title: Terrific Collection of Rarities and Hard-to Find Tracks

text:
In the Sixties and Seventies, many record labels released sampler albums to promote new releases.  However, this 1966 Elektra 14-track sampler (now reissued almost forty years later by Collectors' Choice Music) was something of an anomaly in that many of these songs never appeared on any other Elektra album, including five tracks from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's first recording session for the label. Two of these tracks-"Off the Wall" and "One More Mile"-never appeared on any another recording in any form.

There are also three Eric Clapton tracks with his band Powerhouse (with Jack Bruce, Steve Winwood and Paul Jones) that were recorded in February of 1966. [Two of these tracks-"Crossroads" and "I Want To Know"-showed up on Winwood's 1995 box set THE FINER THINGS.]

In addition, there is an outtake ("I'm in Love Again") from Tom Rush's album TAKE A LITTLE WALK WITH ME, and a pre-Blues Project version of Al Kooper's "I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes."

But the most exciting tracks (for me, anyway), are the four tracks that the Lovin' Spoonful recorded for Elektra before signing with Kama-Sutra.  The first of these, "Good Time Music," appeared on Rhino's 1990 LOVIN' SPOONFUL ANTHOLOGY, but that album is now out of print. The other three tracks ("Almost Grown," "Don't Bank on It Baby" and "Searchin'") have never appeared anywhere else. That alone makes this release a must for Spoonful fans.

In the mid-Sixties, Elektra was just getting its feet wet with rock `n' roll, and there are enough rarities on this disc to make it one of the more exciting reissues of recent years.  RECOMMENDED

PS:  The amazon.com review says there are 28 tracks; there are only 14:

Lovin' Spoonful:  "Good Time Music," "Almost Grown," "Don't Bank on It Baby" and "Searchin'"

Eric Clapton & Powerhouse:  "I Want To Know," "Crossroads" and "Steppin' Out"

Paul Butterfield Blues Band:  "Lovin' Cup," "Good Morning Little School Girl," "Spoonful," "Off the Wall" and "One More Mile"

Tom Rush:  "I'm in Love Again"

Al Kooper"  "I Can't Keep from Crying Sometimes"


title: The Beatles Quit Touring And Become a Studio Group

text:
ANTHOLOGY 2 differs from its predecessor in several ways.  First, there are fewer live recordings. There were 13 live tracks on ANTHOLOGY 1, but only 7 on ANTHOLOGY 2.  This is in large part due to the fact that the Beatles quit touring in 1966 and by 1965 were no longer making appearances on the BBC. It's worth noting, however, that there are no live tracks from their last concert appearance (at San Francisco's Candlestick Park), but there are two tracks ("Rock and Roll Music" and "She's a Woman") from their show two months earlier in Tokyo.

Also, beginning with 1965's RUBBER SOUL, the Beatles were spending more time in the studio carefully crafting each song, pushing the boundaries of contemporary music.  This was a period of increased growth and experimentation as the group essentially transformed from a touring band to a studio group.  As such, there are very few unreleased songs from this era of the band's career.  Here are the four new songs from ANTHOLOGY 2:

"Real Love":  Just like "Free As a Bird," the surviving Beatles took a John Lennon demo (this one from 1979) and completed the song in the studio in 1994 with Jeff Lynne producing.  Not as good as "Free As a Bird," but a nice addition to the Beatles' canon.

"If You've Got Trouble":  Recorded in 1965 during the HELP! Sessions, this Lennon-McCartney original was to be Ringo's vocal contribution to the new album.  The group never felt satisfied with the song and Ringo sang the Buck Owens song "Act Naturally" instead. While it's nice to have this song available, it's fairly evident that the Beatles made the right decision in leaving this track off the album.

"That Means a Lot":  Also recorded during the HELP! Sessions.  It's a relatively nondescript song and was justifiably not included on the album.  [Note:  The song was given to British singer P.J. Proby, who had a No. 24 U.K. hit with it.]

"12-Bar Original":  Recorded during the 1965 REVOLVER sessions, this is a 2:54 edit of the 6:36 original.  It's unclear if this instrumental was ever seriously considered for inclusion on an LP, or if it was just an extended studio jam.  Producer George Martin plays harmonium on the track.

The bulk of ANTHOLOGY 2 is comprised of alternate takes, combinations of alternate takes, demos and backing tracks. Some are fascinating (listen to the evolution of Lennon's "Strawberry Fields Forever"), some are only mildly interesting ("Eleanor Rigby" featuring only the double string quartet), and some are just a bit goofy (John giggling through the vocal on a recording of "And Your Bird Can Sing").  But even if some songs don't beg for repeated listens, this is as close to being in the studio with the Fab Four as most of us will ever get.  For that reason alone, this collection is worth the price of admission for Beatles fans.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED


title: The Holy Grail for Beatles Completists

text:
The ANTHOLOGY series is definitely not for the casual fan. But for any true Beatles fan who grew up in the Sixties awaiting each new release, this first volume in the series presents a treasure trove of musical memorabilia from the Fab Four's genesis as the Quarry Men through 1964, when they spearheaded the British Invasion and forever changed popular music.

Disc 1 begins with the much ballyhooed "new" recording "Free As a Bird."  It is a stunning track performed by Paul, George and Ringo recorded in 1994 using a 1977 John Lennon demo.  Since the remaining tracks date from 1958 to 1964, this track seems out of place on ANTHOLOGY 1, but the advance hype of this song didn't allow for its delayed inclusion on ANTHOLOGY 3.

What makes this first volume special is the historical importance of many of these tracks.  While the sound quality is marginal on some of these recordings, where else will you find anything by the pre-Beatles group the Quarry Men or any Beatles tracks with Stu Sutcliffe on bass or Pete Best on drums?

Most of the rarities are on Disc-1. Here are the previously unreleased highlights:

"That'll Be the Day" / "In Spite of All the Danger":  A 1958 recording by the Quarry Men.  [Note: The latter track was written by McCartney-Harrison.]

"Hallelujah, I Love Her So" / "You'll Be Mine" / "Cayenne":  Home tapes featuring the only known recordings with Stu Sutcliffe on bass.

"Searchin'" / "Three Cool Cats" / "The Shiek of Araby" / "Like Dreamers Do" / Hello Little Girl": Five songs from their 1962 Decca audition.  Pete Best is on drums.  The latter two tracks were Lennon-McCartney originals that they never recorded after securing a contract with EMI.

"Besame Mucho" / "Love Me Do": From their initial 1962 EMI session produced by George Martin.  Both tracks feature Pete Best on drums.

"How Do You Do It":  Brought to the group by George Martin to be used for their first single.  The session features Ringo on drums.  The song was eventually scrapped in favor of "Love Me Do." [Note:  But labelmates Gerry & The Pacemakers would have a hit with it.]

"One After 909":  A 1963 attempt at a song that would not resurface until 1970's LET IT BE.

"Lend Me Your Comb":  A 1963 BBC recording that was not included on 1994's LIVE AT THE BBC.

Disc-2 contains fewer unreleased rarities:

"Moonlight Bay":  a comedic number performed in 1963 on "The Morecambe and Wise Show."  The boys ham it up with the show's comedy duo.

"All My Loving":  The live performance from the Beatles' historic first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964.

"Shout": A 1964 live performance of the Isley Brothers' song that never made onto another Beatles' recording.

"You Know What To Do":  A demo of a George Harrison original from 1964. The song was never completed.

"Leave My Kitten Alone":  Recorded for inclusion on BEATLES FOR SALE, Lennon provides the vocal on this cover of a Little Willie John number.

Technically, all of the tracks on this collection are previously unreleased; but the above tracks represent mostly songs that were never released in any form until the release of ANTHOLOGY 1.  The rest of the tracks are either live recordings or alternate takes.  None of these songs are presented in their original released studio versions.  So if you're looking for the recordings you remember, you'll be disappointed.  But if you're looking for a glimpse at the formation of the most popular band in pop music history, this is a must-have release.  ESSENTIAL


title: A Few Gems--Lots of Filler

text:
Okay, okay.  This 2-on-1 CD reissue of the two soundracks the Spoonful did should not be judged by the same criteria as their official studio releases.  That said, there are some classic Spoonful tunes here to be  weeded out from among the mostly instrumental songs found here.
About a  third of the tracks are vocals and all deserve a listen.  "Pow"  is the kind of zany track like "Blues in the Bottle" or  "Bald-Headed Lena" that wound up on  the albums Do You Believe in  Magic and Daydream respectively.  "Fishin' Blues" remained in  John Sebastian's live set throughout his solo years.  "Respoken"  gives Zal Yanovsky the opportunity to provide some understated guitar  licks.  "You're a Big Boy Now" is classic Spoonful with its  bouncy rhythms.  And "Darling Be Home Soon" even became a hit  (peaking at #15).  However, "Wash Her Away (from the  Discotheque)," with its cheesy organ sounds like some studio mogul's  idea of what rock and roll should sound like.  And "Girl, Beautiful  Girl/Barabara's Theme" is little more than a throwaway when compared  to classics like "Do You Believe in Magic" and "Summer in  the City."
In between, there are lots of incidental instrumentals.  All of it listenable(at least once), but not much really memorable.  Zally's guitar playing is always tasteful and Sebastian's harmonica is used  to good effect. Although on the tracks that get the full orchestration  teatment, like on "Letter to Barbara" and "Miss Thing's  Thang," the band seems to disappear entirely.  And even as kitsch  "Dixieland Big Boy" can be painful to listen to.
However, when  the band is left unadorned like on the bluesy "A Cool Million"  and the country-ish "Phil's Love Theme," the Spoonful  deliver.
Overall, this album is for completists only.  But with so little  of the Spoonful's original albums in print, this is worth giving a  spin--and the price isn't bad either.  CAUTIOUSLY RECOMMENDED


title: Great songs

text: Sounds great


title: Five Stars

text: Sounds amazing on original classic vinyl!


title: Five Stars

text: Classic masterpieces on nice warm vinyl!!


title: Five Stars

text: Great vinyl sound!


title: And then there were Wings...

text:
(the third post-Beatles Release, the first Wings release,  age 29)

(originaly released December 1971)

(37 minutes and 33 seconds of loving goodness)

Now if you ask me, and a lot of folks interested in the post-Beatle work of the fab-four do on a fairly regular basis, this was an effort to recapture some of the majic of playing in a band. After two solo albums, Paul was apparently ready to get back in to the studio with a band and recreate some of the chemistry that the Beatles had. This is only my oipinion, but I reckon it is probably fairly erudite and accurate... but that's my opinion too.

There weren't any single's lifted from this one and I don't understand why. The one track that could have obviously been a single is "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" which has been covered by any number of others over the years... most notably Shonen Knife who gave it the OL treatment in an Osaka studio a couple of decades back. "Wild Life" crawled up to #10 on the charts and remained there for just one week before sliding off in to obscurity. Not very impressive for a band that would churn out an enormous amount of chart toppers shortly there after, but a fair start from a weak album full of middling tunes.

I have not been able to interest the youngin's in this album, but me and Mama see it as a significant contribution to the music of the 70s as it was the emergence of Wings and the start of what would become an indelible mark on the radio playlist for a decade. I recommend this album for anyone who really likes anything McCartney ever did... and that's pretty much most of us... but must conclude that this is the weakest in his catalogue. Forewarned is forearmed.


title: Forget about Buddy?  That'll be the day!

text:
After seeing The Buddy Holly Story long ago, and recognizing the influence he had on the Beatles, i.e. Crickets/Beatles, I knew that one of these days, I'd get some compilation of his stuff, and I just did a few days ago.  Also, the deaths of he, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens on 2 February 1959, the troubles with the law faced by Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard's turning to religion, and Eddie Cochran's auto death, signalled the death of real rock until the Beatles picked up the torch.  The list of songs includes Holly with and without the Crickets.  Highlights:
Originally a country song, the #1 "That'll Be The Day" with its electrified galloping riffs, made Holly a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
The rollicking skiffle of "Oh Boy!" followed "That'll Be The Day", peaking at #3 in the UK, but only #10 in the US.  From the guitar riffs, I can see the influence he had on the Beatles early albums.
A more romantic flavour is shown in the UK #4 "Maybe Baby" a mid-paced effort.  "Think It Over," an exercise in classic early rock, barely missed the Top Ten in the UK.  It features a piano solo.
Holly's first solo was "Peggy Sue" with a running rhythm guitar and drum, was his last solo US Top Ten hit, reaching #3, but #6 in the UK.  The jangly guitar in the midsection is yet more evidence of his influence on the Fabs.  It's B-side, the lovely "Everyday", features collaborator Norman Petty's wife on the celeste and drummer Jerry Allyson clapping his hands on his knees.  A sequel was made of the A-side, "Peggy Sue Got Married", which in turn inspired a Kathleen Turner movie in 1986.
Not all Holly's songs did well.  The mid-paced "Heartbeat" has a somewhat calypso beat.  It sadly failed, reaching #30 in the UK.  In the US...don't ask!  "Midnight Shift" has a slower sound reminiscent of classic R&B, and was an early song released his star shone.  It only reached #26 in the UK.
The more rockabilly "Rave On" was a solo Holly song that peaked at #5 in the UK, his best solo posting while alive.  John Cougar Mellencamp covered this less successfully on the Cocktail soundtrack.
"True Love Ways" with its string section is probably my second favourite Holly song after "That'll Be The Day", showing a much softer side of him compared to his earlier recordings.  Another lush song with strings is "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", which was a posthumous UK #1.
Holly also did cover songs, such as Bobby Darin's "Early In The Morning" and Chuck Berry's fast-paced "Brown Eyed Handsome Man."  The latter's B-side was the more soft and wistful "Wishing", which became a Top Ten hit in its own right in the UK.
"Words Of Love" never became a hit for Holly, but this is probably better known because the Beatles recorded it for their Beatles For Sale album.
In reading the chart postings of each song, I noticed how much more Buddy was appreciated in the UK rather than his home country.  The good that came out of that is better taste on part of the Brits, particularly a certain Paul McCartney, who now owns Buddy Holly's song catalogue.
This includes the US and UK chart positions each song reached.  Sadly, it does not include "Well Alright", "Not Fade Away", "It's So Easy" and "Raining In My Heart", but this collection had most of what I wanted so I sprang for it.  And as coming Monday is the sad anniversary of the Day The Music Died, I thought this would be a fitting time to review this.


title: It is what it is

text:
High expectations have always followed any Beatle-related project, and disappointment always seem to follow high expectations.  I think people expected the anthology series to somehow be more than what it was, and maybe that particularly applies to Anthology 1.  There is a lot of speaking voices on disc 1, and the early recorded music history of the group was not the best in terms of audio fidelity.  For this reason, Anthology 1 came under a lot of criticism.
But it is what it is - an early history of the group in sound.  I wish there would have been better quality performances of their early years available, but that simply is not the case.  It's fortunate that we have what we have - their first ever recording, the Cavern rehearsal tape, the Star Club tape, etc.  Yes, the sound is crude, but offers a glimpse of the Beatles' formative years.  We can't ask for anything more, because this is all that exists.
The Beatles made many appearances, on stage and on TV (and radio) during early Bealtemania.  Again, some of this is somewhat crude sounding, but fascinating all the same.  Their performance for Swedish radio in '63 is, I think, some of the most ferocious live playing I've ever heard, and gives us a taste of what it might have been like to catch them live in a club on a good night.
Finally, the studio outtakes from this early period are probably the least interesting outtakes of the groups career, but it is still fascinating to see how some of the songs evolved and changed.  And I Love Her, for instance, quickly evolved from a beat ballad to the sublime and beatiful arrangement we hear on A Hard Day's Night.  Not all outtakes are that revelatory, but are still a good listen.
Nope, this certainly isn't the polished product that we expected from the Beatles during their heyday.  And it is true that George Martin and the group had the instinct to always select the right song and the right take.  But, this release is a piece of history, an important piece of history.  Considered in that context, it was, is and will remain an important and valid piece of the Beatles' cannon.


title: No "Spoken Word Intros" Like Volume 1, but Still Outstanding Material

text:
The Beatles need no introduction when it comes to the elite of Rock/Pop music.  When trying to "rank" the greatest artists of the Rock/Pop era, there is no doubt that the quartet from England ranks number one on just about every list.  Going even further, the Beatles might be the top act in the history of modern music - among any genre.  Some quarter-century after their breakup, the Beatles began to consider their place in history.  This impetus played a key role in the release of the three volume, "Beatles Anthology" CD set and corresponding television documentary.  One of the main attractions of this project was that it would bring the three surviving Beatles together for the first time since the famous breakup.  Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr would collaborate together on two unfinished John Lennon songs: "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" - creating a "virtual" reunion among the four band members.  This three volume set would not be an ordinary greatest hits collection - it would provide a historical retrospective to the band through rare and unreleased material.  The second volume, "Beatles Anthology 2" covers the middle to late years of the Beatles from 1965 through 1968 - and shows some of their most creative material.

As mentioned, this CD serves as a historical retrospective to the band.  The material is arranged in chronological order.  One of the strengths of "Beatles Anthology Volume 1" was that there was material that was prefaced with spoken words by the likes of Lennon, McCartney, and Brian Epstein.  These spoken words helped set the stage for the material to follow.  Unfortunately, "Beatles Anthology 2" does not have any spoken words with the exception of some comments that are on the demo cuts.  While the content of "Beatles Anthology 2" is still very good, I still think it falls a bit short when compared to Volume 1.  One positive is that Volume 2 does contain an outstanding 46 page booklet that helps to supplement the listening experience.  This collection should not be confused  with a traditional "Greatest Hits Collection".  Instead of studio cuts, this collection consists of outtakes, demos, and rarities that construct a terrific listening experience.

Here are 10 things to look for - in no particular order:

1) "Real Love" is a good song.  When compared to the other "virtual reunion" song on Volume 1, "Free as a Bird", it is the better of the two cuts. "Real Love" features Lennon on lead vocals (unlike "Free as a Bird" that had also had vocals by McCartney and Harrison)  Like "Free as a Bird", - it was produced by Harrison's "Wilbury" partner Jeff Lynne produced the song.  I didn't think this song belonged as the first song, but given the fact that this doesn't fit in with the early material - I'm not sure where this should have been put.

2) Like Volume 1, George Martin does a masterful job at providing continuity and fusion to the collection.  While he didn't actually produce "Real Love", he produced the Anthology series as a whole.

3) This collection does a better job at providing demo cuts than Volume 1.  In particular it is very interesting to hear demo versions such as "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Yesterday", "The Fool on the Hill", "I'm Only Sleeping", and "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite"

4) The collection features four live cuts ("I Feel Fine", "Ticket to Ride", "Yesterday", and "Help!" that were recorded at the ABC Theatre in Blackpool for the British Television Show, "Blackpool Night Out".  These live cuts are outstanding.

5) Volume 1 featured much more in the way of covers.  On Volume 2 the majority of the cuts are original Beatles compositions with the exception of Carl Perkins' "Everybody Trying to Be My Baby" and Chuck Berry's "Rock and Roll Music".

6) There are three instrumentals worth noting:  "Eleanor Rigby", "Within You Without You", and the unissued "12-Bar Original".  "12 Bar Original" is highlighted by the Harmonium played by George Martin. However the instrumental version of "Eleanor Rigby" simply blew me away.

7) I didn't classify the version of "Got to Get You Into My Life" as a demo, but more like an alternate version.  While not as strong or polished as the final version that was released, I still found this intriguing.  There are alternate lyrics and "pauses".

8) Perhaps the most amazing thing about this collection is the Beatles transform from the early 1960 sound into their psychedelic era.  The bluesy "12 Bar Original" and very psychedelic  "Tomorrow Never Knows" are ordered back to back and show how dramatic a transformation that was.

9) The three cuts of "Strawberry Fields Forever" really demonstrate how the Beatles came to evolve what would be the final product.  The demo starts out as a folksy version and you can hear how they evolve some more psychedelic elements into the arrangements on the second two cuts.

10) While some of the material on this version is unfinished or interrupted by spoken words, it is what adds to the charm of the collection.  I heard a disc-jockey in "New York" so impressed with this collection as he said "...and this is the junk!"  It's amazing how stuff that didn't make it through editing could sound so good, but in this case it works.

Overall, this is one terrific collection.  I've heard that this collection is not geared toward the novice fan, but I think anyone with an interest in modern music history will appreciate this collection.  This collection is best listened to when you listen to it from start to finish.  I wish more groups would follow this formula for producing retrospectives.  Be sure to follow along and read the liner notes that are included - they are as good as you can get.  Despite the lack of the "Spoken Word Intros" that were on Volume 1, this is still an outstanding collection.  Highly recommended.


title: Not a Traditional Greatest Hits Collection , but a Historical Retrospective

text:
The Beatles need no introduction when it comes to the elite of Rock/Pop music.  When trying to "rank" the greatest artists of the Rock/Pop era, there is no doubt that the quartet from England ranks number one on just about every list.  Going even further, the Beatles might be the top act in the history of modern music - among any genre.  Some quarter-century after their breakup, the Beatles began to consider their place in history.  This impetus played a key role in the release of the three volume, "Beatles Anthology" CD set and corresponding television documentary.  One of the main attractions of this project was that it would bring the three surviving Beatles together for the first time since the famous breakup.  Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr would collaborate together on two unfinished John Lennon songs: "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" - creating a "virtual" reunion among the four band members.  This three volume set would not be an ordinary greatest hits collection - it would provide a historical retrospective to the band through rare and unreleased material.  It is the first volume, "Beatles Anthology 1" that covers the early days of the Beatles from their days as the Quarrymen through their material in late 1964 found on their fourth album, "Beatles For Sale".

As mentioned, this CD serves as a historical retrospective to the band.  The material is arranged in chronological order.  Some of the material is prefaced with spoken words by Lennon, McCartney, and Brian Epstein.  The spoken words help set the stage for the material that is to follow.  Included with the collection is a 46 page booklet that describes each of the tracks.  As for the tracks themselves, these consist of demo cuts, alternative cuts, live cuts, and bootlegs.  One thing that helps is to follow the material in the booklet with the music - using the booklet and music hand-in-hand helps complete the historical experience that this collection provides.  This should not be confused with a traditional "Greatest Hits Collection".  This is no greatest hits collection: Some of the material consisted of covers and songs that were never heard before.  At the same time, the "name" songs are all different versions from what is heard in the mainstream.  As a result, this helps enhance the listening experience.

Here are 10 things to look for - in no particular order:

1) "Free as a Bird" is a good song - it isn't a great one.  There probably wasn't much to choose from to sustain a "virtual" reunion between the four members of the Beatles.  The engineering of the song isn't bad.  The song will grow on you as you hear it.  It would have been nice if Ringo Starr had gotten a vocal since the other three Beatles got vocals.  It is also worth noting that Harrison's "Wilbury" partner Jeff Lynne produced the song.  I didn't think this song belonged as the first song, but given the fact that this doesn't fit in with the early material - I'm not sure where this should have been put.

2) George Martin does a masterful job at providing continuity and fusion to the collection.  While he didn't actually produce "Free as a Bird", he produced the Anthology series as a whole.

3) The "Pre-Beatles" material is very interesting.  This isn't going to have the best recording quality.  In fact the 1958 Quarrymen cuts from the Phillips studio are going to have some pretty bad quality.  Yet, this is going to add to the whole "historical" listening experience that this collection provides.

4) The Quarrymen and early Beatles material consist of a large number of covers.  Some of the more common covers include "That'll Be the Day" (Buddy Holly), "Aint She Sweet" (Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps),  and "Shout" (Isley Brothers).  But perhaps the best one is the Beatles cover of the song made famous by the Coasters - "Besame Mucho".  This cover stands out and shows a Latin side to the band that was rarely seen.

5) I was also surprised about the instrumental pieces that were included.  "Cayenne" and "Cry For a Shadow" are two instrumentals that are included on this collection.  Both instrumentals stand out.

6) The Tony Sheridan song, "My Bonnie" is included as well.  It is on this version that features Sheridan on lead vocals and the Beatles supporting him as his band.  Only some shouts by McCartney can be heard on background vocals.

7) There is a very funny comedy skit featuring the Beatles on the British comedy show,  "The Morecambe and Wise" show.  I can't get enough of when Ringo is referred to as "Bongo".  This skit has a segue into a very funny version of "Moonlight Bay".  This shows a lighter side of the band.

8) I would have liked to have seen more of the Ed Sullivan material included on this CD collection. I'm disappointed there isn't Ed himself providing the introduction  It would have made the historical perspective "complete".  The only "Sullivan" song included is "All My Loving".

9) As for the spoken words, I actually would have preferred if more spoken words were included.  The spoken parts that are included serve as a great lead-in - but there are parts that don't have the spoken word add-in.

10) I love some of the unfinished demo cuts.  I heard a disc-jockey in "New York" so impressed with this collection as he said "...and this is the junk!"  It's amazing how stuff that didn't make it through editing could sound so good, but in this case it works.

Overall, this is one terrific collection.  I've heard that this collection is not geared toward the novice fan, but I think anyone with an interest in modern music history will appreciate this collection.  This collection is best listened to when you listen to it from start to finish.  I wish more groups would follow this formula for producing retrospectives.  This collection is highly recommended.


title: Upbeat, soothing and just plain enjoyable!!

text: Monty attended elementary school with my oldest son--he played many times at Cayuse Prairie School in Creston (Kalispell) Montana for many of the school programs.  Was a very gifted child.  This album has been enjoyed by whole family as we sit quietly and remember such a fine young man.  Many thanks to his parents for letting all of us share.  We all miss Monty!


title: Sound good

text: Sound good


title: Great cd excellent condition

text: I have been looking for this for a long time.  I had the album many years ago and it was lost in a move.  So happy to be able to get this.


Great CD with all of her hits. I love playing yet.


title: Best children's album ever.

text: Best children's album ever.  This was our favorite album when our kids were young.  Malvina Reynold wrote intelligent songs and Marcia Berman sings like an angel.  The arrangements and musicians are magical.


title: Four Stars

text: My daughter loves his CD


title: Top condition.

text: Great Music


title: Excellent

text: Excellent


title: 3! 11! 3, 3, 11!

text: Great album by a great band. But what bonus track?


title: Fantastic album

text: Great songs


title: quality of the service

text: Great service and great music


title: Five Stars

text: Love this musical!


title: Not to the point that it gets boring!

text: Guitar virtuosos at work! Not to the point that it gets boring!


title: Not Chuck Wagon and the Wheels

text: This is some other band that has taken over the name of Chuck Wagon.


title: One of the best compilations.

text: Very happy to find this. Had a copy on cassette with no way to play it.


title: It's all good!

text:
An amazing set ranging from 1976-1992. Mosaic sets are put together with the greatest integrity. Their stuff is generally highly interesting and generally represent significant contributions from an artist.

This is no exception. Tom Harrell is on six selections, two of which are over 10 minutes. Some tracks here include the late, great guitarist Harry Leahey, later stuff with Brian Lynch on trumpet, and of course the support of his 20+ year association with Steve Gilmore (bass) and Bill Goodwin (drums). Pianists change from Mike Melillo to Hal Galper to Jim McNeely with Hal Crook (trombone) on a few cuts.

This is jazz of the highest order and not available anywhere else. It's now become kind of rare and expensive, and I splurged for it and am sure glad I did. It's all good; make that excellent!

alllmusic.com tells us: "Mosaic's limited-edition, five-disc box Phil Woods Quartet/Quintet 20th Anniversary Set is a treasure trove for hardcore fans of the alto saxophonist. All the material on this set is previously unreleased; Woods has been saving this material for 20 years and decided to license the tapes to Mosaic to celebrate his band's 20th anniversary. Much of this music is dynamic and exciting, and it will certainly be a welcome addition to the collection of any serious Woods fan. "


title: Hardest hittin' blues you'll ever hear...

text:
These Charly, UK sets are not easy to find. Their sets are generally made with great care and pride. 151 Chess and Sun recordings- it is entitled "Complete" although it does not contain two very non-essential albums from the period (The Super Super Plus Band from 1967 and the 1968 Cadet album aka "Howlin' Wolf Didn't Like This Album"- and with good reason; both are quite disposable and unnecessary), plus a conversation; this is all from Sun and Chess, his very best stuff, the real essential recordings without a bad track in the lot.

Very cool booklet too...

Hubert Sumlin is heard at his best, in his prime; the legendary guitar playing.

The early Sun stuff is just awesome; the hard hittin' Sun recordings, pretty raw and powerful with Willie Johnson on guitar and some with Ike Turner...

And of course the magnificent Wolf, the fantastic vocals, the fantastic harp... the quintessential Chess recordings that inspired the Stones, Clapton, and a whole lot of other great blues players... the great harmonica players like Kim Wilson, Rod Piazza, James Harmon, Anson Funderburgh band...

this is one awesome set!

Disc One: Moaning At Midnight/ How Many More Years/ The Wolf Is At Your Door/ Howlin' Wolf Boogie/ Getting Old And Gray/ Mr Highway Man/ Saddle My Pony/ Worried All The Time/ Oh Red/ My Last Affair/ Baby Ride With Me/ California Boogie/ Look A Here Baby/ Everybody's In The Mood/ Color And Kind/ Blue Bird/ Sweet Woman/ Well That's Alright/ Decoration Day/ Dorothy Mae (Tk 2)/ Come Back Home (Tk 3)

Disc Two: Smile At Me/ California Blues/ My Baby Walked Off/ My Troubles And Me/ Chocolate Drop/ Dorothy Mae (tk 1)/ Drinkin' C.V. Wine/ How Many More Years (alt)/ Baby Ride With Me (3 alt takes)/ How Many More Years (3 alt takes)/ Mr Highway Man (alt)/ My Last Affair (tk 1)/ Come Back Home (tks 1 & 2)/ Oh Red (tks 1 & 2)

Disc Three: I've Got A Woman/ Just My Kind/ Work For Your Money/ I'm Not Joking/ Mama Died And Left Me/ Highway Be My Friend/ Hold To Your Money/ Streamline Woman/ California Blues/ Stay Here `Till My Baby Comes/ Crazy About You Baby/ All Night Boogie/ I Love My Baby/ No Place To Go/ Neighbors/ I'm The Wolf/ Rockin' Daddy/ Baby How Long/ Evil/ I'll Be Around/ Forty Four

Disc Four: Who Will Be Next/ I Have A Little Girl/ Come To Me Baby/ Don't Mess With My Baby/ Smokestack Lightnin'/ You Can't Be Beat/ I Asked For Water/ So Glad/ Break Of Day/ The Natchez Burning/ Going Back Home/ Bluebird/ My Life/ You Ought To Know/ Who's Been Talking/ Tell Me/ Somebody In My Home/ Nature/ Walk To Camp Hall/ Poor Boy/ My Baby Told Me/ Sittin' On Top Of The World/ Howlin' Blues/ I Better Go Now

Disc Five: I Didn't Know/ Moaning For My Baby/ I'm Leaving You/ Can't Put Me Out/ Change My Way/ Getting Late/ I've Been Abused/ Howlin' For My Darling/ My People's Gone/ Mr Airplane Man/ Wang Dang Doodle/ Back Door Man/ Spoonful/ Little Baby/ Down In The Bottom/ Shake For Me/ The Red Rooster/ You'll Be Mine/ Just Like Treat You/ I Ain't Superstitious/ Goin' Down Slow/ Mama's Baby/ Do The Do/ Tail Dragger/ Long Green Stuff

Disc Six: Sugar Mama/ May I Have A Talk With You/ Hidden Charms/ 300lbs Of Joy/ Joy To My Soul/ Built For Comfort/ Love Me Darlin'/ Killing Floor/ My Country Sugar Mama/ Louise/ I Walked From Dallas/ Tell Me What I've Done/ Don't Laugh At Me/ Ooh Baby, Hold Me/ Poor Wind That Never Change/ New Crawlin' King Snake/ My Mind Is Ramblin'/ Commit A Crime/ Pop It To Me/ I Had A Dream/ Dust My Broom/ Mary Sue/ Hard Luck/ Tired Of Crying

Disc Seven: You Gonna Wreck My Life (Alt)/ Somebody In My Home (Alt)/ Nature (Tks 1-6)/ Nature (Alt)/ I Didn't Know/ I Better Go Now (Tk 1)/ Moaning For My Baby (Tks 3-4)/ I'm Leavin' You (Alt)/ I'm Leavin' You (Tks 7-10)/ You Can't Put Me Out/ I've Been Abused (Tks 5-7)/ Howlin' For My Darling (Tks 1-7)/ Wolf In The Mood/ Mr Airplane Man (Tks 1-2)/ Rollin' And Tumblin'/ I'm The Wolf/ Ain't Goin' Down That Dirt Road/ Conversation


title: A forgotten hit

text: I loved the single: The One You Love video and fell in love with this song! I tried getting this single later through-out the years to no avail! I am happy I ran across this seller. The compact disc is of great quality!


title: Margo O'Donnell is a very good singer, I am enjoying the CD very much ...

text:
Margo O'Donnell is a very good singer, I am enjoying the CD very much and play it all the time.

This CD will appeal to the people who like the old country sounds. Actually I purchased it for

one song only and ended up enjoying all of them.


title: Five Stars

text: My husband loved this Valentines day gift.  Thank you


title: Love it!

text: I ordered this as a replacement for one we had left at the beach.  It was in great shape and we are thrilled to have it.


title: Five Stars

text: Perfect!


title: Five Stars

text: Arrived in good condition.


title: Great Album

text: It's been on my regular rotation for years. Not a weak song on the album.


title: Back up Plan

text: My favorite band I bought three LOVE IT PIXIES ARE BACK , BABY/ YOU MUST BE THIS ALBUM ESPECIALLY IF YOU CALL YOURSELF A FAN


title: Yet another iteration of liberalism's passion play

text: I'm so tired of Hollywood rehashing the McCarthy era.  Most recently it was "The Majestic"; before that, "The Contender"; before that, "The Crucible," and before *that*, "Guilty By Suspicion."  Give us a break.  The only thing that redeems this movie is great acting, skinny ties and chain smoking.  Those guys in the 50s knew how to dress and they knew how to enjoy life.


title: CD's

text: Items arrived on time and were undamaged.


title: Five Stars

text: Always great. Great CD


title: Raw, Authentic, Poignant

text:
This is real, raw, authentic Eastern European folk music. Most singers are recorded unaccompanied by instruments. There is the occasional fiddle or drum.

I have traveled in Eastern European villages and my older relatives came from there. This is music I remember from the village, and from older relatives in the US. When singing broke out at family reunions, it sounded like this.

The singers are not American Idol material. They are raw and totally committed to each and every lyric.

That's a plus -- their enunciation is superb. I'm able to make out quite a few vocabulary words of their folk poetry. The words are basic Polish words about life and death: Almighty God. Oh, my mother. The town, the cake (in Polish, they rhyme.)

What too many people think of as folk music has been polished beyond recognition in order to make it marketable. That's not what you get with this CD. What you hear here is pure heart, soul, and commitment.


title: Memories

text: My childhood


title: Great indoor swing

text: I bought this for my little 3-year-old niece who has developmental issues and can't crawl or walk, so she gets bored and craves movement.  She absolutely loves swinging around in this.  The bar that it hangs on is certainly pricey, but I'd pay it any day to hear her giggle while having such fun.  Seems to be quite well made and is big enough to last for a long time as she grows.


title: SLEAZE ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR!

text: Unless 1987 GnR reunites and drops a new album, this is easily THE sleaze-rock record of the year!  In fact, it's something of a contemporary East Coast answer to "Appetite For Destruction"!! This is down n dirty, melodic rock & roll with crunchy, storming guitars, prime NYC energy and, on a few tracks, a dash of Black Crowes southern seasoning (but not too much!).  "Rotten To The Core" is a catchy, masterpiece worthy of the Alice Cooper Band - exactly what's missing from today's tepid rock scene (check out the video!).  Fans of Buchcherry, the Wildhearts, AC/DC, NY Dolls, 1st album Motley Crue, and Appetite For Destruction will love this!


title: Quiet...

text:
The first non-legal novel for John Grisham, this story revolves around a boy named Luke Chandler, a young boy who seeks to one day leave his family's cotton farm behind him and play major league baseball.  While it's a fine departure for the author of legal thrillers such as [[ASIN:0440245915 A Time to Kill: A Novel]] and [[ASIN:0385339666 The Chamber]], it's sometimes too quiet for me.
  While characters do die in this story, these deaths are never really followed up on because of a lack of information for the surviving characters.  Instead, this story is largely just about cotton picking and the seasonal workers that the Chandler family finds to help out with the job.  The biggest mystery for them is who is painting their farmhouse white.
  While the painting is a nice story ark and definitely good symbolism as painted houses in the town are a sign of some financial prosperity, it's all just sometimes dull.  The few moments of real action are quick and rarely touched on again long afterwards.  The ordinary events in young Luke Chandler's day are sometimes just too ordinary.  Also, what was with that whole scene with the girl at the river?  I'm more disturbed than anything else.
  But despite all it's faults and the consequent loss of one star in the ratings, it's still a decent book and die-heart Grisham fans like myself shouldn't go without.  The audio book is abridged, but I can't imagine all the excitement is only found in the full version.  Go find out for yourself though.  Enjoy.


title: Five Stars

text: Love this!


title: Five Stars

text: Who doesn't love this music and it came in great condition from this seller!/


title: Five Stars

text: What a great record!


title: Five Stars

text: Comprehensive Laura Nyro!


title: nkotb rock!

text: Nkotb music all on one cd with great songs.Loved it! When will they come out with another special edition like this with 1 cd and 1 dvd with bonus features and footage?A+Get it b4 summertime and take it to the beach!  ----------[[ASIN:B001F6ILE0 New Kids on the Block Cd+dvd ( the Block ) Limited Edtion]]


title: It gets 4 stars for the clean version! The explicit gets zero!

text: I had to go onto her website to order this CD without any of her new and improved language skills. I'm just disappointed and disgusted. With the album cleaned up it's fairly good. She could have left the nasty language out in the first place. It didn't need to be there and didn't do anything to help the album. Without it it's worth listening to and worth paying for it. I loved Folklore (clean version) and have everything she's ever done. Her writing has always impressed me. But I did not like that she turned herself into everybody else out there these days who don't have a proper vocabulary and stick in a bunch of dirty language instead of well thought out words like she always has in the past. I guess she wanted to be one of the "indie" artists that Jake preferred over her songs so badly that she lowered herself to their level. If this is her new trend she's lost a fan.


title: Love it

text: Love it - thanks


title: Love it!

text: I like all of the DVD's with Josh Groban. I wasn't aware of this one until I saw it on Amazon.


title: This compendium of authentic sports quotations from announcers who were ...

text: This compendium of authentic sports quotations from announcers who were there at key sporting events of the mid 1900s is quite an historical artifact.  The voices of Gehrig and Ruth, the announcer going nuts when Bobby Thomson puts the Giants in the World Series, Marty Glickman, Mel Allen, Don Dunphy are all heard on this recording documenting significant sports events of the times.  To today's sports enthusiast who has instant access to seemingly all sports events and sports star interviews, this recording may seem archaic.  But to those of us who remember or recall our parents telling us about the sports stars contained herein, this recording is a real gem


title: Bax juvenilia.  does not sound like Bax later work

text:
Bax juvenilia.
A student piece?
Bax wrote over 400 pieces, they can't all be good.  He started it early, never finished it or modified it, put in in a drawer and forgot it
it sounds late-romantic Russian,  ? ,But not Celtic Twilight,  not impressionist . It is overlong.

the label says "1907" but Bax was already writing much much better Impressionist tone poems than this. (Cathaleen-ni-Hoolihan  for example).  In 1909 he wrote  the far more musically adventuresome  "In the Faery Hills". I have no proof but  It would not surprise me to find out this piece may have actually been written much earlier than that, maybe in his teens! It does not sound like Bax later works or his compositions just before and after 1907.

Martin Yates came along some twenty years ago and finished writing it in what he felt was Bax style


title: rerelease of Thomson's famous Bax symphony performances on Chandos!

text:
The late Bryden Thomson's performances remain the best, the most magical of all the various recordings of Sir Arnold Bax music. Thompson really has a feel, an instinctive understanding of Bax difficult to perform music, with it's constant tempo and dynamic changes.

These look like rereleases of the famous 80's Chandos set, now sadly out of print, and fetching high prices on the used market.

Much better, more involving, than the Vernon Handley set or the subsequent Naxos releases.

all are wonderful, but pay particular attention to, arguably, Bax most famous: the Third Symphony, but also the Sixth!

First I want to say the IMHO, Arnold Bax is the best underplayed composer of the 20th century!
The more you listen the more you appreciate his complexity of thought.

Over and over again he tried to express thru his music a series of otherworldly mystical experiences he had.

There is a book by Michael Crowley "Little Big" wherein the elves and fairies and various fantastic creatures all decide to leave the world. A similar concept is in Marion Bradley "The Mists of Avalon" where the fourth century pagans get fed up with the Christian take over and Morgan le Fey and The Lady of the Lake etc take King Arthur after his mortal wounds away to Avalon and mystical world comes un-moored and unglued from Glastonbury and floats off into the ether.

This is the theme at the end of Bax Sixth. Some Magick part of this world breaks off and floats away into the ether. I can think of no other way to express this. Truly magic, truly wonderful. ultimately tragic for those of us left.

The magic starts in Bax Third and much of his other music, tone poems like, Nympholept, The Garden of Fand, Tintagel, etc.
Thomson's performance is the best, that is,  he really understood the mystical, otherworldly element. It was recorded in the dawn of digital recording, so it can be a bit harsh in places...Vernon Handley's performances are better recorded and sweeter and more Romantic but not quite as mystical.

Bax music is Impressionist and chromatic. Bax development  style is metamorphic, a new style in Bax day and new to our ears even now, as Vernon Handley has commented . It is very very structured but it is NOT structured "AABA" like earlier, more simplistic  music . Bax musical ideas constantly develop and evolve.  It takes getting used to. Some listeners don't "get it".

As Bax buddy Ralph Vaughan Williams pointed out to the British Royal Academy of Music,  Bax is one of the five greatest composers of the twentieth century! And much more  listenable than later composers.

.


title: Brilliant Album, Superb Remastering, & Hitchner's Spot-On Writing: What's Not to Like?

text: Everything about this remastered, reissued album is, frankly, scintillating. I bought the original LP many decades ago and quickly wore out the vinyl with constant needle-drop replay. The intervening CD was better than the vinyl mainly because of greater durability. But it still lacked the crispness and clarity so audibly apparent on this remastered CD.  If you're a Kevin Burke fiddling fan (and who isn't?), this CD is for you.  Finally, I miss Earle Hitchner's insightful writing about Irish traditional music. You can almost hear the music in how he writes about it.  Anyway, revel in this glorious-sounding album!


title: His best solo album--by far!

text: SO is Peter Gabriel's studio album masterpiece and the acme of his solo career.  "Sledgehammer," his huge hit single and MTV-driven video, isn't even the best song on this album.  "Red Rain" and "In Your Eyes"--take your pick--are at the top.  People who paid no attention to Gabriel in Genesis or previously as a soloist paid attention here.  The impact of this album never fades.


title: Too Little Information Here

text: Is the DVD playable in the U.S.?  That is, is it "Region One," or does it at least indicate it's playable in ALL regions?  Without that confirmation, and also without confirmation that the DVD "concert" quality is good to excellent, I'll take a pass.


title: Be Wary!

text: Be wary of arcane or nebulous sources for CD's, especially concert CD's lacking the imprimatur of a deceased artist's estate.  The rise of these knock-offs parallels America's escalating economic desperation driving the hard-hit and, yes, the greed-heads and the scammers to seek a buck wherever they can find it, including on Amazon.com. Caveat emptor.


title: Brilliant LP by a Brilliant Singer: Buy It!

text:
Think of the vinyl records you love that, to your dismay, have never been reissued as CD's.  Now think of this extraordinary 1980 vinyl record, DOIN' IT MY WAY, by the incomparable singer Tracy Nelson that has not appeared in CD format for 36 years and counting.  If you still have a turntable in good working order, buy this brilliant LP and play it.  You'll be bowled over.  Guaranteed.

It's mystifying and downright criminal that Tracy Nelson isn't far better known and appreciated. My hope is that in the near future she will enjoy the resurrected career, renewed public and critical attention, and sales success accorded another great singer, Bonnie Raitt, late in her career.


title: Not So Fast

text: This is hardly an ideal or exemplary compilation worthy of the title "The Essential Sandy Denny."  Key Fairport Convention songs are missing, and some of the other choices, despite her always glorious voice, represent material below a standard commensurate with that glorious voice and unique interpretive skill. There are other compilation options at Amazom.com for hearing Denny at her best than this CD, where limited permission rights may have been a factor affecting what's included.  But that's a possible explanation, not an acceptable excuse.  A CD is or isn't "essential," and this one isn't.


title: ripping performances

text: frank bungarten is to my ear the closest in intepretive and technical brilliance to the late, great julian bream, and this album is a treasure. beautifully recording playing on a beautiful guitar. i can also recommend his recordings of music by torroba, roderigo, sor, the bach violin sonatas/suites, among others.


title: A Taste of Gold

text: As a life-long Beatles fan, I must temper my enthusiasm a bit here, folks, because some critics have said these 2 shows are outstanding in sound quality. The only totally satisfying live concert of the Beatles remains to be released(Live at the Hollywood Bowl). Thanks to Mal Evans, their late aid/handler, many bootlegs exist of Beatles sessions or live shows, and we owe tremendous thanks for him to leak these to us. I suspect he had a hand in these 2 shows as well. To us, any new showcase of their appealing harmonies and musicianship is thrilling. They are the only group I would forgive for flubbing lyrics or missing notes or singing off-pitch live. For a couple songs, the sound quality is good, but obviously secondarily taken from the console or dual microphone set-up. At worst, the microphone sounds from the back of the lads performing, which is not bad considering to be better than the sound flowing into he crowd. What is so compelling throughout is the banter between songs and the playful vocal flubs that are sometimes thrown in to get a reaction. The Fab Four are so humanly endearing here, playful and making majestic sounds in spite of small amps in huge stadii, that all is forgiven in quick order. It all comes back and all is forgiven just a few songs into the repertoire. We all know what follows but they do some songs here that were never performed on the Sullivan Shows so that is a plus. That said, that the sound quality varies, is far-outweighed by the harmonies made and notes played with bonhomie. I won't cover each one, but I will add the songs that make this a must to have nonetheless: "She's A Woman" and "Baby's in Black" from the Atlanta show and from the Vancouver show the under-rated "You Can't Do That," "Things We Said Today" and "If I Fell" where Paul or John intentionally goofs a note and then rejoins the song as if someone else erred. For me, having never seen them live, this is better than any balcony seat in those arenas. You are standing next to them, like Mal, here a chum enjoying the sidelines but a chum forever.


title: Three Stars

text: Buy it for Nils Lofgren.


title: Great quality recording.

text: Exactly what I ordered.  Quality of sound was perfect.  Listen to over and over again.  Worth the buy.


title: a good singer

text: james ingram is one of my favorite artists his songs "I don't have the heart", "Where did my heart go", and "Somewhere out there" are favorites of mine


title: You’ll End up here...

text: Like 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s 00’s..Rock n’Roll, Punk, Disco, Latin, Rap, .??  Have you done it all.??  Wherever you started you will end up here.. welcome to the master..


title: Four Stars

text: Nice


title: Four Stars

text: Great


title: Five Stars

text: I love this album.


title: Good

text: This was a very enjoyable CD. Not quite the epic Celtic folklorish music I was expecting, but still good. Quality was good, and it was very relaxing music. It just didn't stand out very much to me. It is not one of those CD's that I will listen to repeatedly. But still worth the money.


title: I got this for ME!!!

text: And I love it!  It truly is Elvis at his best.  The songs are songs I know and can sing along if I want or I can just listen to the "real" Elvis sing the kind of songs he loved the best - gospel!  A terrific collection!


title: Would buy again

text: Wife loved this cd


title: Good quality and price

text: Wife loved this cd


title: Five Stars

text: Love it.


title: Present for grandchildren.

text: We played this item on the back seat DVD / Video system for our grandchildren while we were traveling to/from WDW.


title: Fun holiday game!

text: My mom likes to play this every year at Christmas parties, but the older version. It was nice to find the updated version to appeal to the younger crowd.


title: BTS is on Fire

text: BTS continue to put out great albums. This is a great compilation album from the two The Most Beautiful Moment in Life albums. I am hoping to get the day version soon. The photocard is very unique and the photobook is a hardbound book. All the pictures are absolutely gorgeous.


title: Awesome album

text: Album was well wrapped. This album will make a great addition to my growing GOT7 collection.


title: A must for latin pop fans.

text: This compilation reunites all the best and hit songs not only from OV7 but from they were known as Onda Vaselina.


title: Excellent music. Sad they never printed it on CD.

text: I had this record many years ago, me and my brothers used to play it a lot. After the CD revolution we ended geting rid of our turntable when we couldn't find a replacement needle and after some time we also ended geting rid of all our LP records. The music is performed by this great orchestra Guadalajara Brass, they used to perform traditional songs from around the world with they're particular style. If you have a turntable and enjoy orchestra music, give this record a chance, you will not be disappointed.


title: A classic

text: I remember loving the music when I saw the movie many years ago.  It is still as beautiful as ever.


title: Dont be afraid of the manufacture, this CD is very well made in every way.

text: The sound and playability are top notch, and the manufacture and packaging are supurb.


title: Barry make it again

text: I give an appreciation of 8/10,one of the best love unlimited orchestra,the cues my sweet summer suite and you i adore are superb,i have a rare limited cd from this album.


title: not bad at all

text: I give an appreciation of 6/10,there very good cues on this album(superman theme,summer place,as time goes by,and king kong theme who is very superb),but others cues are very average,not the best love unlimited orchestra but still a good album.


title: Great for memorizing scripture and the kids absolutely love these at bedtime

text: I didn’t wanna pay the money but these are so worth it!!! I grew up with these CDs and I wanted to get them for my kids. To this day some of my best memorized scripture verses come from the songs. And my kids love the stories


title: Vedder collaborates with choir of South African high schoolers.

text:
Eddie Vedder brought a high school choir to Seattle to record an album of their music. This is not a Pearl Jam album. It is beautiful and inspiring. Vedder is not heard on all tracks, but does collaborate with the choir on three excellent Pearl Jam songs. "Long Road", "Love Boat Captain", and "Betterman" all gain new emotional depth with the additional backing of the Walmer High School Choir. The booklet contains a great essay by Eddie Vedder about the making of this album. The traditional South African music is wonderful, and it is great that it was recorded.

"Music has been a fundamental weapon for our children used to face all the trials of this world. In our culture, listening to the words of a song is why they resist, why they don't crack"- Lunga Dyani, Principal of Walmer High School


title: Wonderful music by Lisa Bigwood

text: Ordered this DVD having listened to her later CD, and found I was as impressed with her earlier work as I had been by her later CD's!  Beautiful voice and thoughtful lyrics.  Would purchase any of this woman's future publications without question!  Product arrived on time and without problem.


title: Awesome CD

text: Love listen to this CD, just gives you a peaceful feeling


title: Beautiful Spanish songs

text: Husband loves the music of Mocedades and these two came from that group. Beautiful Spanish songs!


title: Five Stars

text: Great


title: Satisfied

text: Love love love! I have yet to watch my dvd, but I was so ecstatic when I'd finally received it. (:


title: Some of our favorite stories!

text: MY kids love these stories, and I love the values they teach. They are interesting enough that I will find myself listening to them too. They are mp3 CDs, so I wasn't sure if we would be able to play them, but they play on our DVD player, and on our new CD player too.


title: Very Mint

text: Mint condition and thank you for the extra Vinyl. 🙏 My Father-in-Law is going to love these. ❤


title: Ahead of it's time...

text:
If you really listen to the lyrics of this music, you are hearing a genius that comes every so often in generations...not like the stuff you hear nowadays - a true original who crafted music for generations to enjoy, think, reflect and question societies norms. i.e: "What did you dream? It's alright we told you what to dream...welcome to the machine"

Highly recommend before entering the MATRIX...


title: Only thing wrong is that I expected a full album ...

text: Only thing wrong is that I expected a full album of songs.  Looking forward to David Cook's next record!!


title: Five Stars

text: New cd the best seller, fast shipping, great! Good job!


title: Delivered on time and in great condition. I really like billy joel and this ...

text: Delivered on time and in great condition.  I really like billy joel and this is a great selection of his talent.


title: Three Stars

text: OK.


title: Four Stars

text: Rare.


title: Four Stars

text: Good.


title: Five Stars

text: Very good.


title: awesome

text: Being a huge fan of Joe Satriani, but not so much one of Dream Theater, I hadn't heard of John Petrucci until I heard he did the G3 tour with Joe and Steve Vai.  Then I heard he cut a solo instrumental album.  Well, as far as I'm concerned, anyone Satch takes on tour with him must be pretty good, so I picked up the cd without having heard a single song on it.  I was completely blown away.  Petrucci is incredible.  What a gifted guitar player.  The opener, Jaws Of Life, sets the pace nicely.  Glasgow Kiss is a lot of fun and appropriately named; it definitely has a Scottish feel to it.  My favorite track is Curve.  Wow, does this one rip through your speakers.  The solo in this one is amazing.  I've tried to get into Dream Theater without any success, but maybe it will soon click for me.  What I do know for certain is that Mr. Petrucci is a sensational guitarist, and I hope that this isn't the only solo effort from this amazing musician.


title: Five Stars

text: Thank you


title: Barbaric ...the Asphyx way !!!

text: Another solid album from the Dutch greats ...not as epic as Death Hammer but a step above Incoming Death . Paul came up with some good riffs here and Martin sounds just as tortured as ever . Really cool album artwork and barbaric lyrics . Great production , too . Much like bands such as Autopsy or Bolt thrower , you know what you're getting with Asphyx :  heavy death metal tinged with doom . May this tank long continue to crush for years to come !


title: Heavier than a sack of monkey crap !

text: Entrail's second album is a monster . If you miss how Grave or Entombed sounded in the early 90's , this is your solution . Dan Swano gave this a massive production . Atmospheric , brutal and a must have for old school Swedish death metal fans .


title: A ripper of an album !!!

text: Hailing from Chile , Ripper's sophomore effort left my jaw hanging open . While this isn't groundbreaking , it is done with amazing precision and fury . Think  old Slayer , Krisiun , Sepultura and Death  .  The bass is powerful and the rest of the band showcase great abilities for their young age . Ripper rip your head off and only pause to give beautiful bass solo passages between songs . From start to finish .. this is all killer and no filler . Thrash and death metal fans should not sleep on this album , as Ripper prove to be a force to be reckoned with .


title: another great Deceased album

text: I waited a long 7 years for this to arrive . I was hoping it was going to be released around Halloween because I was in the mood for it . The songwriting and musicianship is top notch as always . Personally , I like Surreal Overdose a bit more because of it's production and eerie atmosphere . Hopefully we won't have to wait almost another decade for some more Deceased !


title: the beast returns after 11 years !

text: After a very long break between studio albums , the mighty Monstrosity returns with another stellar release . While it contains mostly mid-paced material , Passage contains great riffs and solos . It's not too far removed from their last couple albums . Their vocalist does a solid job ( like he did on Spiritual Apocalypse ) but I miss Jason Avery's vocals . Despite being an hour long , this album doesn't get boring and is full of quality songwriting that does nothing to diminish the signature sound of this legendary death metal band . One of the strongest releases this year along with those from from Deicide and Krisiun .


title: RETURN OF THE MIGHTY BURN !

text: pretty cool comeback album ...worth the purchase for nostalgic reasons . good production and true to form for the band . the re-workings of the 2 songs from last great sea ep are kind of superfluous ( the older ones are better in my opinion )  but still enjoyable .  this is acutully Burn's first full length album .. so it's nice to have a disc with 10 songs rather than an ep .


title: classic !

text: i still own this on cassette and the original cd pressing. this remaster sounds more brutal and raw with an  added Charles Manson sample at the end of the first song . the mix has been cleaned up and you can hear everything more clearly than on the original , muddied master. the Melnick brothers have been turned up in the mix and some edited solos and riffs have been inserted back into the mix. dwid's voice sounds punchier with added clarity. for nastolgic reasons..it was fun to hear this given a new treatment and it's still an album holds up well despite its age. a true hardcore/punk classic


title: Love It!!

text: I don't even remember hearing about this album being released.<br />But I'm glad I bought it.


title: Very beautiful, uplifting Christian music!!

text: Music that originates through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is extremely uplifting. What hope and peace comes through it's messages about Jesus Christ and just how intertwined His atonement actually is in our daily lives.  The orchestration is so powerful.


title: The MUTI recording of Il trovatore is something of a collector's item

text:
Amazon has made a dog's breakfast of the reviews in this particular category as most of them seem to be about another recording entirely.  The Muti set, recorded live at La Scala in Milan in 2000 is one of the very few sets with the promising young tenor Salvatore Licitra who died tragically young, at 43, in a Vespa crash in Sicily, as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage.  Singing and conducting is a high risk environment for such things.

His performance here of Manrico is splendid.  There are none of the vulgarisms of, say, Franco Corelli (Karajan, live from Salzburg in 1963).  In fact, just about everything about this set is splendid, for a modern day cast in a Verdi recording.  Barbara Frittoli's Leonora starts out slightly wobbly, but she always does.  Her voice is unusually large and can be ungainly until warmed up, but when she has warmed up, and it doesn't take long, she is unsurpassed by any other currently active spinto soprano in this repertory.  Violeta Urmana's Azucena is my favorite on record.  She is now a soprano, singing Brünnhilde among other things, but at this time she was in transition from the mezzo-soprano arena.  She has the solid low notes of a fine Verdi mezzo and yet the ringing high notes of a dramatic soprano.  And she can act!  Hers is the greatest performance on this set, followed by Licitra's, who really does sound a lot like Pavarotti.

Leo Nucci, in one of this last recordings, is in fine voice as the Count di Luna, and Giorio Giuseppini is on a par with he rest as Ferrando.  It takes about one act for Muti to get into full swing but after he does he sweeps all before him with gusto and relentless passion that is so necessary to this most visceral of Verdi operas.  Il trovatore is the one opera in which I totally lose myself when the performance is this good.  I kept 'coming to' and realizing that I was totally engaged in the drama and not thinking about individual performances in the highlights, all of which are beautifully sung and acted.

Sony's sound is superb.  The audience is utterly silence until the ends of the acts.  The forces of the La Scala orchestra and chorus are unsurpassed in this music.  It almost sounds like a studio recording, the voices and orchestra being in such perfect balance and the depth perspective and resonance being so perfect, no the usual 'dry' La Scala sound.

This set was rather over-looked by the pros in the journalistic critical community for some reason.  Muti was out of fashion back in 2000, considered too crass and hadn't yet bagged the Chicago Symphony job to show the 'experts' that he was not done yet!

This is one of this best Verdi recordings and I strongly recommend it to all Verdians, and not JUST for Licitra's wonderful Manrico.


title: Philips vinyl recordings from Bayreuth are all winners!

text:
Amazon should take note that the review page for the Decca reissue of this great Philips recording on compact disc is a mess of reviews from the Levine/Met production on film.  Therefore I am adding commentary on this marvelous Lohengrin on this vinyl page.

Ironically it is the vinyl lps that I have listened to, for many years, that I am basing this review upon.  First off, I highly recommend any Philips vinyl recordings from the 1960s-1980s at Bayreuth.  The sound is sensational, though you have to put up with the occasional bronchial attack in the audience it is not very annoying and those outbursts do not last long at all.
Sawallisch's conducting is so rapt and exciting by turns that the audience forgets to cough after awhile.

The Decca reissue has no libretto or any other information, strictly cheap bargain basement stuff, insulting to the quality of this and other originally Philips releases on compact disc.  If you can find the original Philips compact disc release of this set do not hesitate to buy it!

I don't recall having ever heard a 'bad' recording or performance of this sublimely beautiful opera.  It would take pretty much of a klunk of a conductor and a bevy of has-been singers to wreck it completely.  There have been some weak links in recordings I have known, and still like, but there have been a number of them that have been nigh 'perfect' in their casting and execution.  I think that the beauty of the score inspires the most mediocre of choruses and orchestras to give their utmost.

This Sawallisch recording rises well above that level and nudges the very best at the top of the a very large list of Lohengrin recordings.  There are several great pluses to this set.  First off, as mentioned, is Wolfgang Sawallisch's sensitive and sensible direction.  He manages the opening cloud-strewn ethereal prelude to Act I with serene blissfulness.  I did not worry for one moment about the high violin ensemble staying together (it can occasionally be a little shredded, like cirrus being blown by strong upper level winds instead of Sawallisch's floating nacreous puffs.  The only place in this performance I found reason to criticize his direction was the transition immediately following Elsa and Ortrud's duet in Scene One of Act Two.  It's too perfunctory, there is none of the lovely beauty as you will find with Kempe (EMI) and several other conductors.

His cast of singers is 5 out of 6 on the wonderful chart.  Most notable is the youthful and heroic and tender Lohengrin of Jess Thomas, recorded here one year before the famous Kempe set in Vienna.  Live he as even more moving than in the studio.  His performance for Böhm at the Vienna State Opera in 1965 is even more impressive, though he did not have the glorious advantage of the Bayreuth acoustic as here.  The Chorus and Orchestra are magnificently recorded.  Wilhelm Pitz was perhaps the greatest of all the great choral coaches at Bayreuth.  His group in 1962 was one of those legendary organizations that has rarely been equaled, let alone surpassed since.

Anja Silja's Elsa is lovely.  She has the reputation of having a shrill and unpleasant 'white' sound.  It is not in evidence here.
She sounds like a 16 year old princess with slightly psychic (psychotic) and ultra-romantic notions.  Ah, to have been a Medieval princess!  Her performances is stunning, lovely.  Words not normally associated with her intensity of vocal delivery and acting acumen.

In order to fully appreciate Astrid Varnay's powerful Ortrud you have to forget every Christa Ludwig performance you've ever heard, (not easy!).  Especially if you own the Böhm recording from Vienna in 1965, recorded live, on Orfeo, in which Madam Ludwig brings down the house at the end of 'Entweihte Götter!'.  A heretofore unheard of event, the show was stopped dead in its tracks as the very sophisticated and Wagner experienced Viennese audience erupted in applause and shouts.  This has not ever happened before to my knowledge, at least on any recording of any Wagner opera I've heard or seen in any house, however unsophisticated the audience might have been in New York or anywhere else in rural America.
Varnay is in splendid voice.  There are moments that are a bit too Cruella de Ville-esque, lots of raucous cackling etc, but she is a formidable witch-like Ortrud, lacking the last ounce of vocal catharsis as possessed by Ludwig.  Varnay is partnered by the only weak link in this cast, and he's not so weak but not up to snuff.  Ramon Vinay was a great tenor, a magnificent Siegmund and Tristan in his tenor days.  This foray into baritone territory was made too late in his career.  He has the low notes but he wobbles and sounds elderly.  Where was Hermann Uhde?!

Franz Crass was a stalwart bass at Bayreuth and made a number of outstanding recordings there, including the Holländer and Gurnemanz (Parsifal).  Tom Krause is almost too bass-like and is difficult to distinguish from Crass's lighter than usual bass voice.  Both are superb.

There are outstanding moments.  The already mentioned transcendent prelude to Act 1, the rousing chorus ending Act 1, the Prelude to Scene two, Act 2, and the confrontation between Elsa and Ortrud before the wedding.  Then there comes Act 3 and the exciting and famous prelude that speaks of unbridled joy at the upcoming marriage of Elsa to her knight in shining armor.  Then the universally famous and hackneyed Bridal March 'Here comes the bride... [childrens' version]  (big fat and wide)'.  Well, in this case it brought tears to my eyes under Sawallisch's sensitive direction.  It is gossamer delicacy through and through and the actual words of the chorus are deeply moving... "Treulich geführt ziehet dahin, wo each der Segen der Liebe bewahr?" [Guided in faith, enter within, where may the blessing of love attend you!]  Then the bridal room scene, Elsa's moment of frustrated anticipation as her expectation of carnal bliss and blending of soul to soul is smashed to bits by her nagging curiosity.
Then Telramund invades the space and Lohengrin kills him.  Blood and death replace passion and love.  Tragedy.

Act 3 scene two gives a the blood-stirring and spirit lifting prelude representing the rushing waters of the River Scheldt in Brabant.  This is always welcome after the tear-jerking ending of scene 1.

The fact is this opera ends badly (well, most Wagner operas end 'badly' with the exception of Meistersinger and arguably Parsifal).  Yes, Gottfried, Elsa's missing brother is resurrected by Lohengrin, as the latter departs in his Swan boat back to cloud cuckoo land and out of Elsa's life, but Elsa then dies of a broken heart in the arms of her brother.

A weepy worthy of the best traditions of 1930s Hollywood, and this is one of the great recordings of it.  I love my old vinyl set of this recording.  I have been careful to maintain it in pristine condition.  You never know when you buy a used set but at this cheap price it's worth the risk.  The Philips stereo in the vinyl days was the highest possible calibre.  If you have to buy the cheap and insulting Decca reissue with no written materials at all, so be it.  The performance is still wonderful.

The performance is equal in most cases to the Kempe and the Böhm.  Highly recommended.


title: A mixed bag, mostly very good.  Nilsson is awesome.

text:
I couldn't give this Ring cycle from Kempe at Bayreuth less than a four star rating, though I contemplated 3.5 but there is not such finesse on the Amazon rating system.  And, frankly, this is a such a valuable document of a fine, under-recorded conductor it would have been churlish of me to quibble too much about the deficiencies of the sound, some of the singers and the maestro's occasional miscalculations about tempos.

Kempe's great gift was his ear for beautiful musical phrases within the context of the longer musical period, and for ginning up the excitement with forceful impetus and accentuating the higher instruments in the more hectic passages.  Sometimes he allows the strings and winds to get a little too shrill but the effect is pretty thrilling.  In one case in particular he over did the mania at the end of the love duet in the prologue to Götterdämmerung.  With singers like Nilsson and Hopf this is totally unnecessary as they are so magnificent they needed no oversell to get the blood rushing.  The adjective that kept coming to mind was 'mercurial'.  Not unlike Karajan and Janowski (Dresden) but, perhaps due to the live event, more exciting.  He is excellent throughout this cycle, though I wonder why they didn't wait a year to record this production as certain improvements might have been made with the initial premiere season jitters behind the cast and the orchestra.

Over all the Bayreuth orchestra radiates love for Kempe and play like they are possessed, flawlessly, with his very fast speeds that challenges them to keep up more often than not.

I was not engaged by Das Rheingold, however.  It wasn't until the 2nd Act of Die Walküre that I sat up and paid attention.
Jerome Hines and Hertha Töpper set the stage on fire, and Varnay, perhaps knowing this was her last Brünnhilde at Bayreuth, lets out all the stops and has never sung a better Walküre, though she over-eggs her final lines in Act 3.  And Jerome Hines does not come close to the devastating catharsis of Hans Hotter for Keilberth in 1954, but he sings beautifully, if a little too correctly.  Not a risk taker like Hotter was.  Kempe's troupe of valkyries in Act 3 is one of the finest and, oddly, best recorded of all the live recordings I've heard.  Their a-capella chorale when they plead with Wotan to spare Brünnhilde is beautifully sung and individuated in this deceptively difficult, complicated and prolonged octet for female singers.  Brava one and all!

There was illness in that first season which caused Birgit Nilsson to bow out of Die Walküre to be replaced by Astrid Varnay, who is great by the way.  The weakest part of this cycle is Act 1 of Die Walküre with Wolfgang Windgassen' Siegmund sounding like he had a head cold, singing flat throughout and sounding particularly out of sorts in 'Winterstürme' and Aase Nordmo-Løvberg's voice sounding hoarse and under-powered as Sieglinde.  Her Third Norn is a little worse actually.  She left no impression at all on my inner ear beyond annoyance that she was so over-parted as to be insignificant in this pivotal role.  Her compatriot, Ingrid Bjøner is a typical nondescript Gutrune.  Her Freia is one of the better assumptions of the role, however.

As mentioned, Hans Hopf and Birgit Nilsson are splendid throughout.  I haven't heard a recording of Nilsson sounding so involved in the text and expressive in voice.  She sings piano quite often with perfectly judged crescendos.  She by no means stands and delivers as so many Brünnhildes do on the stage of late.  She gives the impression of having platinum vocal chords with titanium cores.  She and Hopf, and Gottlob Frick's Hagen, are the only singers who do not suffer from the inadequate sound, which runs the gamet from okay and very good.

Generally the sound is bass heavy and 'woofy' and varies wildly from opera to opera, indeed scene to scene. There is some tape distortion in the Norn Scene in Götterdämmerung that makes them sound as if they are under water with bubbles rising out of their throats.  This brings to mind the other let-down singer in the cast, the lead Rhine Maiden (and Waldvogel) Dorothea Siebert.  She sings sharp and scoops, very inappropriate for a Rhine Maiden, and her forest bird is charmless and loud.

The performance of 'Siegfried' is almost a great one but for the 2nd rate Mime and Alberich.  They sing well enough but resort to caricature and vocal mugging, and they both have rather unpleasant voices.  They are certainly nowhere near the same calibre and Paul Kuën and Gustav Neidlinger for Knappertsbusch on his 1956 cycle on Music and Arts label.

The balance of the cast is fine, if not of the highest calibre in their roles.  Marga Höffgen stands out as a stentorian and formidable Erda.  And Hertha Töpper is one of the finer singers as Fricka.  A great mezzo-soprano who deserves more recognition than she has received.  Peter Roth-Erhrang and Arnold Van Mill are the excellent giants.

Jerome Hines is pretty wonderful as Wotan in Die Walküre and I wish his entire Wotan/Wanderer had been recorded.  Hermann Uhde, a great favorite of mine, was not a Wotan to my taste.  He is thoroughly baritonal without any bass resonance at all, rather like Thomas Stewart and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau for Karajan's recording (DGG).  Though Stewart manages to encompass the darker and more powerful aspects of his roles than Uhde, who sings very well but does not leave much of an impression overall.
Thomas Stewart is a fine Gunther and Donner, though the opaque sound diminishes the impact of Donner's call to the clouds in Das Rheingold.

Götterdämmerung is the ultimate test of endurance and vocal steadiness.  Nilsson was nothing if not rock steady throughout her career, and when her voice began to lose its stability she retired, long before most singers are willing to throw in the towel.
I confess that her voice could be so unrelenting in its power and piercing laser like focus that my ear tires of it.  Her recording for Decca is like that.  It is thrilling to hear but it is good to hear less muscular voices, like Varnay's, in this role.  Nilsson's Götterdämmerung Brünnhilde is class Birgit.  And it wears a little.  Hans Hopf is admirable in his ability to keep up with her indefatigable energy, though he misses the infamous high C in Act 2 by at least 2 notes down.  That is his only muff in this cycle, otherwise an outstanding Siegfried, one of the best.  I was glad when the Immolation ended.  Kempe keeps the temperature on highest possible blast.  His Götterdämmerung is on high blast from start to finish.  It still think it is a pity he wasn't recorded in a later year of this production by Wolfgang Wagner as he may have refined his approach a little and displayed more of his innate good taste and less of his Solti impersonation.

I certainly wouldn't pay $850 bucks or whatever Amazon's agent is asking for this cycle, though not on this Audiophile issue.  This cycle is certainly worth having at a reasonable price, especially if you are a Kempe fan.  You will definitely want it if you are a Birgit Nilsson fanatic, like I am and for Hans Hopf's splendid Siegfried and a good supporting cast.

There is only a booklet, common to each of the four opera jewel boxes with laudatory comments that are a bit eye-rolliing.
No libretto, historical information, essays or cast or production photos.  A budget job, but better 'n nuttin'.  But not worth $850.00!  This Audiophile release is much cheaper and worth buying.


title: Shattering indeed!

text:
I first learned to love Alban's Berg two great operatic masterpieces over 40 years ago while a music student, just setting out on the exploration of the great passion of my life, opera.  I learned both those operas, Wozzeck and Lulu under the tutelage of the great Karl Böhm and his recordings with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Evelyn Lear, both, if I recall correctly, made in Berlin and based upon live productions.
There was nothing 'difficult' about these complex and beautiful scores, I fell in love with them upon first hearing, unlike the convoluted and dry as dust Schoenberg atonal music which has fallen by the wayside, with the exception of some of his orchestral music.

I was loyal to Böhm until Christoph von Dohnanyi recorded these operas with his, then, wife Anja Sijla, the Marie in this recording under review.  My loyalties switched instantaneously.  I had long been a fan of Silja's from her early years at Bayreuth where she was a highly controversial soprano who was predicted by the British 'experts' to destroy her voice and never be heard from again.  Haha, think again, dudes!  Silja, in her 70s is STILL singing, following in the footsteps of her famed predecessor, Martha Mödl, and exercising her genius as a creature of the theater.  Silja is the ONLY opera singer I have ever approached for a signed autography.  She was delightful and I was more in love than ever.

This Wozzeck is one of her finest hours on the stage.  Her voice was descried as being ugly and unsuited to the wide variety of roles she sang.  Like Maria Callas the voice is indeed not beautiful but it is magnificent.
Her Decca recording with Dohnanyi and the Vienna Philharmonic with the great Eberhard Wächter's Wozzeck was always going to be hard to beat, and it is still a great recording and should be in every collection of anyone who loves this harrowing and beautiful score.

José van Dam seems an unlikely Wozzeck, being known for his beautiful baritone voice and suave and subtle interpretations.  Having now heard him in this part I can see how it fits perfectly into his vocal CV.
I cannot recall a more involved and gut-wrenching portrayal by him and, frankly, by anyone who has assayed this role on stage or record.  Falk Struckmann, Levine's Wozzeck in the filmed version made by the Met not to many years back, comes closest to challenging Van Dam in this triumphant performance.

The cast is first class from top to bottom.  What makes this set indispensable is the fact that it is Live on the Hoof from the Metropolitan Opera and, most especially, under the direction of James Levine who excels at this repertoire.  He has always had a knack for Berg's operas and he has done nothing better on record than this Wozzeck.  The frisson of a live event is visceral, the singers are completely inside their parts and the orchestra plays without a hint of strain or intonation problems or a single missed step in the highly complicated rhythms and sonorities Berg sets before them.

The recorded sound is excellent with a perfect balance between stage and pit with almost no extraneous or heart-stoppingly sudden noises on the stage.  Voices are always clear and do not move in and out as they often do in live performance recordings.

The only gripe I have is with the typically block-headed Met audience that can't wait to hear itself applaud and shout before the music ends.  Once again proving what a provincial and unsophisticated audience they are in New York City.  When will the Metropolitan Opera cotton on to not even THINKING about lowering the big red velvet curtain until the last echo of music has died.  The Met audience, being apparently largely empty-headed and on auto-response, are given that visual cue and think it is time to make a big fuss to show all the world who is best!  Really, they seem to be more interested in 'That old trout Mrs Williams-DeKeyser who has her chauffeur with her in her box again this week' than the legendary performance they have just witnessed on stage.  Mercifully they are silent during the rest of the performance.

The written material consists of a little interview with Levine.  There is no libretto, only a list of cues.
The photographs included are very interesting however.

Irregardless of the , buy this recording of Wozzeck.  I just discovered it and there were only 2 left on Amazon.

Essential listening.


title: Great CD!!

text: Not exactly my favorite Ariana CD, but I still love some of the songs!

user_id: AGYLUAISLVNHWAVYDZUWPWZXTJSQ


title: AWESOME!

text: Finally, I found this LP record...AWESOME!


title: Another lame bootleg.

text:
Another lame bootleg... As if putting this crap on vinyl, rather than a CD-R, makes it more legit.

Other vinyl Tool bootlegs sold on Amazon: 10,000 Days vinyl (ANY / usually red discs)... Lateralus ANY NON-PICTURE DISC vinyl (usually blue discs)... Salival vinyl (ANY / forget what those looked like, but they are "packaged" in a foil-type wrapping, when "new")... Ænima 2-LP NON-BLACK vinyl (usually orange discs, I believe.

It's actually rather surprising they put a live bootleg to vinyl... Considering the manufacturing costs, vs. what they're selling it for ($40 or less, currently), it's hard to see how any of this "effort" is actually going to "pay off" in any way; but I guess a dollar here and a dollar there adds up.

I've reported ALL these to Amazon, as each have come to my attention... Amazon, for whatever reason, refuses to pull these ILLEGAL BOOTLEGS from their websites (and they are sold through most, if not ALL their global sites)... God knows why, especially since they have ready access to their LEGITIMATE catalog & their respective formats (from cassette to vinyl, vhs to blu-ray), hence, my having to copy paste this crap, EVERY TIME a new one pops up.

Thanks Amazon, for keeping your site free of Piracy, Pirates, and Con Artists... While (seemingly) suppressing actual Artists, confusing and victimizing their fans through fraud, and oh yeah, perpetuating a culture of  "So? Who cares about THEIR intellectual property rights!"

PS: Just about EVERY Live-Show recording being sold here, or anywhere, is a bootleg... Most, with audio I wouldn't use as a means of audio-torture during terrorist "questioning" ---- The only LEGIT Tool live-show releases are: Salival, and a "Sober" CD-Single with 8 or 9 tracks (2 or 3 of which appear twice), and its slimline jewel-case artwork has a smoky, light-blue'ish-gray figure on the cover.... There are PLENTY of promos, singles, etc., which contain live tracks... but those are the ONLY TWO, LEGITIMATE, Live-Show Releases -- and NEITHER release contains the entire live show!!


title: Don't Be Fooled By This Bootleg

text: FYI: THIS IS A BOOTLEG!  _  There is an OFFICIAL "Tales From the Darkside"; but it is NOT this item (pictured above, with band members on cover).  _  The official one, is actually a "Sober" EP Maxi-Single, made in Holland (an import), and has the same artwork as most of the other "Sober" EPs (a gray man's head/torso, with hand pointing, set to a murky/smokey background -- blue, gray colored cover; and has a proper, "pressed" disc... NOT a CD-R... Comes in a slimline max-single case, NOT a standard "jewel case" with square "artwork" (if what's shown can be considered artwork). __ PS: You can buy the OFFICIAL one elsewhere for well under $20, as it is not too rare or highly sought after.


title: Who's Listening To This??

text:
I read the reviews here; and I can't believe my eyes... most people are saying there are only 2 good songs (by Hatebreed & Stemm) and "the rest are mediocre".  WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?... you're certainly NOT metal-fans, if you're saying "Slave Labour" by Fear Factory, is "mediocre", or "doesn't get your blood pumping", &/or "not the essence of UFC". ___ These reviewers sound (to me) like a group of people who mostly like the hip-hop'ish-metal styles/genres, like the "Bring the Pain" theme... like "Methods of Mayhem"... (early) Kid Rock... and Limp Bizkit.... and wouldn't know GOOD METAL if it came up & knocked 'em on their back-side.

Whatever, to each his own... there are good tracks on this, IN PARTICULAR, SLAVE LABOUR by FEAR FACTORY... but for the most part, the CD has a majority of unknown's &/or underground metal bands, who yes, are very mediocre.  I just had to stand up & represent for Fear Factory... 'cause even though they represent THE BEST SONG ON THIS ALBUM... these "metal fans" were giving them no love.

PS: to be fair, "Bring the Pain"... the version we all "know and love"... is a Beefed-Up / Speedier / More-Agressive, REMIX of the ORIGINAL which Stemm wrote/recorded back around 2001 or so.... so they (Stemm) should NOT get MOST of the credit for the Main Theme, since THEIR Original Version, was MUCH, MUCH Slower, and not nearly as "aggressive" as the version we're all familiar with... ALL the credit SHOULD go to the Remixer, who took a MEDIOCRE song, and MADE IT GOOD.  The original "Stemm" version, SUCKS total donkey-b@ll$... plain & simple... and is sure to make your blood CURDLE, not boil or pump.  ;-)  LOL


title: The Salival "VINYL" (BOOTLEG) review

text:
Okay, 1st, I Love the album Salival.... it gets 4 Stars.  The "Product" I'm reviewing however, gets ONE Star... because for those of you who don't know and are thinking of buying THIS version of it, DON'T!.
Tool NEVER made a Vinyl edition of Salival... IT IS A BOOTLEG, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
I first saw this nonsense pop up on eBay a few years ago... and for the life of me, can't understand why Amazon would now allow it here, considering they have a much better understanding of Tool's TRUE "Catalog"... but whatever.

If you're a fan, or looking for a gift for a fan... DO NOT BUY "SALIVAL" in *Vinyl/LP* form because it is a poorly made, poorly designed, **BOOTLEG**.
Get the (promotional) Stand-Alone CD... or the CD/DVD &/or CD/VHS box sets.

PS:
(all "10,000 Days" Vinyls are bootlegs... as are the "Lateralus" Blue 1LP & Black 2LP Vinyls -- both *Legitimate* Lateralus LPs were released in "Picture-Disk" form)


title: Just Plain Terrible

text:
I've always loved the song "After Dark" (heard during Selma Hayek's dance in "from dusk till dawn").... and liked a couple other songs as well that I knew were from the same band (from desperado, frm d to d, etc.)... so I finally decided to check out the Band's CD Releases ---- Read all the Reviews ---- and ALL of them kept Praising the Band's (Tito's in particular) "Great Sound", "Great Music", "Great from Start to Finish", etc. etc. etc. _____ WHAT A CROCK!!

I bought the following (allegedly their BEST works): The Cruzados (self title & "after dark"... which oddly enough, doesn't have the song After Dark on it).... as well as the 1st 3 albums by "Tito & Tarantula": Hungry Sally, Tarantism, & Andalucia ------- IF YOU'RE A FAN OF HOW THE SONG "AFTER DARK" IS SUNG, PLAYED, ETC..... YOU WONT FIND ANYTHING ELSE EVEN CLOSE TO IT... ON ANY OTHER ALBUM... PERIOD.

The Cruzados CDs are EXTREMELY SLOW, none of them even "catchy" tunes... and generally sucked total balls from start to finish -- the OPPOSITE of what I'd read in all the reviews!  And amazingly enough... the SAME was True for "Hungry Sally", "Tarantism" (w/ the exception of THREE songs), & "Andalucia"!! ____ & the ONLY good songs on Tarantism is of course, "After Dark", "House that Love Built", & "Strange Face of Love"... but those last two songs... are only DECENT, not GREAT.

It's no wonder they never took off / got radio play / etc..... Either everyone reviewing those albums were Hispanic & praising them out of loyalty... or they're the few who actually (SOMEHOW) liked the music enough to Praise it Endlessly!  Well, I'm here to tell you... DO NOT waste $30 - $40 getting ANY of those CDs!!  They're HORRIBLE... & quite possibly the WORST music I've ever heard claiming to be "rock 'n roll".  I still for the life of me can't understand how they're able to keep making & releasing music!!!  I can name at least 10 bands who DID get radio play... DID have "top 20" songs... etc.... and who were released & never signed to another label, due to sales of only 400,000 copies of an album, and so on.... Bands who have Yet to be signed by a label... etc. etc. ____ Either they're making & releasing the albums themselves (R.Rodriquez had a hand in Tarantism; but none since).... or one of them is Married to a Label Executive!!

DOWNLOAD just a few tracks from ANY of the albums mentioned here... and you'll see exactly what I mean... pure junk.  If you HAVE to show your support by buying a CD because you think downloading free songs is a crime... then buy Tarantism --- at least you'll get THREE songs worth listening to... instead of none... and by listening to the other tracks on the album, you'll understand just how terrible the rest of their music is.  Apparently, their best & only decent songs, come from the Inspiration of Movies.... but on their own... pure crap.  They're not the 1st Band to be this way... and they surely wont be the last.... you are forewarned!


title: Five Stars

text: My wife and I love this CD---


title: Great Version

text: Great album, and bonus disc is pricesless!


title: Five Stars

text: I really liked this album


title: What big teeth you have gramma....

text: This story brings family scandal up close and very personal to the young hero left at home alone to look after an invalid grandma for a few hours. The boy's instinctive fear of the old lady is tested in a few horrifying  minutes where she acts like the old witch she is suspected of being.  The  tale is particularly chilling because of King's ability to glide from the  natural to the supernatural without the reader struggling to suspend  disbelief along the way.<br />The point of view of the old lady was from the  eyes of a child and was not a compassionate view and was not likely  intended to be considering the evil nature of grandma.  It emphasized all  the physical frailties of aging, so if you are sensitive to this, don't  read this story!


title: An Aretha That I Never Knew

text: I've been a fan and admirer of Aretha for a long time, but I wasn't quite old enough to have known her earlier music. This is a pretty big catalog of her earliest music that has 48 songs on it, songs she released when she was mostly from the age of 18 and into her early 20s. Apparently very few, if any were hit songs. It sounded to me like she was just finding her eventual sound and style. These songs are very enjoyable though and some of them are quite impressive and strong. Even though all of them aren't right out of the church, quite a few are, and even more spiritually. Her voice is still quite strong even at this early stage in her career. Can't honestly say I enjoyed these as much as I do the songs she eventually became known and famous for, but I did enjoy this entire collection of songs pretty much all the way through. I honestly wasn't expecting too. I now feel I have a more true understanding of her musical catalog, although at the same time feel I'm really just scratching the surface. Even though she is no longer with us, her spirit will always live in me through her music.


title: ... stumbled upon her CD years ago by chance and loved every song on it

text: I stumbled upon her CD years ago by chance and loved every song on it. I only wished I could have found more stuff by her. She was unique and refreshing for her time. Lost the CD and repurchased it recently.


title: Love his songs and voice

text: Great cd


title: Going Digital

text: I bought this to replace the cassette I had as a teenager.  It was in perfect condition and exactly like I remembered it.


title: Good quality disc

text: Not many people are familiar with the octet in E flat major but it is a very listenable piece.  The Quartet in A is fantastic.