What Are You Listening To?

[Jerome]

Sir Bonham. A perfect example of the difference a really good drummer can make to a group. Without him they would have got absolutely nowhere, notwithstanding their combined talents. One thing to note here - John Bonham considered Barriemore Barlow (70's Jethro Tull) the best rock drummer England ever produced. He was right. The only drummer I have ever heard whose four limbs were all playing in different time signatures. (Bursting out album). Bloody brilliant. Have to say John would have been extremely proud of his son's performance at the O2. He had all the nuances and fills down to a fine art. Must have taken him ages to get that right. Hats off to him - what a tribute to give to your father.

[Tiggi]

2-disc comp which covers their important years pretty comprehensively.

I like the Small Faces, but probably not as much as Crazyman. Hence other than this the only full album of theirs' I have is Ogden's, and this one was bought on Crazy's recommendation.

The first disc deals with the Decca years, when they peddled their energetic take on Rhythm & Blues, whilst the second features the pick of their output for Immediate, which is predominantly a gentler, more psychedelic affair.

Other than the few tracks of cheeky Cockney chappy shit (never liked these, and emulation of the same thing from the Parklife era Blur kept me away from them for the longest time), this is a strong career summation from a very good band, who could have had it all with some slightly stronger writing IMV.


AllMusic 4+/5 stars.

[SteveO]

Not the right section for blues and jazz, but I thought I would group them all together ..since this is a much popular site...lol !

The Healer - John Lee Hooker
The Ultimate Blues Collection - John Lee Hooker & Muddy Waters
Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin
Alison Krauss & Union Station - Live
Eric Clapton & Wynton Marsalis - Playing the Blues **** are you kidding me !!!!

[SteveO]

PAUL McCARTNEY - Tug of War........released 1982

Keeping with the tradition of playing Beatles or solo ex Beatle albums on a regular basis I chose this vinyl record of Sir Paul's. Here Today is on here, Paul's hymn for John, as well as the single Ebony and Ivory with the legendary Stevie Wonder. Get It is a treat with Carl Perkins as well as the beautiful ballad Wanderlust.

George Martin on piano and Ringo drumming,make guest appearances, as well as superstar bassist Stanley Clarke.

All Music rating...4.5/5

[CRAZY-HORSE]

i did this one some time ago...it got a very high score from me....certainly in my top 5 Macca solo albums ever....

strange that Ebony & Ivory gets slagged off as one of the worst songs of all time in worst of lists/....dont know why, its a bit whimsical but stilla very good song

[Jerome]

Just listening to WYWH immersion set. The 1974/75 SOYCD live track is brilliant. These guys had incredible imagination in their day. And it's really strange to hear the title track with piano and drums missing during some passages and then coming in again. Stephan Grappelli's violin solo (missing from the released version) is great. Should have been kept in. Creates a wonderful feel to the track. Almost jazzy.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

its a shame a few more things arent missing from the immersion album LOL!!!

in all fairness though, i do think Wish You Were Here is a pretty good album...i got the new remastered version when it got released, not enough of a fan to get the immersion set though.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

ELVIS PRESLEY "if every day was like christmas" cd, 1994.

tis the season.....etc etc and out comes Elvis Presley's best collection of christmas songs.
24 of them, well 20 plus four alternate versions(why the hell do they need to do that...i dont want to hear the same song twice on one disc!)...i guess its another gimmick aimed at getting die hard fans to part with their money over and over again for the same songs thinking they are getting something new...ooops, i guess that includes me!
anyway this is the most complete set of Elvis christmassy songs on one collection.
tracks range from 1958's "blue christmas" through to country tinged 1970s recordings, from originals to covers of standards.
only two tracks i do not like on here, both being covers..White Christmas and O'Little Town Of Bethlehem....well theyre not that bad really, but The King tried to modernise them back in 1958 with a bit of his "well-a-well-a-well" type vocals...not a good move IMO.
theres a few rocking tracks here also,originals done in true 1950s rock style, several other great covers in "silver bells" and "winter wonderland", other covers are kept in the true feeling of christmas (the first noel, o come all ye faithful to name a couple) and then theres some beautiful 1970s country tinged christmassy type tunes.
the spectrum of themes in the songs covers all emotions of the festive period from sadness, loneliness, joy, happiness, hope and faith so everyone can feel something in some if not all of these tracks...whilst maintaining the yuletide spirit of Christmas...,this is by far the best christmas album i own by any artist...only Boney M's one comes close IMO

I LOVE THIS ALBUM

rating: 2.4

a selection of songs from the album that i give "***" to!

blue christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6gaGa3eIWs
here come santa claus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3Fh7Aa3yyo
it wont seem like christmas(without you)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltPW35Qw5bI
holly leaves and christmas trees
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuYNrqrq31E
silver bells
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xRECr9zp3I
i'll be home for christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERotGA1mEUM&ob=av2n
winter wonderland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR4Ik4RflVU
if i get home on christmas day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxjc3HC-Zao

[CRAZY-HORSE]

WINGS "WILDLIFE" vinyl/cd, 1971.

Macca's third post Beatle album in a little over twelve months and his first with the first incarnation of future supergroup Wings...
also, the first album of his career(including Beatles) not to make the UK top 10....reaching #11, his next studio album that failed to make the UK top 10 was his 1999 covers album "run devil run" which reached #12....an amazing feat in anyones books!!!
anyway, quite a weird but likeable mix of tracks here, from the screeching vocals of "mumbo", through the ridiculously silly "bip bop", the pleading conservation piece "wildlife" to the tender ballads of "i am your singer", "some people never know" and "dear friend"...also, on here is a terrible cover of a terrible Everly Brothers track called "love is strange" which was actually the first Wings single...it failed to chart in the UK!
eight tracks and two short instrumentals on the vinyl version, but three bonus tracks on the cd version including his cover of the nursery rhyme "mary had a little lamb" and its companion b-side "little woman love"(a cool honky tonk style number), plus another early b-side "oh woman, oh why" which actually made the US singles charts in its own right.
overall, not a great Macca album, but he was still finding his solo feet here...
i remember MH doing this one a while ago and i posted that i didnt like this one..saying its one of his worst albums, i still hold that view but it still scrapes in with a "like" rating.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: love is strange
best track: tomorrow

tracks:

1. mumbo **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caUwVC4MPFM audio
2. bip bop **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq4yXpxvQto audio
3. love is strange *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQfJpQI3auw audio
4. wildlife **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVBmogGl5xc audio
5. some people never know **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfM_HbIx7LQ audio
6. i am your singer **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fspSZkvwNWc audio
7. bip bop-link(instrumental)
8. tomorrow **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwmOBKdROIQ audio
9. dear friend **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mZ8HBUVC_M audio
10.mumbo(instrumental)
11.oh woman, oh why *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHnD2ZiXxKo audio
12.mary had a little lamb **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaZ9s7S26qg audio
13.little woman love **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R5hgKUlUWQ audio

3s=0
2s=9
1s=2

rating: 1.8

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE BEATLES "let it be" vinyl/cd 1970

the second last and shelved Beatle album, but final released studio album by the Fab Four...although maybe not so fab by then..well, certainly not to eachother anyway!
thought i'd get this one out to play after several comments in regards to the 'quality of material' on it in another thread here a week or so ago...
tracks were polished up for release as a final studio album with the blessing of John Lennon...Paul was not happy about the studio treatment of his "let it be" and "long and winding road" tracks, and eventually over the last several years it has been re-released under the title "let it be-naked" with the tracks released as Macca had inteneded them to be heard...
anyway,
i do like this album, and not love it as i thought i did...from the Simon & Garfunkel sounding "two of us", through the blues rock of "get back", to the classic ballads mentioned a couple of lines back up the page...and including what i consider one of Lennon's finest songs, "across the universe", to Harrison's rocker "i me mine"...all up a very good album, but for me there are three real bad tracks on here.."dig it", "one after 909" and "for you blue", the other eight share the like and love score with four a piece...unfortunately, as far as Beatle albums go, this is a dud, but for most other performers, they would be proud to have an album of this quality...just goes to show how great the Beatles were that even a bad album for them scores 2.1!!!

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

rating: 2.1