| 1. All Be the Same |
| 2. No Space to Spare |
| 3. Zonked |
| 4. Mist |
| 5. Fools and Silent Callers |
| 6. Sad Soul |
| 7. Feel It |
| 8. Dab Nekan |
| 9. Last of Many |
Lost & So Strange Is My Mind,Carpet Knights,Transubstans,9 tracks of music inspired by the underground sounds spanning over 4 decades.,Rock,Rock/Pop
Average customer rating:
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Lost Highway
Bon Jovi Manufacturer: Mercury Nashville ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000P2A24W Release Date: 2007-06-19 |
Tracks:
- Lost Highway
- Summertime
- Make a Memory
- Whole Lot Of Leaving
- We Got It Going On
- Any Other Day
- Seat Next To You
- Everybody's Broken
- Stranger (feat. Leann Rimes)
- The Last Night
- One Step Closer
- I Love This Town
Amazon.com
Given the chart success of their Grammy-winning country single "Who Says You Can't Go Home," it's no surprise Bon Jovi upped the ante by recording an entire album paying homage to Nashville. In some ways, it's amazing they didn't do this sooner, given the way Keith Urban in particular is blurring country-pop lines, much as Garth Brooks and others did in the 1990s. To their credit, you won't find predictably shallow invocations of past country icons or any self-conscious, in-your-face down-home twang added strictly to remind the listener of the musical premise. In fact, Lost Highway isn't "Bon Jovi goes country" so much as a meaningful tribute to the Nashville ethos done on their own terms. They honor the spirit of the town through 12 simple, direct originals. The intimate, smoldering "(You Want To) Make a Memory," the ballad "Seat Next To You," "Lost Highway" and its roaring celebration of freedom, and "Stranger," an effective duet with LeAnn Rimes, all invoke country's spirit, and "I Love This Town," an eloquent nod to Nashville itself, ties it together admirably. --Rich KienzleAlbum Description
"Artistic freedom made this record possible," says Jon Bon Jovi. "Musical freedom to explore--and emotional freedom to express what was in our hearts."The result of that freedom is Lost Highway, an album Jon describes as "a Bon Jovi record influenced by Nashville."
Bon Jovi explains. "Nashville is all about songs and songwriters. If you're someone like me who loves songs and hanging out with songwriters, Nashville is the place. I thrive on that feeling and I'm inspired by that creative ambience."
The result, a haunting set of 12 new and original sounding songs, is a stunning, multi-layered look into the nature of love and life in all its glory. Love, like life, is lost, found, forgotten and reclaimed in this collection.
The moods are many, but the core feeling is pure Bon Jovi.
"Writing this record with Jon was deeply cathartic," says Richie Sambora, who collaborated on ten of the songs. "I was going through emotional changes that were new for me. An ailing father. A painful divorce. The start of a new chapter in my life. I poured everything I had into this project, every last bit of soul at my command."
"For over twenty years now," Jon explains, "Richie and I have been close collaborators. Even when our songs create fictional stories, they reveal our states of mind. To a large degree, Lost Highway focuses on the light that love brings. When you shine the light on love, you see the chinks in the armor. You see every crevice, every crack. And that's all right".
Lost Highway is Bon Jovi's tenth studio album since the band formed in the early eighties. One hundred and twenty million albums and 2500 concerts in over 50 countries later, Bon Jovi is enjoying the greatest popularity in their history.
Customer Reviews:
Great! Exactly what I wanted!!!.......2007-07-20
Bon Jovi does The Jayhawks.......2007-07-18
However, if you're at all familiar with The Jayhawks, especially the brilliant and criminally overlooked "Smile" then you've heard this before.
They may call it country in some reviews but others have identified this sound as "Americana" and that's what I'm going with. Harmonies, strings, beats and rhythms, it's all here as clear and crisp as Bon Jovi can give it.
Go ahead and give it a whirl and, if you like it, listen to "Smile" by The Jayhawks also.
Nice stuff.
How about NO?.......2007-07-18
Heres my quick review of it - you don't have to agree with everything I'm saying:
1. If you likes Bon Jovi's work so far, then you would love this. Its more of the same, nothing Groundbreaking, nothing revolutionary.
2. This is one of those `flavor of the month' albums that garner a lot of blog praise, but later in the year no one will even remember it.
3. Though some of the rock tunes here are good (in an `averagey' sort of way), none of them are memorable (even after three listens)
4. Theres this OVERWHELMING feeling of `been there, done that'. In fact, the entire album sounds very tired to me.
5. You could do much better than fall for the hype.
I would highly recommend the new White STripes album over this one, anyday.
Two Stars. Skip this one.
Never Disappointed.......2007-07-18
Jon Bon Jovi just keeps getting better.......2007-07-17
Credit Jon Bon Jovi for knowing exactly what to do with the right tune. Every song here is a killer, and don't judge the album by the merits of the first single (as great as the song is). "Lost Highway" only suffers when it tends to get a little sappy for its' own good (the lyrics tend to veer toward Richard Marx territory every so often), but the core of the album screams `country'!
The standout tracks are "Stranger" - a strangely successful duet with LeAnn Rimes, and "I Love this Town", where the boys sing to Nashville.
Everything on this record just WORKS. Yes, its no `Slippery When Wet' or even `Blaze of Glory', but if you like tuning into an artists' evolution, then this is the album for you. Just can't go wrong.
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Easy Tiger
Ryan Adams Manufacturer: Lost Highway ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000P29B1W Release Date: 2007-06-26 |
Tracks:
- goodnight rose
- two
- everybody knows
- halloween head
- two hearts
- tears of gold
- the sun also sets
- off broadway
- rip off
- oh my god, whatever, etc.
- pearls on a string
- these girls
- i taught myself how to grow old
Amazon.com
Easy Tiger, Ryan Adams's ninth solo studio album, is a return to form in every way. He's already shown that he can bash out three albums in one year--not to mention the hilarious fake hip-hop records posted for free on his Web site--and that he can sound as much like the Grateful Dead as he wants to in his constant subsequent touring. Backed once again by the Cardinals, Adams synthesizes and refines his approach to smooth, gorgeous country-pop. "Tears of Gold" is one of the best songs he's written in ages, while "Two" is a slowly percolating, sweet little number that recalls Sean Hayes in its soulful folksiness (someone named Sheryl Crow accompanies Adams on vocals). One of the greatest treats of this languorous, twangy album is the subtle ways that genre gets played with. "I Taught Myself How to Grow Old" is the best Harvest outtake Neil Young never wrote, while the treated, synth-sounding guitar solo on the druggy, chooglin' "Halloweenhead" sounds like it comes straight out of Journey. And "The Sun Also Sets" sounds more than a little like Rufus Wainwright covering Fred McDowell's "Write Me a Few of Your Lines." It bursts with enough melodrama as to border on musical theater. But, as is clear on these songs of love and loss, Adams has always been at his best when giving into his most mellow, dramatic side. --Mike McGonigal Ryan Adams Photos
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More Ryan Adams
Heartbreaker |
Gold |
Love Is Hell |
Album Description
I think there are really only two kinds of pop music CDs these days. There are the ones you listen to only once or twice, maybe downloading the single good song to your iPod or computer; then there are others that grow stronger, sweeter, and more necessary each time you play them. Gold was that way; Cold Roses was that way; so was Jacksonville City Nights. I won't say Adams is the best North American singer-songwriter since Neil Young...but I won't say he isn't, either. What I know is there has never been a Ryan Adams record quite as strong and together as Easy Tiger; it's got enough blue-eyed, blue-steel soul (with the faintest country tinge) to make me think of both Marvin Gaye and the Righteous Brothers. Probably ridiculous, but true. And the songs themselves are beautiful--the lyrics tightly focused and brief, the feeling one of melancholy calm that will probably be a revelation to fans that remember the old, sometimes angry Ryan Adams.Now there's this, maybe the best Ryan Adams CD ever. And I know you want to listen to it right away. But slow down. Take your time. This album asks for that, and it will reward your full attention.
In other words--easy, Tiger.
--Stephen King
Customer Reviews:
Solid Album.......2007-07-19
A true Ryan Adams classic.......2007-07-18
So what does this analogy have to do with a review of "Easy Tiger?" To put Ryan Adams's new album in perspective, it would be the equivalent of Van Morrison's "Moondance." It is the first record that comes across as being almost conservative in its polished professionalism. If you're a Van fan who hated "Moondance" because its warm, relaxed, pastoral vibe felt like a "sellout" after the wild abandon of Them and the heady experimentalism of "Astral Weeks" (and I'm sure there were more than a few people of that opinion at the time), then likewise, "Easy Tiger" is going to sound too safe, too pat. But if you think "Moondance" is a beautiful masterpiece, then you may well love "Easy Tiger."
This is the album where Ryan Adams sobers up, bears down, and actually turns out an album of "all-killer, no filler" (arguably the first since "Heartbreaker"). And if that comes at the expense of the roughness and raggedness that has accompanied his best work to this point, then so be it. But ten years down the road (if Ryan Adams keeps getting songs like "When the Stars go Blue" covered by enough mainstream artists to make him a mainstream artist himself), my money is on this album being considered as one of his true classics.
In a way, it's almost a career summation up to this point. It has the acoustic front-porch "Heartbreaker" vibe on "These Girls," the lush "Gold"-ballad feel on "Two, and "I Taught Myself How to Grow Old" the "Demolition"-style late-night laments of "Everybody Knows and "The Sun Also Sets," the atmospheric "Love Is Hell" angst of "Off Broadway," the "Rock and Roll" crunch on "Halloweenhead," the jam-band "Cold Roses" sound on "Goodnight Rose," the "Jacksonville City Nights" countrypolitan of "Tears of Gold," and to make it complete, "Pearls On a String" and "Two Hearts" even harken back to his Whiskeytown days.
In fact, this album plays almost like a Ryan Adams Greatest Hits album that, like a good hits comp, manages the trick of being summative without being disjointed or haphazard. And like a good compilation, these songs are all keepers. If this is what being sober means, here's hoping Ryan can stay on the straight and narrow from here on out and have a later-day career as interesting and rich as Van Morrison's.
Yea right.......2007-07-18
Little too country for my tastes.......2007-07-17
One Man's Trash Ain't Another Man's "Ripoff".......2007-07-16
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West
Lucinda Williams Manufacturer: Lost Highway ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000LXHGFI Release Date: 2007-02-13 |
Tracks:
- Are You Alright?
- Mama You Sweet
- Learning How To Live
- Fancy Funeral
- Unsuffer Me
- Everything Has Changed
- Come On
- Where Is My Love?
- Rescue
- What If
- Wrap My Head Around That
- Words
- West
Amazon.com
Though the arrangements stray from Lucinda Williams's motherlode blend of blues, country, and folk, West may well be her best album. It is easily her most musically adventurous, and often her most lyrically inspired. Williams's singing has never sounded better, from the aching tenderness of "Where Is My Love?" to the ravaged catharsis of "Unsuffer Me." New York producer Hal Willner, who has worked with artists such as Marianne Faithful and Lou Reed, enlists the support of eclectic progressives like guitarist Bill Frisell, keyboardist Bob Burger, and violinist Jenny Scheinman, along with harmonies from the Jayhawks' Gary Louris, to weave a subtly rich sonic tapestry. Much of the material was inspired by the death of Williams's beloved mother ("Mama You Sweet," "Fancy Funeral") and the bitter breakup of a relationship (the jagged-edged emasculation of "Come On," the repetitive incantation of "Wrap My Head Around That"), though "Are You Alright?," "Learning How to Live," and "Everything Has Changed" could reflect the aftermath of both. Other highlights include "Rescue," with a languid subtlety and ambient pulse reminiscent of Beth Orton, and the dreamy, wistful title track. Where Williams's music has long cut close to the bone, the best of West slices right through it. --Don McLeeseLucinda Wiliams Photos
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More Lucinda Williams
Car Wheels on a Gravel Road |
World Without Tears |
Essence |
Customer Reviews:
Glad I bought this.......2007-07-17
Lucinda Williams, Who Knew..........2007-07-12
This cd was incredible. I loved all of the songs.
I mostly listen to mainstream country music, and I think it's sad that people like Lucinda Williams and Alison Moorer aren't played. Their music is amazing.
I have since bought two more of her cds, and plan to buy more!
It's nice to listen to songs that actually have something to say.
Please Don't Say "This Is Her Best".......2007-07-10
Coming from a pretty good appreciation of lady singer/songwriter/interpreters like Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, and others with similar talents, even ones with narrow but beautiful instruments like Rickie Lee Jones, I was hoping to add a little bit of spice to the rack - but this album is a huge let-down. When I learned that Hal Willner, Bill Frisell and Jim Keltner were major contributors to West, I figured that I would at least be intrigued by *some* of the tracks - sorry - even after several listenings that's not happening. I really do like Lucinda's one track on the 2001 MJH tribute album Avalon Blues: A Tribute to the Music of Mississippi John Hurt, but then again I like ALL of that 5-star gem. Somebody *please* confirm for me that this is not the best way to be introduced to Ms. Williams on a large scale. How much longer should I listen to my trusty sources when West is what they are telling me is my next "must have".
Very disappointed...........2007-07-08
Give me Lucinda's self titled CD any day over her last 2 records...
Good; not great.......2007-07-07
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Paradise Lost
Symphony X Manufacturer: inside out ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000I8ON6Q Release Date: 2007-06-26 |
Tracks:
- Oculus Ex Inferni
- Set The World On Fire (The Lie Of Lies)
- Domination
- The Serpentís Kiss
- Paradise Lost
- Eve Of Seduction
- The Walls Of Babylon
- Seven
- The Sacrifice
- Revelation (Divus Pennae Ex Tragoedia)
Album Description
The masters of Symphonic Power Metal are back!Symphony X are recognized by-and-large as one the most important acts in the worldwide metal scene. After the release of their hugely successful CD, The Odyssey - and after nearly five years - Michael Romeo and his band have returned with what is already being praised as their best work to date. Paradise Lost has all the trademarks that have come to be associated with Symphony X: Incredibly intricate and powerful, yet-melodic compositions that showcase every member's unrivaled technical skill as instrumentalists. However, once again it must be said that the spotlight is squarely on the ferocious vocal force of singer Russell Allen and the almost inhuman pyrotechnics of guitarist Michael Romeo.
The North American version of Paradise Lost features a fantastic foldout and diecut digipack that was designed by Warren Flanagan, who has done art-direction for major motion picture blockbusters such as I Robot, X-Men and Blade.
This is thee guitar release of the summer!
Customer Reviews:
Just an amazing group!.......2007-07-19
So, as I sat listening to the first track of Paradise Lost, I couldn't help but feel that same excitement that I felt the first time I heard a Symphony X song. It's an instrumental with what sounds like Latin vocals chanting. It really sets the stage for the rest of the album and is a fantastic way to open a album. I was very impressed.
When the second song came on, I knew I was going to love the album, yet I also realized something else: they kicked up the level of intensity enough that it might turn some people off. If you barely tolerated their music before, then you'll be pushed over the edge with the new CD. But if you loved their previous offerings, you'll be in heaven with the new sound. Russell Allen's vocals are deeper, heavier, and certainly filled with an intensity that hasn't been reached before on a Symphony X album. The guitar and bass riffs are more intense and even made my niece exclaim, "Could you imagine playing that on Guitar Hero?!" Michael Pinnella's keyboards are toned down a bit in most of the songs compared to previous releases, but they are there when needed and add that unique element to Symphony X's music much like Vitalij Kuprij gives to Artension's.
As I finished the album the first time, I sat there for a minute contemplating the whole experience. The first time through I had my headphones on and followed the lyrics in the book. Yet, as I listened to it, I found myself in awe of the artwork found within the insert that had the lyrics on it. Much as the picture on the front shows, this is a battle between angels and demons. As the title states, Paradise Lost, it's clear from the music and pictures who ends up winning. My favorite picture (which I need to find a poster of!) is of a dark angel standing over a fallen white angel with a glaive at the fallen angel's back. There are lakes of fire with billowing clouds and lava erupting all around. I know, strange picture to be fascinated with, but the picture goes so well with the music and is just amazing.
I'm finding that the more I listen to this CD, the more I like it. It's certainly more intense than any other Symphony X CD, though it's not quite their best (I give that to The Odyssey, followed by V The New Mythology Suite), but it's definitely amazing. I'm just in awe at this group's ability to keep the quality of their releases so high and their music so unique and captivating. I've had their music for two years now and have not grown tired of any of it. They are just that good.
The bottom line here is that this is a great CD. The heavier sound still works great and that amazing "Symphony X" style is still in full force. These guys know how to impress, and this album is no exception.
This is how prog metal should sound like..........2007-07-17
What a Bummer.......2007-07-17
Good stuff.......2007-07-16
ONE OF THE GREATEST BANDS OF OUR TIME! ASTOUNDING! .......2007-07-16
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Last of the Breed
Willie Nelson , Ray Price , and Merle Haggard Manufacturer: Lost Highway ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000NA1ZLA Release Date: 2007-03-20 |
Tracks:
- My Life's Been A Pleasure
- My Mary
- Back To Earth
- Heartaches By The Number
- Mom And Dad's Waltz
- Some Other World
- Why Me Lord
- Lost Highway
- I Love You A Thousand Ways
- Please Don't Leave Me Any More Darlin'
- I Gotta Have My Baby Back
Tracks:
- Goin' Away Party
- If I Ever Get Lucky
- Sweet Memories
- Pick Me Up On Your Way Down
- I Love You Because
- Sweet Jesus
- Still Water Runs The Deepest
- I Love You So Much It Hurts
- That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine
- I'll Keep On Loving You
- Night Watch
Amazon.com
Once an Outlaw, later a Highwayman, now an elder statesman, Willie Nelson joins forces with Merle Haggard and Ray Price (both of whom have recorded duet albums with Nelson) in a celebration of the classic country song. Everything about this is defiantly old school, from the production by veteran Fred Foster and the musical support from steel guitarist Buddy Emmons and Texas Playboy fiddler Johnny Gimble and vocal backing from the Jordanaires to songs from the likes of Harlan Howard, Leon Payne, and Lefty Frizzell. For all of the artists' generational ties, their differences are what distinguish the project: Nelson is the reediest and most conversational vocalist, Haggard the bluesiest; and Price remains the quintessential countrypolitan crooner. Whether they're harmonizing on Mickey Newbury's "Sweet Memories" or trading verses on Howard's "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down," the vocal blend suggests old friends having the time of their musical lives. Guests include Vince Gill (on "Heartaches by the Number") and Kris Kristofferson (on his Why Me Lord"), but a trio like this doesn't need much outside assistance. --Don McLeeseAlbum Description
Let's be clear: Last of the Breed is a story - actually, a novel, if not an epic - unto itself. The title sums it up pretty well: On these two discs three classic performers, Ray Price, Willie Nelson, and Merle Haggard, band together on songs they've known and loved for years.Their contributions don't need elaboration. Each is a legend. All three hark back to a time that's in some ways gone. When you consider the lives they've lived, the world that formed them as artists, and even the landscapes they knew as they began playing in beer joints and backwater clubs long ago, then the truth of those four words, Last of the Breed, comes clear.
Look a little closer, and they take on another reference, to the songs as well as to the giants who celebrate them here. Whether drawn from deep in the tradition, back from the well of Gene Autry, Lefty Frizzell, and Floyd Tillman, or picked from the more recent catalogs, this music conveys a feeling that might be mistaken for nostalgia but is in fact a timeless eloquence.
They don't write or sing `em like this anymore.
Customer Reviews:
Great Country Music.......2007-07-12
There aren't many country pickers and singers left. All the "New Country" folks are just rock stars with a cowboy hat on. This is really good listening. Just relax, sit back and enjoy.
Last of the Breed - Well Done.......2007-07-03
The Title Says It All.......2007-06-28
The rocks of this kins of music . .......2007-06-28
Better in theory than in practice.......2007-06-23
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O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Various Artists - Soundtrack Manufacturer: Lost Highway ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00004XQ83 Release Date: 2000-12-05 |
Tracks:
- Po Lazarus - J. Carter & Prisoners
- Big Rock Candy Mountain - Harry McLintock
- You Are My Sunshine - Norman Blake
- Down In The River To Pray - Alison Krauss
- I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow - The Soggy Bottom Boys featuring Dan Tyminski
- Hard Time Killing Floor Blues - Chris Thomas King
- Man Of Constant Sorrow (Instrumental) - Norman Blake
- Keep On The Sunny Side - The Whites
- I'll Fly Away - Gillian Welch & Alison Krauss
- Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby - Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss & Emmylou Harris
- In The Highways - The Peasall Sisters
- I Am Weary - The Cox Family
- I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (Instrumental) - John Hartford
- O Death - Ralph Stanley
- In The Jailhouse Now - The Soggy Bottom Boys featuring Tim Blake Nelson
- I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (With band) - The Soggy Bottom Boys featuring Dan Tyminski
- Indian War Whoop (Instrumental) - John Hartford
- Lonesome Valley - The Fairfield Four
- Angel Band - The Stanley Brothers
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
The best soundtracks are like movies for the ears, and O Brother, Where Art Thou? joins the likes of Saturday Night Fever and The Harder They Come as cinematic pinnacles of song. The music from the Coen brothers' Depression-era film taps into the source from which the purest strains of country, blues, bluegrass, folk, and gospel music flow. Producer T Bone Burnett enlists the voices of Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, Emmylou Harris, Ralph Stanley, and kindred spirits for performances of traditional material, in arrangements that are either a cappella or feature bare-bones accompaniment. Highlights range from the aching purity of Krauss's "Down to the River to Pray" to the plainspoken faith of the Whites' "Keep on the Sunny Side" to Stanley's chillingly plaintive "O Death." The album's spiritual centerpiece finds Krauss, Welch, and Harris harmonizing on "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby," a gospel lullaby that sounds like a chorus of Appalachian angels. --Don McLeeseCustomer Reviews:
O Brother, Where Art Thou?.......2007-05-28
MORE OF AN IMPULSE PURCHASE FOR ME.......2007-05-26
A real cheer-me-up CD.......2007-05-22
Great Listening.......2007-05-12
For everyone who loved the movie.......2007-05-12
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The Lost Tracks Of Danzig (2CD)
Danzig Manufacturer: Megaforce ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000PFU9TW Release Date: 2007-07-10 |
Tracks:
- Pain Is Like An Animal
- When Death Had No Name
- Angel of the Seventh Dawn
- You Should be Dying
- Cold, Cold Rain
- Buick McKane
- When Death Had No Name
- Satans Crucifiction
- The Mandrake's Cry
- White Devil Rise
- Come to Silver (Acoustic)
- Deep
- Warlok
Tracks:
- Lick the Blood Off My Hands
- Crawl Across Your Killing Floor
- I Know Your Lie
- Caught In My Eye
- Cat People
- Bound by Blood
- Who Claims the Soulless
- Malefical
- Soul Eater
- Dying Seraph
- Lady Lucifera
- Under Belly of the Beast
- Unspeakable Shango Mix
Album Description
The long awaited LOST TRACKS OF DANZIG 2 CD set will be released on May 29th. Packaged in a collectible book-like format, this release features a full color 12 page booklet of rare and unseen photos and short anecdotes about each song as remembered by Glenn Danzig.Customer Reviews:
Ok..........2007-07-20
That being said, I liked 3 or 4 tracks from "The Lost Tracks" but unfortunately most songs sound like record rejects. Not worth the high cost of the CD.
this is true metal.......2007-07-19
5 Frickin' Stars!.......2007-07-18
Danzig's best album?.......2007-07-16
For that reason, I decided to approach this double-cd set as a double album. My rationale was this: could a reasonably consistent and coherent album be constructed simply by arranging the track selection in an order other than the chronological (as presented in the original)? If so, how good would the result be?
The answers: yes, and great. This might even be Danzig's best album, which obviously means its an instant classic by any reasonable standard. This is Danzig's White Album, his Exile on Main St., his Physical Graffiti (only far more interesting than all that old fossilized rock, of course).
First on an album, obviously, we need a killer opener. We have the best he has ever written in "White Devil Rise" (if that one doesn't get your blood pumping, you're not a real Danzig fan. It has an impressive, almost progressive structure, with a time change into a break. And what an amazing break, the best I recall on any Danzig record. Don't worry about the politically correct, conformist hacks who downgrade this album because of this song; the riff is a little recycled (from Pain in the World) but man, is it ever pure evil old-fashioned Danzig just the way we like it, and his vocals on this track are incredibly aggressive).
Power ballad? Check. Danzig's purest and best power ballad is here, "Cold, Cold Rain"; it edges "Blood and Tears" and "Sistinas" by an angel hair, but it is better. (Also a perfect album closer; it should have been on Lucifuge). And "Bound by Blood", which is on here, is also in the elite league of classic Danzig ballads. It features some of the most beautiful and intelligent lyrics he has ever written, though almost Manowar-ish in their point of view. "Dying Seraph" (a typical Danzig soft-to-loud track) isn't bad, either.
How about an acoustic changeup along the lines of "I'm the One"? We got that covered, and with a better song: the best version ever made of "Come to Silver". This one is a little superior to Johnny Cash's version of the Danzig-penned "13", which it recalls sonically, just because Danzig's voice is even better than the Man in Black's, in my view. Glenn sings every word very clearly on this one, unusual for him, but very effective. Superb.
Of course, we need some songs with monster hooks in the bulk of the album to fill the role of singles. No problem. "When Death Had No Name", which might just be the very best Danzig song, and with his doomiest-ever riff, makes its debut on an album at last (I remember being amazed that he left this off III after it appeared as the B-side of the "Dirty Black Summer" single.) "Satan's Crucifiction" is another sinister tune worthy of the Danzig name (the riff is the most evil on any song ever that is not named "Snakes of Christ"), as are the double whammy of "Malefical" and "Soul Eater". These are the ones that caught me right away, at least, but there are a number of other strong songs, enough to form a heart of the lineup the `27 Yankees would envy. (By the way, it seems like these discs have a disproportionate amount of relatively upbeat rockers, at least by Danzig standards. "Lick the Blood off My Hands", for example, lives up to the nickname "Evil Elvis", with a 50's-ish verse melody. "Pain is Like An Animal" is just awesome straight-up hard rock and should have been the opener of Danzig I. And the "Buick McKane" cover had my jaw on the floor. As much as I liked the original Danzig band, I never thought they could just go out and absolutely smoke performance-wise like this).
I was quite pleasantly surprised to hear that there's very little of the electronic goofing around that marred the second (bad) half of the Danzig run of albums, even on the tracks from that era; and that his pipes evidently were in better shape than I had thought at the time. All these songs have his voice right up front of the mix, exactly where it belongs. The vocal tracks all sound like prime Glenn Danzig, on both cds. Enough said.
Summary: Whatever sins Danzig has committed against the holy religion of heavy metal since 4p are hereby expunged. There's some filler here, but Danzig's B sides turn out to be better than just about anyone else's A sides, and the good stuff here is good enough to form an album that is worthy of standing alongside anything he has done. The rest we can account bonus material. (This record proves what I suspected all along, due to Danzig's poor choices of singles releases: his taste, like Rubin's, in his own music is mystifyingly bad).
This is simply the best pure metal album released in years. There will be naysayers with the usual biases and agendas; ignore them and treat your black soul to "Lost Tracks" as soon as possible. You have tread in the light too long, and it is time to feel once more that cold wind out of the blue hells, the one that your heart has so long ached for...thank you, Glenn, from an original "Angel of the Seventh Dawn".
A Real Treat For Long Time Danzig Fans.......2007-07-16
Now, on to this release itself. This 2 cd set is basically a collection of unreleased stuff including a couple of covers, and a ton of original Danzig songs that didn't make the final cut for the final studio album for one reason or another. Also a couple remixes/alternates of songs we have heard before. The songs range from stuff that was originally Samhain tunes, all the way up through Circle Of Snakes, and the cd's have the songs on them in chronological order. Also included is a booklet with some cool pictures, and most interestingly (in my opinion) are Glenn's comments about most of these songs saying how he feels about them, why they weren't on the studio releases, etc.
I'm still getting familiar with some of these songs, but some songs that jump out to me right away are:
Pain Is Like An Animal
When Death Had No Name (either version)
Cold, Cold Rain
Satan's Crucifiction
Warlok
Crawl Across Your Killing Floor
There is some really good stuff on this album that in my opinion definitely was good enough to be on the official releases of Danzig's albums, and Disc 1 of this set really took me back in time to the good old days of Danzig 1-4, when the band was at its peak. Disc 2, while not as strong as the first, still has some good songs on it and I'll listen to it more than once. This is not just a collection of unreleased junk just designed to rake in a few bucks.. Glenn's comments in the booklet state that several of these songs he either regretted leaving off the albums, or he really liked but they weren't finished in time, etc. I wholeheartedly agree after listening to some of these tracks. Sure, some aren't real good, but there's some gems on here.
My only complaint about this set is that the boxed set itself is made out of softer cardboard and is easily dinged, scuffed, dented, etc. If you plan to carry this music around with you alot, I would recommend putting the 2 cd's in individual jewel cases and leaving the book itself at home, or I guarantee you that before long, it will turn into a beat up piece of junk. I've had mine for only 2 days and it already has a couple of dings on it. Otherwise, the set is visually attractive, with some cool artwork, and great photos on the inside and generally pretty well thought out and put together. Just try your best to keep it from getting damaged!
Bottom line, this is a great set of unreleased music, and at $28, which is $14 per cd (not all that bad really) it's a must-have. If you're like the one poster and you can't find anything in this set that you really like, then I question if you're really all that big of a Danzig fan, because there are alot of songs on here that I've already listened to several times because they grabbed me right away, and just felt like classic Danzig. As you can see by the reviews this set is getting, most people are loving it, so don't let the few naysayers throw you off. Buy this set now!
Average customer rating:
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In Search of the Lost Chord
The Moody Blues Manufacturer: Polydor / Umgd ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000002GQG Release Date: 1997-05-20 |
Tracks:
- Departure
- Ride My See-Saw
- Dr. Livingstone, I Presume
- House Of Four Doors
- Legend Of A Mind
- House Of Four Doors (Part 2)
- Voices In The Sky
- The Best Way To Travel
- Visions Of Paradise
- The Actor
- The Word
- Om
Customer Reviews:
A timeless classic.......2007-07-17
Comments on a few favorite songs.......2007-06-06
First off is John Lodge's classic, feel-good rocker 'Ride My See-Saw'. (This tune and 'I'm Just a Singer' frequently trade places as my favorite Moodies song). I might as well admit it right now: I am a HUGE John Lodge fan and he is my fave Moody. That will become glaringly apparent if you read any more of my Moody Blues product reviews. Am I the least bit biased towards this living legend? Not at all! While I am not totally sure of the exact meaning of the lyrics, on the surface RMSS seems to be rife with double entendres and sexual innuendo, at least that's what I've read many times. But knowing of JL's deep religious beliefs, I strongly guess that that's not the case at all. This song is just plain fun to listen and sing along to. John and Justin's great guitar work ain't none too shabbily showcased either. RMSS is John Lodge at his rocking best.
I am also a big fan of Ray Thomas' often overlooked (and in my opinon) under-used talents. His ode to 'Dr. Livingstone' is a cheery, cute song that I could listen to all day long while having a goofy smile on my face. Ray's next offering, 'Legend of a Mind' is a legend of a song, and perfectly shows off this man's awesome vocal skills, not to mention the fact that he can blow the living tar out of a flute. This song has the best series of build-ups (for lack of a better word) and crescendos of any song I have ever heard. (You'll have to over-look the fact that I am not at all musical nor versed in music lingo, so that's the best description I could give. I hope most will understand what I'm talking about). I can literally listen to this song over and over w/o growing tired of it. The subject matter of this song doesn't matter to me one iota. The melody, the beat, the musicianship, and John's fabulous high note harmonies all combine to make this song a pure delight to my ears.
Next on my list is Lodge's 'House of Four Doors'. I'll spare you the details of how great I think this song is. I'll briefly just state that HOFD is hauntingly eerie and beautiful all at the same time. Maybe- just maybe- I could have done w/o 'some' of the sound effects of the creaking door, but hey John didn't ask me for my opinion before including them. It really doesn't affect my overall opinion of this great song. Yes, it's a John Lodge tune, and yes I darn well love it.
I am ending my little synopsis with two songs from the sublime Justin Hayward.(BTW, I like him, too. He's my 2nd fave Moody). Firstly is 'Voices in the Sky'. I have to admit that it took me a while to really love and appreciate this one (I don't exactly know why) but it is a truly lovely song. This song DOES make me wonder what the birds could say to me if they only could. As usual, Justin does a superb vocal and the song fits him and this album really well. But.... my favorite Hayward tune on this record is by far 'The Actor'. In fact, it's one of my all-time favorite songs of his. Both the lyrics and the sound of this song are as timeless today as when JH penned it many years ago. Something in this song really strikes a chord in me. Perhaps it's the fact that we all tend to put on a good front for the world and get caught up in playing our little roles? I heard Justin sing this song live recently and I have to say the man's voice sounds just as good as it did way back when. He truly is a gifted singer, guitarist and performer.
Well, I guess I'm just about through telling y'all (I'm from the South, after all) about my favorite songs from ISOTLC. I hope this "review" makes someone want to go and listen to these songs (or the entire album) anew- or better yet- hear them for the very first time. Either way, I do hope you enjoy!
My personal favorite.......2007-04-15
almost perfect moody blues album! 4.75 stars.......2007-03-19
House of 5 incredible musicians and songwriters.......2007-01-30
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American IV: The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash Manufacturer: Lost Highway ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00006L7XQ Release Date: 2002-11-05 |
Tracks:
- The Man Comes Around
- Hurt
- Give My Love To Rose
- Bridge Over Troubled Water
- I Hung My Head
- First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
- Personal Jesus
- In My Life
- Sam Hall
- Danny Boy
- Desperado
- I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
- Tear Stained Letter
- Streets of Laredo
- We'll Meet Again
Amazon.com
On first thought, the idea of the Man in Black recording such covers as "Bridge over Troubled Water," "Danny Boy," and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" might seem odd, even for an artist who's been able to put his personal stamp on just about everything. But American IV: The Man Comes Around, which also draws on Cash's original songs as well as those by Nine Inch Nails ("Hurt"), Sting ("I Hung My Head"), and Depeche Mode ("Personal Jesus"), may be one of the most autobiographical albums of the 70-year-old singer-songwriter's career. Nearly every tune seems chosen to afford the ailing giant of popular music a chance to reflect on his life, and look ahead to what's around the corner. From the opening track--Cash's own "The Man Comes Around," filled with frightening images of Armageddon--the album, produced by Rick Rubin, advances a quiet power and pathos, built around spare arrangements and unflinching honesty in performance and subject. In 15 songs, Cash moves through dark, haunted meditations on death and destruction, poignant farewells, testaments to everlasting love, and hopeful salutes to redemption. He sounds as if he means every word, his baritone-bass, frequently frayed and ravaged, taking on a weary beauty. By the time he gets to the Beatles' "In My Life," you'll very nearly cry. Go ahead. He sounds as if he's about to, too. Unforgettable. --Alanna NashAlbum Description
UK special edition reissue of The Man In Black's brilliant 2002 album includes two bonus tracks, 'Big Iron' (previously vinyl only) & 'Hurt' (video). American Recordings. 2003.Album Details
"the Man Comes Around" is the Fourth in the Legendary Singer's American Recordings Series and Boasts Some of his Most Interesting Work to Date, Including his First (And Some Say his Best) Compositions in Many Years. Other Material Includes Cover Versions of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus", Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water", the Eagles' "Desperado" and a Rumbling Version of "Danny Boy". This Special Edition Includes an Added Audio Track of "Big Iron" and the Enhanced Video of his Cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt".Customer Reviews:
My favorite Johnny Cash cd .......2007-07-04
What I love about American IV: The Man Comes Around is the sparse, haunting melodies that lingers through out the album. Secondly I love Johnny's deep baritone vocals on this cd especially on his covers of "Hurt" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". One of my personal favorite tracks is Johnny's cover of the Nine Inch Nails' track "Hurt". The emotions he puts into the song really moved me. I also loved the Sting song "I Hung My Head". Johnny does a great job at storytelling through this song. His voice is so warm and deep on this track. Johnny's duet with Nick Cave on the Hank Williams' classic "I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry" is absolutely stunning. Both men really compliment each other with their own deep vocals.
While I do like Johnny's other American recordings, they weren't as perfect to me as American IV: The Man Comes Around is. I can listen to this cd without skipping a single track.
Johnny Cash is classic. .......2007-06-26
Best of the American Series.......2007-06-26
Note: I am not generally a Country Western fan, and yet this series hits a strong note in me.
this CD turned me into a Johny cash fan..........2007-06-08
American IV : The Man Comes Around.......2007-05-12
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American V: A Hundred Highways
Johnny Cash Manufacturer: Lost Highway ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B0002W18MU Release Date: 2006-07-04 |
Tracks:
- Help Me
- God's Gonna Cut You Down
- Like The 309 (the last song Johnny wrote & recorded)
- If You Could Read My Mind
- Further On Up the Road
- The Evening Train
- I Came To Believe
- Love's Been Good To Me
- A Legend In My Time
- Rose Of My Heart
- Four Strong Winds
- I'm Free From The Chain Gang Now
Amazon.com
The ethical questions surrounding this final album in the American Recordings series are as unavoidable as they are, ultimately, peripheral. While the vocal tracks were recorded in the months just prior to Johnny Cash's passing in September 2003, the arrangements weren't undertaken until two years later. And though producer Rick Rubin had become a trusted friend, the Man in Black wasn't around to approve or disapprove, let alone guide, the final sessions. However, if the pure power of these recordings doesn't quiet the skeptics, nothing will. With Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench and slide guitar session pro Smokey Hormel on board (all three of whom appear on earlier Cash albums), along with guitarists Matt Sweeney and Johnny Polansky, the sound is stately and acoustic, but rarely staid, even as the dynamics of earlier recordings in the series are absent. Instead, the songs have a measured, elegiac intensity, the sound of musicians choosing their notes carefully and making just the right choices. The songs Cash sings are, unsurprisingly, confessional and reflective: his mortality and his mistakes, his maker and his salvation, and the loss of his wife June and the end of his career may have weighed on his mind, but in these songs he both embodies and transcends his personal history. On "God's Gonna Cut You Down," as the musicians clap and stomp behind him, his voice cuts through the air like that same avenging hand. On the new original "Like the 309"--the last song Cash ever wrote--he cops to being short of breath, and that voice becomes a metaphor for what each of us will one day face. On Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Read My Mind," Rubin flirts with overwhelming the damp bittersweetness of Cash's phrasing in tasteful atmospherics, but the voice is implacable, hitting and finding notes one never expected he'd have the will to find. Likewise, it's hard to believe this is his first recording of Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds"; the elemental narrative seems to have been written for him. Two songs, however, Cash has recorded before: the born-again hymn "I Came to Believe" and the final spiritual, "I'm Free from the Chain Gang Now." The latter especially is a definitive testament, as is his version of Bruce Springsteen's "Further On (Up the Road)." "One sunny morning we'll rise, I know / And I'll meet you further on up the road," he sings. If only, John, if only. --Roy Kasten
More Cash
At Folsom Prison |
American Recordings |
At San Quentin |
American IV: The Man Comes Around |
The Legend |
The Complete Sun Recordings 1955-1958 |
Customer Reviews:
He called my name and my heart stood still, when He said, "John, go do My will!".......2007-07-11
Goodbye Old Friend.......2007-06-27
Fabulous Farewell Album.......2007-06-21
A hundred highways.......2007-05-20
Johnny Cash was "The Man"..........2007-05-14
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