Suga Suga [CD-single] [Enhanced] [Import]

Track Listings

1. Suga Suga (Radio)

2. Suga Suga (Video)

3. Suga Suga (Remix)

4. Sexy Eyes

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Baby Bash is from Houston's ever-growing Latino rap scene. Taken from the 2003 album 'Tha Smokin' Nephew'. Three non-LP tracks, 'Suga Suga' (Radio, Video, & Remix), are b/w the album's 'Sexy Eyes'. Polygram. 2004.

Suga Suga,Baby Bash,Universal,5"CD Singles,Rap

Tracks:

Intro
Why U Bull**in?
I'd Rather Give You My Bitch
Doe Doe And A Skunk
Don't No Suckaz Live Here
Tip Toe
I Wanna Go Home (The County Jail Song)
If U Stay Ready
Fly Fo Life
On My Way
Secrets
Table Interlude
Dip Da
Tip Toe (Reprise)

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Quik Production...Suga Free Isn't Bad Either.......2006-03-08

1997's Street Gospel is a memorable g funk era production with DJ Quik at the helm. It still retains its predictable raunchiness in part, but he doesn't overdo it, boasting about his unparalleled libido in every song. In fact, the two most memorable songs, the positive and insightful Dip Da and the hilarious smoking song, Doe Doe and A Skunk, contain few profanities.

Doe Doe and A Skunk is the first classic, with a fantastic funky beat, a smooth addictive hook and a funny subject matter. It was sampled also by Cali Life Style around the same time, but this song blows that one out of the water. The next classic and the best song on the album is Dip Da. It contains one of the most interesting series of lines in rap I've ever heard: "Now how in the hell/Did you figure you was gon cross/That pretty blue eyed-green eyed/Country voodoo creole female." It's one of those things that those uninitiated with rap, who just base their entire view of rap on MTV, wouldn't expect. And the whole song is insightful and creative as well, with Suga talking about his irresponsible father who left his kids to be raised by their mother.

The rest of the album has 2 near classics, On My Way, with a slow R&B groove like Dip Da and Tip Toe, a funky guitar-backed song where DJ Quik makes an appearance. Tip Toe (Reprise), a primarily instrumental version, is what we have come to expect with impassioned music-lover Quik's releases and is just as good. The quality of the album plummets thereafter, with nothing else memorable to speak of. It's not bad, it just seems like filler. Nonetheless, if you are a fan of DJ Quik's innovative funky rhythms and g funk era rap in genral, I'd recommend this one. The songs that are good are really good. 4.5/5

A CLASSIC!! .......2005-08-14

DJ Quik (the best producer ever) did all the tracks in this one with help from Robert Bacon on some tracks. This album is just CLASSIC nuthin more to it!

Suga Free's beats are addicting: 4.5 stars.......2005-02-18

Suga Free comes out strong on "Street Gospel." If you love G-Funk and humorous rhymes about hood life and pimpin', this is one to consider. Doe Doe And A Skunk has the best beat on the album. It has a smooth beat with excellent rhyming with a relaxing tropical background beat. Dip Da is a dope track showing Suga Free's more serious side dealing with issues in his family and the hood. It has a really hardcore beat and excellent rhyming. Don't sleep on this album.

Suga Free, problem free.......2004-12-22

This is a very solid debut. A unique style of flow that seperates him from the pack, but easy to bang. Hes hot. Production is Q-U-I-K no C so u know its bangin. Lyrically this cat is a west koast phenom and highly underrated. For the majority of the album the feel is reminiscent of Quiks ground breaking "Tonite". Very close to being a classic. My reviews are for those close to the streets so if this isnt u dont be surprised if u dont agree.
6X9 b down or get klowned

I'd Rather Give You My Money..........2004-03-19

If you haven't listened to this album, get out! There is no need for you to read these reviews! This c.d. is off the track man. The songs will make you wet your pants in laughter, and check your wallet cause your baby's mama mighta just dipped in their.
"I wanna go home", was on the Eastsidaz movie(hint hint) where he freestyles the lines to Snoop. Bow Wow!
"Doe Doe and a Skunk", best track. He caught me laughing with wonder, on how he got," Now I'm about to get gone, after I'm g'd up from the feet up, now roll this weed up like car heat up, speed up with the beat up and roll." within 4 seconds and not brea wind or something.
The rest...buy it and her it, it is worth not buying a bottle tonight and hearing yourself to become drunk.
One.

Average customer rating:

Even Suga's B-Sides are better than the comptetition...

The Features, Vol. 2
Suga Free
Manufacturer: Siccness
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Gangsta & Hardcore | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

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Just Add Water
SugaFree's Secret Congregation
The Features
New Testament
Street Gospel

ASIN: B000EZ91G0
Release Date: 2006-06-27

Tracks:

Intro
Sugafree
Payback
Skit
Ya Aint Fuckin Wit Us
Feels So Good
That's What The Pimpins There For
On Point
I Would
In Your Mouth
Caliways
For You - Nate Dogg
Aint Finna Take My Shit
Oh Ohhhh
Never Give Up
Break Your Back
Circus

Tracks:

Intro
Last Of The Dinosaur
Playas Gangstas
Pimpin In The Year 3000
Game
Cool
Inside Out
Lets Get Together
Tic's Groove
Trouble Remix
Happy
Bitches Aint Shit
Abcd
As Long As
Anyway
Outro

Customer Reviews:

Even Suga's B-Sides are better than the comptetition..........2006-07-18

This double album of previously unreleased material would probably be considered a B-Side release for the Pomona rapper Suga Free, but even his B-Sides have more spirit and flavor than most rappers' best. This is definitely a hardcore rap album - much grittier and urban than the recent studio release Just Add Water - and the cuts are less instantly accessible than that album's singles, but the sheer number of cuts means that there's probably something to like for everyone. Guest appearances appear on numerous tracks (hence the title of the album), and feature a huge number of major rap talents - DJ Quik, Snoop Dogg with the Eastsidaz, AMG, Rappin 4Tay, Chingy, and others. The prematurely late Mausberg also appears on a few welcome tracks.

I particularly like "Inside Out", featuring AMG flowing over a hard, techno-influenced backbeat, "Caliways" featuring Down and Kam over a dirty, gritty G-funk jam, and the spaced-out electric guitars of Suga flying solo on "I Would".

If you enjoy a good urban jam album, this is a completely worthwhile purchase. If your idea of rap is Will Smith or the Black Eyed Peas...well, check it out anyway. You might broaden your horizons. ;D

Average customer rating:

The Features
Suga Free
Manufacturer: Siccness
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

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The Features, Vol. 2
SugaFree's Secret Congregation
Street Gospel
New Testament
Back 2 Tha Clap

ASIN: B000FBFTIW
Release Date: 2006-08-22

Tracks:

Angry Enough - Sugafree
Don't Fight the Pimpin - Sugafree
Troube [Remix] - DJ Quik, , Sugafree
If You Stay Ready [Remix] - Sugafree
Do I Love Her - DJ Quik, Sugafree
I Don't Know - Tha Eastsidaz, Sugafree
Bring It On - Kokane, Snoop Dogg, Sugafree
No Doubt - DJ Quik, Playa Hamm, Sugafree
Til the Dawn - E-40, , Sugafree
Woop Woop - Hi-C, , Sugafree
Game Tight - AMG, , Sugafree
Abracadabra - Jake $Teed, Sugafree
Whistle - Sugafree
Erotica Chic - Sugafree,

Tracks:

Get the Money - Sugafree
Do You Really - Sugafree
Sorry I'm Away So Much - DJ Quik, Sugafree, Xzibit
Rug Burns - Tha Eastsidaz, Kokane, Sugafree
What U Thought - B-Legit, , Sugafree
First Date - Sugafree
Trust Me So Much - Snoop Dogg, Sugafree,
Way You Love Me - Sugafree
Pussy Sells - Tha Eastsidaz, Snoop Dogg, Sugafree
Inside Out - AMG, DJ Quik, Sugafree
Lets Get Together - Sugafree
Walk Away - DJ Quik, James DeBarge, Sugafree
Ridaz - Kokane, Snoop Dogg, Sugafree
Little Box - Sugafree

Average customer rating:

cool return
Da Pomona Pimp iz back!
'Bout Time!
Another Classic
Solid

New Testament
Suga Free
Manufacturer: Bungalo Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Just Add Water
The Features, Vol. 2
Konnectid Project, Vol. 1
Balance & Options

ASIN: B0001GOHFW
Release Date: 2004-03-09

Tracks:

Interlude
Why U Bullshittin' (Part 3)
Thinkin'
He's Pimpin' She's Hoein'
Angry Enuff
Born Again
You Just Won't Stop Talkin'
Get Loose
Did I Do Dat
Don't Fight Da Pimpin'
High Heels
Pay Me
Yo Momma Yo Daddy
She Get What She Pay Foe
Circus Music
Outro

Customer Reviews:

cool return.......2004-07-04

Suga Free is One of the Baddest Underrated Cats on the Mic who doesn't get the full dap He should.I remember hearing that Master P&Jay Z wanted to try to get the Cat on there Respective Labels but no Dice there.Free&Quik together are Solid.Suga Free can flow&Style but also have you cracking up.the Brother will get deep on you all at once as well.I still give the first Album More Dap overall but this one is cool.

Da Pomona Pimp iz back!.......2004-04-14

Finally Suga Free iz back at it. This cd iz tight and iz playable from trackz 2-15. Most of tha songz on this cd r hot and what makes me like tha cd even more iz tha way he repz Pomona. Thatz my hometown too and he loves reppin it 2 tha fullest. Tha trackz produced r not all by Quik but they r some hot beatz. Tha hottest tracks on here 2 name a few r Thinkin', Get Loose, Did I Do Dat, Dont Fight Da Pimpin, High Heels, Pay Me, and Circus Music. Honestly i think all tha trackz r hot. This cd iz highly recommended and go show ur support 4 da Pomona Pimp, Suga Free.

'Bout Time!.......2004-04-10

Finally my man Suga Free realeases another LP. I have been waiting for this along time, but it was definitely worth it. The PIMP is at it again, with bangin beats all over the album.
Sad though, this album wont sell much, 'cause Suga Free is painfully underated. But, since you're reading my review, and you got my word on it that this is the bomb, buy it right now, you will be bumpin' this all summer, it perfect for the car, rollin' down the beach-line with your windows open. That's the way of life. Support Suga Free and let him get what he deserves, West Coast rap is underated as well, so I suggest you buy this together with the new from Dilated Peoples and the new from Messy Marv.
Suga's flow is, of course on point through this realease, and lyrically it's entertaining and fun. Give it up for the PIMP himself, Suga Free keep doin' your thang.
Crab yourself a copy today. Definitely recommended!

Another Classic.......2004-04-03

This is Ty-Dog from the east coast. Yo Free, pop ya collar on both sides man. You got another classic. Every track on this cd is tight. Suga Free pimps the (...) out of a track. Congratulations pimp.

Solid.......2004-04-01

It's nice to play the whole thing through. From track 2 to track 15, it's nothing but smooth grooves, tight beats, and solid pimp rhymes. DJ Quik's beats are the spirit of the album throughout.

Average customer rating:

SugaFree's Secret Congregation
Suga Free's Congregation
Manufacturer: Paid in Full Ent
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Features, Vol. 2
The Features
New Testament
Just Add Water
Pain Killer'z

ASIN: B000HRMEMI
Release Date: 2006-10-17

Tracks:

My Secret Congregation
This Is How We Get Down
Pimpin' In The Year 3000
Gettin' This Money
Pimpin' Knew
A.O.B.
That's What I Do
We Be Diggin'
I Started That 'P' Shit
It's A Shame
Gimme The Sunshine
All You Really Need
In The Rain
You Gotta Believe Me
Can't Pimp Me
What A Hit We Made

Average customer rating:

rapping and good production
New and Improved!
Amazing and authentic
Smokin Party Jams
Display of Suga Freedom

Just Add Water
Suga Free
Manufacturer: Bungalo Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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New Testament
Street Gospel
Cali Iz Active
I Luv Cali

ASIN: B000F8DT1O
Release Date: 2006-05-09

Tracks:

Intro
What U Want
Tuen The F... In
Like What
Put Ya Hands Up
U Know My Name
Free-Call Snoop
So Fly
The Ranger
New And Improved
Peace Of Mind
U Ain't Knowing
Suga Cain
Fox Is Comin'
If You Feel Me (Dais West Coast Mix)
How I Get Down
I'm Gone
Person 2 Person
Don't Worry
Short Khop Interlude
Where U From
Happy
Change
Boyfriend (Pimpin)
So Fly (Remix)

Album Description

In order to be considered a supreme rapper, you've got to have a slick mouthpiece. And no one in the rap game has a mouthpiece slicker than Suga Free. Respected in the streets and by artists alike, Suga Free has appeared on albums from Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, and Lil Jon, among many others. After making hits with long-time recording partner DJ Quik, the Pomona-based rapper strikes out on his own with his tremendous third album, Just Add Water. Full of razor-sharp wit, lyrical pimpery and musically advanced production, the stunning collection sums up Suga Free's perspective on life. special guest appearances by Snoop Dogg, Mannie Fresh, Knocturnal, and Katt Williams makes this a must have. Includes a bonus DVD. Bungalo. 2006.

Customer Reviews:

rapping and good production.......2006-10-31

I love the lyrical lines on this album, but the musical parts aren't always that great. The production is really good, too. Not bad. Of course, you are free to look elsewhere if this album isn't your thing.

New and Improved!.......2006-09-09

"Just Add Water" is Suga Free's first album without his former long-time partner and West Coast legendary producer DJ Quik. And surprisingly, this new album (his 3rd solo overall) is as good as "Street Gospel" (but longer!)... I was a bit dissapointed with "The New Testament", which sounded a bit uninspired to me, and even Quik's beat weren't his best ones... On "Just Add Water" Suga Free bounced back to release another banger! It's one of those perfect albums, you can listen to, without skipping a track. It's Suga Free at his best - catchy funky West Coast beats (courtesy of mostly unknown producers, other than Mannie Fresh and Saccs), great (and catchy) RnB hooks and of course classic Suga Free rapping! Suga Free is at his best and you can see he improved as a rapper. I don't have to tell you about Suga Free - he's his usual charismatic, easy-going, crazy, funny, intelligent Pomona pimp. You know that his favorite subject is pimpin', but Suga raps a lot about other issues as well - especially women and relashionships... And whatever he raps about it's got that unique Suga Free humorous twist to it. Musically the album is West Coast to the fullest, without any Dirty South influences. It's melodic, funky, and the sound is very rich. The beats are usually complicated (so different than all those Lil Jon or Dr. Dre or Scott Storch beats...), and it's actually music, not just bumping beats. The producers (Freeze, Saccs, J-Steez, J. Classic, Mannie Fresh and a few others) really did a tremendous job on this one. Much much better than most of "The New Testament". Suga Free didn't use many guest rappers (other than Snoop Dogg and Knoc-turnal) and most of the guest artists are singers (and they all do an amazing job on those hooks!).
Overall, Suga Free proved that he can do it even without Quik, and he put out one of the best albums in 2006, for sure! It's so different, so authentic, it's just a must-have for any West Coast fan. Suga Free's approach to pimpin' is much different to other pimps turned rappers (such as Too Short, Eightball and MJG, Dru Down) - it's less serious and tough. Suga Free is a laid back, easy going, fun-loving person - and it also shows on the DVD that comes with the album (although it's as usual in very bad quality, both visually and it terms of the Sound). Suga Free is being himself and he did an amazing job on this album, proving he's one of the most creative rappers out there. Although Just Add Water is only the third album from rapper Suga Free in nine years, it is clear that he has lost none of his game in the time that's passed. The premise behind the record, as explained in the "Intro," is that it's a kind of guide to being a pimp. And while Suga Free is more than ready to give his share of advice about dealing with nosy and ungrateful women and his love for his job ("U Know My Name," for example, where he says over a smooth jazz beat, "Cuz all I really like is pimpin'," and "I only love what she do for me/I ain't getting married"), he is also willing to get a bit more personal and express some genuine emotion. "I'm Gone" and "Peace of Mind" are both about relationships that have gone wrong and that have hurt him, and in the guitar-driven "The Ranger" he's the most introspective and honest he's ever been, showing the maturity he's gained since his 1997 debut, Street Gospel. He explains his reasons for pimping in a Prince-esque falsetto over reverby, melancholy electric guitar chords, then moves into a modern rock-inspired chorus of "I don't want to be like the Lone Ranger/Traveling through the world just like a stranger." These moments of reflection are a nice complement to the rest of the album, with songs about sex and women and money, and bring a little humanity to the persona Suga Free has worked so hard to create. In terms of production, Just Add Water is as good as any G-funk record. Its beats are all smooth and clean, but there's enough diversity in instrumentation and style (the aforementioned rock found in "The Ranger" and also in "Suga Cain," the pure James Brown funk of "What U Want," complete with grunts, and the Spanish guitar in "If You Feel Me") to keep things from growing either boring or predictable. However, lyrically Suga Free's misogyny gets a little tiresome, and his rhymes have always been kind of hit or miss, which unfortunately doesn't change on this record. Although he has too many lines that involve him trying to extend single-syllable words into four or five, he makes up for this by focusing more on his singing, which has a cadence reminiscent of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. It sounds good, and ties the musical elements of the record together nicely. Just Add Water may not be the complete handbook to being a pimp, but it certainly is a kind of missive on the life of Suga Free, and is definitely worth checking out.

Bottom line - Don't you sleep on this one, or Suga might slap you like you're one of his bi***es!!

Amazing and authentic.......2006-06-23

Suga Free's "Just Add Water" is an authentic and amazing recording from the true street pimp and hustler, delivered in the rapper's usual syncopated and hyperactive drawl. Nearly every song just feels honest and real; as usual, Free dips deeper into his emotions than most rappers in his genre and pulls more out as a result to show for it. Suga Free's relentless enthusiasm for the lifestyle he leads is well-known in Southern California, and it and his sense of humor about it come across on every song. If some of the tracks on the album feel inconsistent, it's probably more because the singles - "U Know My Name" and "So Fly" (featuring Snoop Dogg) - are just so catchy by comparison that it leaves the listener wanting more. "The Ranger" is also amazing, featuring a backing beat with (of all things) an *alternative rock* melody as backing. It's great!

On the whole, a witty, wonderful effort. Play on, playa!

Smokin Party Jams.......2006-05-15

Suga Free releases his third album, Just add Water, without the helping hand of DJ Quik. However, the producers lace him up with some of the hottest, smoothest, and bounciest G-Funk beats in many years. It's hard to find such decent beats these days. But, Suga Free also does his part; he drops relentlessly clever, on point rhymes throughout. He may take the pimpin' persona very far, but that's what he's known for; he is very charismatic, and that helps us get into his albums. All in all, this is an essential album to ride to, chill to, or to get the party pumpin.' This album is a little better than the New Testament because there are neater beats here.

Display of Suga Freedom.......2006-05-12

I love Suga Free's new album, Just Add Water, because he really displays his creativetity in writing and flow. He's got tracks on there with everyone from Kokane to Mannie Fresh. "Dont Worry" and "U Aint Knowin" are some of my favorite tracks of the album. This is definitely one of my favorites from Suga Free's repertoire.

Average customer rating:

Latino Velvet's Best
Best album of 2002!!!
You can't pass this one up
West Coast Masterpiece

Velvetism
Jay Tee & Baby Beesh
Manufacturer: 40 Ounce Ent
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Latin Rap | Latin Music | Styles | Music

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Velvet City
Get Wiggy!
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Clique

ASIN: B000068TL9
Release Date: 2002-06-25

Tracks:

Intro
Two Cold Cappers
They Don't Even Know
Same Sh-t
On One
Vamanos
Hustler Fo' Sho'
What's Goin' On?
Latin Ladies
She Was A Hustler
What's Up With You?
Side Show
Vamanos (Remix)
What's Goin' On? (Remix)
Outro

Customer Reviews:

Latino Velvet's Best.......2004-01-25

Velvetism is for all the real homies that judge music based on quality and stay away from all that commercial garbage. Every song is tight. I've been following Latino Velvet a long time and, song for song, this the their best album. It's not nearly as hardcore as Baby Beesh in Dopehouse but the beats are 95% better than most rappers. This is an album for anyone who grew up on Frost and love that pimp mode, player style.

Best album of 2002!!!.......2003-09-23

Jay Tee of N2DEEP and Baby Beesh of Potna Deuce come together and again produce a classic album. Top notch production and features make this album one of if not the best album of 2002. She Was A Hustler is a tight track featuring Mr. Kee and Merciless shines on Vamanos while What's Goin' On? should have been a certified radio hit.

You can't pass this one up.......2003-04-11

This is one of the most sickest heated laced up albums Beesh and Jay Tee have done so far, the lyrics were too tight, and the beats were off the hook, no b.s. this album is the fire. If you ain't feeling it, all I can say is you must be a square that don't deserve to have the album in the first place. Get this asap homies, alrato

West Coast Masterpiece.......2002-09-11

This is quality hip hop form start to finish, the beats are mind blowing, and the lyrics represent good west coast rap.
I am gonna be bumping this cd for a long time, it is a perfect album to bump in your ride.

Tracks:

1 900 26 Suga T
Can U Handle Dis'
Sucka Repellent - E-40, , Suga T
Get Ur's [OG Version] - E-40, , Suga T
Riddin' Till tha Wheels Fall Off - MC Breed, Suga T
Ksuga Radio (Skit) - Suga T,
Super Bad Bitch - Conscious Daughters, Suga T
Sneaky Tales
Ya' Killin' Me
Ghetto Luv - Levitti, Suga T
Game - B-Legit, , D-Shot, , E-40, , Suga T
Party Up
Make Dat' Skrill - Kaveo, Mossie, Kaveo Mugzi, Suga T,
NY to Cali (Skit)
NY to Cali
Smobbin' Through Yo' Hood
Ghetto Child Soldier
I Can't Git Over
Hoes - The Luniz, Suga T
Get Ur's [Energy Version]
I Can't Feel U - Money-B, Suga T

Customer Reviews:

KOOL!.......2002-06-25

The songs on this cd are mostly not up to par with her moderate commerical sucess in 1996 "PAPER CHASIN'". However ," GETTIN' IT" should be enjoyed by people how liked the two albums from H.W.A.,MIA X, SYLK E.FYNE and GANGSTA BOO aka LADY BOO. SIGNED MUSIC FAN.

Fed up and Sic Wid It..........2002-04-30

This has to be worst album produced by the Sic Wid It family (aka "the Click"). The music was so garbage it was difficult to pay attention to the lyrics. The only saving grace about this album is cover shot!

Okay.............2000-10-18

Suga T is a fine woman. She can flow and her tempo blends with the beats. Best cuts in the album are " Ridin til da wheels off', Super Bad Bi*#h, Ghetto Love and Party Up. Overall, its a solid effort.

Average customer rating:

(No stars)
Simply the best
Mahler's Debt to Beethoven

Mahler: Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection"
Gustav Mahler , Seiji Ozawa , Nathalie Stutzmann , Emiko Suga , Saito Kinen Orchestra , and Sinyukai Choir
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical Instrumental Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
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Das Lied von der Erde
Mahler: Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand"

ASIN: B000054OXK
Release Date: 2000-12-19

Tracks:

Sym No.2 In C Minor 'Resurrection': I. Allegro Maestoso. Mit Durchaus Ernstem Und Feierlichem Ausdruck
Sym No.2 In C Minor 'Resurrection': II. Andante Moderato. Sehr Gemachlich. Nie Eilen.

Tracks:

Sym No.2 In C Minor 'Resurrection': III. In Ruhig Fliessender Bewegung
Sym No.2 In C Minor 'Resurrection': IV. 'Urlicht.' Sehr Feierlich, Aber Schlicht.
Sym No.2 In C Minor 'Resurrection': V. Im Tempo Des Scherzos. Wild Herausfahrend

Amazon.com

The Saito Kinen Orchestra was created in 1984 for a series of concerts honoring the memory of Hideo Saito, Japan's most influential music educator and founder of the Tokyo Music Academy that bears his name. One of its first and most famous graduates was Seiji Ozawa, who cofounded the orchestra and under whose leadership it performs worldwide. This record was taped live in Tokyo during special millennium concerts in 2000. Many of Saito's former students who now hold prominent positions in the West participated; the personnel list in the booklet contains numerous names familiar to American audiences, notably cellist Sadao Harada, founding member of the Tokyo String Quartet, and violinist Hiroko Yajima of the Mannes Trio.

Perhaps because it was taped in performance, the recording is not of optimal technical quality. Dynamic contrasts are excessive, from almost inaudible pianissimos to ear-splitting explosions of sound, necessitating an alert finger on the volume control, and the tone is sometimes harsh and shrill. The playing is good, with some beautiful solos from the concertmaster and the winds, but it's a little stiff, inflexible, and inhibited. The musicians do not seem entirely comfortable with Mahler's abrupt changes of tempo and mood, his unfettered flights into the depths and heights of emotion, his sardonic irony, his characteristic march and waltz rhythms. However, in the last movement, the power, mystery, and ecstasy of the music, as well as the concentrated expressiveness of the excellent chorus, combine to break down their restraint. Nathalie Stutzman has a lovely voice, but she sings with too much fussy intensity; Emiko Suga sounds pure, innocent, and angelic. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

(No stars).......2002-12-28

This is an amazing recording. I mean that. I've heard Mahler played with what I felt was the wrong feeling or emphasis before ... but this is Mahler played with NO feeling and NO content. It's truly incredible what Seiji and this orchestra do to some of the most *directly* emotional music of all time: they de-content it. The pictures inside show him jumping up and down on the podium, but the orchestra sounds like they're on autopilot. Everyone is moving their fingers and playing all the notes, but the sweep and nuance of Mahler is not there, not even in flashes, not even hinted at. Simply put, this is the worst performance of Mahler I have ever heard.

From the opening tremolo there is no tension. Nothing builds in the first movement--there is no climax. The second movement lacks all Viennese charm, the third all Jewishness. There's no mystery in the horn call, no build, no ecstasy of redemption as the choir enters. Seiji seems to use sheer volume to mask the fact that he doesn't know what to say in this music. (In this he reminds me of the way John Eliot Gardiner uses speed.) And Nathalie Stutzmann is terrible, thick-voiced and stuffy. She does not seem to understand the meaning of the words she is singing.

Sound is very fine, but to what end? I never thought it possible that Mahler could sound just plain *empty.* Overwrought, yes. *Wrongly*-wrought, yes, but empty? This CD astonished me. Maybe everyone should hear it, to discover how one can play all the markings on the page and communicate nothing.

Other reviewers here have blamed the Boston Symphony for sounding bored and making Ozawa look bad. Place the blame where it belongs--at the podium, where credit is, after all, always given when things go right. The BSO positively sparkles under most of its guest conductors, whereas the Saito Kinen Orchestra here sounds exactly as the BSO does under Seiji. Don't blame the orchestra for not doing Seiji's job.

Simply the best.......2002-12-03

Ozawa of late, has been hampered by a bored Boston Symphony Orchestra, full of uninteresting repretoire and undesignated prinicpal section appointments. One wonders what happened to that dynamic Karajan protege of the 70's who inspired and charmed musicans to play their very best (the BSO certain do not under his current direction- 29 years is a long time)

Two answers: That impish Ozawa has been doing his best work of late in Vienna (where the Austrians seem quite happy with his leadership) and of course with his Saito Kinen Orchestra.

Simply put, this performance blew me away. Although I steadfastly subscribe to that crusty Klemperer version on EMI, Ozawa offers such a dyanmic, taut and dramatic performance that it can be included as one of the great Ressurections. The contralto is not Christa Ludwig, and she is a bit mannered for my tatse, but I cannot erase the first movement from my mind. Ozawa navigates this Brucknerian nightmare with such clarity , compassion and drama that I can no longer listen to the Klemperer disc because of the sloppy, plodding and unclear playing the Philharmonia engages in.

Mind you, I am familar with the Klemperer, Abbado Chicago&Vienna, Metha, Bernstein-Vienna, Solti, Tennstedt, and Inbal versions of this work. None of them offer the concentrated committment of an orchestra playing, and surpassing the very edge of their powers.

Give the first movement 15 mintues and you will be convinced.

Mahler's Debt to Beethoven.......2001-02-06

The Saito Kinen Orchestra was founded in 1984 by Seiji Ozawa and colleagues in memory of Ozawa`s mentor and one of the most influential of Japanese music educators, Hideo Saito. It is a wonderful ensemble which proves that Asians can be totally at home with western music. The personnel of the orchestra are listed in the booklet, a practice that I wish more companies would follow. They do a superb job with Mahler's extremes of dynamics and dramatic tempo changes, and the result is a terrific rendition of this powerfully evocative music. That the Japanese, who so love Beethoven that mass performances of his Ode to Joy are commonplace, are now performing Mahler so wonderfully is completely appropriate.

In this work, Mahler's debt to Beethoven is quite clear. Of course, Mahler's Second is a choral symphony following Beethoven's lead with his 9th. Mahler's funeral march in this piece is not only in the same key as the funeral march in Beethoven's Third Symphony, the Eroica, but there are similarities in the initial melodies as well. Mahler expands the number of movements in this symphony (as in others) to five, as Beethoven did in his 6th Symphony. Beethoven expanded the classical orchestra with the addition of trombones, piccolo, and contrabassoon in his 5th Symphony to heighten the expressive quality of the music, and Mahler often expands the romantic orchestra for similar purposes. But most important is Beethoven's structural thinking which Mahler inherited. Beethoven so expands the traditional sonata-allegro form that just the first movement of his Eroica Symphony is as long or longer as a whole symphony by one of his predescessors. Mahler took this expansion to heart, and makes each of his symphonies an entire musical world.

Mahler's Second is often called the Resurrection Symphony, for the text of the final movement is a statement of faith in the afterlife. This text is based on an ode by Friedrich Klopstock, but Mahler himself made revisions and additions which make description of the journey of the soul to God more explicit. Mahler at one point created a program for the symphony which divided the work into sections such as "the last trump" and "the caller in the desert", but he later withdrew it as too much of a crutch for the audience. But these programatic details remain in the music--I think that one cannot listen to the passage that precedes the choir's first entrance in the final movement without an awareness that it represents the call to the final judgement, and that the flute is a musical portrayal of the holy spirit.

This piece is full of some of the most extraordinary music ever written, and the Saito Kinen Orchestra does a wonderful job with it. This is a beautifully recorded live performance, and I think the criticism in the editorial review above that the dynamic contrasts are too extreme is absurd. Mahler wrote these extreme dynamics and he meant them, and while they may make the music unsuitable for performance as background music, or to play on a car stereo or boombox, without them the soul of the music is lost. I think the dynamic contrasts are superbly done, and absolutely necessary to an understanding of and emotional reaction to the work--if you don't like them, get a compressor. My only minor criticism is that at the very end, the brass seems to let down a bit of the intensity. Whether this is due to fatigue (which can be significant in this work, as it is very demanding on the brass) or simply a desire to bring out the choir, I am not sure. But I can highly recommend this performance in spite of this minor flaw.

Pimp Talk
Average customer rating:
Pimp Talk
Suga Free , Dru Down , and 4-Tray
Manufacturer: Snake Pit
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00005Q6MU
Release Date: 2001-09-12