul and Mary"

text: Heartfelt, enchanting, fun. My children love this collection of songs, and so do I. Easy to listen to, sing to, and dance to, over and over again.


title: Beautiful Album

text: Delivery estimate was a little wonky and hard to track, but it came nicely protected and sealed. Max Value responded when I voiced my concern and assured it would arrive soon. Great Album! Recommend this seller.


title: Five Stars

text: Perfect


title: Loved it but...

text: I love it, I just loved it more if it were the red version. I guess  I should've ask for that one whe I ordered.


title: Great LP

text: This album is awesome!!! A must have in your record collection


title: Great Album

text: This is an oldie but good, Hank Jr. is awesome. Great Vinyl record! Everyone should add this one to their collection. :)


title: Mantengase "BAILANDO" Viva La Vida Loca.......No hay Otra....

text: I L O V E Enrique, I LOVE his Songs but, This is His best song ever. It has lots of different rhythms, beautiful lyrics and great melodies. I think that is because he has two other fellows who have heavy accents and Sean Paul who is Jamaican and gives it that ragae sound. This song has lots of  Spanish rhythms and I love the SPANISH DANCERS. I watch the video all the timeand I just love it. That is why I bought Bailando. There are 2 of the same song one in Spanich and One in English. I love the spanich version.


title: Five Stars

text: need to transfer to CD then I am all set


title: Another Great box set

text: Another Great box set, since I went to the concert I had to buy this and the regular disc set.. I have all of there albums and have seen them numerous times, seeing them again this year.


title: NOT A GOOD REMASTER

text: THE SOUND QUALITY IS NOT VERY GOOD ON MY SYSTEM HAVE TO ADJUST EQUALIZER TO GET THE FULL SPECTRUM TAMED


title: Four Stars

text: The 10ft cable is a bit finicky - all the other cables work well.


title: This was a good one.

text: Great album.


title: Excellent performance!

text: If you are a Little Feat fan then buy it!  Excellent sound quality and smoking performance!


title: 90's!

text: Oh man...I bought this in the mid 90's I think. Weapon of choice is a great band that I was introduced through this. Shudder to think has a good song on it too. I wish I could find MP3 versions of this somewhere.


title: Wrong track listing on the labels

text: The music is great but the track listing is not complete on the cover.


title: One Star

text: I can't believe there's no Show no Mercy tracks on here. Thumbs down!


title: Madame X is a Great Madonna album.

text: This album is awesome.  God Control is my favorite track.


title: Worth the buy

text: Great CD. Awesome album.


title: Very nice album.

text: Played nicely in my car. Love the album. Came on time n quick to my house.


title: Good album

text: Good album, sold at Walmart for $7, this price is ridiculous


title: Beautiful miniature instrument

text: Outstanding detail on this miniature Portuguese guitar. I am adding it to my collection of miniature instruments on one of my Christmas trees that has a music theme. Great new addition!!!


title: Five Stars

text: One of the most beautiful and fun brass albums I've ever heard - right up there with the best!


title: Five Stars

text: I'm one piece fan and I gotta say I love it.


title: Five Stars

text: great price, arrived quickly, all good!


title: The album title is incorrect.

text: The name of this album is "This Is The End Of The Night".<br />But it was the end of the world for the group.


title: Great CD!

text: It's classic Fleetwood Mac. Love it!


title: Great CD!

text: Love The Beatles!


title: Good set

text: Music is good and as presented


title: Phil Lynott

text: A great disc that was everything promised and delivered in a timely manner.I'd order again.


title: Five Stars

text: GREAT


title: learn from the heart

text:
If you are like me, you have many fears around the heart.  Let Lee hold you by your heart.  If you are like me, the fears will diminish and comfort will be restored.  There is a real possibility to open to your heart through listening to his voice.

The audio on this CD is as beautiful as the cover.  It is so rare to hear the heart spoken about in such clear, direct, simple language.  These words come from the heart.  This CD is not a mental abstraction of a heart-- but heart itself.

Let Lee aid you in the rebalancing of your heart.  Let him show you how to "be a world."


title: A Great Way to Discover Story Waters.

text: If you haven't listen to Story Waters before then this collection is a great introduction as it includes everything from Messiah Seeds, to 'You Are God. Get Over It!' Unfoldings, to three of his most powerful channels. Simply the best way for anyone new to his work to get up to speed!


title: The choice for the Embodiment of True Wholeness

text: This is an amazing channel with a message that is so important now in the realms of spirituality as it is talking about true wholeness, that of your spirituality and your physicality being integrated. This is the integration of the inner world and the outer. Integration of everything in your being. The energy of the channel is incredibly strong and you are left with a clear sense of the choice that is being put before you to experience this wholeness. I felt this really built on  Story's 'The Courage to Channel' piece from his Invitation to Remember radio show in that it expresses the true meeting between the divine in us and our embodiment; all through an embracing of the world rather than a rejection of it. Highly recommended!


title: Is this the best that could be done?

text:
BITTER SWEET is one of the most sublime examples of nostalgic, sentimental operetta ever composed--a true labor of love on young Noel Coward's part. And, like so many exemplars of the genre, it has yet to receive a really satisfactory recording.

I will never forget my bittersweet reactions on first hearing this disappointing album. It is clearly the most nearly complete performance on records--but not as complete as advertised, notably skipping the tender love song "Evermore and a Day." The orchestrations are inauthentic and, apart from Valerie Masterson, the performances often inferior, especially the unconscionable rush through "If You Could Only Come with Me." Even Manon's rather tragic numbers fail to touch the heart.

I wish I had a substantially  better option to recommend. I do like the old British movie adaptation from 1933, but it is heavily cut (missing Act III!) and has a few wince-worthy moments. So pray for a miracle: the odds are against us, but someday there may be a decent recording. Or at least a better one.


title: Music of the ancient Roman empire? Not really, but we can pretend

text:
What follows is a review of “Music Inspired by the Romans,” as compiled by River Records for a group called English Heritage. For some reason, all the other reviews Amazon has placed on the page for this album relate to "Music Inspired by SCARFACE," which is totally unrelated.

Amid all the cultures that flourished in classical antiquity (before the Christian era), the Greeks were among the very few to develop any system of musical notation. The Romans may have evolved a more advanced civilization, with their highways, aqueducts, and such, but they never did devise a method of writing down any of the music used for songs, dances, parades, and other functions in their society.

How did their music sound? What little evidence we have comes mainly from ancient paintings and mosaics depicting small groups of performers in various settings. From these imperfect pictures, people can attempt to construct replicas of the instruments, but there is a vast amount of conjecture involved in reimagining what the scales and ranges, the playing styles, intensities, and tonal qualities of these instruments might have been. On a more basic level, we know nothing of the actual melodies and rhythms that the ancient Romans heard. Nor do any of the celebrated Latin writers provide any thorough descriptions of their music.

The album at hand, rightly called “Music *Inspired* by the Romans,” is a compilation of material in two contrasting styles (at least most of which has been previously released).

The more memorable selections are extracts from lush orchestral film scores, evoking the grandeur of Rome as conceived by Hollywood movie composers and their counterparts in the British film industry. The movies represented are all classics of their type—SPARTACUS, GLADIATOR, QUO VADIS, JULIUS CAESAR (1969), and THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE—yet the three excerpts from BEN-HUR remind us how far Miklos Rozsa’s achievement in scoring that film surpasses the norm for this genre. All these performances come from relatively recent rerecordings, ably served up by the City of Prague Philharmonic under Kenneth Alwyn and other conductors, with an emphasis on military procession and pageantry, along with the occasional love theme.

Interspersed with the selections representing the glamorized melodrama of big-screen cinematic Romanism is the more intimate, exotic sound of Roman music “recreated”—which is to say freshly composed—by an Englishman named David Marshall. His pet specialty is indeed replicas of ancient Roman instruments, and, along with a few other musicians, he has formed a group called Praecones Britanniae (Heralds of the British Province), which has actually performed at gladiatorial reenactments in twenty-first-century London.

The results of Marshall’s labors are usually rhythmic, vaguely Grecian or almost Middle Eastern strands of melody played on an array of newly created “primitive” instruments that naturally are not quite tuned to our familiar Western scales. Whether you will find these brief pieces intriguing and kind of fun, as I do, or simply annoying is not easy to predict. Even the most realistic playback volume for each selection is a matter of guesswork (the disc has a reasonably consistent volume level, but the actual instruments might not).

The CD booklet includes background on the instruments and the inspiration for each piece, but for photographs you will have to visit the Web site “Ancestral Sounds: Praecones Britanniae” or Marshall’s Tripod site. While there, you can listen to sound samples that will give you a taste of what to expect.

Both in the CD notes and online, there is a mention of surviving Roman instruments which, along with ancient pictures and carvings, were used as resources. Unfortunately, I can not find any images or details regarding those few instruments that have actually survived the passage of nearly two millennia.

How authentic, then, are these experiments in “early music”? The fully costumed players in online photos prompt the thought they are unavoidably less true to life than the spectacle of Civil War specialists “reenacting” elaborate battles that never actually happened in one American community or another. Ancient Romans obviously would not have recognized these melodies. (Can you imagine someone 2,000 years from now trying to recreate the sound of American jazz on the basis of nothing more than photographs?)

Still, for the right kind of listener, the album certainly appeals to the imagination. But unless it turns up at a bargain price, a better idea might be to buy David Marshall’s full-length 2002 CD “Somnia Imperii: Roman Music,” and then to think about purchasing either soundtrack albums or City of Prague Philharmonic discs presenting longer suites from BEN-HUR and whatever other sword-and-sandal film spectaculars you happen to enjoy.


title: Buyer beware

text:
This is not a review but a warning: If you are interested in Maestro Furioso, Volume 2, be aware that no one has reviewed it yet. The two previously posted reviews refer to a 4-disc set on a different label. And the posted picture shows a 2-disc jewel case, which reveals only some of the contents of the 10-disc History set.

The History label released a whole series of low-priced 10-disc boxes, organized by conductor, and consisting entirely of reissues pirated from other CD labels and then largely undermined by excessive filtering and reequalization (not to mention intermittent mistakes such as faulty identification of musical selections, accidental abridging of recordings, or separate movements run together without a pause).

No doubt I will incur some rebukes for passing judgment on an issue I haven't purchased or heard. But having suffered through half a dozen similar compilations on the same label, I thought the warning might be in order.


title: Not as complete as it should be, nor brilliantly performed, but is there a better option?

text:
The 1993 TER or Jay Records album of SHOW BOAT, loosely based on an Opera North / Royal Shakespeare Company production that opened in 1989, claims to be the “first complete recording of the 1946 published edition.” That claim demands closer inspection.

At the end of his life, Jerome Kern reworked his ambitious 1927 operetta for a Broadway revival that opened in January of 1946. Among other changes, he revised the leading tenor role for a baritone, inserted a lively new song (“Nobody Else but Me”), and authorized the addition of some extended new dance arrangements. One number (“Hey, Feller”) had already been dropped from most recent performances. Kern and Hammerstein now made an ill-advised decision to delete two more: One of them, “Till Good Luck Comes My Way,” had functioned as Gaylord’s theme song; the other, “I Might Fall Back on You,” might be seen as a dispensable comic duet but really should have been retained in lieu of “Goodbye, My Lady Love” (one of the many turn-of-the century tunes interpolated into act II, this one composed by Joe Howard). Both of the missing Kern songs were briefly heard in the orchestra.

The “1946 published score” is actually a sadly abridged piano/vocal edition prepared for a national tour about a year later. (Maddeningly, it retains a copyright date and cast list linked to the original 1927 Broadway production. But the authentic first edition, which is significantly longer, remains a great rarity, at least until the copyright expires.) In the revised score, “Nobody Else but Me” and much of the dance music are missing, and, very oddly, in two selections (“Queenie’s Ballyhoo” and the Act II Opening), the singing abruptly stops and what should be the vocal chorus is heard only as dance music.

The TER recording, however, is not a complete representation even of that version, although it runs nearly 1 hour 38 minutes. (The TER label is famous for this kind of false advertising.) Among any number of less conspicuous cuts, these are the most annoying omissions:
* most of the music of the play rehearsal / miscegenation scene (nearly 9 pages of the vocal score), including the poignant theme associated with Julie’s misery, as crooned by the “colored women”;
* part of the atmospheric chorus of Negro women humming offstage, which leads into the song “You Are Love”;
* a brief but crucial Act II reprise of “Ol’ Man River,” which hints at the passage of many years--and includes some potent new Hammerstein lyrics (“Wars go on an’ some folks die, / De res’ forget de reason why”).
Of course, “Nobody Else but Me” is not included, although some copies of the CD album--on the Jay label--tack on a dubious bonus track presenting Janis Kelly (the same rather tremulous soprano who plays Magnolia and would presumably also play her daughter, Kim) in a cabaret-style solo arrangement of the song.

As for the considerable amount of orchestral underscoring in this play, some of this music is performed on the record with a streamlined reading of the more-or-less synchronized dialog, some of it is played softly WITHOUT the relevant dialog (sacrificing the emotion of three or four key scenes in the second act), and some of it is missing completely. Normally, hearing the dialog would be a plus. But nearly all the soloists are British, and when they aim for Southern U.S. accents, they generally come off sounding like ignorant hillbillies. There is no compelling reason for Magnolia Hawks (the heroine) to have a Southern accent at all; her parents don’t. Here she sounds more like Ado Annie--but turns into an educated lady when she sings.

Musically, the performance is also a bit odd. John Owen Edwards’s conducting tends to be just a bit slow (with the striking exception of his race through “Dahomey,” a production number which may be politically incorrect but was part of every important stage version of SHOW BOAT in Kern’s lifetime). The National Symphony Orchestra string section sounds thin, and melodies like “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” are unduly syncopated. The orchestrations are unobjectionable but, surprisingly, not quite the same as the Robert Russell Bennett arrangements recorded in the 1946 revival cast album. The banjo player, it must be noted, is very faint and does not know how to embellish the printed notes with appropriate tremolo strumming.

For the most part, the singing is more operatic than idiomatic, with the vibrato-heavy Jason Howard a particularly inexpressive and unappealing star baritone. Some of his material is transposed down for him. At the opposite extreme, Sally Burgess, who has potentially the right kind of soprano voice for Julie, goes a little too far in taking liberties with phrasing and rhythm. Her rendition of “Bill” does gain in stature on repeated hearing.

Some of the supporting cast members are more in tune with the proper style: Shezwae Powell (Queenie), Caroline O’Connor (Ellie), Willard White (Joe). White’s “Ol’ Man River” is one of the best on record since Paul Robeson in the 1936 film version. But don’t expect consistent attention to nuances. One American in the cast, Fran Landesman as Parthy Ann Hawks, is represented only by a single pair of lines--notated to be sung but traditionally spoken in time with the orchestra--and she ruins it by pausing in the wrong place, destroying the rhyme. (And she gets fourth billing, among nine soloists?)

The recording is optimized for surround-sound playback. It sounds perfectly listenable in stereo or in Dolby Pro Logic II mode but works best with a Dolby Surround decoder from the 1990s such as the Shure HTS 5300, which gives the audio a satisfying spread across the three front speakers. In the course of the album there is ample dynamic range, with the offstage piano (scene 1) and much of the dialog rather quietly recorded. The onstage band, earlier in the same scene, sounds relatively remote but is not heard approaching from offstage. In “After the Ball,” midway through the second act, we abruptly find ourselves enveloped by the rowdy Trocadero Music Hall audience, part of which seems to be sitting behind us. Sonically, apart from a few shrill moments from the vocal leads and perhaps some blurry orchestral bells at the end of the convent scene, the positives outweigh the negatives.

Overall, this album gets a less than enthusiastic recommendation. Regrettably, given the dual problems of editing and performance, NO recording of this wonderful score is consistently a great deal better.
--The New York cast albums of 1946 and 1966 each contain only about 45 minutes of highlights, which is not enough to give a real sense of the score. And despite their beautiful moments and historical significance, no one will be raving about their sound quality. (That goes double for earlier recordings, like the 1929 selections recorded in London.)
--The 1988 “complete” recording--conducted by my college roommate John McGlinn--suffers from some bizarre editorial decisions (such as John’s determination to end “You Are Love” with a lame coda that Kern had rejected before the score was ever published or performed), along with uneven vocalism and serious miscasting (EMI insisted on hiring big-name opera singers, including a celebrated 40-something mezzo instead of a young lyric soprano as Magnolia).
--As for the 1993 “world premiere” Toronto/Broadway rewrite masterminded by Hal Prince, anyone who respects the original material is likely to agree that it’s a disgrace. Rebecca Luker, the one outstanding soloist, has less than 10 minutes to sing.

In short, I have well over a dozen SHOW BOAT albums (not counting videos), and this one is better than average, once we recover from all the details that invite disappointment on first hearing. Only the McGlinn version is more complete, and there IS something to be said for a recording based on a single edition of the score, as opposed to a 3-hour composite pieced together from various stages in Kern’s thinking. Both McGlinn and Edwards suffer from some of the same drawbacks (including British choral ensembles, overly operatic soloists, sometimes questionable tempi, and frustrating editing of the music). Sadly, given the changes in public taste, we are not likely to see any new contenders that more effectively preserve the authentic flavor of this masterpiece.


title: Masterful performances--if you can figure out what you're actually hearing

text:
Once upon a time, some 45 years ago, a small German enterprise called FonoTeam started producing vinyl records, first on the BASF label and later on Acanta. FonoTeam specialized in releasing rarely heard extracts from opera performances that had aired on German radio stations in the 1930s and ’40s. The original packaging was attractive, and the emergence of these archival records and tapes afforded an opportunity to discover riveting interpretations, often involving world-class singers who were largely unknown to American audiences.

One obvious drawback: FonoTeam had a tantalizing tendency to publish just excerpts from a historic performance, followed by a somewhat different selection of excerpts from the same aural document in a later album devoted to a single singer, and then maybe another, different abridgement of the performance as part of a boxed set. It seemed a crass ploy to squeeze extra money out of opera lovers and collectors.

A bigger problem: Gradually it became apparent that FonoTeam had a penchant for untrustworthy labeling, sometimes inaccurate to the point of outright fraud. What historically minded German opera connoisseur would not be eager to hear a “live” radio broadcast conducted by Siegfried Wagner (the famous composer’s son) shortly before his death in 1930, or portions of Wagner operas exactly as heard in a pre-Nazi Bayreuth Festival performance under the baton of Wilhelm Furtwängler back in 1931 or under Richard Strauss in 1933? Dream on….

While some buyers were contented to be fooled by the mislabeled records they heard (sometimes spliced together from unrelated performances), others got wise to the scheme.

The astute critic David Hamilton communicated a startling example in the ARSC Journal, with respect to the FonoTeam/Acanta album of Furtwängler conducting Wagner: “The Tristan Prelude, attributed to the Bayreuth Festival of 1931, is actually the 1937 [or rather 1938] HMV recording by the Berlin Philharmonic, with an audience-noise track overlaid (at least in the quiet passages at the beginning and end), some ‘creative’ editing of the rests (perhaps to mislead reviewers who compare timings or do synchronized playbacks), and a severe diminution of bass….The ‘treatment’ applied to this recording indicates an intent to mislead; this is not simply a question of mislabeling….Perhaps these guys [the FonoTeam producers] are innocent victims--but somewhere out there a T. J. Wise is at large in the field of Wagnerian recordings.”

Hamilton was speaking of the original edition of this set, in the form of a six-record LP box released in 1983. Nine years later, the CD version appeared on the Pilz Acanta label: apparently the identical contents, organized onto five discs, with cheaper packaging and less elaborate program notes, and boasting “NoNOISE processed by SONIC SOLUTION System 1992.” This noise-filtering process arguably improved the tone quality of some selections slightly; in other cases it was a disaster, creating an ugly, muffled, artificial sound. The artificially added audience noises are gone, but the misattributions remain.

In musical terms, a few lessons can be learned (or confirmed) from this set. First, Furtwängler fully deserves his reputation as a superlative Wagner interpreter. Second, although currently he is often associated with slow tempi (reflecting the tradition of his mentor, the Wagner disciple Felix Mottl), Furtwängler’s musical pulse was always flexible and sometimes extremely lively, especially as we turn the clock back from his celebrated recordings of the 1950s to an earlier decade. And third, lest there be any doubt, here is ample evidence that today’s finest Wagner singers are hopelessly outclassed by even the lesser-known singers of 80 years ago.

Let me try to be brief in summarizing and assessing the ACTUAL contents of the box. An asterisk indicates that different, phony or incomplete credits (or incorrect dates) appear on the packaging, though I am not going to waste space in reproducing them.

1a. TANNHÄUSER Overture:
Vienna Philharmonic, December 2-3, 1952 (processed with an uncomfortably excessive dynamic range).  *
1b.  Confrontation from Act II:
Alexander Sved, Gotthelf Pistor, VPO, 10/13/35 (a pointless 2-minute fragment of the singing contest).  *

2.  DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG: Act I extract (3 minutes); Sachs’s monolog and part of the following scene from Act II (14½ minutes):
Rudolf Bockelmann, Tiana Lemnitz, and others, VPO, 9/5/38, recorded in Nuremberg (lush, warm-voiced interpretations by the principals).

3.  LOHENGRIN: Four excerpts from Act III, totaling about 30 minutes:
Franz Völker, Maria Müller, others, Bayreuth Festival, 7/19/36 (superhuman singing, especially from the lyrical Völker, who copes brilliantly with Furtwängler’s long-drawn-out phrasing; best heard on [[ASIN:B01A9KUK32 Lohengrin: Volker-Muller-Klose by Wagner, Furtwangler (2012-01-01)]], if you can find it).  *

4.  DIE WALKÜRE: Act III complete (63 minutes), from His Master’s Voice test pressings:
Kirsten Flagstad, Maria Müller, Rudolf Bockelmann, others, London Philharmonic Orchestra at Covent Garden, 5/26/37 (a glorious document, energetically conducted, despite a lame orchestra and mediocre audio; slightly better on [[ASIN:B00000AFTY Wilhelm Furtwangler Conducts Excerpts From the 1937 Covent Garden Performances of Die Walkure and Gotterdammerung]] or [[ASIN:B001GU055I Der Ring Des Nibelungen, Vol. 3: Historical Recordings, 1922-1954]]).  *

5.  SIEGFRIED: Act III scene transition music:
RAI Orchestra, 11/53 (5 minutes from a complete Ring cycle, and rather meaningless out of context).  *

6a.  GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG: Act I, Siegfried’s Rhine Journey:
La Scala Orchestra, 4/50 (5 minutes from another famous Ring cycle, in horrid sound).  *
6b.  Act II, scene 4 complete (20 minutes), conducted by THOMAS BEECHAM, not by Furtwängler at all:
Frida Leider, Lauritz Melchior, and others, LPO at Covent Garden; about 7 minutes from 5/29/36, with Ludwig Weber as Hagen; the rest from 5/14/36, with Emanuel List in the role (exciting performance, singers often too far from the microphone; best heard on [[ASIN:B01K8O02D2 Gotterdammerung Act II Complete (Beecham, Roh Chorus & Orch) by Covent Garden Royal Opera House Orchestra (2005-12-02)]], presenting the concluding portion of Act I and all of Act II, with a few sections inserted from other performances).  *
6c.  Act III, Immolation Scene (22½ minutes):
Kirsten Flagstad and others, LPO at Covent Garden, 6/1/37 (outstanding, though it can be better enjoyed in the context of [[ASIN:B00000FEOY Wagner: Gotterdammerung [Twilight of the Gods]]]).

7.  PARSIFAL: Act I Prelude (concert version).
Berlin Philharmonic, 3/15/38 (an internationally renowned 78-rpm recording issued on His Master's Voice, Victor Records, and affiliated labels, here pretty well ruined by remastering in horribly filtered sound).  *

8a.  TRISTAN UND ISOLDE: Act I Prelude:
Berlin Philharmonic, 2/11/38 (exactly as above).  *
8b.  Act II, Isolde/Brangäne scene fragment, Marke scene (32 minutes); Act III, 3 excerpts from the "wounded Tristan" scene (38 minutes):
Erna Schlüter, Margarete Klose, Ludwig Suthaus, Gottlob Frick, others, Staatsoper Berlin, 10/3/47 (bizarrely edited segments from an impassioned postwar performance, stage-directed by Frida Leider, with a vibrant Tristan and eloquent Marke but no love duet, no final scene; definitely opt for the complete surviving recordings on [[ASIN:B006SYOLHK Wagner: Tristan & Isolde - Acts 2 & 3]]).
8c.  Act III, Isolde’s Transfiguration (orchestral version):
Stockholms Konsertförenings Orkester, 11/25/42 (unhurried and quite lovely but a bit distorted; surpassed by other Furtwängler performances).

Evidently the opera-going public has learned to mistrust small labels that reissue classic performances, to the point where despite the luster of Furtwängler’s name, not a single Amazon customer has bothered to review this compilation until now. The overall verdict: stunning but often fragmentary interpretations, mislabeled more often than not, and with inferior sound most of the time. You might buy this edition as an introduction to Furtwängler’s Wagner as captured in live staged performances, but only if it turns up for a bargain price. And do keep my list of corrected credits handy.


title: A spotty selection of some powerful performances

text:
I find endless delight in studying these intriguing old renditions, by an incomparable and highly individualistic virtuoso from a bygone era in romantic pianistry. I also appreciate David Dubal's extensive liner notes, even though the list of dates when these piano rolls were first released could be misleading. ("By September 1923"? "By March 1927"--after Busoni's death? Maybe, but all of these sessions date from 1915 and 1920.)

Yes, the playing is very different from the style we hear today, yet still powerfully impressive and enjoyable on its own terms (especially Busoni's dramatically embellished version of Liszt's Polonaise # 2 in E). The Duo-Art reproducing-piano mechanism seems to be properly adjusted, for the most part, and the audio quality is natural enough, if slightly underwhelming. I understand that truly optimal sound can be heard only through an Ambisonic surround-sound decoder, and I have never even met someone who owns one.

The maddening part, however, is that Busoni recorded all 24 Chopin preludes, and a rather arbitrary selection of just 15 of them appears here (along with five other works). Dubal attributes the omissions to "the playing time of a compact disc," yet a CD could easily accommodate 75 minutes instead of less than 64. And it would have been quite feasible to release a specially priced two-disc set, rather than adjusting the content to the format as CD publishers so often do. The Nimbus playback speeds also tend to be very slightly too slow, at least for some of those Chopin preludes, though not to the point of impairing one's enjoyment. After all, when a reproducing piano slows down, the performance is still perfectly on pitch.

All things considered, I prefer listening to the Condon Collection disc dedicated to the same pianist, including 19 of the 20 selections represented here (omitting Busoni's adaptation of Liszt's sparkling Paganini Etude # 3--La Campanella--and, very oddly, with just one short Chopin prelude missing). See my more detailed comparison of these two albums at [[ASIN:B000025PSL The Condon Collection - Busoni]]. But if the Nimbus disc can be found for a more reasonable price, by all means give it a try.


title: A minor Hollywood classic--in vibrant stereo but not surround sound

text:
Here is a review of the Stanyan/DCC Compact Classics CD “For Whom the Bell Tolls: Original Motion Picture Score” (which Amazon wrongly calls a soundtrack). I have not heard the various editions of the same performance on labels like Doxy and Silvascreen Records.

To some of us, Victor Young was the king of the Hollywood hacks: a busy, workmanlike composer, arranger, and conductor of popular music--often for the movies--respected by his colleagues, but supplying neither the melodic inspiration nor the complexity of film scores by Erich Korngold or Max Steiner. As a rule, Young’s music provides atmosphere and never gets in the way of the filmed action. Understandably, his most successful score was his last one, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, with its appealing title theme and cheerful imitations of music from a variety of cultures worldwide.

Yet surely Young’s most ambitious work was the Oscar-nominated music he supplied for Sam Wood’s disturbing yet romantic, nearly 3-hour-long wartime saga FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS. When the motion picture appeared in 1943, Decca Records permitted Young to conduct a miniature suite of six movements for a 78-rpm album. This was probably the first time an American record company ever released extensive excerpts from the background music for a “nonmusical” Hollywood film.

That recording, however, was superseded 15 years later, when the movie was rereleased--in abridged form--and to celebrate the event, Ray Heindorf was invited to record a longer ten-movement suite, which became the very first issue on the new Warner Bros. Records label. (Thus, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS was possibly the first “old” movie score to be newly recorded in stereo, well before conductors like Charles Gerhardt and Bernard Herrmann popularized the idea in the seventies.) This 1958 version, later acquired by Rod McKuen’s Stanyan Records, is the performance to own. Leo Shuken and George Parrish’s original orchestrations were retained, with the score further edited by Heindorf, who combined short music cues into longer movements.

As for the music, it is adequately dramatic, well played and vividly recorded, with ample dynamic contrast between the lone Spanish guitar and a fairly powerful full-sized orchestra. In context, the music had formed a badly needed unifying element: The film cast is dominated by Russian, Hungarian, Italian, Swedish, and Greek actors (Hollywood’s attitude being “Who cares? A foreign accent is a foreign accent”), and only the underscoring keeps reminding us that we are supposed to be viewing the desperate days of the Spanish Civil War. As the Decca liner notes once hinted, the musical material draws upon a variety of interrelated traditions: gypsy, flamenco, Catalan, Sevillian, Moorish, and so on.

Even after frequent hearings, only a few motifs linger in memory, notably Maria’s melancholy E-flat-minor theme. The Prelude begins with the impressive tolling of a sonorous bell, promptly imitated by the orchestra, which proceeds to blare out this theme, accompanied by a pounding Andalusian rhythm worthy of Manuel de Falla. The melody returns occasionally in various guises throughout the score. There is also a fleeting love theme in slow waltz tempo, heard toward the end of tracks 3, 5, and 8. The rest of the material, if not particularly distinguished, is luscious background music, often brooding or tragic in tone, yet perfectly conducive to daydreams or to reflections on the movie (for those not given to the game of mentally analyzing which instruments are doing what, from moment to moment).

In 1958, most interested music lovers were buying mono (1-channel) copies of the Warner Bros. record, which was also released in the form of 2-channel stereo records and open-reel tapes. But the recording was derived from 3-channel master tapes (presumably left/center/right channels, not left/right/rear). Heaven only knows how Stanyan technicians managed to reengineer this for a 4-channel LP reissue in 1973 (in SQ quadraphonic sound: front left / front right / rear right / rear left).

Of course, the current CD, though beautifully remastered by Steve Hoffman and Michael Arick, returns us to 2-channel stereo. The prospect of an authorized 3- or 4-channel reissue, in SACD or DVD-Audio format, is too much to hope for.

The CD cover emulates the original record jacket, which, famously, had no text on it at all. The edges of the image, however, are chopped off more than before. And the track listings do not preserve the original LP titles for the various sections of the score, though they do supply a bit more detail.

The suite runs about 40 minutes. As filler, the Stanyan label's CD rather oddly includes the main theme from AMERICA AMERICA by Manos Hadjidakis, followed by two tracks from THE UNKNOWN WAR by Rod McKuen, thus whisking us from Spain to Anatolia to Soviet Russia! Perhaps Victor Young would not have objected.


title: Why this soundtrack is outstanding (for those who want the details)

text:
Jim Henson’s THE DARK CRYSTAL is one of the most brilliant film achievements I will ever encounter: a highly original fairy-tale fantasy, an astounding piece of creative animation, an extravagantly colorful canvas for the eye, a heart-grabbing love story, and a masterpiece of philosophical reflection. Its elements of suspense, of sorrow, even of grotesquerie only make the resolution of the storyline all the more beautiful. Perhaps a certain amount of pain is necessary before a miracle can happen.

The movie’s theme evidently stems not from Eastern religions (as some have speculated) but from ancient Kabbalistic traditions teaching that each individual human soul has been fragmented into two beings: the spiritually wise creature and the basely selfish doppelganger. Whatever happens to one of these entities affects the other. Perhaps even God’s identity was fragmented at the dawn of time. Ultimately, however, the opposites must be not just reconciled but fused if cosmic harmony is to prevail.

This idea becomes distinctly more compelling when dramatized so touchingly on the screen, although the significance of the struggle between Mystics and Skeksis, and of little Jen’s mission, does not become clear until the last scene of the movie.

Young Trevor Jones, assisted by two other orchestrators, created a sumptuous, kaleidoscopic musical score to match the diversity of creatures and situations in the kaleidoscopic world of the movie. This includes
--sweeping motifs representing various characters and their adventures, in a style worthy of John Williams (then at the peak of his popularity, thanks to STAR WARS);
--a love theme and other mood music reminiscent of earlier Hollywood composers like Max Steiner or Franz Waxman;
--pounding rhythms and dissonant winds echoing early Igor Stravinsky;
--a “Landstrider” variation of the main theme, given the galloping rhythm of Richard Wagner’s Valkyries;
--a little air for reed pipes and two wordless vocalises that can definitely haunt the memory;
--a Pod Village celebration inspired mainly by Indian music, like a lively dance number from a Bollywood movie musical;
--a diversity of otherworldly tones created by three kinds of synthesizers that were state-of-the-art back in 1982, augmenting the London Symphony Orchestra.

There are two important versions of this score. The 1982 Warner Brothers record album, though labelled “The Original Sound Track,” is actually an extremely satisfying orchestral suite that often does not match the movie. Many of the tracks on the record are longer than in the film, with musical ideas extended or seamlessly edited together in different ways (as in the Overture, compiled from three sections of the movie). The brief third and fourth tracks, as far as I can remember, are not heard in the film at all, and the sequence of the rest is sometimes altered; notably, the Gelfling Song is delayed until late in the album (track 9) instead of appearing before “The Pod Dance” (track 7). The Finale includes the complete instrumental medley heard during the closing credits, running nearly 5 minutes. The music is transporting, and the sound quality is still rich and fresh.

That album, which clearly deserves 5 stars, has been reissued as Disc 1 of the two-CD Numenorean Music limited edition, and as a standalone 25th Anniversary Edition CD on La-La Land Records, and even (very recently) on vinyl. This is music that impresses on first hearing and can definitely grow on you with repeated listening.

In the Numenorean booklet, the list of credits does beg the question: Can the ethereal soprano in the finale (Catherine Bott) be the same vocalist who earlier supplied the rather boyish tones of a Gelfling? If the Internet Movie Database is correct, “Gelfling Song” was rendered by Lisa Maxwell as Kira (not credited in the album).

Listeners have debated the value of Disc 2 (“The Complete Film Score”) in the Numenorean edition. This contains nearly 72 minutes of music, edited exactly as in the film. In practice, that means we hear quite a few music cues that are very short, or persistently dissonant, or musically uninspired but useful (in their original context) for underscoring and enhancing the drama. One is constantly reminded of the engineer’s hand on the dial, adjusting the volume as needed, or fading the music in and out in midphrase as the length of a pictorial sequence dictates. In fact, after the opening phrases of track 1, a single unison note (played in octaves) is sustained for more than 40 seconds, without embellishment, as accompaniment to dialog that of course is not heard on the recording.

There is also one disturbing little misprint in the track listing: Thanks to a misplaced virgule, the music for the moment where “Mystics and Skeksis Fuse” is listed as if it were two distinct but connected segments of the score (“/ Mystics and Skeksis / Fuse /”).

Despite its much longer running time, this disc contains only a few brief passages that we might have urged Trevor Jones to add to his original record album. In addition, the sound quality is not on a par with the richness of Disc 1. While the bass can be enhanced by a slight boost in playback, the main flaw is that after 20 years or so in storage, some portions of the analog master tape suffer from a very slight pitch waver, or flutter, giving the music a vaguely flat and sickly sound. Still, as the abundance of enthusiastic reviews indicates, only serious audiophiles are likely to notice the deficiency.

On the other hand, I can’t agree with the listener who argued that fans of the movie would be better off buying a DVD that allows the movie to be screened with a music-only track turned on. This is fine for studying the relationship between sound and image, but it also means sitting through long stretches of silence. That’s not what most music lovers would choose to experience more than once.

Disc 2, then, has elements of interest--especially for comparative listening--and can evoke keen memories of certain scenes from the movie. If it were sold by itself, the choppy editing of the music and the lack of emphasis on the most appealing melodies, along with the mediocre sound quality, would prevent it from earning more than 3 stars. When we view it as a generous set of 28 bonus tracks, however, it merely enhances the value of a splendid 5-star album.

Should the listener buy the single disc or spring for the two-disc limited edition? That, I submit, should depend entirely on the prices available at the time of purchase. You can’t go too far wrong with either one.


title: Lovely light classics, but is this a long-lost treasure trove?

text:
This affordable set is full of compelling performances, from an era when ordinary GIs were readily beguiled by symphonic music, although the sound quality and volume level are both variable in this reissue package. The sequence here is somewhat random, including two selections from LA BOHEME in glaringly backwards order. Worse, the documentation is minimal, with misspelled titles and without record numbers, dates, or even composers' names. Among other technical glitches, the reissue engineer gives us a misguided pause in the music wherever the limited playing time of the 78-rpm V-Discs necessitated a side break in the middle of a selection.

(Record historians will note that V-Disc technicians squeezed more grooves onto each inch of disc surface than conventional records would hold at the time. It is startling to discover V-Disc record sides here running up to 7 minutes, roughly 50 percent longer than each side of a 12-inch record issued for household use in the mid '40s. Within a few years after the war, the "nonbreakable" vinyl compounds developed for V-Discs were being adapted for commercial record issues, yet the idea of longer-playing 78s generally remained alien to major-label producers.)

In this compilation, the problem is NOT that we are not always hearing Toscanini but that we are not consistently hearing V-Discs. All of these recordings apparently do represent Toscanini's conducting, even if quite a few of them are clearly pirated from other record reissues, especially when we reach the third and fourth CDs in the set. Some of the same performances may have appeared in the V-Disc format, but a number of them did not.

So, for example, we hear two movements from Beethoven symphonies, as acoustically recorded with the touring La Scala Orchestra way back in 1920 and 1921, plus four out of five movements from Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite, only two of which appeared on a V-Disc. (Heaven knows why the CD producers chose to omit one movement from Toscanini's well-known interpretation while including the overture to LA FORZA DEL DESTINO twice, without explanation, evidently treating us to the same performance as heard on a somewhat distorted V-Disc and later as heard on another label's cleaned-up transfer.) There is also a Scherzo from A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM that sounds as if it has been pirated from a re-equalized CD copy of Toscanini's 1929 recording with the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York.

Thus, ironically, both the oldest, worst-sounding recordings and all of the best-sounding recordings are unmistakably copied from other CDs published by competing companies, not from "original acetates" as claimed. Perhaps this kind of chicanery helps explain why no record numbers are provided.

In this context, I'm afraid, another listener's list of the maestro's V-Discs compounds the confusion, because it is NOT complete. Toscanini's recording of Smetana's Moldau, for instance, did appear on V-Disc 121 (some pressings say 113), and it is reproduced in this album, as is Rossini's overture to IL SIGNOR BRUSCHINO (V-Disc 637B). Meanwhile, as the list correctly reminds us, some of the most interesting Toscanini selections that were issued on V-Discs—particularly Don Gillis’s Symphony 5½ and a chorus-and-orchestra suite from Paul Dukas’s ARIANE ET BARBE-BLEUE—are conspicuously absent from the CD set.

More broadly, if this appears to be a treasure trove of otherwise unpublished performances, it isn't. Toscanini did not make records specifically for the Armed Forces' V-Disc program, although a few Toscanini issues in this series did have special spoken introductions. With few exceptions, his V-Disc issues were extracted from regularly scheduled NBC Symphony Orchestra concert broadcasts of 1940s vintage, some of which later appeared on the RCA label, while On the Beautiful Blue Danube was transferred to V-Disc from a commercially available RCA Victor record. As a result, nearly all of the performances dubbed from actual V-Discs in this set are now available elsewhere with far better sound quality (closer to the first-generation source discs).

After all the complaining is done, it must be admitted that most of the musical repertoire in this set is delightful, including a few forgotten miniature gems such as Overture to a Fairy Tale (after A Midsummer Night's Dream), by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and Novelletta, by Giuseppe Martucci. Whether the purchaser wants to assemble this material by collecting more expensive CD issues is obviously a matter of personal priorities. Without question, the set does remind us how readily Toscanini could elevate "light classics" to the status of high art.


title: Better than I remembered!

text: I first heard this album in 1970. I borrowed it for a month and hated to give it back. Been looking for it all this time. Crow was regional and it was not my region. Amazon came through. I realize on listening to this cd why I could not forget about it. It is a great sample of what rock and roll can be. More importantly is the fact that this is a timeless work. Great lyrics, tight instrument work and all that blended to flow and slide from one song to the other. The whole album is just flat out good rock music. Hey, if you want to get a feel for the summer 1970 as we slipped from hip to disco this is a good ticket.


title: Bay area

text: Nickatina !


title: Rock on ...

text: Solid tunes but not hearing Beach Boys ... more Hendrix, Dick Dale, Nancy Wilson lol


title: Gift to a World War II veteran that was well received in a timely fashion.

text: A gift bringing back fond memories . . .


title: Presence by Led Zeppelin

text: Jimmy Page oversaw the remastering of this album in 2015. Upon listening to this CD one can clearly hear differences to the original for the better. If you are one who loves to hear different variations of the older works of artists then this CD is for you. Packaged replica of original vinyl record.


title: Soooo cool.

text: Very Cool vintage album and cartoon book1

user_id: AFMRCSVVOWVUJDZJHJYYBZWBHVKA


title: Loved it!

text: Loved it!


title: Zooma zooma!!

text: Great collection. Could’ve made it a 2 cd set but I like it. Zooma zooma!!


title: I mean. It's EXO

text: It's perfection. Arrived on time and in original packaging. Album, poster, and card were perfect. Daughter loved it.


title: Great purchase!

text: Loved all of it!


title: GREAT MYSTERY STORIES

text: JOHNNY DOLLAR MYSTERIES ARE GOOD STORIES TO LISTEN TO WHEN GOING DOWN THE ROAD ON YOUR WAY TO WORK OR ON A TRIP.  I HAVE ALL FIVE VOLUMES AND ENJOY THEM ALL OVER AND OVER AGAIN.


title: love his music

text: This cd has a lot of great songs


title: awesome!

text:
I have mixed impressions about this: Andreas Staier is well rounded performer and authoritative interpreter of pre-classical era and this is probably the most comprehensive and precise interpretation of C.P.E. Bach keyboard music, however I was anticipating for more thrilling deed.

My expectations were that I would get more stylish music like the one that Mr. Remy makes, with his Les Amis de Philippe who really whipped away all other interpretations of C.P.E. Bach music. Anyways, this is one extraordinary music in all aspects, but if you are looking for something breathless or fascinating, look in pool of French musicians-they seemed to be the most eminent, for the original interpretation of early music particularly Barouque and Classical era.

  Mirro


title: Five Stars

text: Thank you!


title: Didn’t come with poster but I love it

text: It came in perfect condition and no poster but I didn’t care I PULLED YOONGI AHH

attachment_type: IMAGE


title: Five Stars

text: OK


title: Five Stars

text: Goose House has the best music ever.


title: Four Stars

text: nice all around


title: D'espairsRay Rocks!!!!!!!

text: Honestly, it is actually awesome greatest hits albums. You have songs from most of there albums on the CD, and they rock hard too. So, I recommend this to people who are barely getting into D'espairsRay or to someone who like there music, for they can see how they grew over the though the years.


title: Five Stars

text: Love it!


title: It's disappointing

text: I was disappointed with this cd.  It didn't give Sade's music the justice it deserves.  There are a couple of good cuts, but with Sade's music I expected better.


title: Five Stars

text: Bought for a friend it came exactly as stated in new condition!


title: Five Stars

text: my garnddaughter is playing saxofon and she is able to learn much from this well known interpretor<br />Hans


title: 0$

text: I downloaded this album for free; just saying. Please don't spend $75.00. Do an internet search to find it. BTW: still waiting for something new from Doom.


title: Cd

text: It skips


title: George Best

text: This is George Michael with his best songs.


title: Favorite Tenor

text: This is my all time favorite Tenor happy to hear him anytime, the lyrics the tone.  Priceless timeless an HD surround without Surround love it<br />Dee


title: Worth buying

text: This came super fast. And its beautiful to listen to.


title: Oh My!

text: Like a previous poster said, I had this "tape" and the whole series about behavior and hygiene when I was a kid... and I still sing some of the songs to my kids now!  They think it's a hoot- The price is a little high, but I plan to buy it all for my kids... it's got to be better for their little brains than Barney!!!


title: Great

text: Awesome


title: Five Stars

text: Great


Both Tim and Mark were radio personalities here in the Phoenix area. They have to be the funniest team I've have ever heard!
Having listened to them every day they were broadcasting, I listened to the high jinks they arranged, and sometimes even the sudden ones were just as funny. This, as well as the rest of their recordings are solid gold...Here's to my friends: Tim and Mark, and the humor you brought to our lives.
Mark is currently back on the air with Neader Paul, in the Phoenix area...


title: Five Stars

text: Perfect as expected


title: nice old school cd,buen cd de regueton clasico

text:
i like this cd ,it contains songs of hector y tito,nicky jam,nico canada,og black,polaco and others,this cd sounds great and that is a important thing to me.

este cd me gusta ya que contiene canciones de nicky jam,tito y hector,og black,polaco entre otros y  lo mejor de todo es que suena muy bien lo cual para mi es muy importante.


title: Great value

text: Sound quality lacking, but good set.


title: Five Stars

text: Fantastic concert


title: Five Stars

text: Great humor


title: Five Stars

text: Sweet, sultry Latina singer.


title: Five Stars

text: A terrific bargain from a great band.


title: Five Stars

text: wonderful CD what a loss of such a talent


title: Pure voices of children...

text: This is my very favorite of the 3 Beyond CD's...Love the other 2 as well: Love Within/Beyond & Beyond: Buddhist & Christian Prayers, but the Children Beyond takes you to hearing the "fresh-from-God" voices of children.  The children's voices are so lovely & pure that it brings tears to my eyes in appreciation of children's healing gifts to the world that are then complimented with Tina, Regula, & Dechen's gorgeous voices!


title: A wonderful 89 show

text: Won't bore you with all the details. Other reviewers can and have done that. What l will offer is that the two shows on this release are a couple of the finest of the Dead's later period. Period. The sound is awesome. If you can find a copy for sale it probably will not be cheap. If you can pull it off l would without a doubt consider adding it your collection.


title: Short and sweet.

text: This show in Its brevity will still leave you satisified just like every other show on the European tour. In my humble opinion. Whether long or short you just can not get enough.


title: Another 5 star show

text: Of all the European shows this is just like the rest of them. All 5 star efforts. Enjoy.


title: Fun Show.

text: These guys are having a blast and we get to go along for the ride. Hold on. You will not disapointed.


title: Awsome collection.

text: Very nice. Thank you.


title: Five Stars

text: As advirtiesed


I'm so happy I got this just before you ran out! The CD was in great condition like it said but the case was very scratched up which took me by surprise. I was kind of bummed out by that but I'm so happy that I got this CD again.


title: Five Stars

text: thank you


title: Five Stars

text: great ministry team.  hanging on to the memories of all the years they traveled to share the gospel.


title: My Kind of Music

text: I like this volume of Club Euro. Have Vol. 2 also. I wanted Vol. 1 but I can't seem to find it at a reasonable price at this time. Oh, well... I'm still happy with what I got. :)


title: Something you don't want to pass by

text: Like the series, Silent Hill has an excellent soundtrack such as the first game and beyond. Like others say, some tracks suffer volume issues, such as Claw Finger and Afraid of The Dark. Other than that, this is one piece fans would not want to pass by!


title: What an album! The band didn't do much in ...

text: What an album!  The band didn't do much in the USA but was very popular in Russia and the rest of the USSR. Guess they should've waited 30 years to tour there. They'd be HUUUUUUUGE!


title: Good choice of songs

text: Good choice of songs, very pleasant, mellow, upbeat and not intrusive. Perfect background for a grouping of friends. Not disappointed, but I wished it had been straight Beegie because I love her style.


title: This is probably my favorite Bobby Shew

text: This is probably my favorite Bobby Shew.  Beautiful lines and tone.  Get your copy before they disappear.  Errol J. Ponthier


title: Great CD

text: Great timeless music.


title: So happy!

text: CD was in perfect condition!


title: It makes one feel good!

text:
This CD  has been added to my "Feel Good" playlist.  The melodies make one move and breathe better. Michael's singing is clear and heartfelt.  The liner notes contain the words that are sung in english transliterations making them easy to learn.  One does not have to be religious to enjoy the CD or the singing of Niggunim.

JK


This song, was the song my parents first danced too. Being able to give them this vinyl and having it play well was awesome thanks!


title: It won't advance from track one to track two

text: The CD will not advance from track 1 to track two!


title: Great title track, b-side less stellar

text: Love the title track and it's worth the price for that alone. I, like most of you first heard as the closer for Assassination Classroom and I fell in love with it there. It's good that the title track is so good because the b-side isn't to my taste at all.


title: Yes - A Must Buy for Any Deftones Fan

text:
Deftones have left an indelible mark on alternative rock, moving silently through shifts and changes in the heavy rock industry for the past 20 years, yet have remained a unique, evocative, heavy and beautiful band to listen to. Following Deftones from their debut when I heard "7 words" on MTV, Adrenaline quickly became a novelty for me. I was captivated by the excellent Around the Fur. White Pony dropped and The Deftones suddenly tasted more widespread success. The following self-titled and then Saturday Night Wrist, to me, were slightly weaker records. I had almost lost interest in the band until Diamond Eyes blew me away. An incredibly tightly written and dynamically well-executed album, it will be one of my favourites for years to come.

So, what can I say about this compilation? I was pleasantly surprised by a 2-disc CD set containing ALL of the best Deftones songs from all the albums. I was so surprised that I wanted to buy a second copy of this just for collectors-sake. It does not appear on shelves anywhere and I have never encountered a Deftones 'Best-Of' before, but whoever created this tracklist was obviously concerned about the wellbeing of Deftones fans. This is not a cash-in, and you will truly taste everything Deftones have to offer, with an excellent mixture of everything, including difficult to find tracks: If Only Tonight We Could, Back to School, No Ordinary Love, Savory, Crenshaw & Wax & Wane, which don't appear on the standard versions of other albums. The addition of these makes buying the compilation worth it, for fans who already have the original discs. For those of you new to Deftones, well, you only need to buy this Greatest Hits compilation as an introduction and representation of the band as a whole.

I have to say that there I have 2 regrets. One, is the inclusion of 'If Only Tonight...', which is the only live-track on the album. It offers nothing but an interlude which disrupts the flow of the 2 discs, it doesn't sound spectacular. I feel that this track really should have been replaced with the excellent demo 'Like Linus'. I can only guess that it wasn't because Like Linus may not have had the best recording quality and might have also sounded out of place.

My second regret is the exclusion of the iTunes only Diamond Eyes bonus track 'Do You Believe', which could have replaced the much weaker song 'Wax & Wane'. 'Do You Believe' is such a good Deftones song that it surprised me it's not available in CD format, whereas 'Wax & Wane' doesn't actually sound very much like Deftones. Regardless, to critisise this collection of songs, of which there are 38 in total, would be silly.

This is the perfect compilation of everything great about the Deftones, for new and old fans alike. Just buy it and ride the wave.


title: Harmonic Voices in Osaka

text:
How wonderful on September 14th, 2015, to be able to play at home a disc recorded only 70 days before, on the Fourth of July, in far-away Japan! This is a very fine recording of Beethoven's Choral Symphony. Since the back cover is not shown on the Amazon website, you might like to know that the choral forces are the Kobe City Philharmonic Chorus joined by soloists Akiko Maruyama, Hisako Yagi, Kiyotaka Bamba and Masato Fujimura.
The Osaka SO is a young orchestra, founded only in 1980, and is to be distinguished from the Osaka Philharmonic, which specialized in Beethoven and Bruckner under the baton to the distinguished maestro Takashi Asahina. The Osaka Symphony has recently made recordings of Glazunov, Miaskovsky, Walton, Henselt and Schmidt conducted by Hiroshi Kodama and Kiyotaka Teraoka. I believe that this experience with Twentieth-Century symphonic works can be heard in this recording of the Beethoven, by which I mean to say that this is a Beethoven looking forward to the next century rather than looking back to the previous.
Koho Uno, the conductor, recorded this same piece with the New Japan SO in 1992, and the timing was only a couple of minutes longer. I do not have the other recording to hand at the moment, but I recall that it made a much different impression. At this time he somewhat exaggerates the dynamics, with extended decrescendos. Nothing is allowed to drag, however.
Octavia Records get credit for superlative stereo sound, as usual without the option of more than two channels.
Izumu Hall in Osaka is the real star of this recording, however. It opened in 1990 as a miniature of the Musikverein in Vienna. This hall holds only 821 people, and has a reverb time of 1.8 to 2 seconds. When Koho Uno slows down the pace, the hall gets an extra chance to sing to us, and does so beautifully. The interpretation is not "definitive," but it is "revelatory," in the sense that one may hear harmonic voices in the Beethoven that one has never heard before.


title: Definitive Release of Definitive Tristan

text: There are plenty of reviews of the earlier releases of this recording.  I will not repeat what any of them have said.  I do not own any of them, and cannot compare them.  As of this writing this SACD release has been out in Japan for sixty days.  Two reviews have appeared on the amazon.co.jp website; I do not know Japanese but note that both of them are five-star reviews.  Apart from that, all my usual websites have been silent.  That seems odd.  What is widely regarded as the finest Tristan recording every produced appears on the world's best high-resolution audio format, and... no response?  Even sa-cd.net has no reviews at all--just previews noting that the SACD has been newly remastered from the original tapes by Abbey Road sound engineers.  Hello?  Is anybody there?  My copy has been playing in my SACD player all this afternoon here in my Montana home.  I am enjoying it thoroughly.  I can only think that many people already own this recording in one of its earlier manifestations and are reluctant to dip yet one more time.  My advice: do the dip.  Don't wait, since inventories are very low.  If you order directly from amazon.co.jp the cost is 7800 yen -- and four copies are still available at that price.


title: Know that it touches the soul

text: Even though i dont understand the language, the talent and soulfulness melts your senses


title: I like the tempo and it is great for Tia Chi.  Listen to it often.

text: Great music for Tai Chi.


title: Where is the emotion?

text: That seems to be the question foremost in my mind after having listened to this record a number of times since receiving it.  I frequently have a somewhat reserved opinion of Gergiev's conducting (in particular his Mahler recordings: I just took in Mahler's Ninth with the LSO at the Salle Pleyel in Paris and I was appalled).  Notwithstanding his gorgeous rendering of The Rite of Spring in St-Petersburg in the original Diaghilev decor and choreography.  In this Shostakovich Fourth, Gergiev plays with very little nuance on contrasts: his triple piano parts are almost inaudible and his triple forte are bomb blasts.  No doubt did the composer aim at such contrasts but this seems to me to be just too much, exaggerated.  In my book, the most recommendable versions still remain the Kondrashin Melodiya recording made in Moscow in 1962 even though the sound technique is way under recordings made in western Europe and the USA at that same period.  The Kondrashin version stands above all others [[ASIN:B000P733I4 Shostakovich - Complete Symphonies - Kondrashin (11 CD Set)]] ... except maybe another extraordinary DVD recording made by Rojdestvensky at the Proms!


title: You only have to wait long enough.

text:
I have heard about this 1973 Böhm Tristan for 50 years but did not buy it, or the film, because so many critics panned it for the terrible sound and visuals, but praised Böhm and his cast to high heaven.  So I waited.

Harmonia Mundi France and its subsidiary the Rodolphe label, has, at great expense, released this wonderful performance in amazingly good sound.  The notorious mistral plays a notable role.  It isn't a "problem" as far as I am concerned but an apt atmospheric enhancement for this opera.

Nilsson is amazing.  She was 55 at the time and still sounds as young, fresh and powerful as she ever did.  She is far more feminine and sensitive too.  I think singing out doors in a gale helps her sound vulnerable.  She still can blast through the meteorological maelstrom with insouciant ease.  Jon Vickers has a little more of a challenge in that regard.  He sings gloriously but when the gale erupts in quieter passages he sounds almost like a tenorino next to La Gargantua.

The supporting cast is superb, and easily heard.  Ruth Hesse's Brangäne is among the best, a beautiful performance of the call from the tower crowning her portrayal.

Walter Berry is one of the great Kurwenals and sails through the squalls undaunted.  Bengt Rundgren is a youthful Marke, a warrior king in his prime.

This Rodolphe version is almost impossible to find unused, unless you don't mind being gouged by Amazon.

I see that this performance is included in a big box of live performances of Birgit Nilsson, but I can't vouch for the sound quality.

If you can somehow scrounge up a used copy of the Rodolphe release at a reasonable price, snap it up.


title: Great record!.

text: Perfect condition!!


title: Five Stars

text: This album is amazing.


title: Five Stars

text: I liked the whole CD


title: Love LSK

text: I must say, I've been looking for this CD for quite some time and from the moment i got it can't stop listen to it. His music is is just so calming and nice. Two thumbs up for this british artist. And i love the idea he worked with Faithless.


title: Love the many levels

text: I have had this CD on repeat in my car since January. Love the many levels. So good, so encouraging & affirming.


title: Soulful and smooth

text: Awesome, saw him many times, great voice!


title: great!!

text: Wonderful album. What a voice! Saw them live and the stage presence is phenomenal! I would recommend this album for any bluesy, soulful afternoon :)


title: A good gift

text: this was a gift that was thoroughly enjoyed!


title: Five Stars

text: loved it


title: A Gift

text: This CD was given to me as a gift from your son Matt. I havent seen him in many years. <3 love this music -Amber (Fargo, Nd)


title: Five Stars

text: I have an original. I wish there were more.


title: Stupendous

text: Phenomenal recording - a must have - inspirational music that is guaranteed to put the listener in a wonderfully serene place - truly magnificent singing and instrumental playing.


title: Four Stars

text: Good music.


title: Worth every penny

text: This guy is incredible and has so much charisma. Worth every penny!


title: WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?

text: Best album EVER!  My dad is Harry Baty (the musician the middle of three)!  And the big hunk holding the woman in the background is my uncle!  Yes, I was a very lucky young girl to have had TWO wonderfully talented and HANDSOME men in my life.


title: My new favorite (baby shower) gift for new parents -- soothing and ...

text: My new favorite (baby shower) gift for new parents -- soothing and nostalgic at the same time.  Even bought one for myself.


title: Not a wise purchase

text: The hose exploded upon first use soaking me and my belongings, which included my cell. This purchase ended up costing around $400+.


title: Wonderful Music for Children and All Ages

text: Baby in Bliss is an awesome combination of songs and music. The drumming is fantastic. My four-year-old granddaughter loves the CD, and us older folks can also listen to it over and over again. I'm glad there is finally an inspirational CD that I feel good about children listening to.


title: Five Stars

text: excellent service and it was very pleased with the product


title: dun dun dance~(^0^~)

text: I got my bias arin!!💖


title: stan red velvet!

text: perfect condition, fast shipping! I got my bias irene🙌🏻


title: stan nct!!💚

text: packaging is really safe, so happy I got jaehyun pc that I want!!💚


title: Great

text: Great packaging and music.


THE CD IS SCRATCHED AND DOES NOT PLAY WOTHOUT SKIPPING ....THE MUSIC IS GREAT FROM WHAT I CAN HEAR OF IT BETWEEN SKIPS


title: Vintage Bogguss

text: Nice departure for Bogguss. Some clever takes on folk songs, most I've never heard before. Suzy's voice is, as always, powerful and fluid. One or two songs I could have done without, but overall a great album.


title: Wonderful

text: Fantastic voices!  Great selections!  I can listen to this over and over.  Opera lovers -- I'm sure you'll appreciate it too.


title: We love watching the dvd

text: Watching the dvd


title: Best Comedy ever

text: Wish I could find more of his stuff.  I worked at Jeff Valdez's Comedy Corner in Colorado Springs for 3 years and James/Milo was my favorite comedian.  I tell people about him all the time.  Sadly lost all my autographed cassettes in a house fire.


title: Great Collector Item

text: Love it!  Exactly what I wanted!  Great collector item!


title: Get it before it's gone!

text: I normally don't buy bootlegs, but this was a good gut decision. I have no idea who made it, nothing on the cover or albums but it's a sweet collection well worth the price.  Both records I received were red and they look cool and sound pretty good.  This will get some serious rotation.  Hurry and buy it if you love old school QOTSA and like to collect vinyl.


title: Good

text: As expected


title: Amazing book💜

text: Absolutely love this. Very detailed even came with a free card, shipping was super fast. Great seller.


title: Amazon has the name wrong.

text:
This band is called "The Fatales," not Los Fatales.

That being said, the cd is amazing.  Rife with hooks that will stick with you long after the cd leaves your player, this band is a powerhouse that has more talent than most guys out there today.  Do yourself a favor and pick this one up.  Listen to samples at [...]


title: Pacific Potpourri by Ohta-san

text: Worth the wait. Lot of tunes my parents used to listen to.


title: Five Stars

text: Nuno is just superb when he ventures out on his own, this CD is no exception.


title: Start the holidays on a serene & soothing note.

text: This is my favorite Christmas music, and is always the first CD I listen to during the holidays. Serene, soothing, perfect.


title: VERY GOOD

text: EXCELLENT


title: Good prep

text: I used these CDs as my primary preparation for the exam and passed the first time. These CDs provide a comprehensive review and delivered what they promised. Expensive but worth the cost.

user_id: AFSLHRSFXIXBEIEKJYPZVWDPEZHA


title: Buy it and you will enjoy all season long!

text: All Lindsey Stirling albums are worth having. She is an excellent musician. This Christmas CD is a must have for the season. Enjoy!


title: WOW!

text: This could be one of the greatest powermetal/rock bands ever not discovered.  If you take Savatage/Dio/Queensryche/Metallica and Maiden rolled them into one you'd have Beyond Reality.  I've got to find some other releases by these guys! Whats even better is this is a dark sinister conceprt album!  What more can you ask for.


title: Excellent

text: Excellent!


title: The Anti-*Pepper*

text:
Of all the cases of local cultural favorites "not ready for the big time", Love is one of the most instructive.  Arthur Lee and co. owned 60s LA, but unless those going to San Francisco were "in the know" they might have missed out on a group even further from incense and peppermints than the fabled Velvet Underground.  Unlike their peers the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield, there was nothing of the country in Love's music: it is probably fair to say this is even the sound of lifetime Angelenos rather than suburbanites.  But unlike their successors the Doors Love's music was refined and pointed even at its most raucous: and this, their final record and mature statement, is decidedly not their most raucous but borrows every fillip from the MOR playbook for a fantastically confusing record -- chock full of AM hits that weren't, for reasons still obvious today.  To say that Arthur Lee stands apart is to understate the case on account of his race: the integrated Love was as far from worldly concerns as possible, and those oriented towards VH1-style accounts of nightmare spirals of booze and pills may find the hints of Lee's later trouble on this record rather unsatisfying.

It's as though Arthur Lee knew that he was to get in trouble that wouldn't mean too much, so decided to write lyrics full both of nonchalant unconcern for others *and* painstaking attention to the detail of his world -- "The Red Telephone" is every bit as documentary in character as "Between Clark and Hillsdale".  Is this a didactic work of art?  I should say no, because although these prophecies of liberation at times surpass those of the feel-good-flower-power set (never all of the late 60s, and perhaps even not most) to work this kind of artistic magic one must take an undue amount of responsibility upon oneself: this is a record of private pains, and it takes a while to learn that.  But that Love is so well remembered by generations of musicians and fans elsewhere says something about the intrinsic involvement of "elective affinities" in art appreciation: that is to say extrinsic parallels between different groups of listeners indicating "phenomenological" similarities in their reception of said artworks, or at least that nobody was invited to say such things as the pieces can stand alone.  Really perfect for considering the tension between culture and morality.


Not what I expected but still pretty good. I love The Mad, SMG's old band and that's what I expected this to be.


title: Octoberfest classic

text: Essential for Octoberfest.  Video shows the dance, but not how to dance with a beer in one hand.


title: Five Stars

text: Awesome album. Check it out.


title: blasted Bowie into the stratosphere for good or ill

text: product was as described, was delivered in a timely manner and arrived in good condition.<br />Still catchy after all these years


title: classic Stones at their creative peak

text: Item was as described, shipped in a timely manner and arrived in excellent condition


title: Sounds great

text: It’s a good cd of Metallica music played by cellos!


title: the best Christian or otherwise Rock

text: My favorite song hear is Jesus sets my soul on fire but the whole album is excellent and I consider it the best rock and roll even better than secular artists like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones.


title: Unofficial but still great collection

text: I felt bad initially buying an unofficial Foos release, being as how the band won't actually get any money for it. However, this collection of songs was fantastic, considering I missed my chance to purchase the Record Store Day release "Medium Rare". So all of those songs are here plus a few that have been on albums. And the design of the actually cd and case were pretty impressive.


title: Five Stars

text: good music


title: great work Bill

text: Great book as always.  Bill does a fantastic job on all his books.  I have them all on CD.


title: Pleased with item

text: Received as promised. Pleased with item.


title: Absolutely buy this album!

text: Its just wonderful! I have recommended it to every guitarist I know because John is a monster player, and hes delivered 3 beautiful sets in one show here. The music is great the show is great. Buy the dvd and the cd. You wont want to miss this show and the disc has given me a lot of pleasure, been in the sort for weeks now! NOT one you will tire of soon.


title: Five Stars

text: Prompt service & good product


title: Five Stars

text: Thanks!


title: 100% worth it

text: [[VIDEOID:de1536a4dd43151fe003689deab4d32c]] I love the concept of the album. the back drops really match all of the members vibes. I pulled Jimin!! He looks great as always.


title: Five Stars

text: Very pleased.A++++++


title: Case badly damaged

text: Plastic case arrived quite broken. CD was ok.


title: Love it!

text: Great music.


title: Five Stars

text: Great CD


title: Attila

text: The best metal album ever made in the eighties a very under rated band if your a true metal head this album is a must


title: Autumn Tears once again proves their constant evolution

text: Each song on this MCD is unique and excellent. It has comfort for those who are accumstomed to the old autumn tears in the first song, and eases you into a slightly different, but still AT feel with the second. The third  is a surprise, but an extremely pleasant one at that, still saturated with  the band's intense dark skill. AT shows that they are progressive while  maintaining their distinct sound. Definitely a must for any old or new  Autumn Tears lover!


title: Judy Rogers music is a must have in our family.

text: We had this music for our children and are now happily buying new copies for grandchildren.  Classic, beautifully done and full of wisdom that little ones can understand.


title: Yes. Just yes.

text:
This album is the best rap album ever. It revolutionizes the genre.

Buy this album.


title: Music to carry you through all moods

text:
There’s a song on this album to capture any state of mind you’re in. From the driving “What If”  and “Insecurity Guard” to the wistful yearning of “Forgotten” and “Of No Account”, this album takes you on a lyrical journey through a kaleidoscope of moods and soundscapes. My favorite songs are “Sooth”, “Love and the Painter’s Djinn”, and “M’Lady in the East”; but you really should listen to the album from beginning to end several times to get the full experience of the journey.

For a parallel journey through the mind of song writer and composer, Fritz Limner, read his book “Undone”.
https://www.amazon.com/Undone-Fritz-Limner/dp/0615136605/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8


title: Five Stars

text: Thanks


title: Five Stars

text: love these old songs and service.


title: Love love love

text: Best live concert performance from the best band ever!


title: THE BEST OF THE BEST!

text: These recordings are copies of the original sound track albums that were released when the pictures were made. They were greatly edited to fit onto the disc formats of the time but they do contain material that was not included on the expanded editions of these classic MGM musicals. That is why I purchased these recordings also.


title: MGM MUSICAL DELIGHTS!

text: I enjoyed these soundtracks very much. The audio quality is faithful to the original releases at the time of the films release dates. The only problem I have with the entire MCA cd series of MGM musical soundtracks is that many of them are not complete. On this one the song "Sea of the Moon" is missing from "Pagan Love Song". Aside from that what is there is of high quality.


title: Fantastic Voice

text: This girl has Class and Great Moves. She is Extremely Talented and you need to Buy the CD and support her.


title: If You Want The ((Hammer Edition))

text: MANOWAR will BLOW YOUR SPEAKERS [[This is a Fantastic album]]. IF YOU WANT ((The Lord Of Steel - Hammer Edition)) Go To: [...]


title: Five Stars

text: Product was received on time and in proper order.  Item description accurately fit the actual product I received.


title: Great Stuff

text: Worth the price just for the "Victory at Sea" medley. All great stuff.


title: High Quality

text: High quality recording  of an exceptional instrument and artist.


title: Life changer, but you have to actually invest the time into it

text: I have bought this product from styluspick.com and continuously purchase stylus picks from them. The stylus pick has changed my guitar playing for the better and at only 15 years of age this little tool gave me shredding capabilities that you only hear from professional guitarists. Basically, this little thing can make ANYONE a pro shredder because of the genius design. By limiting your picking to the tip of the pick, you adapt the most efficient technique possible, a requirement to be able to shred. I'm now almost 23 and continue to use the stylus pick to warm up every single day. It is not a performance pick but rather a practicing tool. Think of it as training wheels for your guitar playing. I can't recommend this product enough, it is the #1 biggest game changer when it comes to picking technique and keeping synchronicity between your hands.


title: Five Stars

text: Good quality despite the age of the recording.


title: A little dry, but a neat concept!

text: The kids and I enjoyed the idea of learning about the composers and hearing their music...but it's a bit dry and doesn't keep their attention for long.  :-)


title: Good late period Minds

text:
Good late period Minds' album... good, but not as good as Graffiti Soul or Black & White 05. This one is more programmed beats, less full band sound. Blindfolded, Midnight Walking and Imagination are great. Honest Town has a nice feel but I keep waiting for a hook that never arrives. Spirited Away is a good slow, atmospheric song but not as good as B&W's Dolphins or GS's Light Travels.

Also... Blood Diamonds and Broken Glass Park were on the Celebrate: Greatest Hits. The cover of the Call's Let The Day Begin was on the bonus edition of Graffiti Soul. And Kill Or Cure was on the deluxe edition of Jim Kerr's solo album. So, that's 4/12 songs that were previously released.

As for the bonus material: the first three songs are decent but can see why they didn't make the album. The cover of Riders On The Storm should never have left the vault. It's embarrassingly bad. Dancing Barefoot, which they already covered on Neon Lights, is sung here by a woman. And Blindfolded (Original) sounds like an un-produced demo. So, I wouldn't recommend the deluxe edition unless you're a real fanboy.


title: Best contemporary Pop music out there

text:
It's really quite amazing that this isn't even available here on Amazon.  In the last couple months K-pop sales have surpassed US pop sales worldwide, and it's easy to see why.

1 - I AM THE BEST: Funky techno groove, mid-tempo stomper.

2 - UGLY: Starts off slow and builds to a brilliant and irresistible chorus.  Maybe the best pop song I've heard all year.  Check out the crazy stylized video, too.

3 - LONELY: Usually the ballads are the Achilles heel of K-pop and J-pop - often cheesy and sound like karaoke.  This one is better than most, with acoustic guitar.

4 - HATE YOU: Uptempo dance pop.  Catchy and high quality.

5 - DON'T CRY: Uptempo techno pop.  Another ace track.

6 - DON'T STOP THE MUSIC: Mid-tempo techno stomper.  Another great one, though this does use the auto-tune for the first time on this EP.

Overall, I recommend checking this out.  It's nice to see 2NE1 not over-using the auto-tune like on their previous album.  The rest of the world has already gobbled this up, as 2NE1 is one of the most popular groups in the world now.  Lady Gag, Katy Perry, Britney, etc, have all been stealing from K-pop for the last few years.  Check out why.


title: Three Stars

text: wasn't what I thought it would be!


title: Love this CD!

text: This is my favorite BeBe & CeCe CD.  I wish they did more songs like the ones on this CD.  So uplifting and loving!  It is a must have for anyone's collection of music!


title: Everything I wanted

text: I had this cd when I was a child. I was so glad when I found it on Amazon. I couldn’t find it anywhere else. Great music with a 90s vibe.


title: Great songs

text: Great album, just what I wanted.


title: Wonderful!

text: Magnificent musicianship. Maybe not what Eisler envisioned, but sensitive, haunting interpretation of music written in the most trying of times.