America

America

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Though America was released in 1971 as a single LP, finger-style guitarist John Fahey conceived it as a double album. This CD finally allows Fahey's full vision to be heard (an additional nine tracks are included here for the first time). It's a true treat for Fahey lovers. The title track features the guitarist on the 12-string guitar, sounding more resonant than ever on the seven-minute composition. "Dvorak" is based on the composer's Eighth Symphony, which Fahey tackles in fine fashion. Fahey also performs a methodical rendition of "Amazing Grace" as well as covers of Sam McGee and Skip James tunes. But Fahey's original tunes--the soul-stirring, 15-minute-long "Mark 1:15," the playfully weird "The Waltz That Carried Us Away...," and the gorgeous melody of "Song #3"--are obvious highlights. The classical, gospel, folk, and blues influences that always permeate Fahey's playing abound on America and make it one of his great recordings. --Jason Verlinde

Tracks:

Icky Thump
You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)
300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues
Conquest
Bone Broke
Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn
St. Andrew (This Battle Is In The Air)
Little Cream Soda
Rag And Bone
I'm Slowly Turning Into You
A Martyr For My Love For You
Catch Hell Blues
Effect and Cause

Amazon.com

Bagpipes, a song written as the soundtrack to a Michel Gondry music video, Patti Page's musical shadow, and Jack and Meg co-narrating a scavenger's rummages: It must be time for Icky Thump, the many-flavored riposte to 2006's Get Behind Me Satan. The duo starts big with the title track--Jack's fast-tumbling, falsetto-tinged lyrics jagging on hyper keyboard-sounding segues and Meg's pounding drums. They rarely shy from an idea, invoking acoustic Bob Dylan to frame "300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues," but interjecting a series of distortion-laden guitar paroxysms for good measure. The end of Icky, on "Effect and Cause," is where Jack's trademark vocal warble and spare, quick acoustic strums meet Meg's single-minded beats. Everywhere on Icky giant riffs leap and shout, with Flamenco horns and those eerie bagpipes and rhythmic shifts and Jack's impatient vocal kinetics, marking new territories even as the White Stripes again populate them with vintage ideas. --Andrew Bartlett

Album Description

The White Stripes are back with the most bombastic album they've ever produced! While revealing the band's roots in American folk music, Icky Thump is an explosive, revolutionary assault that brings together garage rock, every blues style of the past 100 years, nouveau, and flamenco. This is truly a modern rock and roll masterpiece!

Customer Reviews:

Best White Stripes yet.......2007-08-01

This is definitely their best CD to date. I love that they have a definite style that they don't stray from, but still manage to make most songs interesting and unique. If you like the White Stripes, this is a must have.

Not a favorite.......2007-08-01

I really wanted to like this. Jack's fine. Meg needs more practice. Good vocals, better guitar, but very poor percussion/rhythm. I find myself skipping forward a lot, and then ejecting within minutes.

Something new I like, finally.......2007-07-31

These two keep getting better. I really think this is their best. If you've liked previous recordings give this a listen.

Great Stuff - Impressive Guitar Work.......2007-07-30

I'd been thinking of picking up a White Stripes CD for some time and finally got this one. I love it! Several songs have clear Led Zep influence (my favorite all time band). The things that Jack White does with his guitar are incredible.

icky is right.......2007-07-30

I only liked the first song. This CD just did not resonate with me like all their others. Maybe Jack should spend less time ragging on Detroit and more on writing.

Average customer rating:

For us long time fans, this one is worth it
This is a good CD
A holding pattern
Classic Prince
Sequencing, Sequencing, SEQUENCING!

Planet Earth
Prince
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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S.S.T./Brand New Orleans
Libertad
3121
Absolute Garbage
It Won't Be Soon Before Long

ASIN: B000RMC7H0
Release Date: 2007-07-24

Tracks:

Planet Earth
Guitar
Somewhere Here On Earth
The One U Wanna C
Future Baby Mama
Mr. Goodnight
All The Midnights In The World
Chelsea Rodgers
Lion Of Judah
Resolution

Amazon.com

Because it would be un-Prince-like to release a new studio album without kicking up a little controversy first, the Artist Formerly Known As a Cool-Looking Symbol gave away copies of Planet Earth with a British news tabloid weeks before its U.S. release. Among the reasons he shouldn't have: nobody who catches wind of the peerless funk-rock-soul he lays out on these 10 tracks--least of all longtime fans--would think twice about shelling out for it. A big chunk of the appeal is that Prince finds his way back to his guitar here. The title track, a politically right-on-time environmental rant, steers him back toward "Purple Rain" territory, as does "Lion of Judah" ("Guitar," oddly, doesn't--it's more of a straight-up, shout-it-out modern rocker). And the flirty numbers are seriously flammable: "Somewhere Here on Earth" seduces with a crackly jazz vibe, while "Mr. Goodnight" gets friendly with a refined slip of rap. Coolest of all are two tracks at cross purposes-- "Chelsea Rodgers" fuses funk with disco until it's so far off the hook it's in a heap on the floor, and "All the Midnights in the World" paints a picture of artistic maturity through piano and lyrics that lean hard on positivity. There's an elegance to it that Prince fans, no strangers to pop music that's truly sublime, won't fail to appreciate. --Tammy La Gorce

Album Description

Simply put, Planet Earth is the album longtime Prince fans have been waiting for. Several cuts on this album revisit some of the classic Prince sound the captured fans all over the world and helped deem him an incomparable music icon. Superstar and legendary musician prince kicked off 2007 with a show stopping Super Bowls Half-time performance. Prince pulled out all the stops during the second most-watched super bowl broadcast ever. With an estimated 93.2 million viewers to entertain, Prince wasted no time showing off his stages powers and irrefutable guitar skills. He masterfully captured the attention and respect of music fans in general, while sending a message to long time Prince fans that he was ready to once again reign supreme.

Customer Reviews:

For us long time fans, this one is worth it.......2007-08-03

I bought the CD mostly because, as a major Prince fan, I tend to buy all of his CDs. It's an impulse, not a researched, purchase. My first piece of pre-recorded music that I bought was _Purple Rain_, as a 10 year old...I've been in love with the genius that is Prince ever since.

While I haven't been unhappy with the last 2 CDs, I wasn't fully satisfied...and judging by what others on here say, I'm clearly not alone. But upon listening to the grooves of "Planet Earth" and the subsequent songs on _Planet Earth_, I have to say that this is about as satisfied as I have been in a long time with Prince. Just like _Purple Rain_ and _Diamonds and Pearls_ (my absolute 2 favorite CDs of all time), the songs on _Planet Earth_ hit all the notes: sensual, blusey, gutteral rock, classic funk and R&B...I am 98% sated. It's not as good as the other two, but it's definitely one to have the in permanent rotation.

This is a good CD.......2007-08-03

Let's face it, Prince was in the zone from 1982 to 1988. During that period he could do no wrong. Planet Earth is not from that period. Compared to more recent stuff, I think Planet Earth is better than Musicology but not as good as 3121.

To me, there are 3 stand out tracks: Guitar, The One U Wanna C, and Chelsea Rodgers. Guitar is a catchy little pop-rocker. The One U Wanna C vocals are laid down very well and this too is catchy. Chelsea Rodgers is relentless disco-funk.

The rest of the songs are good and well written. There is an overall brightness to the tunes on Planet Earth. Like I said, this is no masterpiece, but it's worth the $15 you shell out.

A holding pattern.......2007-08-02

Forget the reviewers telling that Prince has grown so much with this release. In fact, as far as Planet Earth is concerned it's all been said and done before...and much better. Am I getting sick of Prince or am I spoiled with his 80s output, which was new, fresh and exciting with each release? Sure, it's not reasonable to expect that pace from him anymore. In any case, there is indeed nothing new under the sun.

Classic Prince.......2007-08-02

You can tell the real Prince Fans and the sometime I like Prince fans. This is classic Prince. Some people wants him to do the same music all the time. Please get over the Purple Rain times, yes that was good music, BUT WAKE PEOPLE! Prince has grown up and moved on. If you play all the cd's he's made, each one is different. Prince music has never been better. I really don't see how anyone can judge a cd by playing it one or two times and say that it sucks. You have to give music time to sink in your spirit and understand why good artist like Prince never does the same things. I always look forward to his new music when it comes out and this is a great cd. My only complaint is that it's only ten songs.

Sequencing, Sequencing, SEQUENCING!.......2007-08-02

The good:
Wendy and Lisa return. Hooray! Prince needs to include them more. "The One U Wanna C" has a similar feel to "Take me with U", "Raspberry Beret", and "I could never take the place of your Man".

More good:
I agree with a previous reviewer about "All the Midnights in the World" -- it is a brief, glorious trip back to 1986. Very reminiscent of "A place in Heaven" from the original (and tragically shelved) Dream Factory album.

The bad:
Song order. Momentum is key, as well as the placement of serious ballads like "Somewhere here on Earth", which are tough to follow.

Bottom line:
I've spent an hour reconfiguring the songs to something far more practical. If the album were resequenced in the following order, I'd give it 4 stars...

Guitar
The One You Wanna C
All The Midnights In The World
Resolution
Planet Earth
Chelsea Rodgers
Future Baby Mama
Mr. Goodnight
Lion Of Judah
Somewhere Here On Earth

Average customer rating:

It's over.
Dissapointment reigns supreme!
Not bad, but Iha and Darcy are clearly missing
A good album.
The Pumpkins are back!

Zeitgeist
Smashing Pumpkins
Manufacturer: Martha's Music / Reprise
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Icky Thump
Libertad
Our Love to Admire
Year Zero
Era Vulgaris

ASIN: B000OQF6N6
Release Date: 2007-07-10

Tracks:

Doomsday Clock
7 Shades of Black
Bleeding the Orchid
That¹s the Way (my Love is)
Tarantula
Starz
United States
Neverlost
Bring the Light
(Come on) Let¹s Go!
For God and Country
Pomp and Circumstances

Amazon.com

Inside the buzzing hive of Smashing Pumpkins' guitars is clearly where bandleader Billy Corgan feels most comfortable. So, after a seven-year hiatus for the short-lived group Zwan and his surprisingly sunny 2005 solo album, Corgan has revived the Pumpkins in all the six-string-spattered shades of emotional gray that made them one of the greatest bands of the alt-rock era. Longtime drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, along with famed boardsmiths Roy Thomas Baker and Terry Date as well as Corgan himself coproduced. Chamberlin also supports mountainous layers of guitar with his fiercest playing. California musicians Ginger Reyes (bass) and Jeff Schroeder (guitar) complete a version of the band dedicated to early bare-knuckled form, with a few exceptions: Corgan's grown into a more powerful wordsmith and his lengthy guitar solo explorations of yore are replaced with a trim, barbed textural approach that's ultimately more vicious. That is, until the centerpiece "United States" stretches into an epic punk-metal-informed sibling of Jimi Hendrix's "Machine Gun," with Corgan's strings singing like explosions and twisting metal as he warbles about revolution. Much of this album conjures literal and sonic visions of apocalypse, but there's grace, too, in the blithe grind of the hopeful "That's the Way (My Love Is)" and the melodic "Neverlost." Overall, Corgan's captivating effort to mine both the spirit of these turbulent times and the soul of his defining band is a smashing success. --Ted Drozdowski

Album Description

The Smashing Pumpkins are back! After seven years, the acclaimed Pumpkins have returned with Zeitgeist. Featuring the single "Tarantula," this new sound is not to be missed.

Customer Reviews:

It's over........2007-08-02

The Pumpkins' elderly Zeitgeist just ain't all that, and in my not-so-humble opinion, here's why I think so:

On Billy:

I'll say that there are chords that only Billy Corgan knows how to play. The ethereal beauty of his wild soloing has always struck me, and he is, I think, a pureblood wildchild of guitar, divinely blessed, at times revolutionary. And insurrection is what Billy demands with song titles like the ball-fisted "United States" and the faithfully inspired "Bring the Light." But what's posing as aggression on Zeitgeist is merely an over-admission of free-flying distortion. The more effective rock n' roll snarling of the Pumpkin's debut Gish comes with fast, muted machinegun strumming, tripped-out, watery, slithering snakecharmer-riffs, and brazen sonic shifts. And on Siamese Dream, Billy's guitar crunches and grinds with a more focused, upfront attack. On Zeitgeist, there is a welcome return to spontaneous soloing and more wandering melodies, but these recalls are often stunted by generally restrictive structures, and echoey distortion that disseminates and thins out like feathers being sucked into a fan on the ceiling of a barren, steel warehouse. All being said, the brief, searing solo in "Bring the Light" is one of the greatest, artful, and most elevating and perfect moments to have ever occurred in rock. In regards to Billy's vocals, I've thought it was a mistake, since Mellon Collie, not to adorn his voice with phasers, ala Siamese Dream days, to give depth and a cosmic layer to his undeniably trebly tenor. The Queen-esque multiple layering of Billy's vocals on Zeitgeist is interesting and at times dramatic, but overall his voice comes off weak, and overbearingly dry and thin.

On Jimmy:

While his signature style continues to relay off an explosive, papery snare drum, jazzily bright toms, celestially sparkling crashes, sizzling chinas and a fast, airy ride cymbal, Jimmy's just no longer an innovative drummer, and really hasn't been since Machina. It's the same formula, over and over, song after song. He submits compulsively to whipping the hi-hat to add a jazzy punch and hardly ever varies from his four-four clicking of the hats in keeping time; the hats are hardly used at all except for riding, snapping and as a clapping metronome. Furthermore, he rarely rides his hats with variety, only using them for rattling or tight-clamped tapping. On the same note, Jimmy's violent, marching pounding of crashes on "Starz" is emotional and bold and has an imminent effect, but there are segments throughout the album of Billy's driving, cutting strumming that could have possibly been more powerfully layered with a sharp, aggressive and perpetual waving of cymbals (such as on "That's the Way (My Love Is)), instead of his typically frequent, focused attacking. Jimmy's tribal skills and athletic endurance on "United States" is reverential, but overall the song itself doesn't afford him the opportunity to really jump off into the stratosphere in the way "Silverf*ck" allowed. Chamberlin's most engaging and original playing presents itself in his diesel-fueled snare drum rolls and rim-shotting, but too often does he resort to tapping a double hit before bar changes and during verses rarely strays from ordinary rock layering with the snare on 2 and 4.

Overall, Zeitgeist's strongest tracks include "7 Shades of Black", which contains particularly creative innovations of structure and dirty grooving, "Bleeding the Orchid", whose plasmic chords recall the overcast thickness of Adore's sound and exhibits Billy's exceptionally spacey talents, "Starz", whose punchy blasts harken back to the solar flares of "Rocket" days, of course "Tarantula", which carries the sexy swinging energy of a glorified Thin Lizzy (with it's middle finger boldly jamming up the face of pitiful terrestrial radio), and "Bring the Light", whose ambition and electricity is moving. "Pomp and Circumstance" should have opened the album, successfully levitating the record into the stratosphere with a fragile, patient, and graceful beauty once witnessed on Adore's "To Sheila", "Once Upon a Time", "Behold! the Nightmare", and especially "Blank Page".

"Doomsday Clock" is much too bland of a song to have been chosen for radio (or an album for that matter) or as the opener to Zeitgeist, and suffers the most from the aforementioned weaknesses in Corgan's production and Chamberlin's performance. While "That's the Way (My Love Is)" produces pretty chords, it does not have enough rock n' roll meat to justify the Pumpkin moniker, coming off like a decaffeinated track from the Zwan album. "United States" implies giant potential in its percussionistic width and hungry trajectory, but ultimately the song cannot stand up to the stylistic, acid trip marathon of the sensual and hyper-kinetic "Silverf*ck". Musically, "Neverlost"'s xylophones hop over colorful roadways, but Billy's vocals cannot compliment the songs dreamy wanderlust. The riff of "(Come On) Let's Go" remembers the knife-sharp scraping of "Zero" but is just not memorable. "For God and Country" might've made a good mood piece for the soundtrack of a science fiction metropolis setting, but only without the overshooting vocal strains. And as for "Zeitgeist", the closing acoustic commentary of a people who need to take part in some kind of implied political and spiritual revolution, the song is like a throw-away track from The Aeroplane Flies High's gentle and beautiful "Tonight Tonight" single (hear "Meladori Magpie").

In the end, I would never trade my ongoing love affairs with Gish, Siamese Dream, Pisces Iscariot and Mellon Collie for all the riches in the world, but the days of the Pumpkins are long gone. The fault lies heavily with production and a blindness for blandness.

Dissapointment reigns supreme!.......2007-07-31

Woah. When I heard Corgan was bringing the pumpkins name back from the dead for another album I was quite worried. The worry proved correct. Where the hell have the classic melodies gone? Remember the chorus to "Cherub Rock"? Remember the riff from "Zero"?
I listened to this with no cynicism, I gave it a good shot. I've had it for at least a month now. I think it's a huge dissapointment. There's SO much more to Billy than what is presented on this album. I rank Siamese Dream in my top albums of all time list. That album meant so much to me when it was released and still does. This album doesn't make me feel much at all.
It's more a sad feeling than annoyance. I understand how hard it has probably been for Billy to try and sort this all out.
I give Jimmy one star for his drumming which is and will ALWAYS be sensational no matter what he is playing along with. I give Billy one star for the amount of emotional effort that has probably been invested in the last couple years of getting this back together. I don't really like any of the tracks. None of them move me at all.
I really believe that Billy should have shut the Pumpkins down after Mellon Collie. It would have been hard for us fans but he would have cemented himself in history as someone who never compromised.
This may sound very VERY lame but ever since he shaved his head, things have been very different :P

Not bad, but Iha and Darcy are clearly missing.......2007-07-31

I'm a huge pumpkins fan, so of course I was eager to get their latest record. It definitely has some rocking riffs (Billy and Jimmy know how to do that!) but I feel like overall most of the songs are more atonal and purely rhythmic and lack the roundness and fullness of say Mellon Collie or Siamese Dream. It's alsmost as if not having James Iha and Darcy is limiting the music--even though Corgan was always the major creative influence--when it's just Billy and Jimmy, it sounds like, well just Billy and Jimmy. Worth picking up if you're a fan, but I didn't hear anything that makes me think "this is up there with my other favorite sp songs".

A good album........2007-07-30

With Zeitgeist, frontman Billy Corgan, along with drummer Jimmy Chamberlin have successfully reformed the Smashing Pumpkins and revitalized the band after seven years of silence. Despite several other projects, it seems the Pumpkins have been and always will be this duo's best artistic outlet.

As a pumpkin fan of many years, I was at first a little skeptical of a new album to be released without guitarist James Iha and Bassist D'arcy Wretzky. I know there are rumors that those two never had much of a role on any albums, but it still seemed incomplete to go on without them. However, after listening to the album several times, I must admit that the band has proven they can still make good music without all four original members.

Zeitgeist comes on strong and rocks hard throughout most of the record, proving that not only are the Pumpkins still capable of making good music, but can still rock, even into their 40's. Zeitgeist, a nostalgic record, largely rehashes (albeit a in a much sunnier fashion) the past.

Billy delivers bone-crushing walls of guitar sounding similar to the likes of Pumpkin classics Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness, as well as screeching guitar solos harkening back to the neo-psychedelic sounds that made Gish great. Jimmy pounds the heck out of the drums in manic fashion, giving the album a raw, untouched feel.

Production is approached differently than on previous albums. Corgan's voice seems to float above the music, and in places is strangely chorused (with itself?). Jimmy's drumming is front and center, sometimes does not blend as well with the music as it could.

There are moments that will quickly bring the listener back to the Pumpkins familiar mid-90's territory such as the hard hitting numbers "Doomsday Clock," "7 Shades of Black," "Tarantula," "Bring the Light," and "(Come On) Let's Go."

"Bleeding the Orchid," a dark, catchy track is reminiscent of a sound somewhere between "Adore" and "Machina."

"That's the Way (My Love is)," "Starz," "Neverlost" and "Pomp and Circumstances" are well-done mid-range rockers that are closer to the sound found on Zwan and Billy's solo record.

One difference with Zeitgeist, and perhaps in an attempt to stay relevant, is that the band takes on some political issues. Even the artwork indicates early on that this album has something to say. On the epic, standout 10-minute long rocker "United States," Billy calls for revolution, for change and challenges political apathy with the ironic statement "I don't know what I believe, but if I feel safe, what do I need?" In the pop number "For God and Country" Billy questions patriotism and fighting for a country under God. Coming from a band that mostly wrote songs about the inner struggle with all of it's associated emotions and search for meaning in a sometimes-hard life, it is a bit odd to hear a less timeless theme such as politics come forth.

What is missing on this record are the more somber, more mellow songs, which in the past have been a huge element of the pumpkins repertoire. Also missing are the incredible combinations and buildups from of quiet-to-loud. While the new sound is definitely high-energy and aggressive, it is playing only on the heavy elements of the past, which are only part of the puzzle that defines the "Pumpkin sound."

The Pumpkins are not breaking any new ground with Zeitgeist, but they are also not tarnishing their legacy as a great band, which is more than can be said of many reunion efforts.

Overall, Zeitgeist is a good record. One of the best of the year, in fact, and it is a record that stands out from most of the popular modern rock of the moment. Most people will find the songs, aggressive edge, excellent guitar and drum more than appealing. Zeitgeist is not the Pumpkins' best, but it is definitely an album worth buying and listening to for Pumpkins fans old and new.

The Pumpkins are back!.......2007-07-29

I was pretty disappointed with their last album before their break-up, Machina. I felt it was a little over-indulgent and had a lot of hard edges without the poignant lyrics Corgan is known for. However, this album reminds me of Melon Collie. Only difference is... they were able to resist the urge to put every single diddy they did while hanging out in the studio on the album. It's a short (by Pumpkins standards) and intense album with the pretty melodies set to ripping guitars. It's a great CD. I feel like they're back.

Average customer rating:

A step to the right, and slightly backward
My Two Cents
Hoping for more
Darker, more moving, Interpol scores again-
Where's the bass?

Our Love to Admire
Interpol
Manufacturer: Capitol Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Icky Thump
Zeitgeist
An End Has a Start
Favourite Worst Nightmare
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

ASIN: B000PY32CO
Release Date: 2007-07-10

Tracks:

Pioneer To the Falls
No I In Threesome
The Scale
The Heinrich Maneuver
Mammoth
Pace Is the Trick
All Fired Up
Rest My Chemistry
Who Do You Think
Wrecking Ball
The Lighthouse

Amazon.com

Moving up to a major label has hardly lifted Interpol's spirits. This is a good thing. Even with the twisted Wild Kingdom album cover and bassist Carlos Dengler's unexpected Wild West makeover, on its third studio album the black-clad New York quartet still sounds inflexibly menacing, grasping tighter than ever to its doomy post-punk influences and delving further into frontman Paul Banks's emotional unrest. Everything sounds a little bigger and brighter, sure, but at their core songs like "Rest My Chemistry" and "Wrecking Ball" are heroically sinister, goaded on by prickly riffs and slow-bleeding rhythms. The group briefly jumps to life on the buzzing "Heinrich Manouver" and exhibits an unexpected dash of humor on "No I in Threesome," but it's the closing "Lighthouse" that best defines the set--a late-night lament that simply steals away into the dark. --Aidin Vaziri

Amazon.com

Our Love To Admire is at once unmistakably Interpol and undeniably new. The witty and perverse "No I In Threesome" is an upbeat ode to shaking up a staid relationship propelled by Carlos D's peerless bass melody while the tenderly observant "Pace Is the Trick" proves that the band are still the masters of the dramatic - check the painful pause right before the sinfully satisfying return of Sam's thundering drums and Daniel's ringing lead guitar. The band's impressively seductive evolution is obvious all over the record, but never more so than on tracks like "Mammoth," "Who Do You Think" and on the album's lyrical centerpiece, the ghostly "Rest My Chemistry." While Daniel is understandably proud of the song he cautions against reading too much autobiography into its lyrics. "We always leave the interpretation to the listener," he says. "I mean, you shouldn't watch a movie for the first time listening to the director's commentary!"

Our Love to Admire closes with "The Lighthouse," a funereal dirge that is among the most unexpected and memorable songs ever recorded by the band. Almost entirely percussion-free, the song is constructed around Daniel's mournful guitar and Paul's sparten lyrics. Not only is it one of their finest moments to date, it provides the album's most goose-bump inducing moment, the very same reflex shivers that make Interpol live shows such an exhilarating experience. As the very last song the band recorded for the album it was, they say, the hardest to play. The hypnotic guitar part was played on a 50-year-old guitar that had toxins on the strings, providing Daniel with a blistering and painful sensation in his fingers. The band weren't even sure the track would make it out of the studio, but once they heard Paul's remarkable vocals they were floored. The song - and the album - doesn't so much end as it bleeds to a close with a long, echoey coda filled with feedback and strings. A fittingly dramatic end to a stunning and emotional journey. Interpol is back, every bit as good as before but charged with a new spirit, a new direction, a new label and, most of all, a new confidence.

Interpol Photos

More from Interpol

Antics
Turn on the Bright Lights
The Black EP

Customer Reviews:

A step to the right, and slightly backward.......2007-07-30

Interpol is potentially the best band of the last decade. 'Turn on the Bright Lights' seems to be unanimously applauded, while even 'Antics' tends to divide fans in a deep way. While TOTBL was a moodier and perhaps more bold stroke, Antics showed a band who were able to refine their sound while still moving forward. OLTA is a step a little to the right and backward: it's safer and this time the attempt to refine the songwriting takes the band away from some of the things that made them great.

'Pioneer to the Falls' is one of Interpol's finest monents and a strong opener. However, the album takes a severe step in the wrong direction and never regains its footing. 'Wrecking Ball' is the only other really great addition to the Interpol catalogue, while 'Heinrich', Rest my Chemistry', 'Mammoth', and 'Pace is the Trick' are all good and do possess an Interpol-esque quality but miss the mark. For someone new to Interpol they will likely find this album good, however anybody familiar with Interpol's previous efforts will likely begin the wait for the fourth album (it will be great!).

The tone is there for a great Interpol album but it lacks in so many ways. Paul Banks brought his voice and he sounds great,pushing his voice in new directions; but the lyrics fail to grab. On previous efforts Banks' vague and ambiguous lyrics had a way of getting under your skin, here he often goes for clairty( 'Chemistry', 'No I in threesome' which is indeed a song about a threesome..how un-Interpol), however Interpol is at their best when they rely on the atmospheric sense of mystery they are able to create instrumentally and vocally. And when Banks does go for ambiguity he comes up a little short . Daniel Kessler seems to be Interpol's only member who showed up to have a serious go at it. Sam Fogarino, one of the best drummer's in alt/rock music today, is almost completely absent from the album with the exception of 'Pioneer'. Carlos is also barely present, although he does experiment with double bass. Overall Interpol just doesn't function as a band here with the rhythm section feeling particular absent. Also it sems Interpol tried the ever doomed task of "trying to please the old fans while winning over the rest of the world at the same time", which never works. Hopefully the members of Interpol will shake this one off and go back to making albums to please themselves first. Every band needs to fail, and this is it for Interpol. However, I do believe they will be back better than ever for the next album.

My Two Cents.......2007-07-30

It is my opinion that with Our Love to Admire Interpol has returned to the subtlety of Turn on the Bright Lights, and is a better album than Antics. I owned Bright Lights for almost a year after it came out before I really listened to the album and came to appreciate it. This was partly due to how different it was from all the other music on the radio, with its eccentric lyrics and subtle musicality. You really needed to pay attention while listening to value it (at least I did). It is now one of my all-time favorites.

When Antics was released, I listened to it the first time and felt like I "got it," meaning it was in a similar vein as Bright Lights but lacked the nuance that had rewarded close listening. It's a good album, but not great. The first time I heard the new album I wasn't blown away. But I did hear some of the seeds of what had made Bright Lights so remarkable, and I stuck with it. After listening to it for a few weeks, I have to say I think Our Love to Admire is a great album. I won't do a song by song thing, since that has already been done by other reviewers. Basically, the whole record is full of little surprises and clever touches that make listening to it sort of like trying to complete a puzzle or a crossword: you're listening to a song that you've heard a dozen times before when something pops out at you from the bass line or the percussion and totally changes the shape of the song. It is that kind of detail that makes Interpol such a great band, and it really comes through on this album.

Hoping for more.......2007-07-30

Having been a big fan of the first two albums, and seeing them a couple of times in concert, I eagerly anticipated the latest release from Interpol. However, I find my self disappointed with the new album, not so much because I feel it is a bad album, but because after listening to it 5 times, I would be hard pressed to talk of any songs that grabbed my attention. I couldn't even start to hum a few bars of anything on it, and that is just so not Interpol.

Pioneer to the Falls, The Heinrich Maneuver and Rest My Chemistry sound like they would have fit in nicely with either of their first two albums, but neither would have been stand outs. Not that they are bad songs, they just don't grab you and pull your soul into the song like a good portion of their previous work would do.

For now, Our Love to Admire will sit in the drawer. I'll probably go see them in concert when they swing by, in hopes that their stellar live show will turn my opinion of the new material. Until then I'll throw on Turn on the Bright Lights and enjoy Interpol's past brilliance.

Darker, more moving, Interpol scores again-.......2007-07-29

Interpol has hit the target again with this excellent new album. Darker than their first wonderful album, more intense than the more subdued second, 'Our Love to Admire' instantly pulls the listener in with the trademark Interpol sound, but this time with a more mysterious, more atmospheric feel. There is a maturity of sound here, full of interesting chord changes and surprising measure patterns that shows these boys are growing up. There are no filler songs here, but the 'Lighthouse', an especially haunting, moving piece, proves Interpol can indeed take their their clever, pithy, staccato sound and create something more melodic and with a deepness of feeling. Highly recommended, my favorite new album so far this year.

Where's the bass?.......2007-07-29

With Antics, I could see Interpol's progression, however, I feel that this third album is a step backward. The sound relies heavily upon the guitars, the lyrics' comprehensives is nearly absent (but then again, they usually are) and there are long semi-silent, slow portions of the album that make me press Skip Forward.

In comparison to the past two albums, I really think it falters. Turn on the Bright Lights was a great, moody, NYC album that really worked on a lot of levers. The tempo changed from song to song with some great power riffs and patches of silence soon followed by a booming bass and ghostly rhythm guitar sections.

Antics turned up the volume and tempo and was a great progresson from the first album. I really enjoyed seeing the band perform both albums at their shows in 2005.

This third album sounds like they tried to slow everything down again, but made it really boring, possibly because of over-processing the album. Everything sounds kind of washed out and not as crisp as past albums. What I miss the most is the bass and drum driven songs. Sure, they throw in some bass/drum solos, but you don't feel it in every song like you could in their past two albums, Antics in particular.

Average customer rating:

Absolutely Fantastic
Absolute Garbage - 13 years of Sheer Brilliance
Some of the best rock music of the last decade.
good collection, so so bonus disc
Absolutely the best.

Absolute Garbage
Garbage
Manufacturer: Almo Sounds
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Alternative Dance | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

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Garbage: Absolute Garbage
Beauty & Crime
We Are the Night
Planet Earth
Is Is

ASIN: B000R9J3X4
Release Date: 2007-07-24

Tracks:

Vow
Queer
Only Happy When It Rains
Stupid Girl
Milk
#1 Crush
Push It
I Think I m Paranoid
Special
When I Grow Up
You Look So Fine
The World is Not Enough
Cherry Lips
Shut Your Mouth
Why Do You Love Me
Bleed Like Me
Tell Me Where It Hurts
It s All Over But The Crying
The World Is Not Enough (Unkle Remix)
When I Grow Up (Kagz Kooner Remix)
Special (Brothers In Rhythm Remix)
Breaking Up The Girl (Timo Mass Remix)
Milk (Massive Attack Remix)
Cherry Lips (Roger Sanchez Remix)
Androgyny (Felix Da Housecat Remix)
Queer (Rabbit In The Moon Remix)
Paranoid (Crystal Method Mix)
Stupid Girl (Todd Terry Remix)
You Look So Fine (Fun Lovin' Criminals Remix)
Push It (Boom Boom Satellites Remix)
Bad Boyfriend (Garbage Remix)

Amazon.com

Taking inspiration from little known British band Curve, the formula behind Garbage was simple enough: Industrial strength beats, grungy guitars and ice queen vocals. But in Scottish fireball Shirley Manson the three middle-aged studio whizzes from Wisconsin not only found a muse but a front woman whose infinite charisma and wicked sense of humor--as evidenced by the title of this greatest hits set--gave even No Doubt a solid run in the hits race. For a few years, the group ruled the charts with shiny metallic pop gems like "Queer," "Stupid Girl," and "Only Happy When It Rains," hampered only by some remedial lyrics and a penchant for cribbing other bands' melodies (see: The Pretenders aping "Special"). There's a discernible dip in quality midway through this collection, when at the turn of the millennium Garbage seemingly lost its fire, but at least the group's token James Bond theme, "The World Is Not Enough," is more Shirley Bassey than Sheena Easton. Fans who are already up do date with the originals will want to pick up this special edition set that features a bonus disc of remixes by some of the biggest players on the '90s electronic music scene, including Massive Attack, The Crystal Method, and Unkle. --Aidin Vaziri

Product Description

Four albums and seven Grammy® nominations later, Garbage has its first best of collection -- Absolute Garbage. Along with the new track Tell Me Where It Hurts, Absolute Garbage features 17 songs of extreme and intense emotion, from Stupid Girl, Queer and #1 Crush to Special, Bleed Like Me and Why Do You Love Me.

The special limited edition 2-CD set adds to the original CD a bonus disc of remixes by some of the world s most renowned DJs, including U.N.K.L.E., Massive Attack, Todd Terry, Crystal Method, Fun Lovin Criminals, and Felix Da Housecat.

Absolute Garbage offers the best of a band that, to quote a lyric from Queer, has been the strangest of the strange, the coolest of the cool.

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely Fantastic.......2007-08-02

Absolute Garbage is a wonderful addition to the collection for the hard-core Garbage fan. With one new track (Tell Me Where It Hurts) and a remix (It's All Over But The Crying) this is a must have. And to top it all off a second disc of club style DJ remixes and one Garbage remix the Absolute Garbage 2 disc set is Absolutely a must have. For the new Garbage fan this is a grate way to start your collection or to add a new CD to your set with smoe of their best songs on one disc you can't go wrong.

Absolute Garbage - 13 years of Sheer Brilliance.......2007-08-02

Absolute Garbage compiles 18 totally unforgettable tracks together in one nifty pacakage + 13 super remixes. Garbage can't produce a bad song, so I really have no complaints about the track sequence. There've been 'best of' cds with less tracks than this, so, at this price, I say pick one up with they're hot. Too bad there's no CD/DVD combo thingy, cos I haven't seen one video of them yet. Was looking for the Absolute Garbage DVD as an individual item to buy at the same time, but none of the local music stores carry it (yet). Perhaps there's one song that could've been added (Sex is not the Enemy). Don't know why wasn't added. It really gets me moving, especially when I'm on the bike.

The liner notes are well-written and thank you, for the lyrics to the songs! Very good move, guys. Disc one is red and the the remix CD is black. Artwork is kept simple yet catchy. I haven't seen most of these photos, yet I don't spend much time on the net looking for photos of Garbage anyway. Shirley & the Boys never cease to amaze me, whether it's their 'in your face' posing & expressions, or their funky shades. I've had the opportunity to see Garbage in Montreal, April 24th, 2005. What an experience!

Sound quality is excellent and the songs I believe have been remastered. Housed in a double jewelcase with matte paper outer slipcase, everything is summed together rather well. 13 years of super-great hits spanning the band's career will keep your speakers pumping out continuous ear candy like none other. Go Baby Go!!! The liner notes booklet features 24 pages including front & back covers. All photos are in black & white or greyscale. The "Parental Advisory" sticker on the slipcase is not a sticker at all, but actually printed on as part of the artwork. This CD is a must for any garbage fan, and should be on your Ipod. Support Garbage by purchasing this item. You won't regret it.

Some of the best rock music of the last decade........2007-07-31

"Absolute Garbage" is Garbage's greatest hits disc. This special edition adds a CD of remixes.

The first disc is a spectacular, single-disc summary of this extraordinary band. Nobody sounds like Garbage. You know a Garbage song the instant you hear it.

First, there's the amazing Miss Manson. She joins a very small club of female rock singers that rise effortlessly above their peers...we're talking Chrissie Hynde...and then that's pretty much it. She's that good.

The rest of the band are no less tremendous. MAN can they make a lot of glorious noise! So many of these songs have irresistible hooks, earth-shaking sonics, walls of guitars and synths...drums that come from, oh, I dunno, magma? They come from nowhere...from somewhere below...and then explode with a fierce inevitability. Check out the fireworks on "Rains" or "Push It" or even "When I Grow Up."

Layer on that these anthemic choruses and terrific melodies, and you have some of the best rock music of the last decade.

The disc does a good job summarizing their four albums, and as any true fan, I have my quibbles over song selection. But they are just that: quibbles. Of a fan. Of a particularly fussy fan.

The remixes are superfluous. Worse that that, they're just bad. Now don't get me wrong: I love remixes. They can make a good song more interesting, longer for added enjoyment, or they can present an overly familiar song in a fresh manner so you can like it all over again.

Yeah, well, none of that sort of stuff happens here.

For me, the second disc could have been a live disc, or more songs, like "Supervixen" or "Androgyny". Or the DVD of the videos. Which I also bought.

But as it stands, that one disc is pretty darn awesome. You cannot lose with songs like "Only Happy When It Rains" (how wonderful would it have been to have, say, the Hynde/Manson duet version from VH1 here?), "Stupid Girl", "Special", "Cherry Lips", "Bleed Like Me"...

I really hope they're not broken up for good. In this era of disposable pop, there simply isn't enough of this good stuff to go around.

good collection, so so bonus disc.......2007-07-29

the remastered sound and collection of essential songs from the first 2 garbage albums alone make this worthwhile. however, it is skimpy on 'beautifulgarbage' material ("androgyny" anyone?), and drops at least one if not 2 worthy inclusions from 'bleed like me.' the garbage mixes disc would be killer had they not edited almost every mix from its original length. the version of "#1 crush" on disc 1 is from 'romeo + juliet,' which is the nellee hooper remix. the original (from 'subhuman ["vow"]') is still a stray b-side. one day there will almost inevitably be remastered versions of the garbage albums, hopefully with a pertinent bonus disc with the full versions of the remixes from each album as well as matching b-sides, if not a garbage b-side collection unto itself. until then, this is the most up to date mastering of the songs included, shame the songs on disc 2 are edited, it could have been "absolute."

Absolutely the best........2007-07-29

Open the book and you will discover the wonders of Garbage; and then so ends the chapter when Garbage puts away their tools for electronica sounds and beats, and puts up the best they had since the beginning of 1995. We were blessed 11 years ago with sounds of sarcasm mixed in a bowl of angst and the voice topped the cake with melachonic soundscapes. You start off with the very first single off of their self-titled debut - "Vow", and end with the latest tear-jerker with a twist "It's All Over But The Crying". Not to mention the newest edition to Garbage's tracklist - the Chrissie Hynde inspired "Tell Me Where It Hurts". The songs sound remastered - Shirley's voice is clear as a whistle and the music sounds sharper than ever. Not to mention you also get the remix's most people haven't heard of.

All in all - if you are looking for the best of the best from Garbage, this CD is for you. It will make you reminisce the golden times when you were an angsty teen looking for a band or song that you related to. You can remember those times when you felt alone and the only thing you felt and heard at the time was the golden sound of Shirley crooning to you - as the boys (Butch Vig, Duke Erikson, Steve Marker) play the super-sonic sounds to mesh the vocals together.

For the everyday Garbage collecter: This album is for you. For the people who haven't heard of them: This is also the CD for you. Even to those who liked a few songs, this is also the CD to add to your collection. The money spent on this as well as the single and DVD is WELL worth the money. You will not regret the purchase. Garbage may have closed the chapter with this album - but do come back for Chapter 2 when Garbage comes back in 2008; it is ALWAYS worth the wait. As the book closes it's chapter, a new page emerges, and we will be blessed with more music from a band who paved the way for so many. A band who took their time making music for US. For the people who really needed that extra push - Garbage has helped the Alternative movement become glamorous, and we thank them each day for giving us the music that we so desperately love.

Average customer rating:

Libertad -- An Awesome Achievement In Modern Rock
Disappointment of the year.
Awful
Still Waiting for some killer Revolver?!
Great Album from a Great Band

Libertad
Velvet Revolver
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000P29B62
Release Date: 2007-07-03

Tracks:

Let It Roll
She Mine
Get Out The Door
She Builds Quick Machines
The Last Fight
Pills, Demons & Etc.
American Man
Mary Mary
Just Sixteen
Can't Get It Out Of My Head
For A Brother
Spay
Gravedancer
Re-Evolution

Amazon.com

When they exploded out of the gates on their 2004 debut, Contraband, Velvet Revolver were met with as much diffidence as appreciation. After all, supergroups have tended to detonate as often as succeed, and with vocalist Scott Weiland, bassist Duff McKagan, and guitarist Slash all vying to keep the lit match away from the fuse, the odds against this band ever seeing album #2 were even money at best. Surprise! Not only have Velvet Revolver survived three years with unreckless abandon, this album blows the doors off its predecessor. Save a pair of disinfected ballads ("The Last Fight," "Gravedancer"), Libertad is all about hand-grenade chords, drag-racing riffs, and circus-tent choruses. The ageless McKagan and Slash continually gun for the disorderliness of their former band (most notably on the punkish opener "Let It Roll" and its lewd brother "Spay"), while Weiland sounds--knock on wood--positively clean and like a voice of boisterous renewal on tracks like "Mary Mary," "She Builds Quick Machines," and the melt-in-your-mouth cover of ELO's "Can't Get It Out of My Head." Obviously egos have been checked at the studio door, as Velvet Revolver have already exceeded their anticipated existence. And now that existence goes back on the clock, trying to outshine a second album that's head-and-shoulders better than the first. --Scott Holter

Customer Reviews:

Libertad -- An Awesome Achievement In Modern Rock.......2007-08-01

Before Velvet Revolver's sophomore album, Libertad, was released, there was much to say of the band--the "super group" of five members consisted of three from Guns N' Roses, one from the Stone Temple Pilots, and one that had never been in an official band before. Their debut effort, 2004's Contraband, was packed with hard-rocking GN'R style hits like "Sucker Train Blues," "Do It for the Kids," "Fall to Pieces," and of course the unforgettable "Slither". Libertad, which is the band's powerful second album, is no disappointment and has everything a Velvet Revolver fan could want. The band start off this legendary recording with a Use Your Illusion era GN'R-esque song called "Let It Roll," which contains very catchy guitar riffs by Slash and an excellent vocal performance by Scott Weiland. This is followed by the hypnotic "She Mine," which also has perfect chords by Slash. "Get Out the Door," the third track, is also an excellent addition to the album and is the one of the many ideal songs in Velvet Revolver's catalog. The fourth track, which undoubtedly by now the band's most popular song to date, could be called the "Welcome to the Jungle" of Velvet Revolver. This megahit, called "She Builds Quick Machines," is some of Slash's best work to date--not just Slash, but the entire band. Filled to the brim with awesome lyrics and stellar drumming, this song was surely a definitive make for the album. After the listener gets a taste of how hard Velvet Revolver can rock, the band settle down a bit with "The Last Fight," a beatiful ballad with more awesome work by Weiland and Slash. This four-minute piece is also already a fan favorite, and if you've heard it I think you'll agree. The next track is what I like to call the "Voodoo Child" of the 21st century. This song, appropriately called "Pills, Demons and Etc." features crazy wah-wah pedal guitar licks by Slash and fast-paced bass and vocals by Duff McKagan and Scott Weiland. Along with the latter five, the listener can also tell that much effort was put forth in this song. Another hit would have to be the ninth track, "Just Sixteen". Quite similar to the style of "She Builds Quick Machines," it also shows how the band can be very heavy at times. "Gravedancer," which is the second-to-last song on the original album, is songwriting at its best. An awesome wah influenced guitar solo by Slash and soft, efficient vocals by Weiland make this song surpass even "November Rain," a song which was Guns N' Roses' biggest ballad in their day. The country side of Velvet Revolver can be heard on the fourteenth and final track of the album, "Re-Evolution". What can be considered as the band's take on blues influenced country, it is probably the oddest standout from any album I've ever heard; it's sort of funny, in a way. There was also a deluxe edition of this album made, containing two bonus tracks: "Messages," a powerful ballad which is a strong reminder of "The Last Fight," and "Psycho Killer," which, in my opinion, serves as an excellent alternate close-up for an already awesome album. The overall impression of Velvet Revolver's sophomore album is strong and spellbinding, and has something that every rock fan can enjoy. This is something you won't want to miss out on.

Disappointment of the year........2007-07-31

This album just doesn't deliver. I've listened through the entire thing 3 times now, and it is a labor to not hit skip about halfway through any of the tracks. On Contraband, I disliked most of the singles but found several killer tracks that made the album very worthwhile. Tracks like "do it for the kids", "sucker train blues", "big machine", "headspace" and "you got no right" brought together the best elements of the contributing members' former bands and had terrific, driving melodies.
Libertad by contrast has nothing. It's as homogenized as radio rock can possibly be. I've yet to find a single memorable guitar riff - a first for any record slash has signed his name to. The melodies are muddy and flat, and the high treble studio polish kills any emotion that might be buried in there somewhere. By far the biggest disappointment of records released this year.I wish everyone would hurry up and get over their respective grudges and rejoin their previous bands. STP was getting washed up towards the end as well, but still nothing this bland had come from Weiland yet.

Awful.......2007-07-31

What can I say? THIS IS THE EXACT SAME ALBUM AS CONTRABAND! Instead of buying this album, you may as well just buy the FIRST one again! Could this music be anymore STOCK?

Just play any random Velvet Revolver song on a loop, and you'll have heard the first two albums.

Still Waiting for some killer Revolver?! .......2007-07-30

Ever since the stars aligned and this lineup came together. The expectations have been high for something really spectacular to come out. After listening to Libertad a few times I'm still waiting. Libertad follows a more focused direction in it's musically styling's than the debut. Many tunes have more of a punk vibe to them. Which doesn't do much for me. It's disappointing to me that nothing on Libertad really blows you away? Yes, nothing, not one tune! I think as each tune came on I was waiting for Slash to tear it up and it hasn't happened. Some aggressive in your face guitars, something with an edge to it. Something that will rock your socks off as you crank it up to 11! Something that will make you say, "GNR & STP who are they"? Libertad definitely doesn't do that. If "Contraband" left you hopping for something better. This will just leave you disappointed. With Audioslave dismantling and leaving a big "Supergroup" whole to fill. Velvet Revolver just can't put the pieces together to fill it. I'm sure this won't be a popular review here. That's why we all have our own opinions......

Great Album from a Great Band.......2007-07-30

This album is extremely well produced and has a great sound. Their first Album has nothing on this album, Libertad is very capable of satisfying those who have heard most of their previous album, Contraband. The single released before the whole album is not the best on the album. I find myself enjoying the whole album instead of released singles getting all the play time.

Overall, Great Album from a great Band

Average customer rating:

Great!
Worth of 10 stars
Talent by the Bucket!
Clever, Cute, CREATIVE!!
Absolutely Great!!

5th Gear
Brad Paisley
Manufacturer: Arista
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Contemporary Country | Country | Styles | Music

New Traditionalist | Contemporary Country | Country | Styles | Music

General | Country | Styles | Music

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Big Dog Daddy
Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace
Let It Go
Lost Highway
Time Well Wasted

ASIN: B000PFUA9G
Release Date: 2007-06-19

Tracks:

All I Wanted Was A Car
Ticks
Online
Letter To Me
I'm Still A Guy
Some Mistakes
It Did
Mr. Policeman
If Love Was A Plane
Oh Love Featuring Carrie Underwood
Better Than This
With You, Without You
Previously Featuring Kung Pao Buckaroos (Little Jimmy Dickens,
Bigger Fish To Fry Featuring Kung Pao Buckaroos (Little Jimmy Dickens,
When We All Get To Heaven
Throttleneck

Amazon.com

Like his friend Vince Gill, Brad Paisley has achieved the often-difficult feat of reconciling being an entertainer and world-class guitarist. He's proven that on four admirable albums, and 5th Gear follows in that vein. Certainly "Ticks," an airy, radio-friendly ditty, is not the true substance here. That comes with such superior fare as the insightful "All I Wanted Was a Car" and "Online," a sly satire of people's Web facades. While his duet with Carrie Underwood ("Oh Love") is a bit cut and dried, Paisley ably handles "Letter to Me," "It Did," and "Mr. Policeman," a 21st-century outrun-the-law tune. The closing hymn, "When We All Get to Heaven," and ripping instrumental "Throttleneck" are Paisley at his best. It's admirable that he invites his venerable buddies, Little Jimmy Dickens, George Jones, Vince Gill, and Bill Anderson, along with Dolly Parton, to join in, but the obligatory "Kung Pao Buckaroos" skit is wearing a bit thin. Better to feature them musically, the way he includes Dickens, Gill, and Anderson on "Bigger Fish to Fry." In a time where lines between county and pop are blurring far too much, it's comforting to know Paisley still realizes and respects the differences. --Rich Kienzle

Customer Reviews:

Great!.......2007-08-01

Brad Paisley has once again released a great album. I especially like Online. A truer song has never been written!

Worth of 10 stars.......2007-07-31

Brad Paisley has done it again....he has wowed his audience with another amazing album...

I felt that the song "Letter to Me" was written about me....I mean, I am a high school senior, and over half the things that were mentioned in the song have happened to me in my high school years....

My grandpa and my dad got a big kick out of the song "I'm Still a Guy"....I did too....amazing!

Talent by the Bucket!.......2007-07-31

This extremly talented country music star has a nitch for writing his own music, and singing it well.

Clever, Cute, CREATIVE!!.......2007-07-29

First - not typical trucks, drunken break-ups, sex-filled derogatory-ness!
I LOVED the "sneakiness" displayed in "Ticks" - - ;>)

Brad Paisley! You ROCK! aaaaaaand your Grandfather would be VERY tickled for you, Kim & Huck - - -

I thank God for you & your freshness!
JJ

Absolutely Great!!.......2007-07-29

This is a fantastic CD. My favorite is still Brad's "Mud on the Tires" but this is a close second. Brad Paisley has a great voice, great songs, and amazing guitar solos.

Average customer rating:

back water revival
Fantastic Album
Relaxing Music
Not a traditional bluegrsss album, but worth listening to several times before judging
Alison Krauss CD

A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection
Alison Krauss
Manufacturer: Rounder / UMGD
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Contemporary Country | Country | Styles | Music

New Traditionalist | Contemporary Country | Country | Styles | Music

General | Country | Styles | Music

General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music

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Rounder Records | Specialty Stores | Music
Similar Items:

The Calling
Waking Up Laughing
Not Too Late
West
Call Me Irresponsible

ASIN: B000ND91SG
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Tracks:

You're Just a Country Boy
Simple Love
Jacob's Dream
Away Down the River
Sawing on the Strings
Down to the River to Pray
Baby Mine
Molly Bán
How's the World Treating You (duet with James Taylor)
The Scarlet Tide
Whiskey Lullaby (duet with Brad Paisley)
You Will Be My Ain True Love
I Give You to His Heart
Get Me Through December
Missing You (duet with John Waite)
Lay Down Beside Me (previously unreleased duet with John Waite)

Amazon.com

A Hundred Miles or More carries the subtitle A Collection, and what a curious collection it is--cuts from soundtracks, side projects, and tribute albums, plus guest duets on other artists' albums and five previously unreleased tracks. In other words, this is a collection of Alison Krauss performances that have never appeared on an Alison Krauss album, though it holds together better than such a grab-bag approach might suggest. Highlights such as her duet with Brad Paisley on "Whiskey Lullaby" and her a cappella rendition of "Down to the River to Pray" from O Brother, Where Art Thou? will be familiar to most Krauss fans, though it's doubtful that many share her infatuation with retro rocker John Waite (with whom she revives his "Missing You" and duets on a cover of Don Williams's "Lay Down Beside Me."). Other projects represented range from Disney to the Chieftains to the Louvin Brothers (she duets with James Taylor on their "How's the World Treating You." There's minimal contribution from her Union Station band--making this a solo release by default--and little information to indicate whether the previously unreleased tracks were outtakes from earlier releases or recently recorded for this one. --Don McLeese

More Alison Krauss

Lonely Runs Both Ways

Live

Now That I've Found You: A Collection

Album Description

"A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection" is comprised of 16 tracks, highlighting Alison Krauss's career outside of her traditional releases with longtime band Union Station. The album features Krauss's collaboration with John Waite on the single "Missing You," as well as Krauss's contributions to film soundtracks, including the Oscar-nominated songs "The Scarlet Tide" and "You Will Be My Ain True Love," written for the motion picture "Cold Mountain," and "Down to the River to Pray" from the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Known for her collaborations, Krauss also includes several duets in the collection such as the 2003 hit with Brad Paisley, "Whiskey Lullaby," and her duet with James Taylor for the tribute album "Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers," "How's the World Treating You." The collection debuts five new songs: "You're Just a Country Boy," "Jacob's Dream," "Simple Love," "Lay Down Beside Me," and "Away Down the River," all of which feature Krauss as a producer.

Customer Reviews:

back water revival.......2007-07-31

I love her sweetness and clarity. She revisits gospel and olde tyme toe tappers and make you want to stomp your feet, get up and clap and say "Amen". I don't believe Alison Krauss could produce any thing that you wouldn't like. Sort of like Emmy Lou Harris. Just gifted.

Fantastic Album.......2007-07-23

I really liked the album especially "Missing You" with John Waite. Any fan of Alison will like this album.

Relaxing Music.......2007-07-18

This cd is wonderful. It is great to listen to in the car when you need something soft and relaxing. Alison Krauss has the voice of an angel. I highly recommend this cd.

Not a traditional bluegrsss album, but worth listening to several times before judging.......2007-07-17

Many remakes dot this album. Some very surprising collabrations. AK could have done very standard remakes, but instead reinvented many songs. I prefer Simple Love, which is not a remake, Sawing on Strings, a very traditional bluegrass song. These are two songs she is singing on her current tour with Union Station. She does not sing any of the duet songs on this album on her current tour.

Alison Krauss CD.......2007-07-15

Beautiful voice and great songs, but somewhat melancholy. You have to be in the right mood to listen to it.

Average customer rating:

My opinion- SBS
Hooray For Me
More 'Being There' less 'Foxtrot'
Love those VW ads...
Simply just good music

Sky Blue Sky
Wilco
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000NVIGC0
Release Date: 2007-05-15

Tracks:

Either Way
You Are My Face
Impossible Germany
Sky Blue Sky
Side With the Seeds
Shake It Off
Please Be Patient With Me
Hate It Here
Leave Me (Like You Found Me)
Walken
What Light
On And On And On

Amazon.com

After their wild experimental streak of the past decade, Wilco's sixth studio album might feel like a bit of a comedown. Sky Blue Sky is mellow, moody, and uncharacteristically monotone, opening with a pleasant jangle and Jeff Tweedy singing a simple song: "Maybe the sun will shine today, the clouds will blow away." He doesn't even follow it up with a barbed punchline. Could it be that the restless Chicago band has settled back into its gentle Americana roots--or does this sudden mid-career reappraisal represent Wilco's gutsiest move yet? Mostly written in the studio by the full band, it's certainly the group's most cohesive album in ages, presenting a dense song cycle padded with intricate guitar work, brushed rhythms, and '70s soft-rock accents. In places it sounds like Wings ("Hate It Here"), in others Harry Nilsson ("Walken"), and in the middle it goes a bit Grateful Dead ("Shake It Off"). At the same time, there's a distinct sense of hearing a band finally at ease in its own skin. Sky Blue Sky represents the sound of Wilco finally pulling through its petulant adolescence. --Aidin Vaziri

Album Description

"Sky Blue Sky" has hints of early-seventies Southern California folk-rock sweetness in the harmonies. The album is filled with brash guitar solos that take songs like "You Are My Face" and "Shake It Off" in unexpected directions.

Customer Reviews:

My opinion- SBS.......2007-08-02

I am a huge Wilco fan--- own all the albums, and all the bootlegs etc.--- In my opinion- this band (Tweedy) composes the best music available today. They are also a tremendous band to see live. That said- SBS is a let down for me. It is a good album-- but not a great album. One of the things Tweedy does well is leave the listener wanting a little more--- he never "over-does it"-- and doesn't pound the listener with the same melodies and choruses the way most artists do. However- SBS leaves me famished--- the songs could be so much more. The melodies are so soft and subtle- that you need to really reach for them- and once found-- they quickly float away. A couple of other concerns--- the album is very soft-- even the guitar work- which is quite good- is soft-- and the drum work is held back vs. previous work. Next-- no "pop" songs. Though Wilco rarely gets radio play- they have traditionally had tunes that are real "toe-tappers"--- Late Greats, War on War, Hummingbird, etc.--- there is nothing like that on this record. At the end of the day- it is a good album--- the songs are still well written and much more interesting than most music being produced today--- but not what I hoped for.

Hooray For Me.......2007-07-29

I like Ghost and YHF fine, but I selfishly wished they would strip back their production to reveal the simple beauty of their songwriting, lyrics, and vocals. This is my album, and I love it. It's not the most terribly original thing, but it is very very pretty. Turns out someone in the band is even a good guitar player; I listened to the solo on the first cut several times, I find it tasteful and wonderful. Anyhoo, don't know if this album is better than the last two, it just happened to be more to my personal taste. Lucky me, I guess.

More 'Being There' less 'Foxtrot'.......2007-07-27

If you love Wilco, like I do, you will love this album. It is their most accessible album in over a decade. Summerteeth and Foxtrot rank as my favorites, but Ghost is my least favorite, and I'm glad this is a departure from that. Think A.M. and Being There, with a little more wisdom and professionalism.

I've grown to love this album.

Love those VW ads..........2007-07-25

Wilco is unquestionably one of the best bands of our time, and this is certainly worth a listen.

This is very different from Ghost / YHF in that the songs are much more direct, with less elaborate mixes / elusive lyrics than their prior two masterpieces. Sort of hearkens to Being There, but with less of an alt-country sound.

One of the best of 2007 - but not quite as good as at least this fan was expecting (check out Cassadega for the best to date this year).

Simply just good music.......2007-07-21

I know it's hip to scrutinize a band's intentions, personal backgrounds, blah blah blah, but whatever happened to just listening to the music? Yes, Wilco has been experimental, using dissonance and space to create compelling noise. This time, they wrote songs that could actually be played on the radio (the nerve!) and listened to while mowing the lawn (how dare Wilco make a fun record!). I am a Wilco fan from the beginning. First record, OK. Second, became a great American band. Third, tried too hard. Fourth, became pretentious to their success. Fifth, remained pretentious to their detriment. Sixth, made a very thoughtful, cool record. Remember when Radiohead made "The Bends" and we could all sing along? Then Thom Yourke decided he should change the world and use an Atari 2600 to write "songs"? Let's hope Tweedy realizes that his fans like to hear the great songs only Wilco can write.

Average customer rating:

One of Vega's finest albums with a diverse sound filtering through jazz and folk elements
It just keeps getting worse!
The best so far?
She's Like A Fine Wine, She Gets Better With Age
Arrest this Woman! - More Pointless Music from Vega

Beauty & Crime
Suzanne Vega
Manufacturer: Blue Note Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000H6SU9A
Release Date: 2007-07-17

Tracks:

Zephyr & I
Ludlow Street
New York Is a Woman
Pornoghrapher's Dream
Frank & Ava
Edith Wharton's Figurine
Bound
Unbound
As You Are Now
Angel's Doorway
Anniversary

Amazon.com

With a career spanning more than two decades, Suzanne Vega has long stressed quality over quantity. It's no surprise, therefore, that her first release in six years is more than worth the wait. Her eye for detail, laconic vocal cool, and thematic focus on New York City continue to distinguish her artistry, but the sonic sheen applied by British producer/multi-instrumentalist Jimmy Hogarth sparks a musical renewal. Crisp guitar riffing recalls the streetwise work of fellow New York chronicler Lou Reed, while chamber strings, electronic atmospherics, and multitracked background vocals lift the results well beyond the folk realm. Vega writes from a perspective of memory and maturity, recalling the New York of old on "Zephyr & I" and "Ludlow Street," showing the musical sophistication of bittersweet seduction on "New York Is a Woman," applying a musical Brazilian wax to "Pornographer's Dream," and contemplating her life as a wife on "Bound" and as a mother on the lullaby "As You Are Now." The results are richly satisfying throughout. --Don McLeese

Amazon.com

On Beauty & Crime, Suzanne Vega's Blue Note Records debut, the Manhattan native uses New York City as the backdrop for a collection of eleven new songs that juxtapose acoustic guitar-driven melodies with coolly synthesized beats; intensely personal lyrics with compelling, short story-like narratives; images of today's scarred cityscape with memories of Vega's old Upper West Side 'hood and Lower East Side haunts. The past commingles with the present, the public with the private, familiar sounds with the utterly new, just like the city itself. Making her first new studio album in six years, Vega says, "I feel like I really stretched my limits. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone--to sing in keys I wouldn't have sung in before, to work with different textures, to be unafraid of doing what ever sounded good to me. I wanted to make a modern classic."

Suzanne Vega Photos

Album Description

2007 album produced by Jimmy Hogarth. She is accompanied by an eclectic group including Will Malone, Gerry Leonard, Lee Renaldo, Mike Visceglia and Doub Yowell. EMI.

Customer Reviews:

One of Vega's finest albums with a diverse sound filtering through jazz and folk elements.......2007-08-03

Suzanne Vega may be an acquired taste but after you've taken a drink of her latest album, you'll find it both intoxicating and difficult to give up. Admittedly there are those who dislike her hushed vocal delivery (which sounds at times like a female Lou Reed with echoes of Bob Dylan/Leonard Cohen where she isn't trying to "sing" the material so much as "discuss" her observations). I love Vega's delivery so sue me. She's a literate songwriter whose lyrics provide a nice constrast to the music which veers from folk, jazz, elements of techno sometimes within the same song.

"Beauty and Crime" is one of her best albums musically. This concept album about her adopted home New York is a loving and sometimes blunt assessment of the city that surrounds her and has been her muse off and on over the past twenty years. Vega has often taken stylistic detours sometimes off the beaten path like her flirtation with the techno elements that decorated "99.9f" and the smooth samba beat that showed up on "Nine Objects of Desire". Unlike those two albums the production of Jimmy Hogarth is less distracting and self-conscious than those two albums allowing the quality of the songs to shine through. For those that are interested the Japanese release has one extra song that comes in at just under two minutes. It's a good song but you won't miss it (unlike "Golden" from "Songs of Red and Gray) if you purchase the U.S. release of the album.

"Zephyr & I" and "Ludlow Street" have some of the most inviting melodies/arrangements since Vega's breakthrough album. "New York is a Woman" uses a pretty plain metaphor to describe a visitors first visit to the Big Apple. Vega's presentation is pretty straight forward folk outside of the occasional use of horns to decorate the song. "Poronographer's Dream" has an inviting beat and arrangement that echoes nightclub jazz. "Frank & Ava" and the lilting "Bound" are two other highlights. "Unbound" features the type of arrangements that were characteristic of "99.9F" but they are less obtrusive here,

As much as I have enjoyed all of her albums, "Beauty and Crime" is probably one of her most consistent, inviting and musically rich since her first two albums. "Days of Open Hand" was good but didn't extend much beyond "Solitude Standing". "99.9F" played with her sound providing her songs a great diving board to leap off into varied and different musical terrain. That continued on the stylistically diverse and often beautiful "Nine Objects of Desire" and "Songs in Red and Gray". "Beauty & Crime" brings all of this together but, more importantly, does so with the strongest batch of material she has written to date.

For those fans that are interested Vega's website also has a live album recorded for the "Songs in Red and Gray" tour available. It's also available for download from Itunes.

Retrospective: The Best of Suzanne VegaSolitude Standing
Nine Objects of Desire

It just keeps getting worse!.......2007-07-28

Ugh...I loved Suzanned Vega and then she married some fat old guy. Her music sucks to put mildly but fortunately it is a free country so you don't have to buy it...'nuf said

The best so far?.......2007-07-22

Trying to objectively assess any record a matter of weeks after its release is difficult, particularly when it's from such a complex artist as Suzanne Vega - as her previous albums show, her inherently "catchy" songs need time register for their underlying strength and hidden depths to be revealed... but, with time, it's quite possible that this could well prove to be the best release from this supremely gifted artist. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy another pure 5 star outing.

She's Like A Fine Wine, She Gets Better With Age.......2007-07-20

When I picked up Suzanne Vega's seventh studio release "Beauty & Crime", I did what a lot of people do these days - I ripped MP3 files for my computer. When I saw that the total time of the songs was only 34 minutes, I was a little disappointed because I have waited 6 years for her follow-up to the terrific "Songs in Red and Gray". But then I played the songs. Wow! The lady still has the magic. Although the songs are pretty short (only one exceeds 4 minutes and I actually think that song - "Bound" - drags on a little too long), they pack a punch. Personal favorites are "Edith Wharton's Figurines", "Unbound" and the one everyone seems to like, "New York is a Woman", which is about a suburban man's first trip to New York City. As a suburban man who will soon take his first trip to New York, I feel like Suzanne just gave me a tour!

I thought the CD was great and I hope she sees enough success with it that we'll hear from her again, hopefully sooner than 6 years from now. I'm looking forward to seeing her for the first time live later this year.

Arrest this Woman! - More Pointless Music from Vega.......2007-07-20

You know, I love acoustic female singer-songwriters as much as the next person (which isn't saying a whole lot), but I also know trash when I listen to it. This, unfortunately, falls into the latter category. I had highly anticipated this release, alongwith the new Sinead O'Connor record, but Sinead eventually let me down with her tepid double album of a release. Vega somehow manages to outdo her with this certifiable doozy of an album, which is a pity, since her last studio album was rather pretty.

"Beauty & Crime" (Suzanne evidently has very little of the former, and she has committed the latter here), is Suzanne's "Ode to New York" (did we really need another one?). I think Tori Amos did it best when she limited her political consciousness to one song about New York on her "I Can't See New York" from the "Scarlet's Walk" album. Well, this album is no "Scarlet's Walk". In fact, its not even "99.9F", which is amongst the weakest of the Vega albums. On its own, its an oddity with no definable purpose - which is OK if the music was great. But when the recently mangled Bjork record has more replay value than this monstrosity, I don't know what to say.

Lets consider the track "Ludlow Street". Even if you're a Vega fan put aside your love for this woman for an instant. On this track, her songwriting abilities are on par with lets say, Lindsay Lohan or Jojo. I kid you not. Here is a sample:

L"ove is the only thing that matters.
Love is the only thing that's real.
I know we hear this every day.
It's still the hardest thing to feel."

And thats just the FIRST VERSE!

Things only get worse on "Pornographers' Dream", which as a tune is acceptable enough (but then again, so were "The Garbage Pail Kids"). Here, Suzanne is apparently talking about a mans' pornographic muse or something - it isn't especially clear (or interesting):

"Bettie Page is still the rage
with her legs and leather;
she turns to tease the camera, and please us at home,
and we let her."

The problem then, if we turn from the lyrics, is the abject disrespect that Vega has for the listening audience. Granted, her tinny voice isn't exactly a selling point, but she is known for making harmlessly average folk-pop songs. What she's done here however, is bewildering. Even if you're a past fan, or a lover of music by Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann etc, theres nothing here of any worth, really.

Whats even worse is the cover photo that does nothing to elevate this beyond a vanity project of the most ill conception. I hate getting personal about artists, but in this case, one has to wonder how the record company could greenlight something so abjectly pedestrian. Its Vega after all, so its not like we expected anything groundbreaking (how could we?), but still - this is beyond whatever low expectations you had coming in.

"Frank and Ava" is a song that is again a mis-step. I have to wonder, is THIS the New York that Vega is observing? Its not terribly inviting. At best, this is like someone took the concept of sitting in a cozy Starbucks drinking a cup of coffee, and reverse engineered it on the premise of "how bad could we do this". I kid you not.

People, there have been only three great albums this year. "American Doll Posse" by Tori Amos, "Release the Stars" by Rufus Wainwright, and "Paige Aufhammer" by Paige Aufhammer. This record is nowhere near the top (read the critical reviews), and I would advise Vega from avoiding the recording room like the plague, in the future. This woman is not a musician, has no right recording music, and her place can be taken by someone more deserving. Sorry, but thats the truth.

Worst female album of the Year. Avoid.

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