What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

^^
lol
Grey Seal, I usually skipped over that one

great minds thingy again MH...LOL!

yeh well, the clarity of the cd just confirms it being a 'bad' track

[CRAZY-HORSE]

SIMPLY RED "picture book" cd,1985...

brilliant debut set from these "blue eyed soul boys" from the UK....
numerous hits from this one all over the world from the funk of "money's too tight to mention" to the 60s soul of "holding back the years"
a great album that has stood the test of time well IMO, and an album that Hucknell and Co never surpassed.

I LOVE THIS ALBUM

from the album:

money's too tight to mention ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VUZKej3LoU live

holding back the years ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQQ7KFNQr5Q live

come to my aid ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bn5rKNFxM4 live

[CRAZY-HORSE]

TAYLOR SWIFT "speak now" cd,2010.

fifth album by country cum pop sensation Swift...i say 'country cum pop' because although i dont think she is strictly country she has scored four US #1 albums and four #1s on the country charts???.
twelve of the fourteen tracks here have made it onto the Billboard charts, whether that is due to downloads or official releases i have no idea..its so hard to tell nowadays with itune track sales counting towards chart sales..bloody stupid IMO,whats the point in artists releasing singles when any track can make the charts anyway!
anyways, back to the album, only one song on here that even comes close to be being called country, and that is "mean"(not mean for being the only one but mean as in the tracks title!).
some mighty fine pop on this album encouraged me to buy another couple of her albums on the strength of it(still yet to be heard though...on the "to play list"). we, in Australia, appear to have embraced Taylor as much as the Yanks/Canadians sending 7 of the tracks into the top 20, and giving her a multi-platinum #1 album here, strange how the UK hasnt...only two chart entries on the singles chart and a brief stint in the top 10 on the albums charts there.
all in all Swift doesnt have a real strong voice and will never be compared to Florence or Adele but what she does, she appears to do really well on this album, just hoping her other albums i have now got are just as good, or at least close to it!

I LIKE THIS ALBUM:

with four loves,seven likes, and three dislikes this one clocks in as a 2.1 rated album.
my two favourite tracks here are the country flavoured "mean" and the hit single "sparks fly"

mean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CPQv1d0WVQ live

sparks fly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QdCnvixNvM live

[Music Head]

^^
yet to have any Taylor
keep hoping she'll show up in that discount bin
good pop music

[SteveO]

Great admiration and respect for this gal...she writes all of her songs and plays guitar !!!!

^^
yet to have any Taylor
keep hoping she'll show up in that discount bin
good pop music

[Music Head]

from my library (vinyl)



Pretty weak for Barry. Most of his studio albums come out higher than this. And this is a greatest hits album. I'm
sure Vol. 1 made a love rating and this one barely makes a like, on the strength of three tracks, with five making
the lowest grade. Two of those are covers that are cringe worthy. Meat Loaf/Steinman had to be weeping at the
slaughter of Read 'Em And Weep and The Four Seasons Let's Hang On makes the worst. Weep actually made it to #18 as
a U.S. single. One more cover of Ian Hunters Ships at least gets a pass mark and made #9. I Made It Through The
Rain is my favorite and got a #10. The Old Songs (#15) and Somewhere Down The Road (#21) are the other two love
tracks. This album only went gold as opposed to Vol. 1's platinum. I would only give it a silver, or maybe gray.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

Worst Track - Let's Hang On

Best Track - I Made It Through The Rain

We dreamers have our ways
Of facing rainy days
And somehow we survive
We keep the feelings warm
Protect them from the storm
Until our time arrives
Then one day the sun appears
And we come shining through those lonely years

I made it through the rain
I kept my world protected
I made it through the rain
I kept my point of view
I made it through the rain

And found myself respected
By the others who
Got rained on too
And made it through
When friends are hard to find
And life seems so unkind
Sometimes you feel so afraid
Just aim beyond the clouds
And rise above the crowds
And start your own parade
'Cause when I chased my fears away
That's when I knew that I could finally say

I made it through the rain
I kept my world protected
I made it through the rain
I kept my point of view
I made it through the rain

And found myself respected
By the others who
Got rained on too
And made it through

I made it through the rain
I kept my world protected
I made it through the rain
I kept my point of view
I made it through the rain

And found myself respected
By the others who
Got rained on too
And made it through
And made it through
I made it through

1) Ships **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGgaiftq_hM
2) Some Kind Of Friend *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJScNMzY4-Q
3) I Made It Through The Rain ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z48oTB6ie10
4) Read "Em And Weep *
video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU4xZ5fbVt0
5) Put A Quarter In The Jukebox **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXBpGTdPrWw
6) Somewhere Down The Road ***
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx0WtiYUnCw
7) One Voice *
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKPWzLgvgW4
8) The Old Songs ***
video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsoqWXyN_wQ&feature=fvst
9) Let's Hang On *
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYLXPhev_Zc
10) Memory **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvYEOfot6ho
11) You're Lookin' Hot Tonight *
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfPPB94RrKg

3's - 3
2's - 3
1's - 5

Grade - 1.8

so many albums, so little time

[CRAZY-HORSE]

HARRY CHAPIN "heads and tales" cd,1972.

didnt know where to put this one, i figured he was a folk singer, but allmusic call him a pop/rock singer?
debut set from Harry, pretty average affair IMO, a couple of songs i dont like, two i love, including the sublime "taxi". cant complain too much as Harry was a great storyteller,if not the best then certainly in the top couple.
also, not really a great singer but his stories carry him on through for me...
not a bad album but not as good as some of his latter albums!

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

WORST TRACK: EMPTY
BEST TRACK: TAXI

TRACKS:

1. could you put your lights on,please **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJPSjs7a6Qc audio
2. greyhound **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBGOL5gVono audio
3. everybody's lonely **
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e5WiSENbO0 audio
4. sometime,somewhere wife *
5. taxi ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeMX1JfqKuc live
6. empty *
7. any old kind of day **
8. dogtown ***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQJBR4KDCsw audio
9. same sad singer **

3s=2
2s=5
1s=2

rating: 2.0

[Music Head]

from my library (vinyl)



Dontcha love those smooth country sounds of Kenny Rogers? I do. But you're not gonna find 'em here. Nothing close
to country on this album. Yet this came in at #3 on the country charts. I'll never understand 'em. #18 on the pop
charts which makes a little more sense. Even that's an undeserving ranking for me. His 11th solo album and the last
with Liberty Records, then moving up to RCA. Could be my least favorite Kenny Rogers album, and it goes platinum.
Even the smash hit of the title track with Sheena Easton barely get's a like for me. Decent song, but it belongs to
Seger. One other cover that I know of, You Are So Beautiful, one of the five do not likes. Five likes are not
enough to give the album a passing grade. That title track with Sheena was a #1 country and #6 pop hit. Two other
singles of All My Life and Scarlet Fever, which is my favorite, but still only a like. There is no clip for that.
Lionel Richie makes a writing contribution with How Long. Had forgotten that Billy Preston was a co-writer of You
Are So Beautiful. Joe Cocker's version still wins out for me.

I DO NOT LIKE THIS ALBUM

Worst Track - Bad Enough

Best Track - Scarlet Fever

1) We've Got Tonight **
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3BuITOx3Cs
2) Scarlet Fever **
3) Farther I Go *
4) No Dreams **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt8en0TzwdE\
5) Bad Enough *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vazo-TYauxw
6) All My Life **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ASXyWw7d8
7) How Long *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQE6Ao6vv1A
8) Love, Love, Love **
9) What I Learned From Loving You *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwpPVYeSEUs
10) You Are So Beautiful *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiwUP4m8wDY

3's - 0
2's - 5
1's - 5

Grade - 1.5

so many albums, so little time

[CRAZY-HORSE]

PEREZ PRADO "king of mambo" cd,2004

this album could have quite easily have gone in the 'world music' threads or this one, put it here though because "mambo" is 'dance music' i guess!
anyway,this one is not the cover i have, guess i got a reissue of the original 1994 cd release.
i know absolutely nothing about this style of music, just got it because it was in the discount bin for $2....and figured i couldnt go wrong for that price....which is just as well as 8 of the 20 tracks i do not like!
the track "quizas quizas quizas" was covered by Doris Day as "perhaps perhaps perhaps"
apparently Prado was a 'legend' in the mambo scene in the 40s and 50s so i guess this is a compilation of some of his best or favourite tracks of his career.
mostly instrumentals here,just as well as they only go on for a couple of minutes each,thus, some are quite good IMO, others are simply too repeatative and lack variation.
overall not a bad selection of songs,plenty of good beats,brass, and the occasional vocal...presumably in Cuban???

I DO NOT LIKE THIS ALBUM

album rating: 1.6

from the album:

mambo de ruletero
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ONF6X8mpY8 audio

mambo politecnico
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhxJRI5d8wY audio

mambo universitario
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n17NdgFiWqg live

quizas quizas quizas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k6l2RQqqnU audio

[Music Head]

from my library (vinyl)



The duos final album, their tenth. There was another release but it consisted of material mostly recorded before
this. Only Karens beautiful voice saves this one. No great tracks which you would expect on a Carpenters album.
Only one cover that I recognize, Beechwood 4-5789, a hit for the Marvelettes in 1962, co-written by none other than
Marvin Gaye. That was fun to learn. Material here just seems weak, more the music than the lyrics. Back In My Life
Again makes the worst, with the synthesizer helping that status. Five singles were released, with The highest
charting being my favorite here, Touch Me When We're Dancing (#16), not a great song, but it will do. The album
could only make #52, their weakest since the debut in '69. The brits must have liked it, with a #12 showing there.
At this time, Karen was already suffering the debilitating affects of her psychological disorder that would take
her life less than two years later. Probably apparent from the baggy clothes in the video for Those Good Old Dreams
and her hollow face on the live clip for Back In My Life Again. It also says Richard was recovering from a drug
problem, which I didn't know, probably caffeine.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

Worst Track - (Want You) Back In My Life Again

Best Track - Touch Me When We're Dancing

Play us a song we can slow dance on
We want to hold each other
Play us a groove so we hardly move
Just let our hearts beat together
Oh baby, 'cause it feel so good
When we're close like this
Whisper is my ear and let me steal a kiss

Come on and touch me
When we're dancing
You know you've got that loving touch
(Loving touch)
Touch me when we're dancing
I want to feel you when I'm falling in love

Tonight's the night and it feels so right
My heart is saying it to me
You're the one I've waited for so long
So let your love flow through me
Oh baby, 'cause it feels so good
Just to be this close
You've got me up so high
I could fly coast to coast

Come on and touch me
When we're dancing
You know you've got that loving touch
(Loving touch)
Touch me when we're dancing
I want to feel you when I'm falling in love

1) Those Good Old Dreams **
video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjl2unvyl48
2) Strength Of A Woman **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLbQsQxCuco
3) (Want You) Back In My Life Again *
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPjirEWyQ0E
4) When You've Got What It Takes **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhOQRZuN6fI
5) Somebody's Been Lyin' **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2BMJZHmQLQ
6) I Believe You **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSIEvVz4WTY
7) Touch Me When We're Dancing **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEk2irpuZWQ
8) When It's Gone (It's Just Gone) **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLFmdcLI5Rc
9) Beechwood 4-5789 *
video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLwWqegy5jE
10) Because We Are In Love (The Wedding Song) **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPe6RhyA5ks

3's - 0
2's - 8
1's - 2

Grade - 1.8

so many albums, so little time