From Yuki Kajiura, the music artist who created the unforgettable music to the smash hit anime series "Noir" and ".hack//SIGN," comes "Fiction," her latest and most unique CD release ever. Kajiura's composed music is widely recognized among anime fans and now in an unprecedented move, all 11 vocal tracks on this CD will be sung entirely in English! You've heard the Japanese song versions; Now hear and understand those cool songs without going to the lyrics sheet. This special CD soundtrack is premiering in the United States even before its release in Japan! The CD features 3 tracks for "Noir sung in English (canta per me, salva nos, lullaby), 3 tracks from ".hack//SIGN" sung in English (key of the twilight, fake wings, open your heart), a medley song from the anime series "Aquarian Age" and other brand new songs! Exclusive U.S. release featuring all English language songs.
Fiction,Yuki Kajiura,Geneon [Pioneer],China / Japan / Korea,Int'l & World Music,Japanese,Pop,Soundtrack
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Left Side of the Brain
Fiction Plane Manufacturer: Bieler Bros Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000OHZJPU Release Date: 2007-05-22 |
Tracks:
- Anyone
- Death Machine
- Two Sisters
- It's a Lie
- Left Side Of the Brain
- Cold Water Symmetry
- Running the Country
- Drink
- Presuppose
- Cross the Line
- Fake Light From the Sun
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic CD.......2007-07-24
Don't Confuse Him with His Dad!.......2007-07-18
AMAZING sound!.......2007-07-11
Saw them live last week!.......2007-07-10
FICTION PLANE Launches Forward.......2007-06-29
The album begins with an energetic rock track, "Anyone", that challenges the notion of traditional song structure; in that it doesn't end as much as it invites the listener in and almost too quickly ends without resolution. Joe Sumner's bass behavior taunts the listener by foreshadowing the song's chorus during the verse parts and follows the vocals during the actual chorus. Denying stereotypical closure allows the cynical anthem "Death Machine" to appropriately express itself; sneak up and slap you square in the face. Immediately, you get a sense that the band has musically progressed. Throughout the album, Seton Daunt's guitar versatility provides a wealth of sonic experiences. He ranges from extraterrestrial reverberations and guitar manipulations that wouldn't be out of place on a Yes, Porcupine Tree, Led Zeppelin or Dream Theater album to Edge-like rock guitar god prowess; all the while providing an energetic backdrop complementing Sumner's angst-laden croon-wails and Pete Wilhoit's dexterous, jazz-like percussive syncopation affectation.
It's true; it is decidedly difficult to nail down any one band with which to compare Fiction Plane as a point of reference. At times, they portray the heartrending ability of U2, and at others, they provoke the conventions of the archetypal alternative rock act. And in some instances, including the rousing "Death Machine" and near-belligerent "Presuppose", the band summons a bit of the pogo-instilling voracity of Red Hot Chili Peppers or Jane's Addiction. But it is through the somber `Everyman' outlook radiating from tracks like "Drink" and "Fake Light From The Sun" that I feel the true Fiction Plane emerges. These two songs, while ballad-like and slow-tempo, echo the sentiments of fear, isolation, rejection and guilt within us all. This is the charm of Fiction Plane; rather than being vapidly inconsistent, they continuously challenge the listener in a kaleidoscope of sound, not wholly unlike one of their longtime influences, Mr. Bungle. Ultimately, Left Side of the Brain is an album not to be taken at face value, for it is more than a collection of songs from yet-another-alt-rock-band. It is not 100% deadpan seriousness, nor is it completely tongue-in-cheek frivolity. It is an aural landscape riddled with multi-hued musical designs tempered by a lyrical illustration grounded in anxiety and possibility.
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Gimme Fiction
Spoon Manufacturer: Merge Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00082ZRN0 Release Date: 2005-05-10 |
Tracks:
- Beast And Dragon, Adored
- Two Sides Of Monsieur Valentine
- I Turn My Camera On
- My Mathematical Mind
- Delicate Place
- Sister Jack
- I Summon You
- Infinite Pet
- Was It You
- They Never Got You
- Merchants Of Soul
Amazon.com
Gimme Fiction is Spoon's loosest, most eclectic effort yet. While still sounding like themselves, the Austin-based band manages to evoke a number of other artists on their fifth full-length. (It's a neat trick.) On proto-glam opener "The Beast and Dragon, Adored," Britt Daniels channels the David Bowie of The Man Who Sold the World. Then there's slinky jam "I Turn My Camera On," where he conjures up Prince or Mick Jagger, circa "Miss You," by singing in a higher register. As indicated by the title, "Sister Jack" sounds like early Who (i.e. "Happy Jack"), while "They Never Got You" sounds like Plastic Ono Band-era John Lennon. Do all these different styles hang together? For the most part: yes. After the triumph of Kill the Moonlight, Spoon could have easily rested on their laurels and issued another album just like it, but Gimme Fiction proves they would rather evolve than stagnate. --Kathleen C. FennessyAlbum Description
Spoon make some of the catchiest, most confident rock 'n' roll of any group around. Their fifth full-length is nothing short of a dizzying, soulful masterpiece, easily the most expansive work in their career. "Gimme Fiction" is a sprawling, exhilarating, filler-free album of keenly focused artistic vision and ambition.Customer Reviews:
You should have already clicked 'add to shopping cart' ..........2007-07-24
I play this repeatedly.......2007-07-19
Highly recommended.
Spoon is an amazing band........2007-07-06
OK.......2007-03-17
My husband loved it.......2007-01-09
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Pulp Fiction: Music From The Motion Picture
Various Artists Manufacturer: Mca ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000002OTL Release Date: 1994-09-27 |
Tracks:
- Misirlou - Dick Dale & His Del-Tones
- Royale With Cheese - John Travolta
- Jungle Boogie - Kool & The Gang
- Let's Stay Together - Al Green
- Bustin' Surfboards - The Tornadoes
- Lonesome Town - Ricky Nelson
- Son Of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
- Bullwinkle Part II - The Centurians
- You Never Can Tell - Chuck Berry
- Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon - Urge Overkill
- If Love Is A Red Dress (Hang Me In Rags) - Maria McKee
- Comanche - The Revels
- Flowers On The Wall - The Statler Brothers
- Personality Goes A Long Way - John Travolta
- Surf Rider - The Lively Ones
- Ezekiel 25:17 - Samuel L. Jackson
Amazon.com
Dick Dale's surf-guitar provided the memorable title theme ("Misirlou"), for Quentin Tarantino's 1994 smash, and although that sound runs throughout the soundtrack (along with bits and pieces of dialog from the movie), this is a pretty eclectic bunch of really terrific songs. I don't know how it all manages to hang together, but it does (you might say the same for the interwoven stories in the movie). Where else are you going to find Chuck Berry, Maria McKee, Al Green, The Statler Brothers, Kool & the Gang, Urge Overkill (singing a Neil Diamond ballad!), Ricky Nelson, Dusty Springfield, and the Tornadoes (among others) one album? McKee's beautiful "If Love is a Red Dress (Hang Me in Rags)" is a standout, partly because it's less familiar. One of the few soundtracks of the '90s that went into the CD player and stayed there for weeks and months thereafter. --Jim EmersonAlbum Description
1998 reissue on Simply Vinyl of MCA's smash soundtrack toQuentin Tarantino's 1994 film starring John Travolta, SamuelL. Jackson, Uma Thurman and Bruce Willis. Contains classicslike Urge Overkill's cover of 'Girl, You'll Be A WomanSoon', Dusty Springfield'Customer Reviews:
Tarantino knows his music.......2007-08-05
With classic lines from the movie spliced in ("In France, it's a Royale with Cheese") it brings back the best of the movie. Certainly a great CD for the car CD player when the movie's not available.
Where's Wray?.......2007-04-16
The soundtrack is better than the film..........2007-04-03
Still Tarantino's best.......2007-03-13
The PULP FICTION soundtrack is a unique mix of primarily surf music, with a sprinkling of funk, pop and country. If you enjoyed the movie, this album is sure to please. Just don't play it for your grandmother!
TOTAL RUNNING TIME -- 41:28
I recommend this soundtrack........2007-03-09
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Everything Will Never Be OK
Fiction Plane Manufacturer: Mca ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00008J2L7 Release Date: 2003-03-11 |
Tracks:
- Listen To My Babe
- Everything Will Never Be OK
- Cigarette
- Hate
- Soldier Machismo
- I Wish I Would Die
- Fallow
- Real Real
- Everybody Lies
- Sickness
- Silence
- Wise
Customer Reviews:
Good tunes!!.......2007-06-27
I also enjoy the style of music FP seems to gravitate towards. They're sort of mildly dark, a grey feel, and they tell stories without telling stories. I dunno, give em a listen and decide for yourself.
Some hope for rock?.......2005-05-26
I knew they were "Sting's son's band", but I am a jaded 54 year old who has seen it all starting with my first concert being Hendrix in the fall of 1968. I went in early to see.
There is so much junk being passed off as popular music these days, heck Philadelphia even lost its only decent Alt Rock station earlier this year. Sons of popular performers have really done very little but coat-tail on daddy's name.
In spite of or because of his Father's influence Joe has put together a band that really impressed me. Live they were an opening act that you didn't really want to get off the stage. I bought the album at intermission (sorry, Amazon) and have been listening to it since, wishing I had been familiar with them prior to seeing them. Interestingly enough, I recognized nearly every track from the live performance first time round.
An occasional sophomoric lyric belies Joe's youth, but generally for a debut from a famous son this is a very hopeful album that is damn good as a stand-alone. Somewhat remininsent of the energy and pathos that forged the Police and the occasional uncanny resemblance of Joe's voice to Gordon's (especially "Silence"), this band is its own and by any standard of rock a band to be eagerly followed.
I look forward to what is hopefully to come and the next opportunity to see them in a live show.
Fantastic debut. Recommended for those bored with pop!.......2005-05-18
While my evaluation was initially instigated by seeing the band perform, opening for Sting at 2 shows, actually listening to the CDs brings FP's package together. The band's lyrics shower the listener with an array of emotions, while the musical dexterity displayed by each member launches them into a genre all their own. Yes, FP has its share of faux-ballads discussing relationships and life-lessons, however they are subversively concealed behind boisterous and genre-leaping songwriting. While the band itself cites NIRVANA as a distinct influence, I am more inclined to believe that FP's style is a monstrous hybrid of RADIOHEAD, MAROON 5, early POLICE, PORCUPINE TREE (check out the `ghost track' following "Wise", loaded with esoteric, progressive rock overtones) and a touch of early DURAN DURAN (especially in the lyric department). I would guess that FP wanted to get out of the gates and show the world a little bit of everything that comprises them, and this debut CD does just that. That in itself is probably the album's one downside - the fact that they move in so many different directions during the course of one disc that the listener is not offered a solid impression of what the band is truly about.
However, one cannot hold that against a young band on its debut release. New acts are usually pressured by labels to create one or two strong `radio-friendly' cuts, leaving the rest of the album for the band to noodle with as filler. However, rather than play that game, FP went out on a limb and broke down walls that would otherwise limit them to one sect of listenership. As there may be one or two songs on the disc that I would chalk up as `growing pains', there are still ten very strong tracks showing the range and intensity of a band that is primed for evolution and success. Excellent standout tracks, in addition to the aforementioned ghost track, include the funky "Listen To My Babe", the incredibly cynical "Hate", and the mixed metaphor "Cigarette". I implore you, check out FICTION PLANE; the best band you've never heard on the radio!
What an Experience!.......2005-05-05
FANTASTIC~!!!!.......2005-05-04
once i found out who was opening for sting, and to find out that it was his son... i'd figure i'd wait and see how he sounded before getting the albums... Joe's voice is fantastic.. a nice cross between early sting and bono... and with good looks to boot!!.. thank god for nearly front row seating right in line with the mic... as soon as his set was done, i had to rush right out and get both albums (this and the ep) before they sold out...
"cigarette" is definitely one of my fav's...
definitely really great original music...
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Stranger Than Fiction
Various Artists Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000IONLB8 Release Date: 2006-11-07 |
Tracks:
- The Book I Write SPOON
- Going Missing MAXIMO PARK
- Whole Wide World WRECKLESS ERIC
- Flours BRITT DANIEL/BRIAN REITZELL
- The Way We Get By SPOON
- Mind Your Own Business DELTA 5
- Bottles and Bones (Shade and Sympathy) CALIFONE
- Writers Block BRITT DANIEL/BRIAN REITZELL
- My Mathematical Mind SPOON
- La Petile Fille De Mer VANGELIS
- Thats Entertainment (Demo Version) THE JAM
- Dubbing in the Back Seat THE UPSETTERS
- Auditor BRITT DANIEL/BRIAN REITZELL
- In Church (Cyann and Ben Remix) M83
Customer Reviews:
Stranger than Fiction.......2007-05-27
great soundtrack.......2007-05-13
one of the best soundtracks in a long time.......2007-04-17
Stranger than Fiction Soundtrack.......2007-01-10
good songs ... .......2006-12-02
All of their albums are good, but you should probably start with Kill the Moonlight.
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Stranger Than Fiction
Bad Religion Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000002J11 Release Date: 1994-09-06 |
Tracks:
- Incomplete
- Leave Mine To Me
- Stranger Than Fiction
- Tiny Voices
- The Handshake
- Better Off Dead
- Infected
- Television
- Individual
- Hooray For Me
- Slumber
- Marked
- Inner Logic
- What It Is
- 21st Century (Digital Boy)
Amazon.com
Bad Religion, one of the last bands you'd expect to join the ranks of major-label rockers, makes the leap from its own Epitaph Records to Atlantic for its eighth album, Stranger Than Fiction. The quintet doesn't compromise its integrity or its aesthetics, delivering its familiar Ramones-style pop songs at crash-and-burn tempos and continuing to rail against business as usual in corporate America. (The band's social critiques have always been a cut above the average hardcore punk's, as befits a group led by a vocalist pursuing his PhD at Cornell.) Especially effective is the opening track, "Incomplete," which features guest guitar by Wayne Kramer of the MC5. --Jim DeRogatisCustomer Reviews:
this is the biggest chunk of seel out pie!.......2007-06-03
After a few listens it becomes better.......2006-08-09
PUNK ROCK IS NOT DEAD... AND THIS PROVES IT!.......2006-05-06
Stranger Than Fiction was Bad Religion's first album on a major label, and was underappriecated by most old Bad Religion fans. But, no matter what they say, Stranger than Fiction is an awesome album.
THE BEST SONGS
Incomplete- classic Bad Religion. 'Mother, Father, look at your little monster. I'm a hero, I'm a zero.'
Stranger than Fiction- the song the album came from. Great, catchy, Bad Religion.
The Handshake- an intresting quick song. 'a handshake's nothing but a subtle f**k you.'
Slumber- you know you have an awesome band when they can take a slow song and make it one of the best in a great album. SLumber is a great song. Your Bad Religion collection isn't complete until you have this.
These are the best songs, but the album in genereal is wonderful. Any BAd Religion, heck, any punk rock fan needs this album.
Ok album overall.......2006-04-05
the god of BR's atlantic years.......2006-03-28
i just have to say, i love this album to death. infected is definately a song that is a total landmark. i also think the title song is amazing as well. some songs like tiny voices and slumber are hidden gems.
the only gripe is that they had to remake 21st century digital boy. that was totally unnecessary, but it doesnt really matter too much.
i would say that this album is an essential cd for BR fans, but not their best by far. i may put it on par with generator. this album is the biggest fish on the small pond of BR albums on atlantic records.(recipe for hate, gray race, no substance, and new america)
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Psyence Fiction
U.N.K.L.E. Manufacturer: Fontana London ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00000AFK4 Release Date: 1998-09-29 |
Tracks:
- Guns Blazing (Drums Of Death Pt. 1)
- Unkle Main Title Theme
- Bloodstain
- Unreal
- Lonely Soul
- Getting Ahead In The Lucrative Field Of Artist Management
- Nursery Rhyme/Breather
- Celestial Annihilation
- The Knock (Drums Of Death Pt. 2)
- Chaos
- Rabbit In Your Headlights
- Untitled
Amazon.com
This ambitious effort shows Mo' Wax label guru James Lavelle taking on the role of director, orchestrating a grand design, and translating it musically with the talents of studio muse DJ Shadow. Most accustomed to working solo, Shadow demonstrates here his adaptable talents in collaborating with others, whether it's on the powerful "Rabbit in Your Headlights," a track recorded in 1996 in which Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke eerily foreshadows his later success, or in "Guns Blazing (Drums of Death Pt. 1)," the album's only traditional hip-hop track, which pairs annihilating beats to Kool G Rap's equally lethal vocal delivery. Psyence Fiction, which also features contributions from Beastie Boy Mike D and the Verve's Richard Ashcroft, is certainly one of the most epic and eclectic records to emerge from the electronic world this year, one that should not only further the efforts to bridge the musical segregation that exists among the hip-hop, alternative, and electronic camps but also introduce these cultures to a few new surprises of its own. --Tamara PalmerCustomer Reviews:
Trip-Hop's Top Album.......2007-06-24
An U.N.K.L.E. For All Seasons.......2007-01-30
Where his work is, it shines. "Bloodstain" is a slick, acrylic gloom pop number featuring Alice Temple. Thom Yorke's unmistakeable voice paddles peacefully through the waters of "Rabbit In Your Headlights," a tune that sounds like a UFO's torch-song. The symphonic strings and slithers of "Lonely Soul" are wound up tightly with Richard Ashcroft's fervent vocals. These and others bear the watermark of artists creating something whole and substantial.
Others don't fare so well. The two hard rap numbers (Kool G Rap's "Guns Blazing" and Mike D's "The Knock") do contain patches of DJ Shadow's music-mosaics, but the lyrics are uninspired and sound rote. The main title theme is fully DJ Shadow's, every wickedly, ambiently funky moment of it, but it also lacks a foundation, something to give it closure.
The rest of this star-studded album could be said to suffer from a similar problem (although it doesn't suffer much): there's not much that grounds these songs together. For that reason, it's likely you'll find one or two songs that don't fit your style, but it's equally likely that you'll find some that do. In the mood for rushing digi-rock? Badly Drawn Boy's got you covered with "Nursery Rhyme/Breather." Want synthetic box pop? Check out "Celestial Annihilation." How about gloomy junk dub, throaty ballads, or spoken-sample mixes?
It's all here. If you grab this album, I doubt you'll like everything you get, but you'll definitely find something that's up your alley, whether that alley is lined with strobe lights or fog lamps, with dark curtains or neon tinsel.
a decent cd.......2006-08-27
G.
A barely classic album with several cool guest appearances (Radiohead's Thom Yorke!) - has great mainstream appeal.......2006-01-05
Highlights include:
the entire album ("Chaos" is arguably the weakest)
Psyence Fiction.. More like Psyence Fact.......2005-11-19
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Fiction
Dark Tranquillity Manufacturer: Century Media ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000NIIUYC Release Date: 2007-04-24 |
Tracks:
- Nothing To No One
- The Lesser Faith
- Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive)
- Blind At Heart
- Icipher
- Inside The Particle Storm
- Empty Me
- Misery's Crown
- Focus Shift
- The Mundane And The Magic
Customer Reviews:
Better than 'Character' and almost as good as 'Damage Done'.......2007-07-29
Their sound follows the Swedish melodic death metal recipe but it is different from the other bands playing in the same genre (At The Gates, In Flames, The Haunted, etc). Fast, aggressive yet melodic guitar riffs and leads, pounding but also varying drumming, the perfect use and amount of keys and Stanne's low and high death vocals. The good thing about DT's songwriting is that it is not predictable. All songs are versatile, aggressive, melodic, progressive and technical all at once.
Some fans and reviewers claim that 2005's "Character" is the bands strongest release since their 1995's classic "The Gallery"... well, I strongly disagree. Although "Character" was another masterpiece, it was fast paced throughout, rawer and not so versatile. It was definitely more 'death' than 'melodic death' and that similarity of tempo in most tracks resulted in a monotonous sounding release, in a way. "Fiction" IMO perfected "Character's" sound. There are still plenty of fast songs with outstanding drumming (with the use of blast beats aswell), down tuned and heavy guitar riffs and death vocals, but there are also passages within these same songs that are more atmospheric and incorporate wonderful melodies provided by keys, guitar leads and solos.
Songs like 'Nothing To No One', 'Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive)', 'Inside The Particle Storm' and 'Focus Shift' are some of the best songs that the band has ever written. Even 'The Mundane And The Magic' which is the most simplistic and slow song manages to sound amazing due to the use of beautiful keys, varying drumming and the application of both female and clean vocals in the chorus. You will be certainly amazed by this album, it contains some of the best guitar riffs I have ever heard (you will be forced to head bang), melodic and technical guitar leads and solos, truly amazing (and not over the top) drumming and the best vocals of the genre!
I honestly believe that "Fiction" is Dark Tranquillity's strongest release after the brilliant "Damage Done" and the experimental masterpiece "Projector". For any fans of the band and for any fans of metal this is a must buy. DT are still going strong after being active for over 15 years and haven't released a weak album yet. Congratulations to them...
melodic death metal kings.......2007-06-17
another masterpiece under the belt........2007-06-04
With gorgeous pianos and keys shining alongside the ever-brilliant guitar leads and riffs, _Fiction_ also marks the return of Stanne's clean vocals on two tracks and a female-voice supported chorus on the final track, the stunning finale "The Mundane and the Magic". The music is very close to _Character_, but where _Character_'s tracks came off sounding a bit blurred together, _Fiction_'s variety and imagination shows that if anything, Dark Tranquillity is only getting better and may yet peak beyond even what they attained with their youthful masterworks of genre-defining melodeath godliness, _The Gallery_ and _The Mind's I_. In fact, this is the best album since those. Tracks like the grumbling opener "Nothing to No One", the soaring "Focus Shift", or the ripping speedmetal of "Blind at Heart" are mainstays of the band's modern sound, combining the band's literally unmatched ear for melody and arrangement with their impeccable classical (as in western art music) sense of development and structure. Also of great interest is the churning, massive "Inside the Particle Storm", the driving metal of "Misery's Crown", with its sparse clean verses, growly-crunchy choruses and bridge with a blistering riff that screams for air guitar, and of course the INCREDIBLE closer "The Mundane and the Magic", where Stanne and guest singer Nell trade off lines on the chorus to chilling effect, and verses develop with seething guitar crunch and melancholy piano. This song in a way evokes "Bolt of Blazing Gold" without sounding at all like it, and that is of course a good thing. The production has been compressed to a grey smear with little breathing room for the arrangements, heavy and thick, which would out of context appear as a bad thing were the music not so perfectly incredible. Any other production would feel like it belonged with a different recording.
Less melodic, more death.......2007-05-20
For some, this is a welcome change. But for me, DT's Damage Done represented the high-water mark in melodic death. It was full of pain and longing and rage, evoked through its haunting melodies. The album was very emotionally expressive (for metal) even when Mikael Stanne withheld his throaty rasping vocals. Fiction trades some of that for more aggressive riffs and dusty ambience.
Despite all this, the album is quite good. The opener "Nothing to No One" throws some well-placed blast beats in your face while retaining the DT feel. "Focus Shift" initially misdirects with a grooving downtuned riff, then layers the guitars on in anticipation of the fist-pumping anthemic chorus. It's also nice to hear several mini-guitar solos sprinkled in liberally throughout the album. Song quality is a little uneven compared to Damage Done, but if you wanted to read a review on that album you'd be on a different product page.
Currently without any real peers in this type of metal, Dark Tranquillity's stiffest competition is themselves. 4.25 stars.
More Groove than Earlier Releases.......2007-05-19
Many of the riffs display with a great attitude, and groove like a slower version of Fear Factory's Demanufacture. It's closest brother for comparison is Character, and it is amazingly eclipsed. The keyboards are allowed to take over large swaths of songs, and they provide that level of depth that only electronics can provide to an already great song. (Icipher, and Empty Me for that example.)
The album's overall atmospheric piece is "Inside the Particle Storm."
If you were to blend Character and Projector together, this is the album you would get.
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Truth Is Not Fiction
Otis Taylor Manufacturer: Telarc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00009NH8M Release Date: 2003-06-24 |
Tracks:
- Rosa, Rosa
- Kitchen Towel
- comb Your Brown Hair
- Babies Don't Lie
- Be My Frankenstein
- House Of The Crosses
- Past Times
- Shakie's Gone
- Be My Witness
- Nasty Letter
- Walk On Water
- Baby, Please Don't Go
Amazon.com
There is an upbeat style of blues that lightens life's darkest moments by its sheer joyfulness and exuberance. And then there is Otis Taylor's style of blues. On his fourth album, the multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter drags us once again into the seething underbelly of emotional gloom, wallowing in the sadness, hurt, and confrontation of the human condition. It's not pretty, but it's the territory that has been uniquely staked out by Taylor and his stripped-down, percussion-less backing duo of producer-bassist Kenny Passarelli and lead guitarist Eddie Turner. This riveting storytelling music springs from Delta, folk, slave, and prison songs, with many tracks boiled down to a single repeated chord. Mournful cello occasionally fleshes out the sound, but with Turner's slicing lead guitar and Taylor's dusky voice singing harrowing tales of lynching, rape, murder, death, lost love, and nasty letters, the intensity generated--even by the album's only cover, "Baby Please Don't Go"--is off the scale. Not for the squeamish, Taylor's chilling music provokes, angers, and unnerves the listener in ways that are just too powerful for most artists to muster. Otis Taylor's truth is found in the dark recesses and murky shadows. Explore it with caution. --Hal HorowitzCustomer Reviews:
Great 21st Century Blues.......2006-03-07
If there are "rules" to the blues, Otis Taylor is breaking pretty much all of them. These songs mix electric and acoustic instruments, with no drums. Taylor plays a very percussive banjo on some tracks, and other cuts include background cello that sounds like an early Suzanne Vega disc. Since this CD, Taylor hit upon "Trance Blues" as a way to describe his music. It simultaneously appeals to "jam band" festivals and John Lee Hooker fans. This is the most idiosyncratic blues(-ish) stuff I've heard in ... pretty much ever. Purists will be as unhappy with Taylor as the Newport Festival crowd was with Dylan in 1965. People who love blues but are ready to move on from Clarksdale circa 1938 without should really check this out. Folks who have worried about blues becoming fossilized with no means to develop or grow will be thrilled.
I notice that one of the reviewers is dismayed by the subject matter in this CD. It bears noting that this is not heavy-handed or uniformly sad stuff. It is a pleasant listen. The song about organ transplantation ("Be My Frankenstein" -- I told you this is not 1930's blues) is downright lighthearted. Taylor is as entitled to write a song about lynching as Billie Holiday was to sing "Strange Fruit." But if you're looking for 12-bar shuffles, you won't find them here. Highly recommended.
difficult, grim, unpleasant.......2004-06-16
the stuff that lasts.......2003-07-21
Though thoroughly contemporary, the arrangements eerily bridge the 19th and 21st Centuries in roughly the way Dylan's recent work has done. Taylor's settings are sparer, however, and his narratives more straightforward. Taylor even manages to breathe new life into the one non-original, the hoary folk-blues "Baby, Please Don't Go" (Big Joe Williams's often-recorded rewrite of the old prison lament "Another Man Done Gone"), but it's his own material that places him among the most compelling American roots performers to come along in recent memory. Dylan would have been proud to write -- for but one example -- "Shakie's Gone," but even the master would be hard-pressed to pull it off half so well.
This is music from a deep well, indeed. If you're looking for the stuff that lasts, Otis Taylor certainly has it.
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Driveway Moments
Various Artists Manufacturer: Npr National Public ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B0000YEEF8 Release Date: 2003-11-18 |
Tracks:
- Amy's Answering Machine - Amy Borkowsky
- Killing With Kindness
- Nutcracker Dreams - Kevin Kling
- His Father - Marion Winik
- My Dad the Ex-Con
- Animal Sex Advice by Dr. Tatiana A.K.A. Olivia Judson
Tracks:
- Sweet Potato Queen's Latest Dish - Jill Conner Browne
- My So-Called Lungs
- Hitching a Ride With Junior McGhee - Charlie Barnet
- Santa-Land Diaries - David Sedaris
Customer Reviews:
NPR gives "moments" period.......2005-07-20
My only regret was the CD didn't contain the complete broadcast of the amusing "Santaland Diaries."
NPR has the best programming.......2005-01-24
I really had a driveway moment with this CD.......2004-10-03
That's exactly what happened to me when I heard "My So-Called Lungs." It's indescribably touching, and I was left with tears streaming down my face, in awe of how the young girl making this audio diary could be so brave.
The stories span an almost unbelievable arc of emotion, from the drama of the story I just mentioned, to David Sedaris's Santaland Diaries, which is so hilarious that it's commonly played every Christmas on NPR stations across the country.
This is a suberb CD. Listen to it on a long road trip, and I guarantee the miles will just fly by, you'll be so absorbed in these stories. I have just ordered Driveway Moments 2--if it's half as good as this one, it'll be well worth it.
Rock Music:
- Flor de Amor
- Happiness: Mixed by Claude Challe [Limited Edition] [Import]
- Here comes...el Son - Songs of The Beatles with a Cuban TWIST
- Hollow Bamboo
- Jews With Horns
- Juju Music
- Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
- Legends
- Les Beaux Dégâts [Import]
- Les Choristes [Import]
Recommended Music:
Franz Schubert: Piano Sonata, D960/3 Klavierstücke
Evil Dead [Soundtrack] [Import]
Encounters of the Fourth World
Maximum Audio Biography: Foo Fighters [Import]
Gratton: Imagerie, Pastorale de Noël