title: Lara Fabian Greatest Hits 2CD Set: Quite exceptional, by nearly every measure

text:
this is a CD set I was sent by a vendor (here on Amazon) by mistake and then asked to keep rather than go through the hassle of returning. Now, my first exposure to L.Fabian's music was when I watched an Eurovision show (1988 I believe it was). Her song there made no lasting impression on me though I did not mind it. Turned out she didn't win that contest - Celine Dion won it with a song just as forgettable (I thought). Anyway, over the years Fabian did grow on me while Dion (with whom Fabian is often compared !?) did not. So, I cannot call myself a big fan of Fabian, but perhaps a moderate fan. Nevertheless, don't let that fool you: in terms of voice quality Lara Fabian is one of the greatest singers of her generation (or perhaps I should say: of our times). In this respect, a most striking quality of her voice is an astounding vocal range which (I'm guessing) spans three-four octaves (listen for instance to "Tout" for a sample).
With this preamble, let's now return to this 2CD compilation: the songs included here are gathered from her studio albums (and some live shows) spanning the 1991 to 2010 time frame so there are quite a few gems: Demain N'existe Pas, Toccami, Toutes les Femmes en Moi, The Dream Within (some may be familiar with this from the Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within animated movie), La Difference, J'y Crois Encore, Tout, Dire, etc., ... and yes, she can sing (very, very well) in may languages (French, English, Italian, etc.) For those who may be curious, her entry (Croire) at the Eurovision is included here as well. The cover art - she shows some skin there - completely unnecessary at a first glance, but maybe that has something to do with the fact that this compilation includes quite a few songs from her 2001 album Nue (Naked). Not too terrible though and overall the quality of the presentation is fine.
On to the technical: this compilation was released in 2010 through some Russian subsidiary of Polydor and was well recorded: no clipping, minimal noise, and good dynamic range. The master source used must have also been of good quality. No complaints here. All in all, a great introduction to Lara Fabian for any casual fan. Highly, very highly recommended - 5 star.


title: A Great, Organic Blues CD

text: This CD features seven original tunes, and some of the players include RJ Mischo, Bob Welch and Robi Bean. Jon's approach to the blues is organic and deeply groove-oriented, in the spirit of Elmore James and Buddy Guy.  The sound ranges from eminently danceable funk to gritty blues and back again ... it's equal parts mellow and groovin'. "King of Clubs" is just as suited to staring out a rain-streaked window with a wine glass in hand, as it is dancing the funky chicken.  Bruce Iglauer (Alligator Records), "This is a good album with some songs that are really very good ... including some fine guitar playing and good ensemble feel. I listened all the way through."


title: Dave Clark Five The Hits are The Best!

text: All around, a very good selection of Dave Clark's hits.If you love the old days & the music that came with it, this CD is for you. Very complete collection, along with the standards "Catch Us If You Can" & "Bits & Pieces".


title: GREAT ALBUM.......COLLECTOR'S ITEM

text: BELONGED TO MY MOTHER AND I DON'T PLAY IT ANYMORE, OLD ANS SCRATCHED.......I SAW THIS ALBUM ON A CD FORMAT,,,,,,,,WHAT HAPPENED ?.....IF YOU CAN FIND IT LET ME KNOW ASAP WILLING TO PAY $ 50 BUCKS ( CD )<br />IF YOU LIKE THIS KIND OF MUSIC THIS LP IS A MUSY TO HAVE.......NICE TUNS NEVER WILL COME BACK......  :  )


title: I AM VERY GLAD I AM GOING TO GIVE MY OPINION OF THIS ...

text: YES....I AM VERY GLAD I AM GOING TO GIVE MY OPINION OF THIS RECORD IN PARTICULAR......I WAS 7 YEARS OLD WHEN MY MOTHER INTRODUCED TO ME THIS LP......( HIFI MONO ) MY DAD HAD AN ADMIRAL HIFI COMPONENTS, TURNTABLE, POWERAMP,  ETC. AND ONE PAIR OF PATRICIA 100 WATTS SPEAKERS......IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, MUSIC LOVER AND COLLECTOR, THIS LP BY CHET ATKINS IS A REAL JEWEL.....EXCELLENTE.....NUMERO UNO TO HAVE IT IN YOUR COLLECTION, GREAT SOUND, GREAT MUSICIANS, I ALWAYS LOVED CHET ATKINS STYLE, LOVELY, MUSICALLY FLUID....I RECOMMEND THIS<br />ALBUM WITH MY EYES CLOSED......PLEASE !!!....BRING IT ON A CD....24 BITS FORMAT, ETC......ALONG WITH ANOTHER LP BY THIS WELL KNOWN BIG BAND LEADER......BILLY MAY......I OWN THE LP......LUNCEFORD IN HI FI.....AUTHENTIC RECREATION BY BILLY MAY......GREAT WORK !!!!......BRING IT ON A CD FORMAT, STEREO AND 24 BITS......SURE SELL.....GURANTEED.  THXS.


title: Five Stars

text: Very happy thanks


title: Great record

text: Epic album that I was hoping to make part of my music collection. Unfortunately, I never was able to hear the record because thieves stole it from my front door after it was delivered and before I got home to retrieve it.


title: I loved This album ever since I found it at the ...

text: I loved  This album ever since I found it at the fair with my mother and sister My mother bought the cassette I listen to it so many times and I've been looking for it for years so I can replace it. I'm so glad I found it on CD


title: Absolutely priceless!

text: Such a wonderful way for children AND adults to learn God's Word.  Playing this music throughout the day lifts our attitudes.  So very grateful for this treasure!


title: Best Doors' CD!

text: Fabulous music and great sounding cd!


title: Wonderful Read

text: I bought this book when it first came out.  And I still recommend it!  It was fun to read and also intellegently written, especially for intellegent, but not so scientific an audience such as me.  Instead of being a book about hocus pocus...do this and that and wonderful things will happen...this helps to explain the "WHY" this and that happen, in a world of science that is rapidly, thru quantum physics, is finding and winding it's way to connect with the spiritual life.  I, for one, have never seen or understood why the two have been separate, yet I understand the need for tangible explanations.  I highly recommend this book, as a read and also to keep around as a reference book for those concepts that are difficult to wrap around.


title: Five Stars

text: Great CD


title: Check this Retro Style Pop Rock Music Out!!!!!

text: I am typically a fan of classic rock, so this retro style pop rock is a pleasant change from todays commercial music!! I highly recommend you check out this new CD for those that enjoy full instrumental original music!


title: Five Stars

text: beautiful recording, important for calming healing. a great addition to my cd.s I LOVE this series.


title: Killer CD! Ted is back!

text: As a big fan of Ted from back in the 70’s, I lost track of his music over the years. That all changed when I took a flyer on this cd. It’s great! Is it Stranglehold or Cat Scratch Fever, no, is he a twenty something wild man flying around stage in deerskin drawers, no, but it’s still great riffs, great guitar playing, and ball busting rock and roll! Killer cd! You won’t be disappointed!


title: Delightful

text: Have always loved Steve and Edie, this is one of their better albums


title: GOOD

text: IT IS GOOD


title: Love It!!

text: It came faster than expected! Poster was bent on the sides but that can be fixed. I'm pretty sure the free gifts the description mentions are the extra photo cards in picture 2, which was not inside the album like photo cards in picture 3.

attachment_type: IMAGE


title: A Recording For The Ages

text:
Definitely the best studio MEISTERSINGER recording.  The cast is excellent, especially the principals, Thomas Stewart as Sachs, Sandor Konya as Walther, and Gundula Janowitz as Eva, and Kubelik's conducting is world-class superlative.

I've read that this performance was originally scheduled for release on DGG, but was rejected in favor of Jochum's second-rate recording with Placido Domingo (a wonderful, if less than Echt, Walther) and Fischer-Dieskau, a great singer but ill-suited for the role of Sachs, as well as Ligendza, totally miscast as Eva.  The only possible explanation, IMHO, was Domingo's star power and the army of fans who'd buy any recording he  made.

The 1950-51 Knappertsbusch MEISTERSINGER is a shadowy second to Kubelik, the only blot being Gunther Treptow as Von Stolzing, too much of a Heldentenor for the role.

There are, however, quite a few live recordings worthy of attention, starting with the 1943 Bayreuth performances by Furtwangler and Abendroth, as well as Karajan's 1951 Bayreuth set with Schwarzkopf as Eva, and Cluytens, also from Bayreuth in 1957, with Grummer as Eva and the unusual and successful casting of Neidlinger as Sachs.

For  me, the best live MEISTERSINGER is Jochum's 1949 Munich performance with Hans Hotter as the Sachs of the century, pace Schorr and Schoeffler.

But Kubelik is indispensable if you love this great masterpiece.

Though I think sonics are sometimes an exaggerated issue, this Calig release sounds better to my ears than the Myto set, and it's also available at a lower price if you shop around on Amazon.


title: I wanna be a dentist

text: Super cute Hermie !  my daughter who is a dental hygienist loved getting this for Christmas.  She was thrilled that he talks and says four different things.  He will be enjoyed for years to come.


title: I like it

text: A good collection of their music.


title: I love Johnny B and this cd!

text: This is a great cd. I received my copy about a week ago and I listen to it every day. Everyone should add this to their music collection. You won't be disappointed, definately worth the $20. Johnny B is awesome - I just love him!


title: I am extremely pleased whenever I see a book on Adams

text: This book, and companion CD, gives us a historical look at one of America's greatest patriots, John Adams. John Adams has always been my favorite Founding Father and I am extremely pleased whenever I see a book (and CD) on Adams. I sadly find that Adams is all too often overlooked by historians. However, during the last few decades I have thankfully seen Adams begin to receive his due. This book uses music and a narration by David McCullough to give us Adam's story as told by John's son, John Quincy Adams. The book is well done giving the reader (listener) the story about Adams and his connection with the American Revolution.


title: Sandifer is a great singer/songwriter

text: I am very pleased with this early cd from a talented singer-songwriter!


title: Found this by accident !!

text: Nice find a real nice piece of easy listening music. Sit back and enjoy the beautiful blend of violin, guitar and sometimes piano. I sit back and listen after a long stressful day and his music just melts the days troubles if only temporarily.


title: Yet another good Spencer Lewis album !!!

text: Not his among his best 3 , but very good. He is a very under appreciated musician and songwriter. His compositions are always very enjoyable. The mix of his violin, guitar and occasional piano is very nice. If he had been with label like Windham Hills he would have been more noticed. If you like NEW Age/Easy Listening you should enjoy his music.


title: Knoxville Tennessee # 1 rock n roll band

text:
Kevin Abernathy Band Are Knoxville original Rock n Roll Band
 I heard them at The Foot Hills Fall Festival 2010.
In Maryville Tn They performed right be for Starship at the Festival.

I like this band original style. There Music the best Ever.
Give them a listen you will not disapointed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There easy go Rock roll style is worth a listen.
Good old back hills  country rock n roll  music.
Remember There music 100% clean pure Rock n Roll.


title: Hard hittin blues

text: Jeff Pitchell gives you energy and heat while staying true to his blues roots.  His guitar work and vocals combine to feed the soul. Whether its upbeat or slow tempo, Jeff delivers.  His CD Fat Cigars is also a "must-listen".


title: Their best

text: Easily my favorite Fleetwood Mac album. The additions to the original release only add to this album, at least for me. Blues, psychedelia, and “Oh, Well, Pt. 2”. An all-around and encompassing album. Led by the great Peter Green, a fave rave album in my entire collection, and has been continuously since its release.


title: Excellent Sap Rock

text:
The edgy-emo boys of the quartet Hale, like an increasing number of Filipino bands, sit at the edge of the entertainment river, their feet dangling, dipped mildly into the mainstream. It's emo with heavier guitars, the standard sap rock that permeates Philippine airwaves (see Cueshe, Spongecola and Sugarfree): it's formulaic, but addictive.

Think Staind, but with emotionally heavy lyrics and delivery. Should "The Day You Said Goodnight" ever touch American radio, Hale's stock is bound to rise, despite the album containing a significant amount of songs in the native tongue. "Blue Sky" and "Broken Sonnet" are all American Top 40 worthy as well.

For those fluent in Tagalog, "Kung Wala Ka" is an excellent, albeit very slow, effort that embodies the rising popularity of these heartwrenched songs. "Kahit Pa" is currently (as of mid-August 2005) atop several Filipino radio pop charts.

Well worth it to the English audience for those three songs alone, and a must-buy for the bilingual crowd.


title: Incerdible Follow-Up Album!!

text: First off -- this is one FANTASTIC follow-up to their incredible debut- 'Finally Home'. Once again-every single track is fabulous with not one dud in sight! The main reason I am writing this review,however, is to let folks know that you can get this cd directly from their site for twelve bucks! and you need to hear it,just like the debut. Please order a copy directly from the BSR site- no need to pay this exorbitant price!  and while you're at it...check into the two Middleman Burr cds. Both are similar in style to the BSR-- it's Gary and Georgia w/o Kenny. enjoy, T


title: Twisted Sister grows up

text:
Think of this as a grown up Twisted Sister recording, less immature anthem type songwriting and far, far better musical support, particularly with Bernie Torme who does not pull a shredder act either.

Way better production that any TS recording which was either bootleg quality or their early recording or cheesy overproduced hair metal of their latter

For the most part, Foot Tapping Tunes with great hooks, but not trying to sell out and get on the radio


Brillant piece of AOR featuring Goran Edan on Vocals, clocks in at 46 minutes with no filler or "trying to sound AOR" cliches, very rich keyboards in the much


title: If Traffic ever released a progressive rock recording

text:
First of all, you can reverse the card as there is a bare shouldered women holding an apple on the other side.

East of Eden started off as a a traditional progressive rock band, but this goes more in a rock territory, think a progressive rock Traffic as the vocalist sounds like Steve Winwood, but in my opinion, this recording is far more diverse and musically simulating than anything Traffic wrote, and Traffic is a great band.

The 11 bonus tracks are brilliant in themselves, in fact a bit more progressive with a bit more violin and flute sounding keyboards,including 6 live recordings that are of exceptional quality


title: Outstanding

text:
Outstanding, recorded when touring in support of their No Smoke Without Fire lp, which this and other mid 70's Wishbone Ash studio recordings were bordering on lethargic, but played live as in this recording, are outstanding an full of emotion and energy

Likewise, classic recordings The King will Come from Argus and (really, really impressive) Phoenix from Wishbone Ash.

Comes from the BBC transcription services so the recording quality is excellent


Essentially this is Black Oak dropping the Arkansas and the southern rock sound that defined them, with only the first cut, Race with the Devil, showing any southern rock sound, which quite frankly, started to leave in their last recording with the Arkansas name, 10 Year Over Night Success.

The songwriting and performance are still there though, but like other bands who also dropped the southern rock sound like the Outlaws and the Marshall Tucker Band and either went pop or country, it just put them in the same crowd and other pop or country acts of that time.

In Black Oak's case, it was going into a more hard rock with a touch of mid-west/Detroit white soul direction that wasn't too different than e.g. Head East or even REO Speedwagon who sounded like this during the same time period.

I have the original album version, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear how better the cd version was, which maybe the vinyl needed a bit more accent on the highs that a cd version often results in.

Good on the transfer/mastering  by Crossroad Productions for creating this situation.


title: CD sounds better than LP, but no contains no lyrics as in LP

text:
Like all Max Webster CDs, the re-mastering makes the CD sound much better than the original LP version.

Problem is the LP contained lyrics where the CD does not.

There are no extra tracks either. CD is about 37 minutes long.

Other CD reissues have not been cheap in this manner.

I consider Million Vacations the closest to the material under the name Kim Mitchell. That is, the most pop oriented of Max Webster, but the non-commercialism is still there.

For the sound and the music, I give it a 5, but a 1 for the cheapness of not including the lyrics or extra tracks, thus a 3.

By the way, why does Amazon include a 'NO' in 'was this review helpful to you?'. People are only human and don't like opinions that differ from themselves, thus the 'NO' makes it too easy express such displeasure.

Are they trying to discourage negative reviews, hence not purchase the CD. Such reviews only help a person in not being dissatisfied a product that received positive reviews


title: Same Gary...excellent!

text: The beat may be more techno now,but the exceptional talents of this legendary musician are the same.Great songs,feeling,quality vocals and,of course,top notch guitar,all demonstrate that Gary can shine even in an  electronica environment.Great new album.


title: Melodico y lleno de vida: El regreso de JLG

text: Luego de oirse un poco forzado en su ultimo disco "Para ti", donde el gospel y las baladas acusticas eran el plato para canciones no tan memorables, Juan Luis Guerra vuelve a lo que sabe hacer mejor: a crear temas que se meten dentro de la piel y quedan sonando en la cabeza. Altamente melodico, ritmico, y viendo hacia el futuro mientras por momentos abraza sus raices. Juan Luis aqui inventa con ritmos nuevos, con samples, y hasta con canciones en ingles sin perder lo que lo identifica y tanto nos gusta, algo que se habia olvidado un poco en "Para ti".  Para todos los fans de ahi afuera, este es un must-have.  Tendran la musica en la cabeza y en los pies por mucho tiempo.


title: Soulful and Beautiful Stick Playing

text: (Sorry for the review 28 years late Daniel.) I heard Daniel Kane playing one fine day while I was wandering the streets of San Francisco. I was probably somewhere near Fisherman's Wharf. It was 1992. I heard the music, found the musician playing it, and enjoyed it for nearly an hour. I ordered the disc through the mail and I've been listening to it ever since. Just buy it and enjoy the chill out music. This isn't progressive rock Stick playing like Tony Levin or Nick Beggs. This is cool and soulful and pure.


title: I love it. Arrived perfectly in exactly the condition described.

text: The disc arrived in great condition and was exactly as described.


title: stands the test of time and one of their best

text:
Mandylion was the beginning of the new sound for the Gathering. The mix of hard rock guitars, textured keyboard layers and beautiful female vocals is amazing. Although about 13 years old this album is an equal to new albums like Within Temptations The Heart of Everything and Lacuna Coils Karmacode and Comalies. Lacuna Coil was the first band I discovered in this mostly European Genre.

The songs Strange Machines and Eleanor are very powerful and remind me alot of Within Temptation. In Motion #1 reminds me more of early Lacuna Coil. Sand And Mercury has a similar sound to some of the material on the Anti-M CD Damage (check the songs Rage and Damage in the Dream if you have itunes). But overall the album is unique and doesn't sound "like" any other band.

Mandylion is a good entry album for someone who has never listened to them before. If you like this album Nighttime birds is a good second choice. Another band of interest would be Nightwish. A little more symphonic metal than the gathering but the album Once is quite good (check songs Siren and Nemo).

Mandylion is by far one of their best.


title: Five Stars

text: Product in great condition as stated. Thank You


title: Very hard to find CD

text: Great music fro the 60's. Love this CD


title: Five Stars

text: just what i wanted


title: Loved every minute of it

text: For me...a nostalgia thing. I spent 3 yrs. in Japan while in the US Navy, 1969-1972. Loved every minute of it. And fell in love with Yuki Saori and her music as well as many other great aspects of  Japanese culture . Many fond memories.

user_id: AFOWYGGGHKPZWBMVOTKPHPZGNRFQ


title: This Release Is Why DVD Audio Must Live On.

text: This DVD Audio rocks. It's in 5.1 dts surround and the sound quality is amazing, as one would expect from Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson. The totally unexpected bonus on this was the fact that it included (also in advanced resolution 5.1 surround) the tracks from the EP album Nil Recurring, which is another 4 songs (approximately 29 minutes) of absolutely high-quality ear candy. Three videos are also included, which contain some incredibly powerful visuals/themes focusing on the pressures and temptations on the youth of today. Had I known it was this good, I would've easily paid twice what I did. Buy this while you can still find it. It's totally worth it.


title: Five Stars

text: Real Mantras


title: Classic

text: Brings back memories,  absolutely enjoyable


title: Five Stars

text: I love this. Listen to it all the time. I wish they had released the charts.


title: Para mi esposa

text: A mí esposa le encanta. Ella es una aficionada de Reik desde hace mucho. Sin embargo, dos de las cajas llegaron media rotas. Pude repararlas pero necesitan mejorar el proceso del envío.


title: Stop reading this and get it already

text: I recommend it


title: Vinyl Record

text: Got it in very good condition.


Very pleased. Arrived quickly. Excellent seller


text: Very pleased. Arrived quickly. Excellent seller


title: The Relax International is worth the money.

text: there's a searing live version of Relax on the B side, if this is identical to the 12" 45. Shows that they really were good live.


title: Joe Pizzulo - All The Best

text:
Although I'm not one to write reviews, I figured I'd write one about this cd.  Joe Pizzulo has never released a solo album here in the U.S. that I have heard of.  This cd remedies that.  Although the musicians are from the Philippines and this cd was recorded for the Philippine Market to tie in with his appearance with Teri DeSario back in 2005.  The songs are terrific and also his duets with the Filipino singers such as Nina, who's known as "The Soul Diva" are excellent.

Also just want to endorse that the seller CDBIN is very helpful and I'd order from them again.


title: CAME IN GOOD CONDITION

text: I just happen to love this song, so I ordered the single. CD was in very good condition when I received it


title: Great CD

text: Great cd, 2 cds with all the hits


Hey -  The CD package arrived within the time line advertised.  It is wonderful music.  What more can I say ?


title: Five Stars

text: Great collection to play not just for the road (with USB input in car) but also at home.


title: Hoping Travis Harvey sees this message

text:
@village green records

Hey Travis what’s been up man ? Long live vgr


title: Five Stars

text: mist's music is great ,true worship!


This is a very good set.  The information is top grade.  If there was a negative, it would be that there were many stories told to relate the topic -- which is good on the one hand, but made for sometimes boring listening.


title: Five Stars

text: I'm really enjoying it.


title: Great Musician and entertainer!!!!

text: Love this cd!!!!!


title: Five Stars

text: Surpassed expectation


title: The good news is that it is in English

text: The good news is that it is in English.  Too bad it sounds like it was recorded with a 1980's mono cassette recorder in a gym.


title: Five Stars

text: Great find


title: Five Stars

text: Excellent item, fast shipping, Thanks


title: Five Stars

text: this one was my favorite singer when I was 15, I love his music


title: Five Stars

text: Loved this!


title: Don't Panic!!!!!!!!!!!!!

text:
I do not know how you can buy this album.  I see it listed here and know that no one here is going to pay that kind of money.  All I can tell you is, find a program, and download this CD!!!!!

I have purchsed many Doom albums, and will gladly lay down money if this is ever released to the masses.  Until then, though, I will be listening to this copy that my fellow doom fan friend found, smiling all the way because folks, I think this may be a little better than the awe-inspiring smorgesboard, Mmm...Food.

Overall, the beats are a little darker, and it seems as if as if this album is food poisoned with a little venomous villain.

Doom legion, continue to support one of the most important hip-hop institutions of all time.  Buy Danger Doom on October 11th because it too is legendary; those of you who have already heard, know.  And when Doom decides to let us feast on his Leftovers, please make sure you pay for them.  Until then, however, we cannot go hungry.  We need food.  I have found the food, and you too can find it at your local music downloading program.  Go now, and enjoy the feast!


title: Very "digital"

text: Not my taste.


title: on time and great condition

text: the cd was perfect and on time


title: Four Stars

text: Good buy.


title: Has most of fleetwoods top hits on CD's.

text: used for personal enjoyment.


title: A great addition to the Sons of Korah library.

text: Glad to have another great item to add to my library form the Sons of Korah.  I was a bit hesitant to order after reading the review, but the CD arrived quickly and in good shape.


title: Purchased as a gift. Recipients daughter got it before ...

text: Purchased as a gift. Recipients daughter got it before her mother and is still  keeping it. Looking to file federal charges.


Excellent music, movies and drawing materials. As always, Amazon is the best place to buy anything you need. Keep up the good work !


title: The Moody Blues CD

text: I really like the Moody Blues and their songs.


title: Five Stars

text: enjoyed the magazine. looking forward to getting a subscription to this magazine!


title: Hard to find but worth it

text: Glad i finally found this, hard to find. Great for testing headphones.


title: Awesome

text:
It was just what my daughter ordered
It even comes with poster and keepsake cards
Which my daughter loves


title: Arrived fast

text: Amazing condition. A bit pricey but good CD

user_id: AEOXHMTLGAGGGLMJWFABHWNQSYIA


title: Wonderful Album

text: This is a sweet album with moving, tenderly empathic vocals, a joy to listen to. I have the vinyl album and I am trying find the cd. Where the heck is it? Can it be that this great album never made it to cd or even mp3? So sad.


title: Great collection!

text: I really like this collection. Thank you for going al the way to acquire this for me.


title: Intersting.

text: A challenge to anyone's ears and musical taste.


title: Fine recording!

text: Fascinating collection of organ music by female composers with interesting historical notes by Prof. Marshall.  The registrations are chosen with a sensitivity to the music and the capabilities of this fine Rosales organ, Opus 11.  There is wonderful sound here with beautiful reeds over a very sold foundation.


title: Pure Delight

text: American Impressions rates six stars for enjoyable music throughout.  There are first recordings of works from Daniel E. Gawthrop and S. Andrew Lloyd along with the fine Leo Sowerby and Richard Purvis tracks.  Gawthrop especially is tuneful and humorous.  This is music for which you could set your player to repeat and bask in wonderful organ sounds all afternoon.


title: Fits its title.

text: A very enjoyable combination of works, though not enhanced by the Sousa (as much as I like Sousa as a former trombone player). There is quite large enough sound from this small Dobson organ when needed. Very worthwhile at a normal price.


title: Spirited and melodic.

text: This a recording of marches in the broadest sense from 1988.  All tracks are enjoyable music and the sound is fine except that the bottom octave is mostly missing and disappointing for an organ of this size.  As always Sousa's Stars and Stripes just does not work on a pipe organ; it takes organ four hands to come close.


title: Live on the 4th of July.

text:
This is a patriotic performance by Peter Richard Conte at the National Cathedral, live, with singing and applause, on the 4th of July 2003.  All the music is enjoyable and very well recorded.  There are works by Bernstein (“Candide”), Ives (“America”), Kinder (“In Springtime”), Buck (Last Rose of Summer), Sowerby (“Come Autumn Time”  - expressive but at a faster than common tempo), Conte (“Improvisation on Movie Tunes” - fun), Sousa (“Stars and Stripes” -arrangement and performance that drags and doesn’t quite work), and Lemare (“When Johnny Comes Marching Home”).

Here, as in other of volumes of this “Sunday Afternoon” series, Stephen Tharp provides informative notes to the music and an interview with organist Conte.


title: Uncommon repertoire.

text: This is a fine Amphion recording, especially interesting for the choice of music.  Paul Derrett is a fine organist, of course, but especially noted for his interest in searching out rarely-recorded works.  These range here from four Bach works (BWV 802-805), generally omitted in ‘complete’ sets of his organ music, to compositions of Cabena and Demessieux.  The booklet notes by the organist nicely set the works in context and describe the registrations, encouraging a focus on listening for the stop changes.  This is all the more interesting because different organ divisions and parts thereof are located on opposite sides of the chancel, and the recording was aimed at reproducing this aspect of Coventry Cathedral’s Harrison and Harrison organ.


title: Fine Girard College recording!

text: A fine recording of mostly familiar compositions well played.  This is one of my favorite organs and the multiple 32' stops do not disappoint in this recording.  A delight to the ears as well as the feet.


title: A wonderfully enjoyable recording

text: This is a very enjoyable recording of organ music from the baroque to the contemporary with many familiar tunes, nicely rendered.  It is a smallish organ (three-manual, 51 stops, 16’ pedal ranks), well recorded, and there are quite good notes on both the organ and the music.  A CD of pure pleasure.


title: The best of Elvis!

text: Smile and dance 🕺 to many of Elvis’ greatest songs! Timeless and classic…his incredible musical talents certainly stand alone as the best of rock and roll😄


title: Love it

text: It came super fast and nothing was damaged. I love this group and so excited to own all 3 versions. However, packaging could have been better with the posters. The posters were just laid in the box without a protective cover in it. I live in Florida so it constantly rains off and on. If the box got wet, the poster would have been ruined. The albums were wrapped but the envelope it came in wasnt sealed closed. They should really package it better especially since this set isn't cheap.


title: Amazing!

text: I liked the extra features like the slave contract and the album looked amazing! Everything was great!


title: Rod Stewart up front and personal.

text: Doesn't get much better than this.<br />Playing it in my car ...blasting.


title: Five Stars

text: Love, love, love this. Very relaxing and short, so if you don't have much time, its perfect!!


title: CDs!!!!!!

text: Need to put this on CDs!!!!!


title: Five Stars

text: Great Birthday gift for my husband and of course a great deal.


title: CD’s

text: Like the music


title: Joseph Murphy

text: Joseph Murphy is very inspirational and this is the first time I have heard his voice.  The Power of the Subconcious Mind changed my life when I read it in 2004.  I will take anything I can get my hands on from Dr. Murphy.


title: Patrick Dopson is the next Fred Hammond!!

text:
This man is on fire for Christ. One of the most talented gospel artist to date. He deserves a spot in ur gospel library.
 The prince of "Praise and Worship"!!
Awesome Cd.


title: Love the Beatles

text: I love the  Beatles, prompt delivery, CD was as expected.


title: Wonderful music

text: One of Ian Mulders best. London symphony wonderful. It doesn't have the chorus which is why I bought it.


title: Not an ordinary music CD

text: I ordered this after seeing the show on stage in Branson. I love it for it’s historical significance.


title: Very pleased with my purchase!

text: A beautiful record of music!  Have listened to it several times already!


title: Everything I thought it would be

text: I love Nicole Atkins-heard her interviewed on NPR and wanted to order her newest as well as Slow Phaser.  I'm happy I did.  It's another artist that I have to take care not to listen too much so that it stays fresh in my soul.


title: I was a little disappointed with the songs on the CD but Scotty is ...

text: I was a little disappointed with the songs on the CD but Scotty is a great singer and I will give the CD to my husband.


title: My daughter cried on Christmas Morning of 2009

text: My daughter who was 11 at the time...cried on Christmas morning when she opened this CD of Edward Furlong.  She has had the little girl CRUSH on him since she has watched the Terminator movies for the first time in 2009...she fell inlove with the little boy...(Edward Furlong), and quickly became OBSESSED with him and his movies...Broke her heart when she found out that he is now a man...and a father...however,THIS CD MADE HER CHRISTMAS...(however how SAD his singing might have been...LOL,)  It came in EXCELLENT condition...and her tears of JOY...were PRICELESS!!  Thank YOU SOOO MUCH!  Would order from this person...over and over again....Thanks again...Stacey Wester


title: Absolutely amazing

text: This is my all time favorite cd. My children were in awe. My grown son had never heard him before & was amazed. So soothing & relaxing. A must have!!!!!


title: Two Stars

text: JUST OKAY THEIR HARMONIES WERE COVERED BY TOO MANY INSTRUMENTS


title: George Jones Hits I Missed

text: Grorge at his best. His finest  recording ever. Recommend anyone who loves the real Country music and not the crap that is being recorded today.


title: Mismatched but they blend well

text: This album was a surprise when I saw it at the record store upon it's original release. Cher and Gregg sound great together and even tough the reviews at the time were not complimentary, it is a great album. At the time it was popular to find fault with everything Cher did, now she has achieved icon status and so everyone likes her. Too bad the prejudice existed because this album shows two singers from different genres coming together to make a album with great sounding songs. I Love Making Love To You, In For The Night, Love Me and Can You Fool are the highlights. If you like Cher this is a great album!


title: Awesome punked out classics.

text: This is my personal favorite of the Girls in the Garage series. The cover is just awesome-killer equipment and racks. Pick your favorite pair! but side 2 is where the real action is. Great cover of Money by Mandy and the girlfriends, then Putty In Your Hands- By Jean and the Statesiders - Every time I hear this song I like it more. Great vocal, driving beat Makes me want to do the FRUG! Next The Tone Benders -Little Black Egg - trash punk, barely hanging together. Then Los Dilly Sisters - Sometimes good Guys Don't wear white - 10 year old mexican girls blasting out the punk or is it a fake? who cares, makes me laugh. Then Jacqueline Taieb 7:00 am. You must hear this if you like any of these albums-Stone garage classic almost spoken lyric tripping along with french accent, while some band just wails the beatpunk in the background- super tough meets super pop . "mind-blowing work of genius""outshines almost everything recorded in france in the 60's".


title: Classic Never gets old!

text: This is a classic it never fades.  I played it again the other day for the first time in a long time and the anointing is still as strong on it as ever.  GOD wants to save his people when they are facing troubled times.  Awesome CD!


title: To keep the fast services that the company provide to costumers.

text: Its an old song that I used to hear when I was a little girl. Its amazing that you have this CD.


I wish the BBs didn't get stuck in the columns as often as they do, but it still demonstrates the concept pretty well.


title: Great info for everyone to know!

text: I love this talk, it was a great reminder for me of things I knew and a teacher of things I didn't. I loved sharing it with my girls and everyone really. Every person should be able to know how recognize when the the Lord is speaking to them by the holy ghost. JoAnn Hibbert Hamilton does just that.


title: Norm Hacking should be more well-known.

text: Norm Hacking should be more well-known.  I bought it just to learn the song "John Dale," a wonderful story song.


title: Five Stars

text: Oh my love this so much.


title: Do you want to laugh?

text: Highly recommend.  I listen to it on the freeway going to work so i don't fall asleep.  Excellent!


title: Harmonic Pop

text: Watched this band grow & produce this record while playing at the Steamboat when it was still there. Still play it, so do my adult now children.


title: Five Stars

text: Works great and arrived in perfect condition.


title: Five Stars

text: Love this music......awesome as usual.


title: Fantastic

text: I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am with this purchase. The music is wonderful.


title: Cowboy singing cowboy songs.

text: Original songs by cowboy/musician.


title: Five Stars

text: Great worship CD. I love this CD. It ushers into the worship gracefully.


title: don't waste your money

text: the cd does NOT work.  sounds very scratchy.  can't even make out the words.. this is the 2nd one I bought. the 1st one was purchased from a different website.  both cds had the exact same problem. had to return it.


title: Five Stars

text: great


title: Original and authetic Christian music

text: The first time I heard Cheryl Bear was at our church service a couple of years ago. She was invited to perform and share at our church for a Sunday service. She is currently involved in ministry to the First Nations people of Canada. Her music filled with the hope of Christ, and I will never hear or sing the Doxology the same ever again. The musical version she sings is full of life and very refreshing! All of her lyrics sing of God's Truth and Light in a style I hadn't heard before she came to our church. It is obvious that her originality and authenticity is deeply rooted in her life story and heart for those she ministers to. Sometimes my 17 month old son and I will drum with her worship music (he likes drumming!).


title: Five Stars

text: LP is great, as described, was really well packed, and I'm only late saying Thanks because I've been sick.


title: I looked for this record more than 40 years. It's great.

text: THANKS. This record has an italian melody "Accaresami amore", which I have been looking for more than 40 years. It's worth the wait.


title: It was great. The packaging and Cd was fine but it ...

text: It was great. The packaging and Cd was fine but it didn't come with a poster like it was supposed to


title: Nice collection

text: Nice collection of songs other than top hits that Sam recorded.


title: dvd won't play. says out of area, so restricted to play only in europe?

text: won't play


I had forgotten how much I love the Stones until I got this CD. And the bonus disk is iciing on the cake!


title: Great Music

text: I bought it for a gift for my mother.  She loves it!!!


title: Happy mom

text: Great cd


title: Perfect condition

text: Great cd, works just fine


title: Five Stars

text: One of the great CD of Dr. Joseph Murphy.


title: Frankie Lane CD

text: I have been a big fan of Frankie Lane's music since I was very young.


title: Awesome sound and worth the wait Enjoy listening while walking/running ...

text:
searched a while for this soundtrack...
Awesome sound and worth the wait
Enjoy listening while walking/running or at the gym.


title: love it

text: I absolutely love this collection of songs, I have bought throu out the years 2 copies and one cassette of this album, I am looking for a CD my albums are a bit scratched to be able to make a copy


title: All The Gene Vincent you will need!

text: This is definitely a reasonably priced 4 Cd set of the First 6 Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps<br />albums.  If you are a fan of Gene Vincent  this is definitely a must-have.


title: Five Stars

text: Love old time gospel singing and these are soul nourishing CDs


title: Love it

text: Awesome cd<br />Great tunes


title: Three Stars

text: Good cd


title: quick mailing

text: great cd!


title: Play Winki's Theme love the horn arrangements

text: I had this on cassette once opon a time lol. I forgot how good this my favorite rap song is Winki's theme, she pays tribute to her brother nicknamed winki, that was killled in a motorcycle accident in 1992 or 1993. If you want to reminiscence check out Black Reign.


title: AMAZING

text: WORTH EVERY PENNY! DONNA SUMMER LIVES IN THIS AMAZING BOXSET!


title: I love their music

text: My daughter introduced me to these guys and I was slow to respond, now, I love their music, the mix of sounds and language...and the choreography and their execution is fantastic. I am truly happy for these men and wish them all the success they deserve.


title: 40th Anniversary Edition is a huge let-down

text:
I have always told friends that if anyone ever builds a time machine in my lifetime, my goal would be to go see Rush on the Hemispheres tour (since everyone else will be stopping Hitler and saving the Kennedy's, I figure I can be a little frivolous). I've got several bootlegs from that tour, none of which are perfect quality, but I listen to them more than any of my other Rush albums. The set list was amazing, and the band seemed to be firing on all cylinders during every performance.

After hearing some of the live material released with the 2112 and Farewell To Kings 40th anniversary packages, I was incredibly hopeful that I might finally get to hear a well-produced, professional quality complete live show from this tour. Alas, that is not to be.

Instead, we get a partial set from the 1979 Pinkpop Festival - all of which is available for free, in identical quality, elsewhere on the internet. And, for some reason, yet another live recording of 2112, ostensibly taken from the Tuscon 1978 soundboard bootleg (more on that in a moment), which is also available for free elsewhere.

I realize that the Pinkpop show may have been the only professionally recorded set on the tour (it was part of an FM radio broadcast), but the meager set list is disappointing. Obviously they played Cygnus X-1 Book II, since the final part is included here. Why couldn't we hear the whole thing? Why don't we get the whole set? Perhaps the master tapes are long gone, and all that is left is the broadcast recordings. Still, a disappointment.

As for the live version of 2112, this is actually from the Offenbach, Germany show in 1979. You can tell in various parts, but the most obvious is the distortion that occurs on Geddy's voice when he sings "And the meek shall inherit the Earth." This doesn't happen on the Tuscon boot, only on the Offenbach show. Strange that the band didn't get the right date or location for this recording.

In any event, it sounds remarkably better than any of the bootlegs I've got from this tour. Which makes it all the more confounding why in the world they chose to only release the umpteenth version of 2112. Book II and Circumstances have never been released live (ok, there was that late era, tuned-down version of Circumstances, but it's not that great), so why are we stuck with yet another live version of 2112? A full Tour of the Hemispheres show, tweaked the way this single track has been, would have been such a wonderful gift to fans.

I will admit that, because of the difficult-to-sing key of Book II, Geddy does not always sound his best on the bootlegs I've got. Perhaps that's why they've elected not to share any live recordings with us. I still hope it will be included with the 40th anniversary of Permanent Waves, since we know they played a version that was only slightly shortened on that tour, and there are at least a few recordings of shows that were done for what would become Exit...Stage Left. Unfortunately, though, it looks like we've missed our chance at a contemporaneous version of Circumstances.

All in all, this package is huge let-down, and, since all of the live material is available in bootleg form, it's kind of a waste of money. I am going to buy the digital version, just as a way of making sure the band gets some money to make up for the bootlegs I've got. Otherwise, I wouldn't spend the cash.

Now, someone needs to hurry up and build that time machine.


title: Great music

text: Love the music. Several of the songs really delighted my granddaughter.


title: what i was looking for...

text: Everything that was detailed in the description is in the package. The quality on these discs is a bit low though, as if the songs were recorded of the original vinyls.


title: As Advertised

text: Love it when you get exactly what you expect.  Thanks for a smooth transaction:)


title: Service was very fast

text: Very fast service; product was as specified.


title: Awesome.

text: Fantastic harpsichord playing.


title: Five Stars

text: Great album


title: Beautiful serene voice like a prayer.

text:
Beautifully done music !!
Once you listen to her music , you will be astonished with  her clean, clear,  serene transparent natural voice. It is beautiful. Especially the last song  "Ave Maria" was done so perfectly that it places us in a calm beautiful dreamlike environment. It is her prayer. Her voice has a slight sadness as an Irish who suffered long ago. If you listen to this recording (this is the only one she produced), listener will agree that she should be recognized like Sissel  Kyrkjebo, Norway, or Aled Jones, Welsh worldwide.
I wish she will produce more CD's so that people are introduced to her voice and  music.


title: Amazing CD

text: Amazing CD. Arrived so fast I was amaze!


title: Buy it!

text: Best Christian Salsa band ever. The Cd came well wrapped for extra security and I received it much quicker than expected


title: Excellent!


title: Great!

text: Best Christian Salsa band ever. The Cd came well wrapped for extra security and I received it much quicker than expected.


title: Super

text: My friend who loves the Who was very happy with her gift and that makes me happy


title: Solid soundtrack!

text: Good soundtrack to a strong & noteworthy film. Features many standout tracks, with Rabba being my personal favorite.


title: Five Stars

text: Love seeing Chris Botti live at the Hollywood bowl so I bought this C.D. It's amazing.


title: beautiful

text: Lyrical graceful hammer dulcimer playing by Russell Cook of a wide variety of musical styles from Jim Croce to Blessed Assurance.  Very enjoyable.


title: Lovely listening music!

text: Enjoy this CD and the man behind it and his remarkable story!


title: Five Stars

text: Very pleased


title: Five Stars

text: Melodic.


title: Five Stars

text: Great artist


title: Five Stars

text: Love this album.


title: Five Stars

text: Great CD


title: Great Compilation

text: This CD has all their best songs (including the long version of Crimson and Clover).


title: Love it

text: Great album!


title: good price for a used - absolutely nothing wrong with ...

text: Had this years ago and have been unable to find it (my original had worn out) Found it on Amazon, good price for a used - absolutely nothing wrong with it. Fall asleep to it nightly - ridiculously soothing!


title: Five Stars

text: Music is beautiful. I looked for this CD for years then found it on Amazon.


title: Amazing Voice

text: Impressive sound based upon a singular voice.


title: WEDDING DAY

text: LIKED A LOT BY RECIPIENT...THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA...


title: interesting

text: very good compilation of hits....the silk voice if chile<br />famous latin artists like rocio durcal, violeta rivas became crooners,,listening to Mona


title: Finally, good to hear you!!!!!

text: We all have been waiting for a long time for a definatative release. The previous soundtrack is so short & half ques it is over just after it started.  They went all out putting this together. I have been wanting the Main Title from the film just to listen to this whole time. Best presintation period!!!!!


title: At Last!!!!!!

text: There's not enough words to express how well done this soundtrack is. When you know a film closely u know what is going on without reading the track listing.


title: Five Stars

text: very good


title: Great music

text: My all time favorite group!


title: Seller communicated great, too

text: Quality music and item. Seller was courteous in communications, as well. Thanks!


title: Nothing

text: Sound quality not so great. But I am sure it’s due to  it possibly because CD was done from maybe a record.


title: Awesome CD

text: Cd came just as described and it sounds great! Great cd, especially for the price!


title: Great CD

text: Great cd and it came just on time! It's great quality and it's great to hear these songs from my childhood!


title: Great CD

text: Great product and came just on time! Sounds great and it's great to hear these songs again from my childhood!


title: Great CD

text: It came just on time and its s great product! It's good to hear these songs again from my childhood.


title: Great find.  Did not know this album existed.

text: After hearing one of the songs on this album on the radio I went on a search for it.  Found out that this album existed and fortunately was available for sale.  Very happy with my purchase.


title: Alone I play - J. Davis

text: I actually bought this DVD/CD combo awhile ago, but decided to review. All I can say is awesome! At first I was hesitant because of the price, but I thought "oh just do it" and I am glad I did. I watch it often and also am able to take the CD with me for the car. JD is good with KoRn and without!!


title: Awesome CD

text: Love Carrie's music and this CD does not disappoint.  I highly recommend.


title: How Do You Like Your Mozart?

text: I've enjoyed Uchida's playing of the concerto and the chamber repertoire.  Her technique is always secure.  On this pressing, however, her playing sounds oddly wooden.


title: I loved the music

text: I loved the music, it is New Age but takes you back to years gone by of the Ottoman Empire.  Music that encloses a Middle Eastern and Occidental flavor, as it has been with Turkey always in the crossroads of Middle East and Europe. Can Atilla does a great job of expressing his culture.


title: Two Stars

text: This wasn't what I thought it would be. A lot of the songs I've never heard before.


title: Accuser's awesome "comeback" album

text: Accuser stopped releasing albums after 1995's "Taken By The Throat". They started releasing demos in 2002. That's why I don't think this is a legit comeback album. There were two Scartribe demos released in 2002, and 2004, then the rerelease of the 2004 demo in 2006 when the band changed their name to Scartribe, then another demo in 2009 with half of the songs that ended up on "Agitation". In my opinion, Accuser sound a lot like Arch Enemy on this album, even Frank Thoms's vocals remind me of Johan Liva. I think almost every song on this album is killer. The guitar tone and production quality are great, there are melodic blistering solos, and even a sweep picking solo at the beginning of "Criminal Solution". I think it's kinda weird that they re-recorded "Chaincrusher" from the 2004 "Scartribe" demo, but took out the melodic vocals in the middle. Any thrash fan should pick this album up though.


title: Great Accuser album

text: This album blew me away. It has great riffs and excellent guitar tone and production quality. The solos sound a lot like Alex Skolnick from Testament. The music overall kinda sounds Exodus and Testament inspired. It doesn't sound German at all. The only reason I can think of as to why this is such an obsolete album is that it has very anti-America lyrics. Since you pretty much can't find this album anywhere except Ebay and for a lot of money, I recommend downloading it. Maybe one day some record company will re-release this, but I think it's pretty doubtful.


title: Firesign Theatre's Proctor and Bergman triumphant!

text: Phil Proctor and Peter Bergman, half of The Firesign Theatre comedic quartet, made several albums on their own, mostly or entirely without the other firesigners.  This one is my favorite.  Why?  Because it frees them up to do one of their best stylistic creations: funny commercials and various station breaks.  Without the need to assemble a monolithic story that fills an entire album, they were able to parody on many unrelated topics, many of them 1 or 2 minute gems.  There's a reggae song about defective cars.  There's a hilarious commercial for Sneezer's Chicken.  And a hysterical mini-interview with the creator of a memory improvement method.  There's even a short collection of fictitious movie trailers, done as a radio spot.  If you like Nick Danger, or "I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus", or "Don't Crush That Dwarf", you'll love this one!


title: Music good, but several track skip

text: The music was good, but several of the tracks either skipped or would not play.  I tried it on a different player with the same results.<br />I am going to return it.


title: Five Stars

text: Loved em all


title: product is ok

text: it is ok but not really what i need or expected.


title: Great gift

text: Was on my daughter's wish list. She loves it.


title: estoy enamarado

text:
How can I review if you do not have it available whats wrong with this picture?
Please ask Arath de la Torre to sell you a couple of copies so i can buy it.
 Thanks


title: best nithclub rhythm ever

text: it is probably the best disco dance music ever. I remember dancing in the nightclub and everyone going while. good old times.<br />How can  i get this version?


title: Remote works perfectly

text: Had to buy this in a hurry when visiting nieces had put the bed in TV position before they left and we couldn’t find the remote anywhere. Paid extra for expedited shipping, which was a bit high, but remote was easy to program and works well.


title: Taemin Only Gets Better

text: Quality album. Arrived in great condition. I'm very happy to have this in my collection. I love Taemin.


title: The Volunteers Are Awesome

text: Arrived in good condition. Customer service is great. I'm glad to have this album. I love Yerin Baek.


title: Quality

text: Arrived in great condition. Glad to have it in my collection. I love ASTRO and I love this sub-unit.


title: Studio Setting Captures Live Performance

text: I saw Butch Hancock live last year.  He was scheduled as the opening act for Josh White Jr, but he did a whole show when White called in sick.  Hancock was a wonderful surprise.  He writes quirky, countryesque songs, many of which are intended to be humorous; most succeed.  But the most interesting thing to me was his wonderful guitar playing, which includes single-string runs and complex chords that are more akin to jazz than the country-folk persona he projects.  The combination is interesting and entertaining.  And, while this album uses supporting musicians, it preserves the playing and sound of his live performance.  This is not often done or done well in studio recordings, and my hat's off to them for it.


title: Studio Recording Captures Live Performance

text: I saw Butch Hancock live last year.  He was scheduled as the opening act for Josh White Jr, but he did a whole show when White called in sick.  Hancock was a wonderful surprise.  He writes quirky, countryesque songs, many of which are intending to be humorous; most succeed.  But the most interesting thing to me was his wonderful guitar playing, which includes single-string runs and complex chords that are more akin to jazz than the country-folk persona he projects.  The combination is interesting and entertaining.  And, while this album uses supporting musicians, it preserves the playing and sound of his live performance.  This is not often done or done well in studio recordings, and my hat's off to them for it.


title: Hard to find CD

text: Happy to have finally found this CD I've been looking for since the 1990s. And it was brand new.


title: Great!

text: I miss this band. I did not know they had a third album until recently, having enjoyed their first two for years. I only wish there were more.


title: Amazing!!

text: Amazing CD!! It's very uplifting, very relaxing, and love the combination of the jazz feel. This cd is becoming my escape haven, it makes you feel wonderful, closer to God, and it's smoothing (something we all need in this crazy world even it's for only a couple of hours).


If you Love Led Zeppelin and didn't see this....YOU DEFINITELY HAVE TO!!!!!!  Brent Havens "IS THE BEST."  You will appreciate the MUSIC behind Zeppelin that you always heard, but never really paid attention to.  Seeing the orchestra play the music live is BREATH TAKING!!  Takes the songs to a Whole New Level.  MUST SEE!!!!


Very nice collection should check out disc #2. However probably would have been better if just a 2 cd set.


title: Irish Humor found at Amazon

text: I searched many, many years for a copy of "A Treasury of Irish Humor" by Hal McKay.  Leave it to Amazon to make one available!  I had it converted to CD form and it made a perfect gift for one of my brothers, who remembered it from long ago (1965, to be exact).  With one side of one-liners and the other filled with stories of good-old Uncle Timothy and his trials and travails due to the demon rum, it makes you laugh until tears are running down your face and you're holding your tummy.  Kudos to Mr. McKay.  I have no idea whether he ever made an album before or after this one, but I hope he lives long and prospers . . .


title: Out dated and sloppy

text:
My friend and I made the mistake of purchasing this product off of some late night infomercial.  It seemed like a worthwhile product at first, and then we started to see certain things that really upset.

First, it's painfully obvious that the course has not been updated in years.  Some of the links they provide are inactive or do not serve the purpose they claim to.  Second, a lot of the material given is recycled from disc to disc.  You get the feeling that they just slapped the program together over one weekend.  Third, I don't think anyone bothered to proof read the literature.  I'm sure it's no big deal to most people, but it speaks volumes to the quality of their overall program and the research (or lack there of) they have done.

Bottom line, don't waste your time or money.


title: Great Album!

text:
I wasn't introduced to this band until just a few years before they broke up. I loved seeing them live. I loved everything about their music. The lyrics are thought provoking, the vocals are amazing and the sound will get you moving. This is a great album and, like other commenters have stated, it is a shame that they broke up and didn't make it big. I was heartbroken when I heard that they had broken up!

I hadn't heard this album in a long time but flipping through my Ipod, I came across it tonight and have spent the past hour listening to this album. It brought back old memories. Now I am excited to put this on tomorrow during our long road trip to see my husband enjoy it too.


title: The Ish

text: Great find! Love these guys.


title: Audio Suicide For Your Ears

text: Reading the obituaries is funnier than this failed attempt at "Comedy" by the never funny, always lame Adam Ray.  The only thing I regret more than purchasing this abomination is that I purchased it as an MP3 download.  Now I don't have a physical object to throw in the trash.  Just deleting it off of my computer didn't give the satisfaction I needed after listening to this garbage.  I wish I could give this atrocity 0 stars but that isn't an option.


title: Five Stars

text: Great record, Thank you.


title: Tennstedt live recordings are treasures. I used to hear ...

text: Tennstedt live recordings are treasures. I used to hear him in Minnesota conducting the orchestra in Mahler, and also with CSO, Mahler 1. Anytime you see a live Tennstedt recording, snap it up! I have about 35 Mahler 2 recordings and probably same number of Mahler 1. These shot right to the top as my favorites. Same is true of the Dvorak and Pathetique on same label. Do not hesitate or worry about the price. If you are lucky the CD case will be intact.


title: Great CD for 90's fans

text: great CD love it


title: Great start to reading

text: My daughter is 4 years old and she loves reading and learning with this product. Helps her with identifying the words along with sounds and spelling


title: Honest opinion

text: Daring & perfect.


title: One Star

text: It is the wrong songs.


title: richard simmons is not on this cd at all.

text: Well I see now it does say this is a CD. But I am so dissatisfied. I thought Richard would be stretching with me. He isn't at all. I went to his website to let them know how upset I am the emails came back undeliverable.


title: Classic Melody

text: Song haunted me in younger years, had endless times chasing it mentally, finally the song and voice reunited with my soul. A classic when songs and love was true music...love it. Delivery timely, endless time of the past.


title: The music is good as expected

text: The music is good as expected, and the vinyl has a nice fidelity. The album does lack any kind of song intro or banter between the duo, but enjoyable just the same. If you're a fan of T & S you'll probably enjoy this.


title: Five Stars

text: excellent


Riveting story for the entire family. We loved the engaging presentation of accurate history, which highlights the Biblical devotion that Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson had to Christ. A great way to learn history!


title: Five Stars

text: Some good music on this CD


title: Fabulous Soundtrack

text: Fabulous vintage sound tack.


title: Exo is the Now & Future

text: This album is great. All the songs are amazing. I am in love with Groove and Baby You Are!


title: Five Stars

text: Wonderful audio drama for the entire family!  Audio dramas are great for car rides and vacations!


title: Bury My Heart

text: Book arrived in perfect condition


title: Five Stars

text: Love these CD's and miss Elvis!


title: Better Than I expected!

text: I love this multi-channel recording. I can really just sink into the music.


title: The first of it's musical kind ...

text:
Why an artist seems to find it necessary to reinvent how or under what circumstances a song was brought to light always baffles me … yet within only a few years, I would see Van Morrison in a silver suit hanging from the velvet curtains of the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, wacked out of his mind on one thing or another, though alcohol did appear to be his substance of choice.

Back in 1965, just prior to purchasing this record, which from static laden AM radio airplay, and over a lousy transistor radio, I believed that the song was entitled “Mr. Guy.”  Nevertheless, Morrison had explained to a reporter that “Mystic Eyes” was originally intentioned to be an instrumental, though after blowing his harp for some ten minutes, drifting in and out of the beat, he professes that the lyrics where channeled to him, and he just sung along, acting as a conduit, totally unaware of the twelve minute take that was edited and condensed by cutting both the instrumental from the beginning and the end.  Being originally recorded in mono only, mono is the only manner in which this song should be heard, as the recording room was set up for that initiative, and the stereo reprocessing leaves much to be desired.  What does come across magnificently clear is the lead guitar by Jimmy Page, foreshadowing what was just around the corner for him and a little known band called Led Zeppelin.

Other tall tales surrounding this achievement embrace the notion that the band was just fooling around when Page laid down his guitar run, and again, everyone was divinely inspired, joined in, and the song manifested out of the blue.  Of course there’s the other version that suggests that Morrison was inspired to write the lyrics while watching group of children playing in an ancient graveyard saying, “You know, man, there was all this life and death side by side of each other … so close … yet so different.  And then I though of bright lights in the children’s eyes, and the cloudy lights in the eyes of the dead.”  And again, we have Van invoking the divine, suggesting the power of  bright lights coming from children, while lights from the eyes of the dead fade over time perpetually into the future, had burned the song into his soul.

Regardless, the song is brilliant, dark, haunting, ethereal, and unlike anything floating across the airwaves at the time, and while not intended to be the first single to be released in support of the album, “Mystic Eyes” was the single that charted and brought the band Them to the attention of the world.  And while this song, or the album, did not bring this young band instant success, it did solidify Van Morrison as a solid artist with a penchant for writing story like verses that were nearly musical snapshots.  Combine this with his ambitious beat and R&B undercurrent, and it was impossible not to understand that Van Morrison had a direction in mind, a concept, a vision of where he wanted to go, and how he wanted to get there.  Simply listening to “Mystic Eyes” takes you on an adventure that’s not part of the collective album as a whole, meaning that Morrison stood out as a musical figure that we’d come to embrace as a solo artist, taking us to dizzying heights all on his own, all in the age of rock n’ roll bands.

Post Script:  I for one sincerely hope that the original take for “Mystic Eyes” was not left on the cutting room floor, and that it may one day find its way to us … though sadly, it’s probably been lost to the ages.

Review by Jenell Kesler [Copyrighted Review]


title: Don't take life so seriously ...

text:
Penned for their 1966 release of the sensational album Aftermath, and cited as one of the top 100 songs of all time, “Under My Thumb” has been misrepresented and maligned nearly since it was released.

First, here are the facts of the song:  At the time, Mick Jagger was deeply involved with Chrissie Shrimpton, who was the inspiration for the song.  This is also the song that the Rolling Stones were playing at the Altamont Speedway concert in 1969 when the Hells Angels murdered Meredith Hunter [though many are under the misconception that “Sympathy For The Devil” was being played] … but I digress.  During the late 60’s and early 70’s, and rightly so, feminism was on the rise, with women demanding to be treated with equality and not to be seen as sexual objects.  Though it does seem to me, as a woman, that many of my sisters do dress rather sexy, and what is a man supposed to think, standing there in a suit and tie, while a female business counterpart is in high heals, a short skirt and blouse open to expose just enough breast to make things more than interesting.  If a man walked into an office with some sort of codpiece that accented and drew attention to his genitalia, he would be sent home posthaste.  But let’s face it, sadly, even in 2016, fifty years after this song was first heard on the radio, it’s still a man’s world, and men prefer to see women as sexual objects.

As to the song:  The song is not about dominating women, though one would hardly believe that The Rolling Stones did not think that way with the misogynist advertisements used to promote their album Black and Blue.  Nevertheless, we live in a world where people hurt each other both physically and emotionally for a variety of reasons, and it’s an aspect of our human nature that we should endeavor to stop.  To quote Mike Jagger from an interview in 1984, he said, “The whole idea was that I was under her thumb [of Chrissie Shrimpton], she was kicking me around.  So the whole idea is absurd [regarding feminists assertions], all I did was to turn the tables around. So women took that to imply that I was against femininity [feminism], when in reality it was all about trying to ‘get back’ against being an repressed male.”  And yes, both the concept and construct of the song’s lyrics are sound, though both men and women are free to make choices about being oppressed or not, especially men, and should certainly step out of an un-welcomed or uncomfortable situation without attempting to put the other person in the submissive role.

As to the song itself:  “Under My Thumb” is musically flawless, and one of those few numbers where the song’s hooks are played on a marimba.  The number is filled with the dynamic sexual tension of a power struggle, making it a fine example of how to intelligently and musically combine arpeggios with chords interwoven with verse.  The song contains exceptional hypnotic bass lines that are blissfully fuzzed out, along with a guitar structure that drives the song along at a restrained jangling pace.

It’s just a wonderful piece of timeless work with a theme that has been used again and again in literature, theater, and movies.

Review by Jenell Kesler [Copyrighted Review]


title: Ahhh ... the early 70's!

text:
[laughing] This was the sort of album you’d find in your best friend’s collection, and he’d spin it for you with reverence, pointing out inspirational guitar playing and the dynamically from the heart vocals, but in your head, or at least mine, I was asking myself, ”Am I missing something here?”

While hailing from California, Boones Farm hit hard with but one album, and were locally admired, though overall they hardly made a ripple on the regional or national map.  Boones Farm were a rockin’ outfit banking on the southern and country rock draw, and evoking images of Black Oak Arkansas.  Though if you were to sit down with Jim Messina, yes, half of Loggins & Messina, you’d get a bit different story, one that would have you believe that the band was more along the lines of Crosby, Stills & Nash, though with more straight ahead rock n’ roll roots that were wide and diverse, and all powered by the strong soulful vocals of Kent Spragues aka Butch Dubai [another drummer vocalist], mixed with some gritty instrumentation by Fred Darling laying down drums and percussions, Brad Palmer with vocals, bass and guitar, along with and Gary Stovall who held down additional vocals and guitar … Milt Holland was an on again off again musician who played backing instruments, but was never a formal member of the outfit.

While their music was certainly suited for that of the early 70’s, with radio friendly songs, it was obvious that Boones Farm was never going to be a highly rated band, as they opened for such acts as The Beach Boys, The Doobie Brother, Dave Mason, Loggins & Messina, Elvin Bishop, Boz Scaggs and even Rod Stewart … never managing to establish a following of any sorts.

Aside from the one album on Columbia, the band had two singles in 1972, “If You Can’t Be My Woman / “Start Today” and “Good Old Feelin’ / “Start Today,” that also seemed to fall through the cracks.  Interestingly enough, several of their songs were covered by others, including “If I Can’t Be Your Woman” by Bettye LaVette, and Three Dog night of all bands, covering “Good Old Feeling” and “Play Children Play.”

It’s important to consider the name when your in a band, and by choosing the name similar to that of a cheap wine sold in convenience stores from the early 60’s, that can certainly reflect negatively on a group, especially, when the hip and slightly more expensive Blue Nun was the ‘in’ bottle of the day.

Review by Jenell Kesler


title: Got Baggy Jeans Will Travel ...

text:
Oddly enough, Wake Up Sometime! still maintains that bright expected Manchester atmosphere, layered with jangling guitars and straight ahead vocals that travel on the backbeat of the instrumentation … though on this outing the band comes across with a bit harder edge, mixed with an element of blues and an unexpected surf guitar.  If anything, [i]Wake Up Sometime!,[/i] is a bit of experimental fusion, where each song seems to exist in its own space, and within that space, each song is traveling in a different direction from any other.  And while that inconsistency isn’t bad, it does come across as slightly disjointed and jagged, as there is no singular conceptual attitude to carry the listener from the first to the final track.

By the time you get to the third number “By This Act Of Judgement,” you will begin to think that you’re home free, with your feet firmly rooted in aspects of their previous release, yet even within that track, Chemistry Set take things down side streets that are filled with store fronts you don’t recognize, yet seem eloquently enticing.

For fear of hating myself, I will suggest there there are elements of The Happy Mondays found here, with Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear The Reaper” lurking in the the sonic harmonics of the background, where you will be brought face to face with things familiar, yet presented with a slightly askew attitude.  Though what’s most interesting, is how much this band manages to squeeze into songs that are rather short for the most part.

Eventful on the first couple of listens, Wake Up Sometime! is very much in the spirit of the late 80’s and early 90’s, meaning that it does sound dated, and perhaps won’t hold up over time, nevertheless, if you’ve still got a white tee shirt and a pair of baggy jeans, you might just discover a hit of E scrunched into the bottom of a pocket, which would certainly make this a most excellent album without a doubt.

Review by Jenell Kesler


title: A super slow burner ...

text:
With Springsteen being one of the greatest artists of all time living or dead, with that being said, he’s charted less singles than nearly anyone on the planet, with but 3 of his top 20 single hits finding their way into the Top 10 for radio airplay.

While “Fire” wasn’t among those hits, the song was written shortly after seeing his idol Elvis Presley back in 1977, who’s fence [at Graceland] Bruce jumped and made for the front door around the 27th of October in 1975, the same week Bruce was featured on the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazines … though disappointingly Elvis was at Lake Tahoe.

Oddly enough, “Fire” would be both recorded and renamed “Slow Hand” by the Pinter Sisters, who achieved the number 2 slot on the Top 10.  But turning to the flip side, and the song “Incident on 57th Street,” a live version, saw Springsteen lay down the longest 45 [the big hole 7” 45rpm] ever put to wax, clocking in at a staggering 10 minutes and three seconds.  Regardless of the stereo mastering, the thinness of the grooves to allow for such and extensive recording did little for the fidelity, and in the end, did give Mr. Springsteen a not so hit single of history making noteworthiness.

Review by Jenell Kesler


title: Lost in the dark ...

text:
Stan Ridgway came out of the group ‘Wall Of Voodoo,’ but perhaps it would be more fitting to call him the heart of ‘Wall Of Voodoo.’  As a child I used to lay in bed on rainy nights, my transistor radio to my ear, with AM signals bouncing off the clouds, bringing in music from across the country, and below the boarder.  It was all so sweet, so real, it was magic, and so dream like in the morning.  I haven’t had that feeling in a long time, that is, until I discovered the music of Stan Ridgway.

Stan delivers his music with a deep resonating voice, reminding me of the late night disc jockeys.  His songs could go on for hours as far as I’m concerned.  All of his music seems to be set to some movie reel, constantly showing in his head.  Actually he draws deeply from the past, I know that’s easy to say, and many do, but Stan has taken the true story songs, one’s I could only imagine being sung low and sweetly around a campfire, or alone on the empty open road, songs to remind us of where we are, where we were, and leaving us to wonder if we’ll ever get back there.

His music is slow and richly textured on this release.  Each note, each chord, each background effect, has been meticulously thought out and defined.  He writes about things and places most of us will never get to, or for that matter probably desire, but I get chills just listening to him pass on these stories.  There’s nice electric folk, very mellow blues and tiny sparkles that will shimmer all around you.  There’s a peddle steel guitar floating in the back that will show you what that instrument can do when properly used.  Yes, there are great synthesizer riffs to tie it all together, and a harmonica that will set you to wondering where one leaves off and the other begins.

As I said, each of his songs is a story in and of itself, he doesn’t repeat a theme, unless of course one would like to make the wider contention that he’s speaking of the desolation of the soul.  I once brought up that aspect with him, and he said to me, ‘...there are dark places on this earth, and even darker ones in our minds.  I’ve never been to these places, and certainly never done the things I sing about, but then maybe I have, if that means I’ve found that I can tap into a story or part of one, and make it mine.’

I think all of his stories are true.  Stan is out there in the middle of the desert, filling his black ‘69 Camaro with gasoline while eating a cheese sandwich, in front of a meth lab that's doubling as a gas station, and it's going to blow up just as he slides down the road at two in the morning, tossing the sandwich wrapper out the window.

Excuse me ...’I’ve lost my train of thought.’  Blow out the candle before you leave, it’s nice being here in the dark.

Review by Jenell Kesler


This is one of those reunion sort of albums with the recording sessions taken from the Central Pennsylvania Jazz Festival, the 13th in the series, where drummer Steve Bagby and bassist Steve LaSpin were reunited with the legendary Joe Diorio.  Most fans would consider this a rather average album on first listen, though if you spend some time with the release you’re going to hear fascinatingly fine moments … but on a whole, due to the recording venue, and the fact that these cats were recently drawn back together, the outing does lack a certain cohesiveness, definitely sounding as if they needed to spend some additional time together.  With that being said, it’s the notion that these cats were finally back together, falling into a groove, with an audience who were more than eager to see them together again.

There are some unexpected tracks, with perhaps “The Owl And The Bridge” being the most notable, fill with sharp lines and stake playing, where a very angular attack is laid down … and while very listenable, it stands in severe contrast to the rest of the songs with it’s flashing cymbals, drums, and guitar that caused this reviewer to feel rather uncomfortably tense.  Filled with better lines and more listenable characteristics is the eight minute opus “O Grande Amor, shimmering with clean guitar lines, balanced by LaSpina’s penchant for creating strong melodic bass lines that float effortlessly.  Throughout the album Bagby holds down a fine unadventurous but solid rhythm on drums, while only occasionally stretching out.  The number “Just Friends” opens the album, and this song by itself is worth the price of admission.

When a trio like this comes together and attempts to fashion themselves themselves in the context of having equal parts and no leader, small flaws around the edges begin to show.  Each of these artists is a leader in their own right, and with that background, one of these members should have stepped forward, or been appointed, perhaps not so much as a leader, but as the guiding hand … the release would have been much tighter and filled with less aspiration.

Review by Jenell Kesler


title: Find the gems ... not the AM hits.

text:
Riding on the wave of Buddy Holly with a country rock influence, the Everly Brothers certainly had a great number of AM radio friendly hits in the 1950’a and 60’s, songs that didn’t necessarily top the charts, yet did manage to make a lasting impression with their harmonies and stylistic approach to music, putting them on par with the likes of Ricky Nelson.  Yet the one thing most people miss are the B-Sides and album fillers that were most unusual, and set the tone for the likes of The Byrds, The Mama’s & Papas, and certainly The Flying Burrito Brothers, along with Brian Ferry.  To find these gems you have to look toward their compilations, and I assure you all compilations are not created equal, with most consisting of only the chart topping hits … but, if you’re willing to find your way to both The Complete Cadence Recordings 1957-1960 and the The Works: A 3 CD Retrospective, you’re going to find a staggering amount of material; certainly all that you could hope for.

Yet woven within the songs found here are twenty latter day classics that will rock you back, songs that transcend the hits, songs that are both visionary and timeless … these are the keepers, these are the songs that are going to turn heads when you play them for friends; these are a collection I consider to be Gram Parson’s worthy.  So please find these compilations, pare them down and create your own essential playlist that I promise you’ll be most delighted to own: “What Kind of Girl Are You,” “Baby What You Want Me to Do,” “Lucille,” “Love Hurts,” “Just in Case,” “Oh, True Love,” “Sigh, Cry, Almost Die,” “Don't Blame Me,” “I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Ferris Wheel,” “That'll Be the Day,” “Price of Love,” “It's Been a Long Dry Spell,” “Susie Q,” “I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town,” “Love Is Strange,” “Less of Me,” “Bye Bye Love,” “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” and “When Will I Be Loved?”.

These are not simple songs from a simpler time, all of these numbers are firmly routed in the blues with an alternative country feel that existed before the genre of alternative country had ever been thought of.  These are the best two compilations out there, and while I don’t endorse the good time fun harmonies that we’ve all heard to death, I sincerely endorse the unmistakeable gems you’re going to find no place else.

Review by Jenell Kesler


title: What're you gonna do ...

text:
Like Dylan, Otis Taylor’s voice has never been overtly emotional, though it is gritty, low and smokey, as someone’s who just spent eight hours riding the back roads might be.  Always coming across as a man who takes his time, perhaps pondering a bit too much, there’s a considered steadiness to Otis Taylor, and it shows in both his playing and his voice ... where he and his guitar are not only indistinguishable, but inseparable, with neither being qualified to exist without the other.  And why should it be any other way?  Taylor has been around forever, he was a young man back in the 70’s when he gave up music to surround his life with antiques, the buying and selling of other people’s lives, their treasures and dreams, where through all of that dust and hand rubbed wood, he’s been vested with a shaman’s vision and sense of what’s important.

There’s always been an undercurrent and theme to Taylor’s albums, and that’s no exception here on his Hey Joe Opus, featuring the song made famous by Jimi Hendrix, and written years before by Billy Roberts.  To my ears, the Hey Joe Opus sounds and comes across much like Neil Young’s soundtrack to “Deadman,” where Taylor visits and revisits “Hey Joe” twice, “Sunday Morning” three times, and filters the rest of the tracks out through the emotional embroidery these two numbers create. There’s an essence of old meets new here, a worldless dreamy atmosphere that rekindles the psychedelic aesthetics of a memory of jam within a jam within a dream, bringing “Hey Joe” back full circle, allowing it to sound even more fresh and more vital.

Noted for his darker visionary intoxications, Hey Joe Opus is even darker than his previous releases, sounding both earthbound and etherial in the same breath, taking blues to a new level of saturation so dense you’ll barely be aware that you’re hearing songs repeated again and again with slightly differing toneations and balances.  With all of this creating a questioning metaphor life ... that being, “What are you gonna do?”

Review by Jenell Kesler


title: The Fugs - The Village Fugs Sing Ballads of Contemporary Protest, Point of Views, and General Dissatisfaction

text:
There are a million questions one could both ask and answer regarding The Fugs ... many of them may or may not be true.  During the 60's everyone knew "of" the Fugs, but few people actually knew their music, poetry, or satirical beat-happenings.  The Fugs were an enigma, flowering as part of the Psychedelic 60's yet with roots that stretched back to the 50's, the beatniks, and the Greenwich Village scene that spawned so much.  The Fugs are more famous for being famous, then for their music, and as time passes, people look back thinking that something just had to be going on that was revolutionary ... yet actually there wasn't.  There's not much here, or on any of the albums to OOH and AAH about.

True, the band was attempting to break new ground, explore the seamy side of life and politics, surrounded by fans who mainly went to the show so that they could be shocked, and the band perhaps shut down, or better yet, arrested on obscenity charges.  What this was, was "Street Theater" placed on records.  Of course some of the material holds a charm, but for the most part, The Fugs represented something that was going on in the corners, that never really saw the light of day, denoted no high water mark, and without them things would have been pretty much the same.

I look back and shrug my shoulders, twist my hands in my pockets trying for the life of me to think of something incisive, pointed, or revealing that I can say to shed some light on both The Fugs and their material ... but I can't, so I'll just stand here shuffling my feet, scratching my head, and wave you on to something else.  What I can tell you, is that this was in no way Proto-Punk, that's a label issued in hindsight; The Fugs just were what they were.  Though that being said, there are some people who are gonna think the band nothing short of godly, challenging the status quo, and perhaps even defining a generation.  But not me, I just giggle with despair, happy that The Fugs held no balance, or tipping point.  They made about as much sense as the raving John Sinclair, or David Peel & The Lower East Side.

Over the years, The Fugs have to have included more members then any other band in history ...

January - June 1965 Tuli Kupferberg - vocals / Ed Sanders - vocals / Ken Weaver - vocals, conga / Steve Weber - guitar, vocals / Peter Stampfel - fiddle, harmonica, vocals Summer 1965 Tuli Kupferberg - vocals, percussion / Ed Sanders - vocals / Ken Weaver - drums, vocals / Steve Weber - guitar, vocals / Vinny Leary - guitar, vocals / John Anderson - bass, vocals September - December 1965 Tuli Kupferberg - vocals, percussion / Ed Sanders - vocals / Ken Weaver - drums, vocals / Steve Weber - guitar, vocals December 1965 - July 1966 Tuli Kupferberg - vocals / Ed Sanders - vocals / Ken Weaver - drums, vocals / Lee Crabtree - keyboards, percussion / Vinny Leary - guitar, vocals / John Anderson - bass, vocals / Pete Kearney - guitar, vocals July - October 1966 Tuli Kupferberg - vocals / Ed Sanders - vocals / Ken Weaver - drums, vocals / Lee Crabtree - keyboards, percussion / Danny Kalb - lead guitar / Vinny Leary - rhythm guitar, vocals October 1966 - Spring 1967 Tuli Kupferberg - vocals / Ed Sanders - vocals / Ken Weaver - drums, vocals / Lee Crabtree - keyboards, percussion / Jake Jacobs - guitar, vocals / Chuck Rainey - bass Summer 1967 - Summer 1968 Tuli Kupferberg - vocals / Ed Sanders - vocals / Ken Weaver - drums, vocals / Ken Pine - guitar, vocals / Danny Kootch - guitar, violin / Charles Larkey - bass Winter 1968 - March 1969 Tuli Kupferberg - vocals / Ed Sanders - vocals, / Ken Weaver - drums, vocals / Ken Pine - guitar, vocals / Bill Wolf - bass, vocals / Bob Mason - drums 1985-2010 Tuli Kupferberg - vocals / Ed Sanders - vocals / Steve Taylor - vocals, guitar / Coby Batty - drums, percussion, vocals / Scott Petito - bass, keyboards 2010 - Present Ed Sanders - vocals / Steve Taylor - vocals, guitar / Coby Batty - drums, percussion, vocals / Scott Petito - bass, keyboards

Review by Jenell Kesler


title: Hugues Aufray - New Yorker: Hommage à Bob Dylan

text:
Nearly fifty years out, and people are still finding new ways of perceiving, discovering, and relating their impressions of Robert Allen Zimmerman ... it was back in 1965 that Hugues Aufray brought Aufray Chante Dylan, giving his French countrymen their first taste of Dylan's revolutionary music.  Never one to lose sight of the illusive tambourine man, here Hugues lays out a series of duets, complete with the approval of his friend, mentor, and inspiration ... Bob Dylan.

Hugues was much like Dylan, in an interview he said, "When I finally made my way to New York, I discovered the most amazing city, the capital of the 20th century, filled with the most extraordinary artists.  And I thought to myself, This is the place and the music that I want to grow up with!"  And while Dylan made New York his throne, Huges made New York his adopted home.

These are a sensational grouping of songs, though not what one might expect on first glance.  On second glance one hears that the songs are in French, and on third glance, you discover that Mr. Aufray hasn't so much deconstructed Dylan's music, as he's zeroed in on his melodies, bringing them front and center, giving the melodies a place of prominence, and showing how much of Bob's work rests firmly on these fragile combination of notes, over which he's laid his voice.  And here, with these duets in French, one for perhaps the first time is able to glimmer these magical moments.  Though Hugues described his journey as, " ... I've tried to restore the primitive musicality of the songs."  And to that end, especially on one of my favorites, "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" [Knock Knock, Ouvre Toi Porte Du Ciel], recored with Bernard Lavilliers, he succeeds spectacularly.

Sure, you can download this fine release, BUT, if you actually make a purchase of the CD, you'll find a secret file filled with images, text, and short films to splinter the mind, and bring joy to the soul.

Review by Jenell Kesler


title: Luna - Tracy I Love You (EP)

text:
This is an out of print, and very rare EP from Australia, containing the hit single "Tracy I Love You," along with five other live tracks that could can not have been heard anywhere else at the time, though several of the tracks can now be heard on the live Night Nurse bootlegs.  Never the less, during these years, this gave fans the chance to hear what Luna sounded like live, a dream for most of us, as Luna's live adventures were rather limited.  This disc was produced in a slim line jewel box, with a front insert only, there was never a rear insert issued.  It's a great addition to your collection, though selling for around $70 US, this is a rather pricey EP to say the least.

Review by Jenell Kesler


title: Surf Guitar Villains - A Young Person's Guide to the Surf Guitar Villains

text:
A Young Person's Guide To The Surf Guitar Villains might just have easily been called Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Surf Guitar Villains, But Were Afraid To Ask.  This is a dynamic fourteen track compilation of sorts, that traces the rise of one of the coolest bands that too many dumb-ass Americans have never heard of.  I say of sorts, because some of the songs have been reworked, while others are being presented live, and some you just might find here for the very first time.

There's a way-cool, very hip, 60's retro vibe going on here, and it's all laced together by songs backed by surf themes, washed with layers of reverb, stacked with rhythmic blues, a rockin' backbeat that will knock your socks off, and vocals that crawl right up your legs to look you square in the eyes.  This is the stuff of legend, these are tunes designed to drop the top, roll down the windows, and see just how loud you can crank that baby on the open road without drifting off into the stratosphere.

The boys open this set with "Sweet Jane," a brilliant Velvet Underground cover, and is the first song I ever hear by Billiam and the Villains, though I assure you, it wouldn't be my last.  If you were in front of me, I'd be holding this disc by the corner in my right hand so that you could see the cover dead on, then with my left hand I'd be pointing right at it, looking you straight in the face, saying, "Buy this!  It'll do you good."

And it will ...

Review by Jenell Kesler


title: 'DET Live! Vol. 2

text:
Come on ... who am I kidding, there's only one reason I have this really rare double disc set of exclusive acoustic and live performances that are totally unique to this disc, produced for radio station WDET FM 102.9 out of Detroit, and that's because there's a Luna track, "Superfreaky Memories," on it.  And of course, if there's a unique or rare track from Galaxie 500, Luna, or Dean & Britta floating around out there, then I've just gotta have it.

BUT and there's always a BUT, the rest of this double disc is really good as well, featuring some of the best of the best, and a sweet collection of artists who were new to the scene back in 2000, and have since become legends in the years that've passed.  The set makes for a great mix, and may just spark you to venture into the world of a few artists you may never have heard of.

Review by Jenell Kesler


title: Asteroid No. 4 - Hail to the Clear Figurines

text:
For all Philadelphia was in the early years of music, the city certainly seems to have given up its status when it comes to new artists, though there are exceptions ... case in point are Asteroid No. 4 who have been carrying the psychedelic flag for nearly fifteen years now, and here on Hail To The Clear Figurines, probably their finest release, show no intentions of slowing down, or disappearing into the ether.  The album is available as a download, on disc, or on a sweet piece of 180 red plastic.

The Astroids turn the tables and jumpstart the album with "Wicked Wire," a hard driving number with an irresistible backbeat, and then slide into the soaring trippy numbers, filled with washes of colour, spacious sound, superb reverb, echo, slow-drive jangling guitars, processed vocals, and delicate melodic touches that lightly reach out to caress the sides of your face ... just to make sure that you're still conscious, and ever so slightly aware.

This is one of those brilliant albums that sounds like it's been lost for forty five years, and has just been discovered on some dusty shelf ... though in reality, the band takes full advantage of current technologies while drawing deeply from the garage psychedelic sounds of the mid 1960's, bending your mind as you float down stream with shaded kaleidoscope eyes, on a raft rigged with windowpane sails.

You can read my interview with the band here at It's Psychedelic Baby ...

Review by Jenell Kesler


title: Hawkwind - Motorhead / Valium Ten

text:
Far too few people review singles, and that's a shame, because singles present the opportunity for the band to step out from the normalcy, and lay something terrific on us.  Which is just what Hawkwind has done here on "Valium 10," capturing the intoxicating head-rush of dropping a Valium, or better yet, injecting 10 milligrams IM, and feeling the lush wondrous sensation as the drug weaves it way through your system, rolling your eyes back in your head, while a smile of total satisfaction inches its way across your face `til there's nothing left to do but laugh, and admit that nothing in your short sweet life has ever felt better.  Or so I'm told.

I'll be the first to admit that most of Hawkwind's material leaves me rather flat, but when they shine, there's nothing on earth like their music, where they set the pace, and charted the currents for future effects driven bands like Spacemen 3, Spectrum, Jazz Butchers, and so many others that may not know where the genesis of their influences lay ... but have carried the banner with blistering effects driven guitars, and layered hypnotic melodies that have swamped my head, and carried my subconscious to the nether regions of the stratosphere for years.  Every once in awhile it's more than rewarding to step back in time, pull out the vinyl, plant your feet in the shifting sands of total psychedelia, and watch your soul float off on the waves ... only to be returned to you on a bolt of dry lightening from a crystal clear sky.

Review by Jenell Kesler