Back & Fourth [Original recording remastered] [Import]

Product Description:
Remastered German reissue ofthe British folk/progressive rock act's 1979 album. Tracks include 'Juke Box Gypsy' & 'Warm Feeling'. Repackaged with new liner notes. 1999 release. Standard jewel case.

Back & Fourth,Lindisfarne,Castl

Average customer rating: what the??!!! Amy's Music Retro cool, but tires quickly Fantastic GREAT Music. Very Creative.

Back to Black Amy Winehouse Manufacturer: Republic ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Contemporary Blues | Blues | Styles | Music Contemporary R&B | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Introducing Joss Stone Alright, Still Corinne Bailey Rae The Reminder Icky Thump ASIN: B000N2G3RY Release Date: 2007-03-13

Tracks:

1. Rehab
2. You Know I'm No Good
3. Me & Mr. Jones
4. Just Friends
5. Back To Black
6. Love Is A Losing Game
7. Tears Dry On Their Own
8. Wake Up Alone
9. Some Unholy War
10. He Can Only Hold Her
11. Bonus Track 1

From Amazon.co.uk

Amy Winehouse's second album, Back to Black, is one of the finest soul albums, British or otherwise, to come out for years. Frank, her first album, was a sparse and stripped-down affair; Back to Black, meanwhile, is neither of these things. This time around, she's taken her inspiration from some of the classic 1960's girl groups like the Supremes and the Shangri-Las, a sound particularly suited to her textured vocal delivery, while adding a contemporary songwriting sensibility. With the help of producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi, "Rehab" becomes a gospel-tinged stomp, while the title track (and album highlight) is a heartbreaking musical tribute to Phil Spector, with it's echoey bass drum, rhythmic piano, chimes, saxophone and close harmonies. Best of all, though, is the fact that Back to Black bucks the current trend in R&B by being unabashedly grown-up in both style and content. Winehouse's lyrics deal with relationships from a grown-up perspective, and are honest, direct and, often, complicated: on "You Know I'm No Good", she's unapologetic about her unfaithfulness. But she can also be witty, as on "Me & Mrs Jones" when she berates a boyfriend with "You made me miss the Slick Rick gig". Back to Black is a refreshingly mature soul album, the best of its kind for years. --Ted Kord

Album Description

Hailed by Newsweek Magazine as a cross between Billie Holiday and Lauryn Hill, British soul singer Amy Winehouse's U.S. debut, Back To Black hits the US amid a flurry of accolades, radio and TV buzz unprecedented in recent years for a young siren.

Her brassy mix of emotive vocals tinged with 60's girl-group stylings, sly funk, and anguished jazz, sparked the New York Daily News to crown Back To Black a "marvelous debut that would do Etta James proud" while New Yorker Magazine called her "a fierce English performer whose voice combines the smoky depths of a jazz chanteuse with the heated passion of a soul singer," and Spin Magazine affirming "there's never been A British star quite like her."

Back To Black smolders with a bristling fusion of old school doo-wop/soul inflected uprisings, (the charismatic singer/songwriter wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album) brewing instant classics such as the Shirley Ellis influenced "Rehab," the Supremes tinged title song "Back To Black," the aching "Wake Up Alone," and the album's closer, "Addicted."

Album Details

Ivor Novello Award Winner, Mercury Music Prize and Triple Brit Nominee Amy Winehouse, Follows the Release of her New Single "rehab" and Recent Sell-out Mini-uk Tour, with the Hugely Anticipated Release on October 30th of her New Album "back to Black". On "back to Black", the Follow-up to her Platinum Debut "frank" which Established her as One of the Most Exciting and Challenging Artists in Pop Music, Amy Confirms, Beyond Any Reasonable Or Unreasonable Doubt, What a Truly Remarkable Talent She Is.

Customer Reviews:

what the??!!!.......2007-07-17

this girl is so ugly, and foul. an alcoholic and drugie. is that what we are praising today????????????! all she's doing is ripping off the old, great artists. i can NOT belive she is even in the entertainment biz; someone took a chance on her. he/she was probably drunk or on drugs when he signed her up. plus she can't even sing!!!!!!!!!!!! she sounds like her name- a big rhinoceros trying to sing. did i mention she is so unattractive? i don't know what's worst: her looks or personality. maybe her looks. can't belive this is what is "hot" in music. seems like everyone needs to go to rehab! PLEASE!

Amy's Music.......2007-07-17

Short version: I spent money on this album twice (I lost my orginal copy). That is how much I liked it.

Long version: The content and style Amy has is great. I do have a bias though. I have seen Amy recently in concert on TV. If I have one complaint is the fact that she mumbles through some of the lyrics. That takes away from the music in my opinion. Now that we have that part out of the way, Back to Black is a brilliant body of work.

Amy Winehouse is a throw back the people like Etta James and then mix it Johnny Rotten. She is raw and powerful. She may be the most rock n' roll chick I have seen in a long time. I hope she is not all Courtney Love (i.e. self destructive). There is a fire burning inside of her, and I can't wait to see what she has in store for us next. I think boredom will prevent this artist from giving us just another repeat performance.

Kevin

Retro cool, but tires quickly.......2007-07-17

I heard one of Amy Winehouse's singles on the radio and loved the retro Motown sound mixed with modern lyrics. I bought the album, and realized that I don't like a whole album of retro. My fault. She does it well, and her voice is really interesting, full of nuance and twists, but the material feels very derivative and that trick tires quickly. It's almost like the writers chose old songs they wanted to parrot, and then produced knock-offs with dirty words. I heard a MISTER BIG STUFF copy, many Supremes knock-offs, even a Marvin Gaye sound-alike. I'd love to see what Amy Winehouse could do when freed of the restrictions of copying '50s and '60s songs that often weren't that great in the first place. Plus, the CD skipped like crazy, which has made me less likely to play it.

Fantastic.......2007-07-17

Winehouse is awesome. Her voice, cool look, and great songs are fantastic. I love that she doesn't sound how you would expect her to. Her voice is so mature and seemingly from another time. I am totally into this cd.

GREAT Music. Very Creative. .......2007-07-16

If you like REAL music then you have to get this CD. This girl rocks. She is a refreshing change from the Bubble Gum sound that is out and so popular right now. She took a chance on being an artist and it paid off. She has beats from so many different cultures, eras, etc. I can listen to this wole CD all the way through. Good for riding and makes good club dance music. A must have for your CD collection.

Average customer rating: We'll never turn back Mavis Staples rules quafable but not transcendent Yes and no Passion and soul

We'll Never Turn Back Mavis Staples Manufacturer: Anti ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Blues | Styles | Music Traditional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music Gospel | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music Similar Items: My Name Is Buddy A Tribute To Joni Mitchell Sweet Warrior Twelve West ASIN: B000MR8SZU Release Date: 2007-04-24

Tracks:

1. Down In Mississippi
2. Eyes On The Prize
3. We Shall Not Be Moved
4. In The Mississippi River
5. On My Way
6. This Little Light
7. 99 And 1/2
8. My Own Eyes
9. Turn Me Around
10. We'Ll Never Turn Back
11. I'Ll Be Rested
12. Jesus Is On The Main Line

Amazon.com

As musical activists in the 1960s civil rights movement, the Staple Singers were powerful voices for equality and change. And more than 40 years after Pops's daughter Mavis spent a night in a West Memphis, Arkansas, jail at the behest of a racist cop, she still remembers the terror of the experience, as well as the counsel of Dr. Martin Luther King. That episode is at the centerpiece of "My Own Eyes," one of the most moving offerings on this collection of songs of racial struggle in the '50s and '60s, produced by guitarist Ry Cooder and featuring backing from the original Freedom Singers and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Throughout, the album proves both emotionally chilling and spiritually uplifting. On J.B. Lenoir's "Down in Mississippi" and Marshall Jones's "In the Mississippi River," for example, Cooder makes fine use of pounding percussion and snaky electric guitar to capture the danger and fear inherent in the Deep South at the time, while the title song and "Jesus Is on the Main Line" draw on gospel and the traditional framework of church hymns to promise positive solutions. Staples, who adlibs on several cuts, connecting the injustice of yesterday to the continuing marginalization of blacks in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, remains a remarkable performer, employing a throaty sensuality that rises from a deep well of tremulous emotion. If her album is musically uneven at times, her artistry and strength continue to shine as undimmed beacons. --Alanna Nash

More from Mavis and the Staple Singers

Have a Little Faith	A Piece of the Action	Only for the Lonely
The Best of the Staple Singers	Great Day	The Staple Singers: Greatest Hits

Album Description

From the liner notes, by John Lewis:

When I listen to this music, it takes me back. It takes me back to the red clay hills of Georgia, to the Black Belt of Alabama, and the Delta of Mississippi. It takes me back to the moans and groans and pains of an oppressed people yearning for freedom. It takes me back to the time when hundreds and thousands of us decided we were "sick and tired of being sick and tired," as Fannie Lou Hamer said. It takes me back to the days when ordinary people inspired by a dream decided to quench our hunger and thirst for justice in the fountains of mercy and love.

Back then, some people thought legalized segregation in America would never come to an end. But those of us in the Civil Rights Movement were inspired by a higher calling. And even if it cost us our very lives, "we weren't gone to let nobody turn us `round". We believed that the action of peace, the way of non-violence, and the power of love could overcome our oppression and remind our oppressors of their own humanity. Through the power of this faith our nation witnessed a non-violent revolution of values, a revolution of ideas that changed America forever.

The music you are listening to right now was the soul of that revolution. It was this music that gave us hope when it seemed like all hope was gone. It was the heartbeat of this music and its steady, reassuring message that bound us together as one solid force. So when we were beaten, arrested and jailed; when we stood together on picket lines or marched through the streets of the Deep South; when we faced the guns drawn, the billy clubs and the bullwhips raised; when we were teargassed, trampled by horses, or scattered by fire hoses, it was these songs that lifted us and pushed us to a higher place.

It is my hope that when you hear Mavis Staples, when you hear the Freedom Singers, and the other artists on this CD, that you too will be inspired. I hope this music will help you find the courage to stand up, speak up, and speak out and answer the call of your own conscience. It is my hope that this music will help you see what ordinary people with extraordinary vision can do when they decide they will never turn back.

Rep. John Lewis

Customer Reviews:

We'll never turn back.......2007-07-05

I enjoyed this cd very much. I had listened to the Staples singers years ago and was glad to see Mavis recording again.

Mavis Staples rules.......2007-06-28

This is one fantastic recording. Mavis has a magnificent voice . . . perfect for the songs and full of depth and determination. The musicians notably ry cooder and back up singers are up to the task as well. Mavis let her light shine brightly!!

quafable but not transcendent.......2007-06-27

This is a solid album, similar in tone to the recent retreads by the Blind Boys of Alabama and John Hammond. The historical and emotional baggage it carries help one to listen with a sympathetic ear, and perhaps lend it more pathos than is earned strictly on aesthetic merits.

Yes and no.......2007-06-27

A tribute to the legacy of the Civil Rights movement and the Staple Singers themselves. Doesn't really live up to the hype, though. Mavis has still got the drive and passion, but her voice doesn't have the range and nuance.

Passion and soul.......2007-06-26

Mavis Staples sings with passion and true soul the songs of the Civil Rights movement on "We'll Never Turn Back". The CD has all the sounds of a great Ry Cooder CD too because he did arrangements of many of the songs and he plays on them too. This CD's version of "This Little Light of Mine" shows what can be done respectfully to bring a whole new sound to an old song. This CD really deserves 5 stars.

Average customer rating: Still Growing As An Artist Back to Basics Unexpected pleasure One of the greastest singers of all time Christina is on Fire!

Back to Basics Christina Aguilera Manufacturer: RCA ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Contemporary | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Teen Pop | Pop | Styles | Music General | Adult Contemporary | Pop | Styles | Music General | Euro Pop | Pop | Styles | Music General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Similar Items: FutureSex / LoveSounds Loose B'day The Sweet Escape The Dutchess ASIN: B000G759LW Release Date: 2006-08-15

Tracks:

1. Intro (Back To Basics)
2. Makes Me Wanna Pray featuring Steve Winwood
3. Back In The Day
4. Ain't No Other Man
5. Understand
6. Slow Down Baby
7. Oh Mother
8. F.U.S.S. (Interlude)
9. On Our Way
10. Without You
11. Still Dirrty
12. Here To Stay
13. Thank You (Dedication To Fans...)
14. Enter The Circus
15. Welcome
16. Candyman
17. Nasty Naughty Boy
18. I Got Trouble
19. Hurt
20. Mercy On Me
21. Save Me From Myself
22. The Right Man
23. Back To Basics (Bonus Video)

Amazon.com

Back to Basics, Christina Aguilera's first disc in four years, refines and clarifies the--let's call it "sexy"--aura surrounding this platinum firebrand. Here, the best belter in a class that counts Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears on its roll call has turned her attention to love songs: the supercharged and ubiquitous first single "Ain't No Other Man," for one, and the hushed stunner "Save Me from Myself" for another. That doesn't mean she's foresworn being nasty, though. Dive deep into this set, past the gorgeous crackle that frames the old-school jazz-, blues-, and soul-inspired tracks on the first disc, and you'll reach a playful and familiar raunch; "Candyman" celebrates a "one-stop shop" who "makes the panties drop" to a boogie-woogie beat, and "Nasty Naughty Boy" sends out a heated, big-beated invitation to "sip on my champagne/Cause I'm gonna give you a little taste/Of the sugar below my waist." Thoughtful listeners should snap out of their fascination with Xtina's undiminished yet newly un-tramp-like sexuality, though, because what they'll really want to focus on throughout these 22 tracks is the honest-to-God artistry. While the rock producer Linda Perry helps disc two pop in interesting and unexpected ways (check the muffled blues number "I Got Trouble" and "Mercy on Me," an obvious nod to Fiona Apple), DJ Premier, a mainstay on Jay-Z and Nas projects, pipes a batch of aural high-fives into the nostalgia-bitten first disc (the deep-down funk of "Back in the Day," the strut-strut early hip-hop sound of "Still Dirrty"). Their nudges aside, though, Back to Basics is all Aguilera's baby--she executive-produced, and she's found herself artistically. Nobody would argue, in fact, if she swiveled around the chorus to "Ain't No Other Man," written for her husband, and aimed it at herself: "You got soul, you got class/You got style, you're bada--." --Tammy La Gorce

More from Xtina

Christina Aguilera	Stripped	Mi Reflejo
My Kind of Christmas	Christina Aguilera -Stripped-Live in the UK	Christina Aguilera-My Reflection

Customer Reviews:

Still Growing As An Artist.......2007-07-17

Honestly, I have only listened to 2/3 of the double album set, but I have enjoyed every minute of what I have heard. Christina is a little dynamo and she brings it full force. It is ashamed that so many of the tracks on this album will be lost in the over play of Candyman and Ain't No Other Man on the radio. If you like pop music, this is a great addition to the 2006/2007 year's collection.

Back to Basics.......2007-07-11

Great CD. Love most of the songs. Some are OK, and real different.

Unexpected pleasure.......2007-07-05

I never thought I'd like any of these bubble-gum-pop stars, but I found myself really enjoying the songs on this CD. And I was pleasantly surprised by Aguilera's voice -- much better than the rest of the mouseketeer pack.

One of the greastest singers of all time.......2007-06-14

This album is fantastic. She is truley and talented musician and really sets herself apart form all of the rest. Keep on doing what your doing!

Christina is on Fire!.......2007-06-01

I've always been a fan of Christina Aguilera...She never "over does" her music. I think she decide to change her look and sound due to the ridiculous criticism she recived for the "Stripped/2002" album. I though that album was musically geinus. So that brings me to "Back to Basics/2006". I love this album, though it would have done her better to release it as a single album and the drop of two songs. I can listen to Disc 1 all day long, with songs like: Ain't No Other Man, Oh Mother, F.U.S.S. (which by the way means F**k You Scott Storch), On Our Way ect... She has definatley progressed as an artist and can't wait until her next album!

Favorite songs:

1. On Our Way
2. Without You
3. Still Dirrty
4. Oh Mother
5. F.U.S.S.
6. Ain't No Other Man

Average customer rating: Simply put, THIS is rock and roll! One of the best CDs ever...REMASTERED The rebirth of AC/DC It does'nt get much Better than this!! Back In Black again

Back in Black (Deluxe Digipak) AC/DC Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Australia & New Zealand | International | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Arena Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music $9.99 and Under | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Pop | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Classic Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Alternative Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music International | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music All Blowout Music | Blowout Music | Stores | Music $9.99 and Under | Prices | Blowout Music | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 25% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Highway to Hell Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap High Voltage For Those About to Rock We Salute You The Razor's Edge ASIN: B000089RV6 Release Date: 2003-02-18

Tracks:

1. Hells Bells
2. Shoot To Thrill
3. What Do You Do For Money Honey
4. Givin The Dog A Bone
5. Let Me Put My Love Into You
6. Back In Black
7. You Shook Me All Night Long
8. Have A Drink On Me
9. Shake A Leg
10. Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution

Amazon.com essential recording

Most critics complain Back in Black, the album AC/DC recorded after the death of their original lead screamer Bon Scott, is ridiculously juvenile, obvious, snickering, bludgeoning, derivative, single-minded about sex and booze, a big cartoon. All true, of course, and--on rock 'n' ragers like "What Do You Do For Money Honey," "You Shook Me All Night Long," and the title track--all great. As Scott's replacement Brian Johnson reminds us, loud and crunchy, no-holds-barred "rock and roll ain't noise pollution...it makes good, good sense." Never trust anyone who refuses to drink domestic beer, laugh at the Three Stooges, or crank Back in Black. --David Cantwell

Album Description

AC/DC's 1980 album digitally remastered and reissued in a special digipak plus a 16 page full color booklet containing all original album art, many unpublished photos, classic memorabilia and new 2003 liner notes. Epic.

Customer Reviews:

Simply put, THIS is rock and roll!.......2007-07-11

I can't really think of anything too specific to say about "Back in Black". One day, I bought the album, listened to it and had one of the biggest musical joyrides I can recall! Critics may despise AC/DC, but that's no reason to neglect this album! In fact, this qualifies not only as being one of the biggest-selling rock albums of all time, but one of the greatest. That being said, "Back in Black" is probably the first album people will think about whenever AC/DC is mentioned, and while they have a great selection in their catalogue, this is, no doubt, their finest hour.
From the guitar crunch of the Young brothers, from Malcolm's rock-solid rhythm playing to Angus's legendary riffs, licks and solos, this no doubt qualifies as a great guitar album. Then comes in the rhythm section of Cliff Williams on bass and Phil Rudd on drums, and while Phil Rudd may not have the same chops as John Bonham, Phil still makes his drums sound larger than life, which makes for a great cornerstone of the AC/DC groove. And then...Brian Johnson. Who would have thought after such a great lead singer as Bon Scott passed away, Brian Johnson would be able to fill in his role, and fill it in greatly, as well. His voice may take some getting used to, but he definitely sounds best on this album.
In addition, the remastering is excellent. The volume is up and there's no static or unneccesary noise that ruins the sound. After all, there's nothing as disappointing as hearing a great song like it was recorded a mile away! Anyway, this album is just flat-out excellent for those who dig such a sound. Ten songs at a little over forty minutes, and a cross between a hard-rock crunch and an old-school groove for each song, AC/DC did just about everything they could right on this album.
As a summary, this album will make you forget your problems, imagine these guys on stage at night in a big, sold-out arena, playing these rockers loudly and proudly, and, of course, prove to be a testament of time and rock and roll. And remember, take no pressure from the critics. Be your own person! Rock out and feel good about it! And remember, "rock and roll ain't noise pollution...it just makes good, good sense!" Peace!

One of the best CDs ever...REMASTERED.......2007-06-27

I owned an original copy of Back in Black and played it constantly. It's an ideal CD for road trips and just incredible rock from beginning to end. I didn't think anything could possibly improve it until I heard the remastered version. Suddenly the bass comes out more, the drums are even more in your face, the vocals are clearer, it just ROCKS even more. There are plenty of bad remasters out there of various classic albums, but thankfully, this is not one of them.

The rebirth of AC/DC .......2007-05-16

Hands down the best AC/DC CD. This is the cream of the crop, and it doesn't get any better than this. To this day, each song rocks loud and hard, and vocalist Brian Johnson was never better. A must for any hard rock collection, your ears will be bleeding.

It does'nt get much Better than this!!.......2007-05-11

Of course, In my humble opinion, this album is in my Top Ten of all-time. It rocks, it's bluesy,crushing, sneering and has that "I'm badder than you attitude." And it's just a lot of FUN. Really, what more could you want in a Rock album? Get your hands on this bad boy!!!

Back In Black again.......2007-04-12

This is one of the best albums of all time and if you don't believe me check any registered music critic's top 100 list and you'll see it there somewhere. Not only is it a fun album and one that brings constant memories of high school flooding back to me; it really is a very well put together record. Coming off the death of lead singer Bon Scott, the Young boys and their co-horts hopped onto the Brian Johnson wagon and headed into the studio. With the fists to the air and groin to the ground "You Shook Me All Night Long" this album was off and running all over the world. The sound on the remaster is excellant and so are the liner notes some of which make you really listen to the album. The mixture of old blues and hard rock is more evident than I originally had even thought of and just the hard rocking fun of the title track, the grinding "Rock & Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" and "Giving The Dog A Bone" is just plain exciting. If you haven't heard it in a while I highly suggest you throw that old cassette into the boom box and give it another go - or better yet get this remaster, I know you want it.

Average customer rating: Love this cd? Love it, love it, love it IT'S ALL GOOD boring unbelievable!!!!

Back to Bedlam James Blunt Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music $9.99 and Under | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Pop | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Alternative Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music All Blowout Music | Blowout Music | Stores | Music $9.99 and Under | Prices | Blowout Music | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 25% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Daniel Powter Life In Slow Motion Eye To The Telescope How To Save A Life Eyes Open ASIN: B000301YY8 Release Date: 2005-10-04

Tracks:

1. High
2. You're Beautiful
3. Wisemen
4. Goodbye My Lover
5. Tears and Rain
6. Out of My Mind
7. So Long Jimmy
8. Billy
9. Cry
10. No Bravery

Amazon.com

As a piece of propaganda, James Blunt's album Back to Bedlam does more for changing the face of the British Army than a series of television adverts ever could. Swapping a rifle for a guitar, the former cavalryman's ballad-heavy debut is a clearly aiming to win the battle for the public's hearts and minds. The U.K. success of singles like "You're Beautiful" and "No Bravery" (inspired by his time stationed in Bosnia) are both heartfelt and sensitive, the latter packing an additional emotional punch beyond the typical lovelorn ballads of his contemporaries like Damien Rice. But Blunt also sings with conviction about matters of the heart, and that's the territory that most of Back to Bedlam visits, with songs of loss like "Goodbye My Lover", "So Long Jimmy" and "Billy". And throughout, the arrangements remain understated yet effective, thanks to the input of such heavyweight producers and songwriters like Linda Perry and Guy Chambers. All of which prove that there's a lot of depth to this modern, musical hero. --Robert Burrow

Album Description

Simply put, James Blunt is the most successful debut artist of the year in the UK! However, he isn't one of those guys who finished school and set off to become a musician. The one time British army captain (and latest ina long line of Blunts in the armed forces) served stints as a peacekeeper in Kosovo and guard at Buckingham Palace before hanging up his uniform. His days of carrying a gun behind him, Blunt quickly began turning heads with his soaring vocals and stirring songs. His debut album, Back to Bedlam, has earned widespread praise, including comparisons to the likes of Damien Rice, David Gray and a young Elton John.

Album Description

Debut album through Atlantic/Custard, recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Tom Rothcock (Beck, Elliott Smith, Badly Drawn Boy), Back To Bedlam takes the listener through heartfelt songs of unattainable romances, lost loves and friend's failures before climaxing with James' first-hand experience of war. 2004.

Album Details

Recorded in Los Angeles and Produced by Tom Rothrock (Beck, Elliott Smith, Badly Drawn Boy), "Back to Bedlam" Takes the Listener Through Heartfelt Songs of Unattainable Romances, Lost Loves and Friend's Failures Before Climaxing with James's First-hand Experience of War.

Customer Reviews:

Love this cd?.......2007-07-16

I love this cd! I understand that sometimes profanity is the only way to truly express how you feel but, I wouldn't listen to it with my grandchild for fear that he may learn some not so choice words.

Love it, love it, love it.......2007-07-02

I bought this album for one particular song...gee, can you guess which one? "You're Beautiful", of course! I just love his voice and I especially love the sentiment he expresses in this song. The rest of the songs are good, too, but I was hooked by just the one.

Joyce Marie Taylor-Author and Poet

IT'S ALL GOOD.......2007-06-09

I think Blunt's music tends to be a little winey. But the more I listened to the CD the better it got. Every song is a winner.

boring.......2007-06-03

Great idea it was to get back at an old girlfriend by selling her memory, but did you have to get back at listeners with a pretty boring set of unmemorable songs?

Endless. Maybe I'll leave this disc on the subway.

unbelievable!!!!.......2007-06-01

My CD collection runs the gamut - from Roger Miller, to Elton John, to Def Leppard and I can tell you this is an incredible CD from start to finish. My favorite is So Long Jimmy but I like them all and I usually skip through at least a few songs on every CD. My parent don't usually like ANY of my music but I put this on to play Memorial Day while we were grillin' burgers and they loved it! He has a haunting, and amazing voice - buy it - you won't regret it.

Average customer rating: Surprisingly good Fair cd How to navigate the perils of a saxophone trio Always Open Ears For Josh - Always Time For Dewey Impressive!

Back East Joshua Redman Trio Manufacturer: Nonesuch ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music Jazz | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music All Blowout Music | Blowout Music | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 25% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Pilgrimage Metheny Mehldau Quartet Kids: Duets Live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola Sonny Please Brown Street ASIN: B000N4S95Q Release Date: 2007-04-24

Tracks:

1. The Surrey With The Fridge On Top
2. East Of The Sun (And West Of The Moon)
3. Zarafah
4. Indian Song
5. I'm An Old Cowhand
6. Wagon Wheels
7. Back East
8. Mantra No.5
9. Indonesia
10. India
11. GJ

Amazon.com

Sonny Rollins's 1957 release Way Out West established the pianoless bass-sax-drum configuration. The Berkeley-raised tenor/soprano saxophonist Joshua Redman's geographically reversed tribute was recorded in New York, where his career began. It features three sets of trios, with drummers Brian Blade, Eric Harland, and Ali Jackson and bassists Rueben Rogers, Christian McBride, and Larry Grenadier. Redman's sure-headed, serpentine, and sensual saxlines upgrade the two WOW tracks "I'm an Old Cowhand" and "Wagon Wheels" with Afro-Asian rhythmic motifs. Joe Lovano, Chris Cheek, and the leader's late father Dewey Redman lend their sax sounds to selections by Redman's horn influences: "Indian Song" by Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane's "India," and the Stan Getz-associated ballad "East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)." Redman's compositions--"Mantra #5," the tantric-tempoed "Indonesia," the title track, and "GJ," a touching dedication from Joshua Redman's dad to his grandson--complete the thrilling project from this future saxophone colossus. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Album Description

Joshua Redman mixes originals with standards in tribute of the great sax players before him, on his new album Back East. But Redman doesn't just pay homage with these tunes, he makes them his own, adding a different sort of "eastern" feel to both the covers and his original compositions. With many special guest performers, including his own father, Redman has created a eloquent gift for the music world.

Customer Reviews:

Surprisingly good.......2007-07-12

Joshua Redman is hit or miss with me. I'm not really a fan of his elastic band stuff, so hearing him return to an acoustic format in a trio setting was a nice change for me. Each trio is unique and showcases each member in a different way - it's amazing how this stripped down format can stay interesting throughout the entire album. Recommended.

Fair cd.......2007-06-25

Off the Mark & what I mean is wrong material. Doesnt show what his talents are. Id get George Benson, Bob James Nathan east, David Beniot, Peter white, Mark antione on your next cd & this would make a awesome Cd.

How to navigate the perils of a saxophone trio.......2007-06-21

A saxophone trio album can be tricky, since the saxophonist has to pretty much carry the entire load. If the sax playing isn't utter genius (think of Ornette Coleman's "At The Golden Circle"), then you can get a CD that seems to go on for too long (think of Branford Marsalis's "Bloomington"). Joshua Redman does a few things to avoid that pitfall. The first thing is call in three guest saxophonists, Chris Cheek, Joe Lovano, and Dewey Redman, to appear on three different songs. The two-sax songs are sprinkled through the CD. Another way to avoid monotony is to have three different rhythm sections. All three sections are top-notch, and you get the sense they're playing to the song and the saxophone, not to out-do the other bassists and drummers. Larry Grenadier and Ali Jackson play on most of the songs. Lastly, the songs are kept relatively short, so it isn't too long before a new melody or tempo is introduced.

Joshua Redman starts off with an old warhorse, "Surrey With The Fringe On Top" and freshens it up a little by chopping up the rhythm. Most of the rest of the songs have an Asian reference in their title, and to a lesser extent in their music. I'm not sure how "I'm An Old Cowhand" and "Wagon Wheels" fit in with the theme, since they're western songs . At any rate, the standards are nicely played, and the new compositions are also good. It's simply a top-notch album, and is highly recommended. This will be one of the better CD's of 2007. The last song doesn't have Joshua on it, but has Dewey Redman playing for his granddaughter. It's interestingly free-jazzy, and perhaps a suitable capstone to Dewey's long and interesting career.

Always Open Ears For Josh - Always Time For Dewey.......2007-06-03

Nowhere is it written that expressing angst is in the sole dominion of the consternated pop/alt./rockers and their ilk. Joshua Redman makes that clear by bailing himself out of San Fran (temporarily), scooping up his little bambino, and coming "Back East" to bury his father. Josh has plenty of strong emotions to work out in front of us, and we should have no problem with that. This is healthy music-making. There's also the palpable sense that Redman was jonesing big-time to play again in a trio setting with Brian Blade, his musical alter-ego. Other drummers are on-board besides Blade, but it's not the first time, as some have suggested, that Brian and Josh have recorded in a trio. See Yaya3 for proof of that (with no bassist, but bass-end courtesy of B3-er Sam Yahel). This isn't even the first time that Josh has recorded with just the bare-bones sax-bass-drums thing going on (see isolated tracks on Joshua Redman, Wish, and Spirit Of The Moment: Live At The Village Vanguard). But an entire album of it? Yes, now we're talking "Back East" style. Before getting all caught up with this distinction, however, just watch those lines get blurred by some of these trios morphing into quartets with the addition of some very special guests.

It's impossible to write this review and not drop the name Sonny Rollins, since a full third of the tracks here are tunes that Newk explored within the very same trio constraints back in the late 50's, and you know that Josh loves his Newk. He doesn't try to sound like Rollins here - he just invokes Sonny's powerful visage. The name and the sound, both invoked and actually present, which "Back East" *is* suffused with is that of Joshua's late father, Dewey Redman. My first exposure to the music of Dewey Redman came in the mid 70's when he was part of Keith Jarrett's incendiary American combo that made recordings for Impulse!, but I have to confess that most of it went way over my head at the time. What really made me pay attention to Dewey was his significant contribution to Pat Metheny's ECM double-album 80/81, right there next to Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden (also a vet of that Jarrett unit), Metheny, and the late Michael Brecker. What a free-emotive ear-opening revelation Dewey was on those tunes! Next came my awareness of the outfit known as "Old And New Dreams" with Don Cherry, Ed Blackwell, and Haden again, which really convinced me that it was Miles Davis who was "all messed up inside" and not Ornette Coleman. And in the midst of all this great music came a Dewey Redman album for the ages - 1983's "The Struggle Continues" on ECM. Search hard in used vinyl shops for it - or even harder for a CD copy.

So what does any of this have to do with Joshua Redman's new self-produced title on Nonesuch? The answer is: everything. Josh has some of the biggest ears on this planet - don't go thinking for a minute that any of this stuff from the late 70's and 80's was lost on him, even if he tells you that he had to "come back" for some of it (he grew up apart from his dad with his mother in the Bay Area). Once Josh made the commitment to music over law school, *all* the great tenors who came before him contributed something to his jurisprudence of jazz degree. And with this latest offering, Redman (the younger) continues to show off his very sponge-like abilities even further. If there were just a few more tracks like the Josh original "Indonesia" (which isn't exactly gamelan, but sure ain't no 12-bar blues either) or the Coltrane gem "India" (performed in 4tet with father Dewey), or the Shorter jewel "Indian Song" (4tet with Joe Lovano, tune lifted from Wayne's o.o.p. 1965 album "Etcetera") this review would be attached to a 5-star rating. But 4 stars is still pretty darned good, and "Back East" is worth extra spins just to reflect on the incredible musical legacy left to us by Dewey Redman, who not so incidentally gets the last dance all to himself (in a trio) for the set closer. Salaam, Dewey. Great album, Josh.

Impressive!.......2007-05-24

I own every single Joshua Redman album and I think that Back East is the album I'm most impressed with. Simply put, Redman's improve prowess is off the charts. Redman has always been good, even great, but now I think he is on another planet planet.

Average customer rating: The best of the era How come they sound so good? Cuz its the STONES, that's why! Great Stones Collection not the best choice of songs Mixed Emotional CD

Jump Back: The Best of the Rolling Stones 1971-1993 The Rolling Stones Manufacturer: Virgin Records Us ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Blues Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Supergroups | Classic Rock | Styles | Music General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Pop | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Classic Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Alternative Rock | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Blowout Music | Stores | Music All Blowout Music | Blowout Music | Stores | Music More Titles at Least 25% Off | Blowout Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Hot Rocks 1964-1971 [DSD Remastered] A Bigger Bang The Who: The Ultimate Collection Forty Licks Sticky Fingers ASIN: B0002OOUP0 Release Date: 2004-08-24

Tracks:

1. Start Me Up
2. Brown Sugar
3. Harlem Shuffle
4. It's Only Rock N' Roll
5. Mixed Emotions
6. Angie
7. Tumbling Dice
8. Fool To Cry
9. Rock And A Hard Place
10. Miss You
11. Hot Stuff
12. Emotional Rescue
13. Respectable
14. Beast Of Burden
15. Waiting On A Friend
16. Wild Horses
17. Bitch
18. Undercover Of The Night

Album Description

Full title - Jump Back: The Best Of The Rolling Stones 1971-1993'. This collection features 18 of the Stones' best hits after leaving Abkco in 1971, all remastered from the original masters via 20 bit technology. Features 'Start Me Up', 'Brown Sugar', 'It's Only Rock 'N' Roll', 'Mixed Emotions', 'Angie', 'Miss You', 'Hot Stuff', 'Beast Of Burden', 'Wild Horses', 'Bitch', 'Undercover Of The Night', & more! Virgin. 1994. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews:

The best of the era.......2007-07-09

The bset cuts from, arguably, the best years of the Stones. If you are Stones fan you probably have most of these on other albums, however now they are all together for you, just pop in the cd and you've got eighteen of their best. A shame, however some longer versions of the songs aren't here, like Waiting on a friend...the long version has some incredible sax solos by Billy Keys. The one downfall of strictly studio cut albums.
Forget the iPod, just play the entire CD!

How come they sound so good? Cuz its the STONES, that's why!.......2007-01-08

JUMP BACK * THE BEST OF THE ROLLING STONES has tracks that span the years 1971 to 1989. Taken direct from masters, and using what was then the latest technology (20 bit), sound quality of these 18 tunes is excellent. Included is a nicely illustrated 12-page booklet, that has comments about each song by band members-- the sort of details fans and trivia buffs go for. Some examples: "Brown Sugar" was written by Mick while he was filming NED KELLY in Australia, the demo of "It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (But I Like It)" featured Jagger and David Bowie, "Undercover Of The Night" was inspired by a William Borroughs novel called CITIES OF THE RED NIGHT, and so on.

JUMP BACK is a solid collection of later-career Rolling Stones tracks, recorded while they were still at the top of their game.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME -- 74:19

Great Stones Collection.......2006-07-07

If you want to listen to the best Mick Jagger & company had to offer from the early 70s to the early 90s then this is the CD for you.
Not all the big numbers are here but there are enough to make this a "must have" Stones album, especially for those who don't want to buy all the individual albums these tunes came from.
The digital remastering sounds great and there is a good liner notes booklet too.

not the best choice of songs.......2006-05-20

This should have included SHATTERED, SHE'S SO COLD, and ONE HIT TO THE BODY, if it was a true greatest hits cd from this time period.

Mixed Emotional CD.......2006-03-11

I have Mixed Emotions about this CD compilation. Most of the Stones best songs are here during that era, although I would have liked to have seen "Can't You Hear Me Knocking?", "Monkey Man", "Shattered", "She's So Cold", or "Dance Little Sister" on it. But the biggest letdown in this CD was the editted version of the Monster Hit: "Miss You" by one minute and sixteen seconds. (the singles version) Also, "Beast of Burden","Hot Stuff", and "Fool to Cry" were each cut by almost a full minute! "Rock and A Hard Place" was also editted too. (You can hear the eight minute dance version of 'Miss You' on the "Rarities '71 to '03" CD, but that was more amusing than fantastic listening.) Overall the 'Jump Back' CD is good, but You Can't Always Get What You Want. If you did, you got me Rocking!

Average customer rating: Back to black LOVE IT A rare gem in a sea of crappy copycats & sound-alikes! Not such a Oh My (insert word here)-ing God! I am an Amy Winehouse convert....

Back to Black [Clean Version] Amy Winehouse Manufacturer: Republic ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Contemporary Blues | Blues | Styles | Music Contemporary R&B | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Alright, Still Introducing Joss Stone Timbaland Presents Shock Value The Sweet Escape The Dutchess ASIN: B000NA1Z1A Release Date: 2007-03-13

Tracks:

1. Rehab
2. You Know I'm No Good
3. Me & Mr Jones
4. Just Friends
5. Back to Black
6. Love Is a Losing Game
7. Tears Dry on Their Own
8. Wake Up Alone
9. Some Unholy War
10. He Can Only Hold Her
11. Addicted

Album Description

Hailed by Newsweek Magazine as a cross between Billie Holiday and Lauryn Hill, British soul singer Amy Winehouse's U.S. debut, Back To Black hits the US amid a flurry of accolades, radio and TV buzz unprecedented in recent years for a young siren.

Her brassy mix of emotive vocals tinged with 60's girl-group stylings, sly funk, and anguished jazz, sparked the New York Daily News to crown Back To Black a "marvelous debut that would do Etta James proud" while New Yorker Magazine called her "a fierce English performer whose voice combines the smoky depths of a jazz chanteuse with the heated passion of a soul singer," and Spin Magazine affirming "there's never been A British star quite like her."

Back To Black smolders with a bristling fusion of old school doo-wop/soul inflected uprisings, (the charismatic singer/songwriter wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album) brewing instant classics such as the Shirley Ellis influenced "Rehab," the Supremes tinged title song "Back To Black," the aching "Wake Up Alone," and the album's closer, "Addicted."

Customer Reviews:

Back to black.......2007-06-17

Last month I had the opportunity to hear BACK TO BLACK by Amy Winehouse courtesy of a co-worker of mine. Normally my musical preferences is at the opposite end of the spectrum (darker and more aggressive) but in Amy's case I loved what I heard. I finally got a hold of my own copy of BACK TO BLACK. I have been listening to the cd non-stop. I really don't care for r&b music. Today's r&b is slickly overproduced. Amy's music has a vintage Motown influence with a splash of jazz thrown in to the mix. The production is gritty like a lot of old school r&b/soul music were back in the day. I like how unique Amy's vocals are. They have a slighty whiney, raspy edge but without being annoying. I think the standout track on the entire album is the hilarious "Rehab". Gotta love the lyrics. Another great track is "You Know I'm No Good". For some odd reason the song sounded like it would have been great for the great Shirley Bassey to sing. Not wild about the rap on the remixed version of the song. I wished the album wasn't so short but on the other hand it left me very eager to hear more from Amy.

LOVE IT.......2007-05-12

I have to admit, I discovered Amy Winehouse during a lunchtime visit to [...] and he's right...she's fantastic. What a great CD. Nostalgic and new at the same time. LOVE IT. I bought the "clean version" of her album, 'cause I have a child...though I don't know how "clean" it really is. Even "clean" the CD is totally amazing. I'm not crazy about the remix of "You Know I'm No Good" ...it just doesn't need the rap, but the rest of the songs are all good. It's unique, but familiar at the same time. Kind of a trashy, Spectorized-girl-group sound. Bloodshot-blue-eyed-soul, if you will. I love her voice. If I was rich, I'd buy it for all my friends.

A rare gem in a sea of crappy copycats & sound-alikes!.......2007-04-29

Fantastic album. As I said in my review title, this is a rare gem in a sea of crappy copycats and sound-alikes; in a world where everyone is trying to release a sound that sounds like everyone else sounds (does that make sense?), Amy Winehouse releases a throw-back to better musical days.

This album is a confirmation of the fact that good music will never die, even if dead music continues to live. The smooth R&B/blues/soul/jazz sounds are Mo-town all over again. And I am thrilled.

I am a musical purist and I don't care for much of what is released these days, but this album is a wonderful exploration of the old sounds with an updated groove and a funky edge.

Every song is at least good. In my humble opinion, the standouts are "Rehab", "You know I'm No Good", "Back to Black", "Tears Dry On Their Own", "Some Unholy War", and "He Can Only Hold Her".

To carry that one step further, I would point to true, amazing standouts as "ME & MR. JONES", a slow groove with motown like backing vocals and thick leading vocals from Amy. A true treat for the ears.
Also, "JUST FRIENDS". This has to be the BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM. A smooth, rasta-infused jazzy upbeat tune, slow and easy. This gal is amazing.

Man, can you say Lauryn Hill, Billie Holiday, Etta James? This lady has a beautiful future if she sticks with what got her to this point. Her vocals are purely classic, thick and textured like few others can. She has placed herself at the pinnacle of musical history, not just modern music.

Simply stated, this album is sardonic, muddled, ironic, melancholy rantings of an alcoholic (recovering or admitted, I'm not sure) siren.

A must have for any pure music lover.

I am very picky about music, sticking mostly to classics (classical, classic rock, mo-town, big-band, swing, blues or jazz) but this album breaks through the monotony of the typical crap of today and shines brightly.

WITHOUT A DOUBT, THIS SHOULD BE ALBUM OF THE YEAR AT THE GRAMMY'S. WON'T SURPRISE ME IF SHE'S OVERLOOKED BY THE SHEEP, BUT SHE DESERVES IT 100%.

Not such a .......2007-04-16

THIS REVIEW DEALS ONLY WITH THE EDITING OF CURSE WORDS FOR THE CLEAN ALBUM.

I bought the clean version of this album because she uses the "f" word in several songs on the other version and I have young children. The edited version is a disappointment. The curse words are clumsily half-blotted out, leaving an awkward space in the songs, while the phrase, "You don't mean [...] to me" remains untouched. I will still have to press the skip button, which negates the whole point of buying a clean version! If the Black Eyed Peas and Jay-Z can come up with alternate lyrics for some of their edited songs, then certainly Amy Winehouse's handlers could have done the same.

Oh My (insert word here)-ing God! I am an Amy Winehouse convert...........2007-04-05

People, if you haven't bought this album yet, go buy it today. There is a reason that people love this woman. Yes, she is unapologetically blunt (when it comes to sex, drugs and everything in between), yes, she dabbles with drugs in real life, and yes, her sound is authentic and DAMN good. I think I'm in love with that voice. I'll tell you why.....

Amy's voice is at once sexy, sensuous, expressive and seductive, and her band is seamless (great horn and percussive section!). What's more, her lyrics are fantastic and unabashedly honest (at times lewd, yes, and allude to her addiction to blow AKA cocaine). She is probably best known for "ReHab," "You Know I'm No Good" and "Back to Black." I feel like I am back in 1960, listening to soul, and then the expletives come pouring out....but, smooth as silk. You can't blame the girl for being angry. I don't know if Amy has just had some tough luck with men, or whether they just take delight in treating her like trash. At any rate, this woman totally channels the rush of emotions that comes with broken relationships, as well as the rush of drug addiction. If you want to hear a good example of the broken-ness, I reccomend "Me & Mr. Jones." (or most of the other tracks!)

This woman is amazing. I just hope (and I say this with sincerity), that she doesn't overdose before her remarkable career truly fluorishes worldwide. Note: As I said before, this album is explicit and has references to sex and drugs (quite graphic sex, at times). Still, this is one of the best soul albums I have heard. She puts Christina Aguilera and all of those wannabees to shame......Praise the lord, soul has returned!

Average customer rating: THE most influential album of the sixties bringing it all back to where it belongs BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME IS BOB DYLAN AT HIS VERY BEST ! A good place to start Folk Rock's Definitive Masterpiece

Bringing It All Back Home Bob Dylan Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Contemporary Blues | Blues | Styles | Music General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Blues Rock | Rock | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: Highway 61 Revisited The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan The Times They Are A-Changin' Blonde on Blonde Another Side of Bob Dylan ASIN: B00026WU9Q Release Date: 2004-06-01

Tracks:

1. Subterranean Homesick Blues
2. She Belongs To Me
3. Maggie's Farm
4. Medley: Love Minus Zero/No Limit
5. Outlaw Blues
6. On the Road Again
7. Bob Dylan's 115th Dream
8. Mr. Tambourine Man
9. Gates Of Eden
10. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
11. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

Amazon.com

"You sound like you're having a good old time," a purist Dylan fan is spotted telling the artist in the documentary Don't Look Back just after the release of this, his first (half-)electric album. He certainly does. Updating Chicago blues forms with hilarious, tough lyrics--in fact, all but stealing the meter of Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business" for "Subterranean Homesick Blues"--on one side, dropping some of his most devastating solo acoustic science ("It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," "Mr. Tambourine Man") on the other, the first of Dylan's two 1965 long-players broke it right down with style, substance, and elegance. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews:

THE most influential album of the sixties.......2007-07-16

This is IT.
This is where, in retrospect, it all started. I didn't realize it at the time but I do now. There were two sixties, the early 60-64, Beach Boys, Frankie Avalon, early Beatle "I Want to Hold you Hand", crew-cut, A-line dress, boufant hair, weejun sixties, and the other sixties, the Revolver, Sgt Pepper, Jimi Hendrix, Steppenwolf, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Cream, United States of America, sixties that everyone today thinks was the sixties which happened after 1965. and it started here!

Bob Dylan, the antiwar, civil-rights, Woody Guthrie-imitating darling of the folksingers, the Voice and Conscience of his Generation, after penning "Blowin in the Wind", and "The Masters of War", stunned his purist followers with "Bringing it All Back Home". Electric instruments and a turn from trying to change the world by preaching at it to a bemused surreal satire. This, and "Revolver" are the two most influential albums of the sixties, maybe of music history. I remember.

The Beatles were wildly popular with younger listeners, but generally dismissed by music critics of the time as being a wildly sucessful but totally Pop phenominon. Dylan said they were "Bubblegum". Dylan's friend Al Aronowitz (sp?), said that the Beatles weren't that bad. Dylan and friend were introduced to the Beatles at a certain party in Manhattan AUG 64, wherein there was some smoking. Dylan and Lennon talked and found they had a lot in common. Dylan suggested Lennon should put more of his feelings into his songs. Following this party the Beatles became much more introspective, and a few months later "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver'!. See DVD "No Direction Home" directed by Martin Scorsese for details...

"Johnnies in the basement
mixing up the medicine,
I'm on the pavement
Thinkin' about the government...

...Maggie comes, fleet feet,
Face full of black soot
Talkin the the Heat put
Plants in the bed, but
The phones tapped, anyway,
orders from the D.A.,
say they must bust in early May...

"...Keep a clean nose,
Watch for Plainclothes,
You don't need a Weatherman
To know which way the wind blows!...

...Please her, please him.
Twenty years of schoolin'
and they put you on the Day Shift"...

How that for starting off with a (paranoid) bang? The first rap song about being surveilled in a police state.

(and where are those Weathermen, now ...?)

or how about the heartfelt:
"...She's got everything she needs
she's an artist
She don't look back.
she can take the dark out of the nighttime
and paint the daytime black..."

or the workaday world of:
"...He hands you a nickel,
He hands you a dime,
He askes you with a grin if you're having a good time?
And he fines you every time you slam the door.
I aint gonna work on Maggie Farm no more..."
(have you had bosses like that?)

or the surreal 115th dream:
"I was riding on the Mayflower when I thought I spotted land
I yelled for captain Arab, I'll have you understand,
Who came running to the deck, said 'boys, forget the whale
we're goin over yonder, cut the engines, change the sail' ...

...I think I'll call it 'America' I said as we hit land.
I took a deep breath, I fell down, I could not stand...

...A telephone was ringing, it just about blew my mind,
When I picked it up and said 'Hello', this foot came through the line...

...I repeated that my friends were all in jail with a sigh,
He gave me his card, he said 'call me if they die'..."

"...I said,'you know, they refused Jesus, too'
he said 'you're NOT Him'..."

Now those are lyrics!

Pure poetry, funny, insightful. The sheer volume of Dylan's genius is so overwhelming you can only get it in small amounts - I remember I didn't understand all at first. I still hear new ideas in these songs after all these years. Notes from the Underground.

And the backup band isn't "The Band", as I always thought, it's blues guitar great Michael Bloomfield and Al Kooper, trying to learn organ.

After this brilliant album, Dylan met and influenced the Beatles. The folkies (who had played for years in coffee shops where they learned to play and sing harmony and write meaningful songs) all picked up electric instruments. Country Joe and the Fish, Lovin Spoonful, etc. The Byrds did an electric version of his Pied Piper song "Mr Tambourine Man" ("...take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind..."). Then came Donovan's "Sunshine Superman", Vanilla Fudge's "You Keep me Hangin On". After that, there was a sea change in culture and in popular music. There was an explosion.

It started here.
This album cannot be recommended too highly (despite the fact that Dylan doesn't have a singing voice like Jim Morrison or Frank Sinatra).

bringing it all back to where it belongs.......2007-05-27

I used to fluctuate between this and Blonde On Blonde - or the rougher, leaner sound of Highway 61 Revisited, but neither really captured the Dylan i could and do identify with the most. This is not to say that there are not *plenty* of other songs (some less popular, like "up to me" ) that i don't just love, the way i love the riff to East Laredo Blues, but on the whole, i have to say that it is this album that does what the title promises... it delivers... it brings it all back home and wow, what a wallop it packs.

The set-list you can easily find here so i won't go through it all, but to miss this album would be to miss some of the classic Dylan and that would be to deny yourself just the chance to see whether or not you like this minstel or not. You may decide not - but don't make that decision until you've at least heard this one.

Dylan albums, like Dylan songs, are difficult to choose a "favorite." I'd be hard-pressed to pick a favorite Dylan song, but if i have to pick an album, and i admit this is tough, then this would be it.

Cheers,
s.r.p.

BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME IS BOB DYLAN AT HIS VERY BEST !.......2007-04-26

Bob Dylan's 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home is arguably his best work. It includes three of his very best songs, the magical Mr. Tambourine Man, the darkly disparaging It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding), and his tale of absolute reality, The Gates of Eden. These three are performed folk style with just an acoustic guitar and harmonica. On the album's first song, Subteranean Homesick Blues, Dylan rap-sings forboding lyrics over an electric guitar blues. He then rocks Maggie's Farm, becomes a surreal storyteller in Bob Dylan's 115th Dream, folk-sings his obligatory hate-song, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, and even rolls out a love song (sort of) with Love Minus Zero/ No Limit, were he sings words of praise about the woman he loves.

My love she speaks like silence,
Without ideals or violence,
She doesn't have to say she's faithful,
Yet she's true, like ice, like fire.

Pure Dylan. Bringing It All Back Home has everything for the Bob Dylan fan. Folk songs, rock songs, and classic Dylan lyrics. It's a great album from a great artist at his very best.

A good place to start.......2007-03-12

Bringing It All Back Home, released in 1965, is Bob Dylan's first flirtation with electric rock/ blues. Since the album is half electric and half acoustic, it is a perfect place for new fans of Dylan to start because they get a sample of both his electric rockstar side and his folk singer side.

The album has quite a diverse selection of songs; fast, bluesy songs ("Subterranean Homesick Blues", "Maggie's Farm", "Outlaw Blues"), slower, melodic love ballads ("She Belongs To Me", "Love Minus Zero/ No Limit"), poetic folk songs ("Mr. Tambourine Man", "Gates Of Eden") and comedy ("Bob Dylan's 115th Dream"). One of the best songs on the album is the surreal "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". This song always fills me with inspiration everytime I listen to it.

This is a great album and a good place to start.

Folk Rock's Definitive Masterpiece.......2007-02-10

Bob Dylan, the great alchemist of folk-rock music, was booed at the Newport Folk Festival, and Scorsese's 'No Direction Home' documents the hecklers yelling out "Traitor!" at many concerts. Perhaps like any genius this is the inscrutable, but predictable development for anyone who truly innovates the wheel. 'Bringing It All Back Home' is the culprit that showcases the trajectory of when Bob, the Bard, went electric. Arguably, this album is one of the three best of his entire career. It is perhaps his most innovative, but his achievements have a scope that render the past two assertions needing a huge dose of salt.

Heralding the album, "Subterranean Homesick Blues," while not as dramatic as "Like a Rolling Stone" is easily as brilliant. Complete with cutting, social commentary and plenty of images to debunk the nine-to-five existence, Dylan spills out his surreal period full throttle. Anthems rain with the raunchy "Outlaw Blues" and the folky "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)". Hypnotic, every song pulls a punch--or doesn't pull any punches! The most famous mesmerizing development is "Mr. Tambourine Man," making Dylan a troubadour for altered consciousness*. Despite the crossover, Dylan continued to be a great storyteller. The first person "Maggie's Farm" showcases his familiar wit with the details of menial labor from hell. Then, "On the Road Again" captures the same idea, but with more of a vagabond flair. "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" meets every element at the crossroads by telling a surreal story with pointed observations. However, some of the most delightful moments reflect upon love. "She Belongs to Me" and "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" both exalt and debunk the romantic tradition he helped overthrow. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" ends the album with a brilliant story about a misfit who trashes every sensibility of romantic notions.

An unqualified achievement, 'Bringing It All Back Home' synthesizes the outlaw with the dreamer where both folk and rock, tradition and iconoclasm meet head on and make music and culture new.

(*Dylan has moved on, and hopefully so can we.)

Average customer rating: Greatest bargain Cruisin' Music Extraordinaire Essential Musical History $15 is about right 60 classic "Spector" produced tunes + His Christmas Album You'll get your "Phil" here with this awesome 4 CD Set!!!

Back to Mono (1958-1969) Phil Spector Manufacturer: Abkco ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Latin Pop | Latin Music | Styles | Music Cool Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Hard Bop | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Teen Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Girl Groups | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music General | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music Baroque Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music General | Adult Contemporary | Pop | Styles | Music Contemporary R&B | R&B | Styles | Music General | R&B | Styles | Music Blue-Eyed Soul | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Country Rock | Rock | Styles | Music Contemporary | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music General | Pop | Box Sets | Stores | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Box Sets | Stores | Music R&B & Soul | Box Sets | Stores | Music General | Rock | Box Sets | Stores | Music Classic Rock | Box Sets | Stores | Music Similar Items: Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found And I Feel Fine...: The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987 A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector Live at Massey Hall (CD/DVD) ASIN: B000003BDM Release Date: 1991-11-12

Tracks:

1. To Know His Is To Love Him - The Teddy Bears
2. Corrine, Corrina - Ray Peterson
3. Spanish Harlem - Ben E. King
4. Pretty Little Angel Eyes - Curtis Lee
5. Every Breath I Take - Gene Pitney
6. I Love How You Love Me - The Paris Sisters
7. Under The Moon Of Love - Curtis Lee
8. There's No Other Like My Baby - The Crystals
9. Uptown - The Crystals
10. He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss) - The Crystals
11. He's A Rebel - The Crystals
12. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - Bob B. Soxx And The Blue Jeans
13. Puddin' N' Tain - The Alley Cats
14. He's Sure The Boy I Love - The Crystals
15. Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Hearts - Bob B. Soxx And The Blue Jeans
16. (Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry - Darlene Love
17. Da Doo Ron Ron - The Crystals
18. Heartbreaker - The Crystals
19. Why Don't They Let Us Fall In Love - Veronica
20. Chapel Of Love - Darlene Love
21. Not Too Young To Get Married - Bob B. Soxx And The Blue Jeans
22. Wait Til My Bobby Gets Home - Darlene Love
23. All Grown Up - The Crystals

Tracks:

1. Be My Baby - The Ronettes
2. Then He Kissed Me - The Crystals
3. A Fine, Fine Boy - Darlene Love
4. Baby, I Love You - The Ronettes
5. I Wonder - The Ronettes
6. Girls Can Tell - The Crystals
7. Little Boy - The Crystals
8. Hold Me Tight - The Treasures
9. (The Best Part Of) Breakin' Up - The Ronettes
10. Soldier Baby Of Mine - The Ronettes
11. Strange Love - Darlene Love
12. Stumble And Fall - Darlene Love
13. When I Saw You - The Ronettes
14. So Young - Veronica
15. Do I Love You? - The Ronettes
16. Keep On Dancing - The Ronettes
17. You, Baby - The Ronettes
18. Woman In Love (With You) - The Ronettes
19. Walking In The Rain - The Ronettes

Tracks:

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' - The Righteous Brothers
2. Born To Be Together - The Ronettes
3. Just Once In My Life - The Righteous Brothers
4. Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
5. Is This What I Get For Loving You? - The Ronettes
6. Long Way To Be Happy - Darlene Love
7. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons - The Righteous Brothers
8. Ebb Tide - The Righteous Brothers
9. This Could Be The Night - The Modern Folk Quartet
10. Paradise - The Ronettes
11. River Deep-Mountain High - Ike & Tina Turner
12. I'll Never Need More Than This - Ike & Tina Turner
13. A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knockin' Everyday) - Ike & Tina Turner
14. Save The Last Dance For Me - Ike & Tina Turner
15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine - The Ronettes
16. You Came, You Saw, You Conquered - The Ronettes
17. Black Pearl - Sonny Charles And The Checkmates
18. Love Is All I have To Give - The Checkmates

Tracks:

1. White Christmas - Darlene Love
2. Frosty The Snowman - The Ronettes
3. The Bells of St. Mary - Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans
4. Santa Claus is Coming to Town - The Crystals
5. Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes
6. Marshmallow World - Darlene Love
7. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - The Ronettes
8. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - The Crystals
9. Winter Wonderland - Darlene Love
10. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
11. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love
12. Here Comes Santa Claus - Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans
13. Silent Night - Phil Spector and Artists

Amazon.com

Among producers, his name remains the simile of choice. If some hotshot studio whiz emerges in, say, hip-hop, he's inevitably labeled "the Phil Spector of rap." That's quite a statement given that decades have passed since this boy from the Bronx remodeled rock & roll to suit his own visions of grandeur. The story of the girl-group auteur is a fascinating one. Spector composed a No. 1 hit at 17 (the Teddy Bears' "To Know Him Is to Love Him," its title inspired by the inscription on his father's tombstone). By 19 he was head of A&R for Atlantic Records. By the time he was 22, he'd founded his own label (Philles) and was churning out Wall of Sound hits at an unprecedented clip, beginning with the Crystals' "He's a Rebel." The four-disc Back to Mono befits its singular subject in both presentation (the richly annotated booklet includes a piece by Tom Wolfe) and content (60 songs cut between 1958 and 1969, plus the entire classic Yuletide LP A Christmas Gift for You). --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

Greatest bargain.......2007-05-16

A few months ago I ordered this set for only about $20 & it is the best CD bargain I've ever had. This set originally sold for about $75 back in the 90's (glad I waited to buy it!)& I keep wondering why it's so cheap now. (Is Spector not allowed to make money on his music anymore?) It is a BIG set in an LP size box (I store it with my old LPs on my shelf),comes with a great big book printed on high quality paper, comes with the Christmas album & even a button. Only thing not big about this set is the sound quality, it's typical 80s & early 90s thin-sounding CD quality, not exactly what I'd call a wall of sound. Also the book has the lyrics to all the songs except the ones on the Christmas album. So if you can get past the fact that Spector may have killed someone 40 years after these recordings (if he did,how could he? He produced John Lennon's "Imagine" for goodness sake!)this is still some of the 60s greatest music.

Cruisin' Music Extraordinaire.......2007-05-15

When I saw the "Back to Mono" box for 20 bucks, I first thought of the barrage of criticism that greeted this set when first released more than 15 years ago and, in particular, the near universal condemnation of the absolutely horrendous digital remastering that marred what should have been an unbeatable compilation. Then I thought, "So what? I LOVED this music 45 years - AUGH! - ago! This is the background music of my life! And a great collection! And I don't have much of it, vinyl or otherwise." So I bought it.

And yes, the remastering is indeed horrible, particularly when listened to through earphones. But if you can pump this music through a tinny 5-inch speaker, perhaps boosted from a '57 Chevy, it all sounds pretty damn fine. So: don't play it on your audiophile equipment: my vintage boom box does the music all the honor it requires.

And what music. A lot of this stuff didn't chart in the New York metropolitan area, so I'd never heard several tracks, but it's all vintage, no filler, hits and non-hits, lots of Ronnie Spector and the Ronnettes, the Crystals, and fewer, but important, sides from Curtis Lee), Ben E. King, Bob B. Soxx, the Righteous Brothers, the majestic Tina Turner and that sidekick of hers, and, of course, the patented Spector Wall of Sound, complete with timpani, maracas, glockenspiels, strings, horns, full brass section, yackety sax, everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink. On the tree of rock, Phil Spector is a taproot (and Bruce Springsteen the most celebrated emulator/branch).

But let's be serious: these are very basic sentiments, harking back to a very different, much simpler time, before Vietnam, Watergate, and universal irony really invaded our consciousness (the first 29 tracks before the Kennedy assassination). The Spector chronology tracks along through LBJ's "Great Society" and civil rights legislation, Nixon, and the onset of cynicism, skepticism, and the beginning of a much more complicated social and political fabric. Through all this, we underestimate the role this and other top-forty music played in shaping our imaginations: it played, constantly, to GROUPS of people in packed cars, at parties and dances, not to one solitary listener through iPod earphones, shaped romantic vocabularies, taught kids how to say "I love you" and how to rebel against parents who screamed "that guy's no good!" My wife's parents.

In short, this music and its peer recordings helped fill in pieces of our emotional identities. In this set we hear lots of 16 year olds pouring out their hearts into diaries via girl-group doo-wop. From the Righteous Brothers, a more mature, wistful kind of heartbreak with full choirs of strings. And from Ike and Tina, my god - River Deep, Mountain High has enough emotional energy to blow a bank of Marshalls, a clear high-point on a collection of high points.

The 96-page booklet is almost worth the price of the box. I didn't need the lyrics - many of them, goofy, saccharine, maudlin, trite as can be, are grafted into my brain, courtesy of that Chevy speaker - but the photos of those wonderful, innocent, vibrant faces, the essays (one by Tom Wolfe), and the discography are all splendid.

So: if you've ever loved this music - that's a significant qualifier: my kids (all in 20s and 30s) think it's virtually unadulterated corn (with the exception of River Deep, Loving Feeling, and a few other tracks) - forget about the atrocious remastering. (I'll bet Rhino will take care of that, sooner or later, and we'll hear these in gorgeous, layered monaural.) Just buy this now while you can get all four discs, the big booklet, and the huge box for 20 dollars or less. Then boogaloo or slow-dance your baby to these legendary tunes.

Essential Musical History.......2007-05-13

With his name in the news, it is easy to dismiss Phil Spector for current accusations, but you can never deny his place is Rock'N'Roll pantheon of musical touchstones.

This collection is an absolute must have for all those who love great rock and roll and the extras in this box are phenomenal. The booklet documenting these historic recordings is amazing, as are the collection musicians that sat in on these sessions (Sonny Bono, Brian Wilson, Leon Russell, etc.).

Just having the classic recordings of The Ronettes (Be My Baby, Walkin' In The Rain, Baby I Love You), The Crystals, Darlene Love -- along with Ike and Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High" (referred to by George Harrison as the greatest single ever made) and the complete "Phil Spector's Christmas Album" -- makes this collection indispensable!!!

$15 is about right.......2007-04-08

I have no idea whether Mr. Spector is guilty of the serious charges against him, but he stands convicted of allowing his retrospective box to be released with some of the muddiest, dullest mastering in memory. Sound-wise, a total mess. Of course, many of the tracks are indispensable.

60 classic "Spector" produced tunes + His Christmas Album You'll get your "Phil" here with this awesome 4 CD Set!!!.......2007-03-25

Absolute classic rock and roll!!! With that awesome "Wall Of Sound"!!! Phil Spector produced some of the greatest classic tunes in history,nuff said,forget about his recent problems with the law,it's the songs that matter,like the 60 ones(on the first three CD's) contained on this 4 CD set which also includes His classic: "A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector" (on the 4th CD)!!! Classic sides from The Teddy Bears,Ray Peterson,Ben E. King,Curtis Lee,The Crystals,Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans,The Alley Cats,Darlene Love,Veronica,The Ronettes,The Treasures,The Righteous Brothers,The Modern Folk Quartet,Ike & Tina Turner,and Sonny Chareles and The Checkmates!!! Absolute essential listening!!! A delight for the ear!!! They just don't make great music like this anymore!!! Includes a beautiful full-color 96 page book and even a red and white "Back To Mono" button,just like the one Spector wore himself in his Santa Claus garb!!! Way to cool!!! Over 3 hours of the finest music ever waxed!!! I can't believe I found this superlative box set for less than 20 bucks,quite a bargain!!! Two thumbs up!!! Way up!!! Five stars!!! A+

Music Album:

1. Becoming The Moon
2. Big Dreams and the Bottom Line
3. Border Crossing [Import]
4. Both Sides - O'R Ddwy Ochr
5. Central Reservation Pt.1 [CD-single] [Import]
6. Classic Recordings Of Irish Traditional Fiddle Music
7. Come Before Winter
8. Cornbread Willie
9. Dawning of the Day
10. Decatur Decorum

Music Album