What are you listening to? (MKII)

audiobliss

Bruce Hornsby - Here Come the Noise Makers



RCA Records - 69308

Review (allmusic.com) by William Ruhlmann wrote:

Bruce Hornsby was 32 when "That's the Way It Is" hit number one and made him a star in the winter of 1986-1987, and he has used that stardom differently from the way a 22-year-old might have. You might say he's deliberately dismantled his popularity, gradually dispensing with the Range, the backing band he used to bill on his records, and with his brother John, who used to write his lyrics, while making progressively less song-oriented records that have traced a steadily declining sales curve to the point that his sixth album, the 1998 double-CD Spirit Trail, spent only two weeks in the charts. Or you might say he's used his popularity, spending it on musical legitimacy by turning away from pop music, indulging in side projects such as his part-time membership in the Grateful Dead. Here Come the Noise Makers, a two-CD live album drawn from concerts in 1998-2000, is, he says, a gift to "our fans, our true fans," which is to say those who have stuck with him. His gift includes renditions of his biggest hits, "That's the Way It Is," "Mandolin Rain," and "The Valley Road," as well as hits he wrote, "Jacob's Ladder" and "The End of the Innocence," embedded in lengthy arrangements with lots of invocations of his musical influences -- the Dead, George Gershwin, Samuel Barber, Bill Evans, Bud Powell, and Bob Dylan among them. Hornsby is determined to create a hybrid style that encompasses rock, jazz, and classical music within a jam band mentality. If he doesn't succeed, it may be because there aren't enough "true fans" out there to follow him, or it may be because he is so impressed with his own showoff-ish virtuosity that he hasn't bothered to write music compelling enough to support his goals.

When I bought this CD, the only contact I had previously had with Bruce Hornsby's work was on the radio (soley The Way It Is and The End of the Innocence) and Dad's Big Mon: The Songs of Bill Monroe CD (a tribute to the man arranged by Ricky Skaggs and filled with great artists - a great CD to own) - Darlin' Corey. That song could easily be my favorite song of all time. So, I didn't know much at all about Bruce Hornsby, but I liked what I had heard from him.

When I listened to the CD, I was quite disappointed. I was expecting those great hits The Way It Is and The End of the Innocence just like I had heard them on the radio, but they were different. To me it seemed as though they had lost all their 'oomph'; I had no desire to listen to them. As a result I put the album away for a while.

Thank goodness, though, I took it back out and gave it another listen after a whle. I'm glad I did! I learned to stop expecting those songs I had heard on the radio, and instead anticipated a remarkable display of talent expressed through the piano - an instrument I'm partial to since I play it. When I did this, I really was amazed and thrilled. Some of the passages are a little busy and admittedly get on my nerves a bit, but overall this album has a great live, relaxed atmosphere, at every turn there's a great stretch of Hornsby tearing up the piano.

I really can sit down and listen to both CD's all the way through, so it's hard to pick favorite tracks, but I'd have to say I really like the first track The Great Divide, The Road Not Taken, and Mandolin Rain. But as I said, each track is just awesome, and the shortest one is 4:22, the longest 12:30, and the average length is 7:33.

I highly recommend this album!!




I also just finished listening to Mark Knopfler - Ragpicker's Dream, which Russ did a write-up for on the first page.

aaharvel

Annie Lennox's Bare.
Just bought it. Unfortunately the high-res version was completely sold out. :rolleyes:

i'll post some comments about her later- so far it's very good.

audiobliss

Jewel - This Way



Release Date: 11/13/2001
Label: Atlantic
Catalog # 83519

Review (AllMusic.com) by Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote:

Jewel came dangerously close to drowning in her own solemnity and good intentions with her second album, so it comes as a great relief that This Way, her third effort, finds her lightening up and sharpening her focus, creating an album that never feels as somber or polished as Spirit. In fact, it's her first genuine step forward, since it finds her enhancing the latent folk and country influences in her music, attempting to add grit to her songs and performances, while retaining the pop sense of Pieces of You's studiocraft that made Spirit a more sonically satisfying record than her debut. Consequently, this is probably the best record she has cut to date, even if she still is very quick to indulge in silly, na

Shizelbs

Nelly - Grillz

danger boy

Howie Day - Stop All The World Now.

I think this has been out for a while now.. but I was in Target today trolling for some music.. and ran across this for $9.99

this one is the limited edition with 4 bonus tracks.. two of which are acoustic.

I dig acoustic music. I find that while playing acoustic most singer can't hide behind dubs, remixes, and things like that.. if they can't sing. it's gonna come out loud and clear. Well, luckily Howie Day can sing.

Very happy with this purchase.

Oh yeah. it sounds very good on the SRS's.

swerve

DJ Shadow - The Private Press

Allmusic.com - Review by John Bush

Five years on from his breakout Endtroducing..., hip-hop's reigning recluse showed he still had plenty of tricks up his sleeve -- as well as many more rare grooves left for sampling. Shadow had kept a low recording profile during past years, putting out only a few mix sets alongside a pair of collaborations (Psyence Fiction by U.N.K.L.E. and Quannum Spectrum). That lack of product actually helps The Private Press display just how good a producer he is; the depth of his production sense and the breadth of his stylistic palette prove just as astonishing the second time out. His style is definitely still recognizable, right from the start; "Fixed Income" and "Giving Up the Ghost" carefully layer wistful-sounding string arrangements overtop cavernous David Axelrod breaks (the latter a bit reminiscent of "Midnight in a Perfect World" from Endtroducing...). From there, though, DJ Shadow seldom treads the same path twice, switching from strutting disco breaks ("Walkie Talkie") to melancholy '60s pop that sounds like the second coming of Procol Harum ("Six Days"). "Right Thing/GDMFSOB" is pure breakers revenge, boasting accelerating, echoey electro breakbeats and enough confidence to recycle Leonard Nimoy's "pure energy" sample and make it work. Later, Shadow turns to pure aggro for the hilarious road-rage comedy of "Mashin' on the Motorway" (with Lateef the Truth Speaker behind the wheel), then summons the conceptual calm of a David Axelrod classic on the very next track with solo piano and a vocal repeating Bible text. Fans may have grown impatient waiting almost six years for the second DJ Shadow LP, but a classic like The Private Press could last at least that long, and maybe longer. [Initially, most copies of The Private Press on sale in America included a track available for download as a bonus.]

keith allen

Im in some Bluegrass right now,is there anything better than good ole "Rocky Top"....Rocky Top Tennessee

Billm57

Above - Mad Season

RuSsMaN

Van Halen's "1984" is arguably the best and most defining rock release of the '80s. Eddie Van Halen's guest appearance on Michael Jackson's massive 1983 hit "Beat It" introduced VH to the pop audience, which the band attracted in droves with this expertly crafted set of hard rock with pop leanings, not to mention its imaginative accompanying videos. Musically, "1984" was a gamble that paid off massively -- Eddie Van Halen was finally given the green light by his bandmates to incorporate keyboards into their sonic palette, resulting in the number one single "Jump" and the almost new wave-ish Top 15 love song "I'Ll Wait." But wisely, the keyboards weren't overpowering, and all of the other selections were typical VH hard-rocking heavies -- the perennial radio favorites "Hot For Teacher" and "Panama," as well as the highly underrated album tracks "Top Jimmy," "Drop Dead Legs," "Girl Gone Bad," and "House Of Pain." While the strong and instantly memorable songs were obviously the main ingredient for the album's success, a string of imaginative and humorous videos really introduced the band to a whole new audience (the hilarious clip for "Hot For Teacher" has to be one of the all-time best). "1984" also opened up the floodgates for many faceless, identical pop-metal bands (something VH was the complete opposite of), who suddenly realized that adding synths to heavy metal could increase their chances of commercial success. Still, it didn't tarnish the fact that "1984" is a timeless hard rock masterpiece, which eventually sold a staggering ten million copies. Unfortunately, the album would be the last Van Halen recording to feature David Lee Roth, who surprisingly left in 1985 at the height of the band's popularity. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide

The last offering from Van Halen, as the true fans know it. Diamond Dave, Eddie, Alex - and that fat dude that played bass, in their absolute finest, rare form. The remastering is substantial, this is a VERY polished recording. I'd put it right up there with Nivana's Nevermind. EXTREMELY well done. Low noise, and it appears that someone paid attention to phase at all frequencies. A great stereo experience, with a ton of dynamic range.

From the gradual intro of '1984', right into 'Jump' and 'Panama' - I dare you to keep a straight face, much less resist banging your head and running around the room playing air guitar or trying to mimic Roth's famous high kicks - when you pop this 5 inch HDCD into your transport.

Drop Dead Legs is hard hitting, pure rock and roll bliss. It was my 7th grade year, and oh, sweet sweet clean Amy Smith. The images and memories this songs congures up, give me that feeling that all of the sudden everything is right with the world.

You need this disc in your collection.

Warner Remasters HDCD
Van Halen - 1984
Warner Bros. 9 47741-2


Cheers,
Russ

George Grand

Jimmy Dean made better records.

heiney9

Decided to raid the cd racks tonight. I have many many cd's that don't get much play (ie; not in my regular rotation).

Curve-Come Clean-released in 1997. Very similar to the group Garbage. They were popular around this time. The songs on this cd are produced by Flood, Tim Simenon and Alan Moulder. These were highly sought after producers in the late 80's and 90's for the Alternative type of industrial tinged synth style of music. I doubt there is a real instrument (guitar is real) on this cd as it's pretty industrial and almost all synth and noise driven programming. The singer sounds eeriely like Shirley Manson from Garbage. This is a euro duo that was riding the wave of success from bands like Garbage and Prodigy among others of that time. It's strangely hypnotic and energizing at the same time. Slow electronic groove, just the right combo of dark guitar noise and airy melodies.

Liking all types of music is my style and while this doesn't get heavy play it's very enjoyable to go back in time a bit to experience some old music I used to listen to. I encourage all to have as wide an interest in all types of music as is possible. Don't be afraid to experiment and get out of the rut once in awhile.

TroyD

George Grand wrote:

Jimmy Dean made better records.

VINTAGE George Grand.

BDT

RuSsMaN

Wordsmith, of the highest order. I'd love to see it in a review here, can you imagine? Victory at Sea maybe? THAT would be a good read.

Back on track.

dorokusai

Anything with Mark Lanegan. He's the former lead singer and founding member, of the now defunct Screaming Trees, if anyone remembers them. He was also a member of Queens of the Stone Age, first album...as was Dave Grohl.

BillM57 - Nice call on that Mad Season album.... Mark + Layne Staley(Alice in Chains), Mike McCready(Pearl Jam) and Barrett Martin(Screaming Trees).

The ST years are more Seattle-ish while the ML stuff is alot slower, darker and introspective. His voice, DEFINES male vocal, HEAVY midrange representation for demo's...always good to have handy. Bubblegum(NEW) - Track 4 - Methamphetamine Blues, is a really cool demo.

My suggestion for the interested would be, Mark Lanegan - Whiskey for the Ghost. If you don't dig that album, then it's just not for you.

Billm57

I had not heard anything by Screaming Trees until just recently but had Mad Season since its release..go figure

In the cd player today...
Agitation Free - At The Cliffs Of The River Rhine

TroyD

Beethoven's 5th

Everyone knows it, everyone has heard it. So had I until I listened to the version by Herbert Vnn Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. It's a Deustche Grammophon (2531105) LP pressing.

IMHO, THE performance of the 5th to own. Reiner? Dorati? Chumps. THIS is the one to own and listen to. Throw the others in the trash. I really don't know what else to say other than it's superior in terms of recording (secondary) and performance (primary) than any other version I've heard.

BDT

Billm57

Gentle Giant - Aquiring The Taste

seo

George Winston - Linus & Lucy: The Music Of Vince Guaraldi

seo

dorokusai wrote:

Anything with Mark Lanegan. He's the former lead singer and founding member, of the now defunct Screaming Trees, if anyone remembers them. He was also a member of Queens of the Stone Age, first album...as was Dave Grohl.

Great under rated Seattle (actually Ellensburg I think) band. Also good but not so well known from Seattle, the Fastbacks and The Young Fresh Fellows.

Tour2ma

TroyD wrote:

Beethoven's 5th
Deustche Grammophon (2531105) LP pressing.

IMHO, THE performance of the 5th to own. Reiner? Dorati? Chumps. THIS is the one to own and listen to.

This year I need to bring my vintage George Szell and the CSO to PTF-II...

TroyD

Joe Bonamasa - So It's Like That

GD RIGHT it is.

Man, I LOVE this disc. I hope the neighbors have enjoyed as much as I have because today, the music is LOUD.

The AR-9's are getting a WORKOUT.

Seriously, this is a sleeper GREAT disc for the bluesy rock crowd. See my review of it in the Polk Paper a few issues ago...

BDT

zombie boy 2000

Senor Smoke -- Electric Six
(these guys have to be seen to be believed -- best rock show i've been too in a long, long time)
and my god, Stop Making Sense (the Talking Heads) makes my system sound so, so nice...
the remastered version of this masterpiece is a testament to how good a live-recording can really sound if done right

Nicjedi

heiney9 wrote: »

talk about getting your groove on. Had some people over tonight and pulled this out. Haven't listened to it in a very long time.

red hot chili peppers-blood sugar sex magik

1991-warner brothers-produced by rick rubin

in a few words...infectious groovy sweaty funk that puts a big grin on your face :cool: The band went through a lot of personnel changes and battles with drug addiction by more than one member. Having rick rubin at the helm certainly helped to keep the band focused. Some of their earlier stuff had flashes of greatness but in the end turned out to be a bit to disjointed and ragged, imo. Another thing that makes this a great listen are the different moments of emotion conveyed in some of the songs, going from hard core sex drenched lyrics to well meaning ballads. Just the right mix. I need to add this to my regular rotation now that i re-discovered this gem.

notes from cdnow:

red hot chili peppers: Anthony kiedis (vocals); john frusciante (guitar); flea (bass); chad smith (drums). Additional personnel includes: Brendan o'brien (melltron); pete weiss (jew's harp); gail frusciante (background vocals). With bloodsugarsexmagik the chilis produced the defining moment of funk rock and the high point of their career. Raunchy and explicit from the first, the lyrical content was not for the easily offended and frequently strayed into misogyny. Musically, it straddled metal and funk with ease; in addition to the stomping, infectious rockers ("give it away," "the power of equality") and the downright funky ("mellowship slinky," "apache rose peacock"), all underpinned by flea's virtuosic but unselfish basslines, the band also showed themselves capable of writing surprisingly melodic ballads ("breaking the girl," "under the bridge")

certified 7 x platinum by the riaa featuring 'under the bridge', 'breaking girl', 'funky munks', 'suck my kiss', and 'give it away'. 1991 release produced by rick rubin.

another must have for every collection. Enjoy the music....it's what makes life worth living sometimes

h9

i love red hot chili peppers great album!

Bababouey

A great new album to check out..
Widepsread Panic.. Dirty Side Down

PrazVT

Bob Dylan - Slow Train Coming