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Genere: Pop

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Genere: Jazz

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Trama: Recorded in England after a stretch of continuous touring, <I>Give</I> is a more-than-worthy successor to 2003's <I>These Are the Vistas</I>, the major-label debut that launched the Bad Plus as a significant musical force. The Midwestern piano trio doesn't just link the worlds of abstract jazz and big-beat rock--instead, they smash them together, fusing bombast and subtlety with wit and art in consistently surprising ways. It's most apparent in the covers. The Pixies' "Velouria" develops a heady layer of Spanish impressionism, while Ornette Coleman's "Street Woman," showcasing Reid Anderson's propulsive bass, is much closer to jazz expectations--the early Paul Bley trio, say, if jazz expectations get that high. Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" becomes a manifesto, pianist Ethan Iverson combining the elementary theme with an anarchic, trip-hammer right hand straight from the playground of free jazz. The originals cover even more ground--from the colliding ironies of Iverson's "Cheney Piñata" to the sweetness of drummer David King's "Frog and Toad." Produced, like the last CD, by Tchad Blake, <I>Give</I> demonstrates just how effectively pop production values and jazz spontaneity can interact. King's drumming alone is a sonic and creative highlight throughout. Along with a new aesthetic, the Bad Plus has already begun to define a new audience, and this CD should both delight and enlarge it. <I>--Stuart Broomer</I>

Genere: R&B

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Trama: I ordered this disk during my first deployment to Mosul,Iraq, it set me on a mental highway away from chaos and depression. Erykah Badu has always delivered the mental elixirs and she continues the mix with this CD. Her voice is trancing and the bass, samples and overall sound production is of the best quality. This Worldwide Underground CD strokes the stem of consciousness enabling you to relax and emerce into the fabric of the underground.

Genere: Folk

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Genere: R&B

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Trama: Soul has been through a lot of changes of late, and if there seems to be an oversupply of young divas-in-waiting today, you can probably thank Anita Baker for it. Baker was one of the few singers that bridged the old school to the new, and this 1986 album was--and is--a true soul classic. An inspiration for everyone from Whitney Houston to Toni Braxton, Baker carved the way with soaring vocals and an effortless style on tracks like "Sweet Love" and "You Bring Me Joy." "Caught Up in the Rapture" was the anthem for many a lovestruck couple, and Baker sums it up best herself in the same song: "Nothing else can compare." <I>--Rebecca Wallwork</I>

Genere: Jazz

Durata: 48:46

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Trama: This was the first studio album Chet Baker cut after a lengthy stay in Italy (5 years), made in January 1965. He returned to the States with a new style (and a new axe - flugelhorn), playing "harsher" (his words) than ever before. He was also tackling new material, very advanced and creative. This is evident throughout this CD as he works his way (effortlessly, by the way) through a couple of Hal Galper compositions that are pretty complicated and sophisticated. BABY BREEZE has a blues march feel to it, and Chet's solo is melodic and strong. THIS IS THE THING is taken up and it's HOT, especially Frank Strozier's alto solo. Another Galper tune is PAMELA'S PASSION, also taken up, which goes out of tempo on occasion and thus produces excellent tension. Richard Carpenter contributed two tunes, the best being COMIN' DOWN, which sounds very much like Coltrane's GIANT STEPS. Baker sings on a few tunes, which is okay but no great shakes; on one of them (BORN TO BE BLUE) the focus for the listener is definitely on Bobby Scott's incredibly bluesy piano accompaniment. This is a solid album for Baker, offering up an exciting change and a deeper involvement. Nice!

Genere: Jazz

Durata: 51:11

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Genere: Jazz

Durata: 1:13:01

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Genere: Jazz

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Trama: Once Chet Baker arrived in California from his native Oklahoma, his career exploded. After landing gigs with Charlie Parker and Gerry Mulligan, Baker soon found himself a solo star and bandleader. Not long after that, he also found himself whispering love songs into a microphone. Baker was not gifted with the most robust voice of the day. Indeed, listening to pure singers like Nat "King" Cole or Johnny Hartman can expose Baker's weaknesses, but what Baker did, he did well. By choosing wistful, so-young, so-in-love tunes, Baker was able to pour his heart into the material, sketching soft, romantic moods and painting himself as the broken-hearted innocent. The effect can be devastating, as Baker's voice clings to the melody, threatening to disintegrate at any moment. Many of his best tunes--"I Fall in Love Too Easily," "But Not for Me," "Let's Get Lost"--are collected here, and as such, there is no better place to begin an appreciation of Baker's unique singing. <I>--S. Duda</I>

Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

Durata: 73:16

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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

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Trama: In 1965 Baker returned to the US and in a massive recording session, recorded enough material for 5 LPs. These were later reissued on 3 CDs; although the music on all of them is consistently good, this one is the best of the three. "Cherokee" and "Bevan beeps" are excellent, as are the 2 blues compositions "Chabootie" and "Carpsie's groove," both taken fairly slow. George Coleman on tenor and Kirk Lightsey on piano are in great form, too. Recommended.

Genere: Blues

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Genere: R&B

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Genere: Rock

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Genere: Rock

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Trama: When Bob Dylan found the Hawks, this American-Canadian quintet was already old beyond their years, their telepathic ensemble skills honed by years of gigs in bars and honky-tonks on both sides of the border. And when, post-Dylan, the group rechristened itself the Band, they proved formidable on any given night, and transcendent on more than a few. This live set, recorded over the last four nights of 1971 in New York's Academy of Music, is a beautifully reconstructed concert that showcases their own classics and some nifty covers including Marvin Gaye's "Don't Do It." If the set list is arguably too light on the timeless songs on their two earliest, and best, albums, the sheer power of the playing more than compensates: Robbie Robertson's taut, tough guitar stings and cries; Garth Hudson's indelible organ sculpts vast, funky washes of sound against Richard Manuel's rippling piano; Rick Danko's nimble, rock solid bass locks perfectly against Levon Helm's pared-down, syncopated drumming. Add a blue-chip horn section playing Allen Toussaint's arrangements, and these tracks attain a level of musicianship (and not just technique) never bettered in rock. <I>--Sam Sutherland</I>

Genere: Folk

Durata: 54:16

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Durata: 55:03

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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

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Trama: In 1998, after releasing several critically lauded but commercially under-performing CDs, Chicago vocalist Patricia Barber struck a resonating chord with <i>Modern Cool</i>. Barber alternated a throaty vocal delivery and a more refined, stately approach to singing as she traipsed through genres with a strong, unconventional band that played to her strengths. More than anything, <i>Modern Cool</i> delivered an eloquent snapshot of what Barber would be like on stage, and now its follow-up, <i>Companion</i>, comes along to show off her chops in a live setting. Barber elected an old-time jazz approach to the live album, picking Chicago's Green Mill, a favourite haunt and home base for her, and let the tapes roll for a few shows in July of 1998. What you get is very much like <i>Modern Cool</i>: touches of pop turned to artsy poetry--in a most convincing way--on Sonny Bono's "The Beat Goes On" and a delightedly curve-ball reading of "Black Magic Woman", the Peter Green tune made famous by Santana. And then there are Barber originals, which she sends off expertly with piano and splashes of rough guitar paint and a whole-group clatter that's indicative of both the leader and her band's intimacy with these tunes. Like Cassandra Wilson and myriad others stretching the jazz singer's palette, Barber has made a deep cut in the tradition, without turning off any lovers of the traditional jazz lyric. <i>--Andrew Bartlett </i>

Genere: Jazz

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Trama: The piano-playing singer Patricia Barber has quite a pearl of 12 standards on <I>Nightclub</I> with three stellar trios, including three tracks with Charlie Hunter's eight-string guitar. The incomparable bassist Marc Johnson also adds supple support on a few tunes and has a very tasty solo on "Yesterdays." And speaking of soloing, because Barber's vocal phrasing, rhythm, and timbre are so unique, it's easy to overlook her brilliant improvisations on piano. Despite their surface similarities, Barber seems worlds apart from Diana Krall in her presentation. Putting out an album of standards after the ultrahip <I>Modern Cool</I> challenges Barber with a different concept, rather than an attempt to capitalize on the tremendous success of other mainstream jazz vocalists (Krall included). In fact, if there's a problem here, it's that the sardonic wit displayed on Barber's previous releases is missing. On the other hand, it's mightily refreshing to report that a great American jazz singer who established herself on her own material has succeeded at an album of standard tunes. It's a chain of events that most vocalists can't claim. On <I>Nightclub</I>, Barber creates a dark, smoky atmosphere where, like any good impressionistic artist, she brings listeners into her world and lets them enjoy art from her side of the creative pane. Quite an accomplishment. <I>--Mark A. Ruffin</I>

Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

Durata: 52:32

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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Blues

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Trama: The vocals are excellent, Lou Ann has the best female blues voice on the planet. Buy "Sugar Coated Love" first and this album 2nd. Of course I am partial to Stevie Ray Vaughn and real "Texas Blues" (Stevie appears on "SCL"). There are horns on some songs on "Old Enough" and I personally don't like horns with my blues.

Genere: Jazz

Durata: 36:05

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Genere: Jazz

Durata: 34:29

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Genere: Jazz

Durata: 56:38

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Trama: Bristling with excitement and electricity, this 1958 album represents the finest accomplishment of Count Basie's "New Testament" big band. His "Old Testament" band of the late 1930s, featuring stars Lester Young, Herschel Evans, Dickie Wells, and Buck Clayton, perfected the blues-drenched, straight 4/4 rhythm of Kansas City swing. Building on the blues foundation, this 1950s band features more ambitious compositions and a more dynamic sound and incorporates more modern developments. One constant, however, is the anchoring rhythm guitar of Freddie Green. As always, Basie can dig deeply into robust stride statements or choose each note as if he had to pay for them separately. Neal Hefti, the primary composer and arranger here, marvelously captures the strengths of each individual musician. His arrangements sparkle exuberantly on the up tunes and create vivid and exotic moods on the slower ones; clever and innovative without ever being overblown. Beefy tenor Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, who was only in the band for a relatively short period, offers the most valuable and vital solo contributions, recalling Ben Webster's tenderness at times, squeaking and honking like an R&B man at others. <I>--Marc Greilsamer</I>

Genere: Jazz

Durata: 34:13

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Genere: Rock

Durata: 55:14

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Genere: Pop

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Trama: This is the best of the best. If you are a fan of his cantautore style, his soulful combination of folk and blues, this is the collection to get. Battisti's guitar was stilled forever by his untimely death, but his music lives in this CD set.

Genere: Rock

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Genere: Rock

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Genere: Rock

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Trama: The Beatles' last days as a band were as productive as any major pop phenomenon that was about to split. After recording the ragged-but-right <I>Let It Be</I>, the group held on for this ambitious effort, an album that was to become their best-selling. Though all four contribute to the first side's writing, John Lennon's hard-rocking, "Come Together" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" make the strongest impression. A series of song fragments edited together in suite form dominates side two; its portentous, touching, official close ("Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight"/"The End") is nicely undercut, in typical Beatles fashion, by Paul McCartney's cheeky "Her Majesty," which follows. <I>--Rickey Wright</I>

Genere: Rock

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Trama: This is the first release in a three-part series that essentially amounted to the three surviving Beatles officially sanctioning the release of tracks that had been bootlegged for years. Thus, you get some of their earliest recordings as teens; the tracks they cut in Hamburg, Germany; their Decca audition tapes (which were rejected); and, finally, alternate takes and works in progress of songs that are now part of the world's consciousness. Oh, yeah, you also get "Free As a Bird," the John Lennon track the other Beatles "finished" in 1995; it's out of context in the company of some of the group's early classics. Beatlemaniacs, of course, love exploring this stuff, but the three Anthologies are hardly a place for beginners to start their explorations. <i>--Bill Holdship</i>

Genere: Rock

Durata: 9:27

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Genere: Rock

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Trama: Better known as the "White Album," this was meant to be the record that brought them back to earth after three years of studio experimentation. Instead, it took them all over the place, continuing to burst the envelope of pop music. Lennon and McCartney were still at the height of their powers, with Lennon in particular growing into one of rock's towering figures. But even McCartney could still rock, and the amazement on "Helter Skelter" was that he had vocal cords at the end. From Beach Boys knock-offs to reggae and to the unknown ("Revolution #9"), this has it all. Some records have <i>legend</i> written all over them; this is one. <i>--Chris Nickson</i>

Genere: Rock

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Trama: Banged out in a hurry for the 1964 Christmas market, <i>Beatles for Sale</i> sometimes sounds it, loaded with ill-conceived covers and some of John Lennon's most self-loathing lyrics. On the other hand, the people doing the banging-out were the Beatles, whose instincts for what worked musically were so strong that they could basically do no wrong--any record that has "Baby's in Black," "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" and the delectable "Eight Days a Week" on it is only "minor" in the most relative sense. And, though their voices had been frazzled a bit by constant touring, they revved them up for some joyous shouting, and indulged their fondness for American country in subtle, playful ways. <i>--Douglas Wolk</i>

Genere: Rock

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Trama: <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-alt:"Calisto MT"; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-alt:Arial; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-alt:"Calisto MT"; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-alt:"Times New Roman"; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} span.EmailStyle15 {mso-style-type:personal; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-ansi-font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; color:windowtext;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> FEATURES:   -Dimensions: 12"x6"x3"   -Description:       Hard black glossy lift top with magnet clasp       CDs packaged in three panel digi-pak with digital mini documentaries       Remastered by Guy Massey, Steve Rooke, Sam Okell with Paul Hicks and Sean Magee   -Contains:       All 13 Studio remasters plus Past Masters (digi packaging with digital mini documentaries)   Please Please Me With The Beatles A Hard Day's Night Beatles For Sale Help! Rubber Soul Revolver Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Magical Mystery Tour The Beatles Yellow Submarine Abbey Road Let It Be Past Masters       DVD of all 13 mini-documentaries (Running time: 40 minutes)
Beatles Photos
The Beatles Merchandise

"The Beatles Rock Band"

More from The Beatles
"The Beatles Mono Box Set [LIMITED EDITION]"
"The Beatles [USB] [LIMITED EDITION]"
"Abbey Road"
"Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band"
"The White Album"
"Rubber Soul"

Genere: Rock

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Trama: <I>Strummmmm!</I> That dramatic guitar chord that kicks of <I>A Hard Day's Night</I> (album, song, movie) still jumps right out at you, slaps you in the face, and jump-starts your heart. And you know what? Both the music <I>and</I> the film are still as crisp and lively as they were in 1964. Of course, only the first seven songs are actually in the movie (and they are the strongest of the bunch, from the rousing rock & roll of the title track and the hit single "Can't Buy Me Love," to the beautiful ballads "If I Fell" and "And I Love Her"). But nobody's going to complain about having songs like "I'll Cry Instead" and "Things We Said Today" in the second half of the record; they sure don't <I>feel</I> like leftovers. Yet another high-point for John, Paul, George, and Ringo--four fab fellows who hit the highest heights imaginable. <I>--Jim Emerson</I>

Genere: Rock

Durata: 4:52

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Trama: How John Lennon's confessional song became the title for a silly James Bond spoof I really don't know. The funny thing is, it works both ways--as a young man's personal statement about learning to open up to others, and as the frantic theme for an exotic espionage chase comedy starring those lovable mop-tops (this time in <i>color</i>). Like <I>A Hard Day's Night</I>, only the first "side" of this album actually contains songs from the movie--the biggest hits being the eponymous cry for assistance and "Ticket to Ride." But part 2 has a few nice tunes as well, like "It's Only Love," "I've Just Seen a Face," and a little ditty called "Yesterday." And I always love it when they do an all-out screamer like "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," which sounds like John's raucous answer to Paul's "Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey" vocal on <I>Beatles for Sale</I>. Of course, it's essential--as are all the Beatles' soundtracks (all the Beatles' <I>albums</I>), with the possible exception of <I>Yellow Submarine</I>. <I>--Jim Emerson</I>

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Genere: Rock

Durata: 4:52

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Trama: Sloppy in conception, and even sometimes in the playing, <I>Let It Be</I> often gets a bad rap. Unfairly, as it's often as charming, well written, and (oh yeah) rocking as the Beatles' "better" albums; it's also more outright fun than <I>Abbey Road</I>, the masterpiece it followed into the stores. With Lennon and McCartney working together on the perfect "I've Got a Feeling," "Two of Us," and "Dig a Pony," it's hard to believe these guys were about to implode. <I>--Rickey Wright</I>

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Trama: The surviving members of the Fab Four spent much of the 1990s belatedly reuniting to document, promote, and occasionally awkwardly burnish their unparalleled pop music legacy. This double-disc anthology of live-in-the-studio performances originally recorded specifically for the BBC during the most frantic years of early Beatlemania was the first chapter in that effort and the first issuance of previously unreleased Beatles recordings since the late '70s. In many ways, it remains the most artistically revealing. Capturing them at their early '60s live-performance peak, these recordings pay homage to both the band's eclectic musical influences (including Chuck Berry, Phil Spector, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Larry Williams, the Coasters, and the Shirelles), and to the enthusiastic and generous sense of musical discovery and the pop proselytizing that accompanied them. A number of the Fabs' own '62-'65 singles and album tracks are also featured, but they mostly take a back seat to the generous collection of previously unreleased cover songs included here. The band's brisk, often irreverent sense of humor also comes to fore in the intros, interviews, and between-song banter. An indispensable part of any true Beatlemaniac's collection and a superb introduction to the roots of a musical legend. <I>--Jerry McCulley</I>

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Trama: It begins with a twittering of birdsong lifted from "Across The Universe". And once the triple-tracked a capella harmonies of "Because" enter, followed by snatches from "A Hard Day's Night" and "The End", leading into a fired-up "Get Back", it becomes obvious that this is far more than just another Beatles compilation. <p></p> This is "Love", conceived by the Fabs' former producer George Martin and son Giles as a stageshow soundtrack to Cirque de Soleil's Las Vegas spectacular of the same name, but appears to have taken on a life of its own. Where The Beatles' last release <i>1</i> delivered the (over?) familiar hits in a nice simple package, this is a mélange of the familiar and obscure, all literally mixed together in one 78-minute audio collage which succeeds in reminding the listener just why The Beatles truly are, as Lennon put it "toppermost of the poppermost". There's no new Beatles material per se, but the songs are all approached differently--some are cut together in a flawlessly mixed medley (check out the "Mr Kite/I Want You/Helter Skelter" moment), some reassemble different backing tracks and vocal performances to create new spins on old classics, but all the songs are revitalized considerably. Even in its weakest moments (which probably work better in the context of the show itself), it's still a formidable prospect, and one has to admire Martin's willingness to go out on a limb with such a project. <p></p> While purists may complain that the cut'n'paste nature of the project is simply tampering with perfection, at the very least it'll make them reach for the originals and enjoy them all over again. For newcomers and everyone else, it makes a fine listen, both in its sonic clarity (the actual tracks are the best they've sounded on CD) and audacious nature.<i>--Thom Allott</i>

Genere: Rock

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Trama: The album feels even more like a collection of singles (instead of an actual movie soundtrack) than <I>Help!</I> or <I>A Hard Day's Night</I>, but maybe that's because every song sounds like it could have been a hit single--with the natural exception of the goofy/weird instrumental "Flying." Even George's "Blue Jay Way" paints a vivid sound-portrait in fascinating detail. (I consider Joni Mitchell's "Car on the Hill" from <I>Court and Spark</I> to be a companion piece about sitting in the Hollywood Hills, waiting for somebody to show up.) And although the goofy TV movie may have been mostly Paul's baby, this album features the two 45 rpm masterpieces that sum up the quintessential best of Lennon <I>and</I> McCartney at this stage of their development: Paul's "Penny Lane" and John's "I Am the Walrus." <I>--Jim Emerson</I>

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Trama: Their first-ever album, raw and rough and still very rock & roll. Lennon and McCartney begin to flex their writing muscles and had already scored two UK hits when this appeared, but they still relied heavily on the cover material to see them through. Their insecurity about their own abilities seems curious in hindsight since they'd pulled the title song and "I Saw Her Standing There" (with thanks to Little Richard) out of their hats. But they were an unknown quantity, still to launch a million bands and take pop music to places it had never dreamed off. A small step for four men, a giant leap for music. <i>--Chris Nickson</i>

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Trama: <I>Revolver</I> wouldn't remain the Beatles' most ambitious LP for long, but many fans--including this one--remember it as their best. An object lesson in fitting great songwriting into experimental production and genre play, this is also a record whose influence extends far beyond mere they-was-the-greatest cheerleading. Putting McCartney's more traditionally melodic "Here, There and Everywhere" and "For No One" alongside Lennon's direct-hit sneering ("Dr. Robert") and dreamscapes ("I'm Only Sleeping," "Tomorrow Never Knows") and Harrison's peaking wit ("Taxman") was as conceptually brilliant as anything <I>Sgt. Pepper</I> attempted, and more subtly fulfilling. A must. <I>--Rickey Wright</I>

Genere: Rock

Durata: 35:08

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Trama: When Rubber Soul was originally released in the U.S. on Capitol Records, "Drive My Car" was missing from it. It was thought not to fit with the rest of the album, and so it was replaced. In its place came John Lennon's "It's Only Love" and Paul McCartney's "I've Just Seen a Face," two songs which made the American version superior to the current UK import. While "Drive My Car" can be easily found on the '62-'66 best-of collection, "It's Only Love" and "I've Just Seen a Face" cannot be found (Yes, "It's Only Love" is in the Beatles Anthology, but its an alternate version of the far superior original song that appeared on the American release. If ever it should be released, I'm sure Beatles fans would love to hear the American version of "Rubber Soul."

Genere: Rock

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Trama: Before <I>Sgt. Pepper</I>, no one seriously thought of rock music as actual art. That all changed in 1967, though, when John, Paul, George and Ringo (with "A Little Help" from their friend, producer George Martin) created an undeniable work of art which remains, after 30-plus years, one of the most influential albums of all time. From Lennon's evocative word/sound pictures (the trippy "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," the carnival-like "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite") and McCartney's music hall-styled "When I'm 64," to Harrison's Eastern-leaning "Within You Without You," and the avant-garde mini-suite, "A Day in the Life," <I>Sgt. Pepper</I> was a milestone for both '60s music and popular culture. <I>--Billy Altman</I>

Genere: Rock

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Genere: Rock

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Trama: They still had plenty of covers to fill out the running time, but the Lennon-McCartney writing team was gathering steam and beginning to knock out pop classics as if they were pulling them out of thin air. "All My Loving" and "I Wanna Be your Man" come from this record, issued hurriedly to capitalize on English Beatlemania. But even when they were laying into some classic Chuck Berry, by this time the Beatles had acquired a unique sound in the blend of John's and Paul's voices, while George was coming on by leaps and bounds as a guitar player. While not absolutely essential, as a snapshot of a band in a place and time, <i>With the Beatles</i> is good for a smile. <i>--Chris Nickson</i>

Genere: Rock

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Trama: The most dashed-off of the Beatles' records, <I>Yellow Submarine</I> doesn't have much to it: the goofy title track and "All You Need Is Love" are reprised from earlier discs, George Martin's trifle of a score to the animated <I>Submarine</I> feature takes up the second half, and that leaves just four relatively insubstantial new tracks. The Beatles' throwaways are anyone else's classics, though: "Hey Bulldog," the last song Lennon and McCartney wrote in full collaboration, has the instinctive urgency of their best work, Paul's singalong "All Together Now" is awfully cute, and more than one band has dedicated its career to trying to replicate what George's guitars are doing on his dazed, pulsing "It's All Too Much." <i>--Douglas Wolk</i>

Genere: Zydeco

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Genere: Zydeco

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Trama: Just as the displaced Acadians moved from present-day Nova Scotia to the verdant Louisiana bayou in the 18th century and went on to "Cajunize" the region, so too do Beausoleil seek to color an array of musical styles on <I>Cajunization</I>. There's "Cajunization Blues," "Cubano Bayou," and even a surf ditty, "Atchafalaya Pipeline." If the idea of taking Cajun rhythmic and instrumental flavors and dolloping them across musical styles sounds alarming--even in theory--consider the impact Afro-Cuban rhythms have had on jazz and pop since the 1930s, and then listen to what Doucet and company do here. <p> Virtually nothing on <I>Cajunization</I> sounds out of place. The blues sound solid and the surf absolutely explosive, so much so that when the band jumps to "Happy One-Step," which bounces like more customary Beausoleil fare, you look forward to their return to a globetrotter's ethos. "Cubano Bayou" capitalizes on the presence of Billy Ware's hand percussion and guest Danny DeVillier's steel drums. Likewise, Jerry Douglas's Dobro and Hawaiian guitar sound like fascinating shadows aside Doucet's colorful violin. And where Dennis McGee's compositional influence and tunes are deeply embedded in Beausoleil's overall aesthetic, his son Gerry's guitar lends "Atchafalaya Pipeline" a touch of the Ventures, the younger McGee's fabled surf band. <i>--Andrew Bartlett</i>

Genere: Zydeco

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Trama: Recorded shortly after Beausoleil celebrated their 20th anniversary, <I>L'Amour ou la Folie</I> ("Love or Folly") finds them at the height of their confident, highly spirited, and considerably unstagnant powers. By now the sextet transcends the dancehall, possessing the ability to transform nearly any traditional Cajun, Creole, or French tune into high art while preserving a clear sonic bloodline back to its roots. Guests Richard Thompson, clarinetist Dr. Michael White, and lap-steel guitarist Bessyl Duhon are lagniappe on a record that encompasses everything from happy and sad old-timey waltzes, two-steps, and ballads, to spry "newgrass" originals like Michael Doucet's "Newz Reel." <i>--Richard Gehr</i>

Genere: Rock

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Trama: The very first lines of Chris Bell's one and only album say it all: "Every night I tell myself I am the cosmos / I am the wind / That don't bring you back again." Recorded between his departure from the notoriously misbegotten power-pop group Big Star in 1972 and his 1978 death following an auto accident, <i>Cosmos</i> is the work of a man struggling to assuage his depression with spiritual succor. Musically, this collection (which was unheard by the general public prior to 1992) is reminiscent of John Lennon's '70s work. With the exception of <I>Plastic Ono Band</I>, however, Lennon never put out a solo album on a par with this one. The tragedy is that Bell never had a chance to try to match it. <I>--Steven Stolder</I>

Genere: Classical

Durata: 51:24

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Genere: Rock

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Genere: Jazz

Durata: 44:23

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Trama: After the guest-star extravaganza Playin' with My Friends and the k.d. lang duets album What a Wonderful World, Tony Bennett goes his own way, settling into a mellow groove with The Art of Romance. Slow- and midtempo from top to bottom, Romance partakes mostly of deep-dish orchestral takes of classics (three by Johnny Mandel; two by Johnny Mercer). The end-of-the-affair "Where Do You Start" is the disc's quiet heart-stopper, while memories of happier days are conjured by Mercer’s "Time to Smile" and the wry Mandel/Dave Frishberg "Little Did I Dream." Perfect fall listening, alone or with a partner, this proves one of the richest albums of the singer’s late-career renaissance. --Rickey Wright

Genere: Jazz

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Trama: Tony Bennett has a typical lack of effusiveness about the kudos of his seven-decade career, but he does reportedly display an inscribed picture from a longtime colleague and fellow saloon singer in his Manhattan apartment. It reads: "To the best goddamned pop singer I've ever heard." It's signed "Frank Sinatra." But don't take the Chairman's word for it. Just listen as these two discs bound from one masterly performance to the next, documenting a career whose ups and downs--Bennett actually went long years <I>without</I> a record contract--belie a robust evolution of vocal strength and subtlety of phrasing. The arc of Bennett's art in the decade from "Cold Cold Heart" and "Rags to Riches" to "The Best Is Yet To Come" and his signature "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is remarkable enough, but it just keeps getting better. When the singer's management shrewdly orchestrated his MTV-powered "comeback" in the late 1980s and '90s, Bennett delivered considerably more than mere hype. Indeed, the highlights of those efforts (a warm, semi-autobiographical collection of ballads; tributes to Sinatra, Astaire, Ellington, and the blues; the obligatory <I>MTV Unplugged</I> set) included here barely skim the surface and arguably warrant a double-disc collection all their own. Still, the 39 tracks here represent the best kind of anthology: one that leaves you craving more. <I>--Jerry McCulley</I>

Genere: Jazz

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Trama: This CD won Grammy Awards in 1995 for Album of the Year and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. Recorded live with Tony Bennett's long-standing accompanists Ralph Sharon on piano, Doug Richeson on bass, and Clayton Cameron on drums, the set includes more than 20 songs, many of them standards Bennett has sung for years, such as "Old Devil Moon," "I Wanna Be Around," "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," "All of You," and "Body and Soul." Guest artists k.d. lang and Elvis Costello appear on, respectively, "Moonglow" and "They Can't Take That Away from Me." It's a joyful romp for Frank Sinatra's favorite singer. <I>--Stanley Booth</I>

Genere: Jazz

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Trama: This is the long-overdue CD reissue of Tony Bennett's treatments of 20 Rodgers & Hart songs in 1973 on a pair of LPs for the Improv label. The new version remasters those 20, plus six never-before-issued tunes, on one CD for some splendid listening. Bennett's voice, of course, was much better then than it is now, but he still had the same enthusiasm and skill. The bonus is the splendid accompaniment by trumpeter Ruby Braff and guitarist George Barnes, who recorded some of these tunes as instrumentals on the Concord label a few years after doing them with Bennett. I was struck by the similarity of some of Bennett's treatments to those of Ella Fitzgerald when she recorded Rodgers and Hart for Norman Granz on the Verve label. It's not imitation, though; instead, it's evidence that two great singers felt the same inspirations for dealing with these priceless tunes. This album will earn a spot in your easy-listening rotation for a long time. It's great to have it now on one CD.

Genere: Jazz

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Genere: Jazz

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Trama: Everything glowing that other reviewers have said about this performance is mostly true. I would have given it 5 stars if not for a problem with the recording, and it's a bad enough problem that I hesitate giving it even 3 stars. It's her vocals, which are obviously the centerpiece of the disc.
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<br />Don't get me wrong - she sings these songs wonderfully. But the recording of her voice is problematic. It buzzes very slightly, particularly when she puts a little oomph into it or reaches for the higher register notes. It's not hugely distorted, but it's enough to catch your ear and make you wonder if you're really hearing what you think you're hearing. The effect is comparable to making her voice just a little bit fuzzy around the edges and stands in stark and striking contrast to the finely detailed recording of the accompanying musicians. On my first listening, I was afraid the problem was in my equipment, that my home listening room speakers had been damaged somehow. Now, after hearing the disc on my car stereo, and through several different pairs of earphones and headphones, I've come to the conclusion the problem is the recording and not my system.
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<br />This is especially frustrating when everything else about the disc is great, and frankly it's incomprehensible coming from Telarc. I'd send the disc back for an exchange, but I can't imagine it could be a problem with my particular copy, or even any batch or run of discs. But I could be wrong. If anyone else has had this problem, or if they have the disc and can say without question that their copy does *not* suffer from this effect, please let me know. For reference, I've found it to be most readily audible in "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" and "These Foolish Things," though it's there for the most part throughout the disc.

Genere: Rock

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Trama: I have always lived in the St. Louis, Mo. area and am old enough to have seen Chuck Berry when he started with the Johnny Johnston Trio at the Cosmopolitan Club in E. St. Louis, Ill. I knew then he was going to be great. The rest is history so I will fast forward to Chuck's 60th Birthday Part Fest at the lengendary, ornate Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Mo.I can listen to Chuck sing his well known songs in any format but this cd has a great sound mainly due to the influence of Keith Richards putting together a tight band and never forgetting to include the late great Johnny Johnston and his awesome piano. Chuck has the St. Louis audience into from the get go but what I really dug was that he had Eric Clapton do "Wee Wee Hours," (awesome) the fantastic and beautiful Linda Ronstadt cookin on "Back In The U.S.A." - Linda brought the house down (I was lucky to be there) and the best of all in my opinion was when Etta James sang "Rock-n-Roll Music" - oh my goodness did she really "get down" with it....that to me was the highlight of the night.Robert Cray did a nice job on "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" but it paled in comparison with the original. Julian Lennon was really good on "Johnny B. Goode." You could tell he really enjoyed singing it that night but the best part was that Chuck also sang some and then harmonized with Julian - nice! Chuck had the audience really plugged in on "Sweet Little Sixteen," "Little Queenie" and "Roll Over Beethoven." The place was litteraly going nuts and that is captured on this cd. Not too many live Chuck Berry cds out there and none that are this well put together. Buy this sucker. A nice little touch is when Chuck sings "I'm Through With Love." As a voice says in the back ground "you have a great sound for a rock-n-roll singer, you should have been a jazz singer." Chuck Berry was instrumental in getting Black music into the White culture (with all due respect to Little Richard and the great Chicago Blues singers). This is a must cd for the serious Chuck Berry fan unless you want to buy the DVD. I am glad they didn't screw this compilation up by adding "My Ding-a-ling." This was just good old hard core Chuck Berry Rock-n-Roll at it's best.

Genere: Rock

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Trama: even though these are different takes and whatnot, these sides are as good or better that the original issues -- remember that chuck berry didnt have first say which takes were to be released and ill put my money on Chuck Berry's taste or anothers decision rather than that of Leonard Chess or Phil Chess any day (these two brothers owned Chess Records who blatantly took advantage and/or ripped of artists along with most independent record label owners who did the same thing) --- (read Chess Records by Mike Rowe -- great book about Chess records with superb photos)

Genere: Blues

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Trama: That the trio recorded this stunning, spiritual-minded collaboration in the town of Unity, Maine, is one of life's fortuitous coincidences. Although their voices are dissimilar, Maria Muldaur, Eric Bibb, and Rory Block share roots in folk, gospel, and blues. Brought together, along with a three-piece backing band, in a barn-turned-recording-studio by producer Randy Labbe, the trio cooks up a feisty musical feast that sounds so comfortable and joyous, it seems they were lost soulmates finally joined in song. Bibb's smooth Keb' Mo'-style vocals join Muldaur's huskier, sassy approach and Block's deep blues on a combination of originals and covers that showcase each artist's strengths, both solo and in tandem with the others. From contemporary classics such as Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody" and Bill Withers's sublime "Lean on Me" to a languid version of Jimmy Reed's "Little Rain" and a swampy, roof-raising "My Sisters and Brothers," this upbeat album never gets predictable, preachy, or clichéd. <I>--Hal Horowitz</I>

Genere: Rock

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Genere: Rock

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