title: Talented Musicians, Unique Sound

text: I, too, first encountered these musicians in the NYC subway -- busy commuters could not help but stop to listen to their beautiful music featuring pan flutes and other traditional instruments. This CD provides a good collection of tracks, but not as successful for me as their El Condor Pasa CD. I can't recommend the latter highly enough. Nonetheless, Narihualac is a good, solid collection that should be on your play list if you enjoy this genre of music.


title: Pan Flutes Sing Songs of the Andes

text: Melodic, beautifully recorded & mesmerizing "folk" type tunes are simply enchanting. First encountered this group playing in the NYC subways, I would often stand to listen with many others who enjoyed the work of this talented group of musicians. Now I have my own copy of the CD!


title: mythological

text: These two fit like hand and glove and their chops are up their with the best in the business.


title: Fast ship

text: Nice cd. Like new


title: For Dedicated Fans and Collectors

text:
The limited edition version of Joey Ramone's last solo album is just as described: limited. Only 500 copies were made for record store day back in 2012. It includes the following:

- Ya Know? Audio CD
- A DVD featuring interviews with Kirk Hammett, Debbie Harry, and others
- A 24 page booklet with pictures and lyrics
- A playable 5" vinyl "Merry Christmas(I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) ornament

The CD is a collection of Joey's old demos and unfinished work prior to his death in 2001. It's a mixed bag of different styles that showcases his evolution as an artist. There are noteworthy originals here along with rerecorded versions of Merry Christmas and Life's a Gas by the Ramones.

The originals are the steel and muscle of this album. Rock and Roll is the Answer is well produced, relevant, and 100% radio worthy. It has an AC/DC like sound to its guitar and grabs your attention immediately. Other greats include the heavier "Nowhere Fast", "There's Got to Be More to Life", and the more pop-style "Party Line". The album isn't without its skip-worthy songs, such as "New York City" and "Make Me Tremble", but I wouldn't rate them as unlistenable and they didn't make me regret the purchase.

Because of its rarity, and thus the cost that comes with it, I can only recommend this version of the album to collectors and dedicated Ramones fans. For those who just want to listen to the music without paying a premium, you can pick up the CD by itself at a more affordable price.


title: Where is all the talent? RIGHT HERE IN EUROPE!!!

text: Niterain has it going on and so does all of Europe. They are turning out the best rock bands in the world. The U.S. dropped the ball when they changed to a cheaper form of music. You know the kind, where there is no band to pay, where no one plays anything because they can't. You just get a person that can speak, not sing and a tape plays behind them. That's what they are calling music? That's just Karaoke at any bar you go to. Ask yourself, why am I paying full price for a ticket to see some guy speak the words to all prerecorded music??? Next time someone says why do you like rock, it's dead? Tell them ROCK is ALIVE and well in Europe, and Europe is way bigger then the USA.


title: Five Stars

text: Love it one of the Spanish rock band ever


title: So pleased to find this album

text: So pleased to find this album. It is in good condition. Very little areas that skip for a record. It shipped quickly also.


title: Excellent!

text: Intimate, in-the-room performance. Excellent!


title: Four Stars

text: Good selection of songs, but did not like it as much as Volume 1


title: "Bad Boy" is Actually Pretty Good!

text: I had heard and liked the song "Bad Boy" since I was a kid, but I never knew who the artists were.  Then John Walters' "Cry Baby" came out in 1990 starring Johnny Depp, and this song was among those in the soundtrack.  While watching the closing credits I was able to discover that the artists were a group called "The Jive Bombers."  Fortunately, "Bad Boy" and other terrific songs by this memorable group have been compiled into CD format.  If you like "Bad Boy," you'll enjoy the rest of the songs in this collection..  Nice and mellow, and perfect to listen to if you're chilling out with a Scotch (or whatever).


title: Young Man With A Big Beat

text: I'm absolutely delighted with this purchase.  I was surprised at how quick I received it as it was coming from an overseas adddress.


title: Phil Stubbs should be better known

text:
We first heard Phil Stubbs' singing when we were tied up at Old Bahama marina on Grand Bahama.  Songs like Stress (now back in play on Sirius / XM Margaritaville but not the Stubbs performance, alas) and "Da Frogs" are infectious and a joy to hear.  Down Home is more Phil Stubbs, in the same vein.

Unfortunately, Phil likes singing and playing, but doesn't like producing CD's and nobody seems to be distributing his work.  Unless you're going to Grand Bahama, finding his work will be a challenge.  But the results are worth it!


title: Brock Walsh is a terrific talent

text: He's toured with Linda Ronstadt and many others, and he wrote hits like "Automatic" for the Pointer Sisters. An under-appreciated star!


title: Jazz Up Your Summer

text:
CD contains the songs
Calle Del Soul performed by Richard Elliot
Christina performed by Earl Klugh
Autumn Leaves performed by Canonball Adderley & Miles Davis
Afro Blue performed by Dianne Reeves
Greens performed by Benny Green
Emily performed by Dave Koz
Eleanor Rigby performed by Stanley Jordan
When I Think Of You performed by Everette Harp


title: It is ok

text: The sound was not as I remembered it, but it was ok. I think that a tune up is needed for the singer.


title: Five Stars

text: great CD.


Pretty much for historical and archival purposes only.  It is a school production, always popular with collectors, and it is mucho rare!!! But basically it is pretty much an accumualtion of soundbites


title: Follow up to Fantasy's "Paint a Picture"

text: Follow up to this progressive group's "Paint a Picture."  Generally light vocals with typical prog flourishes, in other words, mellotrons and other keyboards put to extensive use.  I have read some strong reviews of this, but I didn't find it exceptionally distinct.  There appear to be CD versions out there with bonus tracks ("Beyond the Beyond Plus.."), they might all have these tracks, you may want to make sure which version you are getting. The cover art is pretty standard spacy pix, not exactly up there with Roger Dean masterpieces.  Worth grabbing if you are a prog completist and want to fill a niche with a hard to find item.  It apppears to be getting rather scarce right now.


title: Swirling circus of keyboard sounds, great melodies...

text: Ahhh!!  A very pleasant excursion, even if there is "No Destination." In the sea of keyboard players out there, how can you say that one person plays in a style that is truly unique? Hubert Koop indeed does something unique. On some CD's, the prevalence of any one instrument can drag down the whole effort, but not here.  Koop is a personal "circus of sound" who constantly surprises and delights.  There is, I must warn, one painful moment:  "Long Tall Dorothe."  I just had to wonder how the lead vocalist could emit such painful falsetto sounds on this one otherwise excellent tune, when he did such a good job elsewhere on the CD. Someone cover it please!! - is it too late for the Tremeloes to take a stab at it?  Another caveat - the singer is German and his English is heavily accented but, with the exception of "Dorothe," I found him to be quite listenable.  Not surprisingly, they do a version (actually two) of the Four Seasons "Sherrie Baby" but, fear not, they don't sound like Klaus Nomi would if he tried the same thing.


title: Another case of "how come we never heard these artists...?"

text:
I was first drawn to this CD by the stratospheric prices commanded on auction sites for "A Man With Money" by A Wild Uncertainty. Surely this is a creatively named group, but was the song that good?  I was delighted to find it comped on this increasingly hard to find collection.  And, since the song appears near the end of the CD, I was given the opportunity to listen to much other music along my path to quench my ear's appetite.

This is a delightful and amazing CD.  Planet Records was the baby of Shel Talmy, the original producer of the Who.  Although I followed British music closely at the time these songs were recorded, I admit I never heard of most of these bands, and neither did you, I will wager. For example, a female act named "Perpetual Langley" - that surely outdoes "Wild Uncertainty" for creative naming.

This CD has many great things going for it.  The songs are all quite listenable.  The first artist, Dave Helling, probably takes the biggest stretches vocally (think Michael Nesmith after listening to several Nick Drake records) but the lushness of the background orchestration keeps everything perfectly balanced.  The second noticable item here is, a rarity among compilations, BOTH SIDES of many rare 45's are included.  For example, "Broken Truth" the B-Side of "A Man With Money."  There are some nicely done covers - The Gnomes of Zurch (here we go again!) doing Tommy Edwards "Please Mr Sun" and The Untamed with a very faithful version of the Who's "It's Not True."  Despite the diversity of the acts, the whole thing functions within a concise stylistic band. Back to the question;  is "Man With Money" that good?  Oh yes, but so are lots of other inclusions. PLEASE DO YOURSELF A MAJOR FAVOR AND HEAR THIS.


title: Pretty much for historical and archival purposes only


title: Hands down my favorite Radiohead album

text: Hands down my favorite Radiohead album...there's a lot but this one is sheer beauty. My how they have grown from acoustic nerds, to experimental geniuses & now to grownup orchestral masterpieces woven intricately in beautiful packaging! A must own!


title: Great travel companion

text: Quick delivery, good quality audio at a fair price


title: Rip off

text: I'm giving this 4 stars because the album is awesome but buy on Wild Nothing's website 11 bucks for CD and 25 for LIMITED EDITION Vinyl. 18 for the Normal LP.


title: Great CD for bedtime

text: I have a little boy and I got this CD during my baby shower. Best gift ever! The music is very soothing; it even makes me sleepy. If my baby got upset, had a nightmare or if he was too restless to go to sleep, I only had to play the Cd and "voila", baby was happy and ready to bed. It worked for me so I hope it can work for whomever reads this post too. Note: My baby is turning 2y/o in a few weeks and we have never stop using this cd.


title: Five Stars

text: great album


title: Christmas Music

text: Lovely music and lyrics, sung by a great baritone voice.  Highly recommended.


title: Love's Labors Lost

text:
This self-titled album by Point Line Plane is screamo synthpunk with blistering drums, and one of the more intense and unique phenomenon of the very brief but surprisingly authentic old-school punk revival that flared up in Portland OR, peaking around 2000-ish. Point Line Plane put on shows that felt genuinely dangerous, like anything could happen, and often did. This album, with instruments tracked live in a cavernous ancient ballroom, and studio vocals subjected to all manner of distorted re-amplification, faithfully conveys the manic energy of the live shows, while also providing creative ways to do violence to the sound which would not have been possible on stage. The songwriting channels teenage rage and terror from a dystopian science-fiction future that arrived while we weren't looking, with a little timeless metaphysical torment added for good measure. Much of it can be physically uncomfortable listening for some people, but that is very much the point.

Since I had been too much of a prog geek to "get" punk when it happened the first time around, it was a real pleasure to experience the real thing later in life. For the young and confused, the first time around for real punk was the late 1970's, in case you are suffering under the misconception that bands like Green Day and Blink 182 were authentic punk bands. They aren't even bands now so much as brands.

Contrary to the description, Howard Gillam doesn't play on this CD, as at the time of recording he was in another duo, the Momeraths, with Joshua Blanchard.  This was also a time when droves of duos roamed the dark and smoky dives of Portland, and this is a duo release with Josh Blanchard and Nathan Carson.  I should know; I co-produced it with the band and Merlin Carson. Both Carson brothers were previously in the genre-defying Bishop of Battle. Later, the two duos converged into a trio, keeping the Point Line Plane name, for their second and final full-length release, Smoke Signals.  All three members have been involved in an array of musical projects since, perhaps most significantly Nathan's return to the Doom Metal band Witch Mountain.

Recording and mixing this was tons of fun because we were experimenting and creating a sound, instead of trying to re-create some preconceived notion of how it should sound. We allowed ourselves to surprise ourselves. Other tracks from these sessions were released on a split EP with The Planet The, which, sadly, you are very unlikely to find.  I would love to see a re-release of this album, with the EP tracks included as a bonus.  But this review is entitled Love's Labors Lost for a reason: this CD can be had right now for a penny, with shipping rounding it up to under five dollars.  The studio which produced this is as obscure and defunct as this album, and this band.

I strongly recommend that you make the tiny investment of time and spare virtual change to buy this CD.  I promise it will make the most extreme music you own now sound like gentle lullabies for baby.

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title: This cat brings it

text: Very versatile collection. Many styles of music covered. Saw his videos on youtube and bought his other album" Can't Stop Running" which while being great will never compare to the "live" recordings. If you are reading this, stop and buy the " Pin Drop" album. This guy does it all.


title: it’s great

text: it’s literally so perfect, i love it so much <3


title: ELO

text: I thought it was studio recrding, however, it sounded like concert recording.  Also, it should be the best of ELO, I only recognized five recording.  I used to have the best of previouly and it's nothing like what I recieved.


title: One Star

text: Poor quality album


title: transitional period for sam

text: If you love Sam Cooke, you'll love this collection.


This is a Panamanian brother and sister act. Samy is both a great singer and a virtuoso accordion player; Sandra solo canta. They were the biggest act in Panama when I went down a couple of times in the 90s when the US still controlled the canal. Any time I asked a local to recommend me Panamanian music, they always said Samy Sandoval. This is a terrific album from one of those trips.


title: Five Stars

text: My daughter (8yr) loves it and knows every song and ever word!


title: Lovely

text: Lovely album


title: not sure if the poster is real

text: i love it a lot , everything was safe but the one thing i’m suspicious is about the poster because compared to my real one it’s a bit off so just know the poster isn’t real but everything else is so i’m glad, the mask is so cool and the freebie so that made up for it!


title: Canciones variadas me gustan

text: Escuché canciones del recuerdo con diferente voz y melodía


title: Five Stars

text: Great reminder of the many times I've dined with and been entertained by this group! Many wonderful memories!


title: Beautiful

text: Absolutely beautiful, soothing, calming, relaxing.. I play mostly for my baby


title: Inconsistent sound  unfortunately. Some louder than others!

text: Music. I love music. This CD wasn’t good quality!!


title: This CD is packed full of great songs sung by a magnificent vocalist!

text: I want to start out by saying that I speak/understand VERY little Spanish. One evening, I happened to be at a friend's house while she was playing Amanda's CD. I was in awe  at the emotion and depth that her voice brought to each song . I didn't understand everything she was singing but it didn't matter to me, what mattered was that I felt and believed in whatever story she was telling. After hearing Amanda's impassioned vocals on the song " E Tu Mi Vida" , I knew I had to add this CD to my collection. This CD is packed full of great songs sung by a magnificent vocalist...I'm so glad I discovered her!!!


title: the best

text: this gem has held up to more than a decade of listening for me.  it is a timeless and priceless little gem.  after you enjoy the obvious over-the-top cinema verite', you will come to enjoy the subtlety and the prodigious catch-phases such as: 'you don't have a decent giggle in ya,' no one wants to hear you talk about toe nails,' and 'you cruxified the dinner.'  enjoy.


title: Five Stars

text: Great book!


title: Four Stars

text: Jim Rohn is one of the best!


title: Five Stars

text: Met all my expectations, and arrived in one week.


title: Terrible Chorus Lines

text: I'm guessing this is Nu metal or post Nu metal. All I know is that it reminds of bands such as Five finger death punch or We came as romans. Bands that play this style of metal start off with great heavy riffs, then this out of place, cheese ball, bad pop song, chorus line just comes out of nowhere and ruins everything that the song had going for it. Don't get me wrong, I love a good melodic chorus line to balance out the heaviness.  All types of different bands do this well.  [ Iron maiden, Mastadon, tool, Carcass, Wolftooth and Eternal champion just to name a few.]  This goes to show that a good chorus line can be done. The big problem is that these American Nu metal and post Nu metal bands actually believe that their bad pop song chorus lines sound better. This is another failed genre in American metal, but unlike glam rock or rap metal I think this post Nu metal movement can right the ship if they just fix those awful chorus lines. It's really frustrating to think about all the potentially great songs that have been created and then ruined by this type of Metal.


title: Great pictures

text: This is book is much larger than I expected.  The pictures are great and I love the CD.  I was hoping more of his own music would be on it, however it is still great music.


title: he is fantastic

text: I have loved his music for many years and was glad to find it on a cd  I would recommend this cd


title: Great music and great album

text: I’ve ordered kpop albums twice from this seller and they’ve been in great quality when I received them. As for the album itself, I’m in love with all the songs and the photo book has gorgeous work.


title: Still good songs

text: I bought several of the "Your Hit Parade" CDs for my dad, who liked to listen to the songs on them in the 40s and 50s on the radio.  I don't know much of the music of the period, but they seem a good representation of the hit songs of each year.  I remember hearing several of the songs as old favorites when I was growing up in the 60s.  I ended up buying one CD for myself.


title: Good songs, even if you don't remember the originals

text: I bought several of the "Your Hit Parade" CDs for my dad, who liked to listen to the songs on them in the 40s and 50s on the radio.  I don't know much of the music of the period, but they seem a good representation of the hit songs of each year.  I remember hearing a number of the songs as old favorites when I was growing up in the 60s.  I ended up buying one CD for myself.


title: Jason Upton's Ministry is very Anointed!

text: Jason Upton is a extremely anointed singer, song writer and musician, songs are from the heart. Jason has been at my church recently Life Center Ministries International in Harrisburg, Pa. He will be a part of a Worship Conference on October 14th-16th at this Church. The CD is excellent plus many others he has written you won't be disappointed!


title: mad season ABOVE

text: THESE RECORDINGS ARE SO POWERFUL! LAYNE,MIKE,BAKER JUST HOW DIVERSE OF MUSICIANS THEY ARE &(were) THE BLUES & JAZZ SOUNDS ARE AWESOME ! I definitely recommend this CD to all fans of GREAT MUSIC :-)!


title: Very spooky audio journey!

text: As these things go (pre-mixed Halloween "soundscapes"), this one's actually pretty good. However, you probably don't want to use it as ambient sounds for a haunt, as it has some narration. It's more like a very dialogue-light radio play, with a cockney-voiced guide leading you through a graveyard and into a haunted house.<br />Note that the liner notes list the tracks out of order, but they make perfect sense on the CD: Through the graveyard first, then across the bridge and through the haunted house. Your guide's method of egress from the house seems a bit abrupt and even nonsensical, but for some reason, the "very long fuse" has turned up on these sorts of albums since Disney's "Thrilling, Chilling" offering in the late '60s / early '70s!


title: Pricey but worth the money for true fans

text: Purple Music and Don't Let Him Fool Ya are a couple of my favorite vault tracks.  Nicely done box package.  Sure you can save $$$ and stream this on Amazon Music or Spotify but its something special to own this collectible if you are a true fan.


title: Five Stars

text: A good way to keep music alive.


title: Fast Shipping!!!!

text: Love this whole album also came really fast and the poster is really cute and I also got my favorite member Choa!!!!! I'm so happy!!!


title: Steely Dan Live

text: Took a while to get it, but decent recording


title: Two Stars

text: I'm sorry to say the tape split on the first play


title: The best band, with the best music ever.

text: Awesome!!


title: Spiritually Uplifting

text: My Mom really enjoys listening to the old hymns.


title: Wouter is the MAN

text: Wouter's latest album is exactly what this world needs. Not only is it extremely pleasing to the ear with its rich harmonies, excellent arrangements, and beautiful melodies, it sends a message of peace and love with its tribute to Nelson Mandela. The production value of this album is wonderful, and I was so excited for each song to start playing. Wouter's performances throughout the album are perfectly accompanied by a symphonic masterpiece. Packed with sweet ballads and heart-pumping tunes, Symphonic Soweto is a terrific album.


title: Love

text: Love


title: Nice music, terrible production

text: What went wrong here? For the aging potentate of yacht rock this is a pretty decent album of music. The songs are fresh but familiar in that way that Christopher Cross somehow manages to do. Remember when "Sailing" came on the radio in '79 and wherever you were at the moment, the whole mood changed? There's some of that brilliance on this record. The thing that ruins it for me is the lack of '70's production values. The whole album sounds like someone bumped up all the midrange on the EQ, blew the vocals through a wet wool blanket. The sax sounds like it was recorded in a large echo chamber in some subterranean tube four stories below the rest of the band. I can only think this was someone's first go at Pro Tools and it's a shame. The album is like a day old and needs a remix and remaster already.


title: A great historical document

text: LISTEN to these videos without watching them and you will wonder why Nixon lost. It was the visual of Jack Kennedy, his looks charm and manner that won him the election. This is a great record of a huge seismic shift in American politics. The quality of the video is good and the clarity of the sound well done.


title: It’s great.

text: Love it.


title: Menopause The Musical CD

text: I loved the CD as much as I enjoyed the show.  I recommend this to all adult women.


title: Five Stars

text: love it.


title: love bts

text: everything came with my purchase!


title: I love this band

text: My daughter turned me onto Halsey. I love this band!


title: Five Stars

text: Got to my favorite album from them 💯


This touched me deeply as a young mom and still very much still does every few years when I listen again (tearfully). It was my favorite baby present to pregnant friends.


title: Wonderful messages for those who care for others - gives ...

text: Wonderful messages for those who care for others - gives both sides the opportunity to hear from spoken word and through song what it is like to be the one receiving and one giving the care.


title: Another Great album from the Austin Stone

text: This is an awesome album from the Stone.  Great songs with incredible lyrics about our great king Jesus.  Buy it!


title: Songs included

text:
[[ASIN:B001KXDOV8 Surrender: Vineyard Gold]]
Songs included on this CD are:
1. Hallelujah (Your love is amazing)
2. For me
3. Surrender
4. When you call my name
5. With You
6. At all times
7. Devotion
8. You are my King
9. We will be together
10. All that I need
11. What a child is meant to be
12. All who are thirsty


title: Kitsch value!

text: In case you haven't figured it out, this is one of a series of hilariously bad records. They fake these to sound as if they were live recordings that were part of the Woodstock festival in 1969. There is an announcer and crowd noise! The recordings are by unknown persons and they are just OK covers, but in this silly fake concert mode they lose whatever dignity they might have had. They were probably thrown together in 1970. This record is one to have for kitsch value only.


title: Not happy with soundtrack

text: I thought and/or was hoping this soundtrack would have the rock songs played by the bands in the movie, but to say the least, I was disappointed not one of the songs are on it. The ambient music created by Terry Plumeri is nice, but I am not happy with this purchase and should had returned it.


title: Five Stars

text: Very nice product, good sound quality and decent picture  quality.


title: Roberto Carlos' best live cd

text: Roberto  Carlos' best live cd, Great songs, great sound!


title: A true joy to see live

text: A true Irish rock'n'roll band. A true joy to see live, This lp is as close to that as you can get. It's just one of the very many rock'n'rollers that should have made it big They had it all.


title: Stupendous

text: This is one of my all time favorite fun CDs... but you must have a good warped sense like me.


title: Five Stars

text: I love this old gem! I can't believe it took me so many years to hear this album.


title: Awesome

text: I wouldn’t pay that much cause I own it. But seriously. GOOD ALBUM. BUY IT


title: My second copy!

text: I've looked for this CD everywhere. This is my second one. The first one was so well loved that it finally broke. It is perfect for bedtime worship. The peaceful guitar and piano mix of worship songs is just right for relaxation! I highly recommend this CD!


title: Angels Singing

text: Angels Singing. I love these sisters and their wonderful body of work. Thank you is what I say every time I hear them.


title: EDITARLO EN CD

text: EDITARLO EN CD


title: EXCELLENT

text: EXCELLENT, CD for music lovers of great music of this excellent COMPOSER, AND ALWAYS NUSICA OF THE BEST in this Collection,


title: Wonderful Christmastime!!

text: Ok.  I admit it.  I've only heard a sample of Erin Boheme singing 'I'll be Home For Christmas" on her Myspace site.  But based on that sample alone, I give it 5 stars.  She has an amazing voice and sings from the heart.  I wish she'd make an entire Christmas CD.  This album also includes other young jazz artists like Peter Cincotti and Jamie Cullum.  This is good stuff folks and now that I've discovered this CD, It's on the wish list for next Christmas.


title: Dave Brubeck ~ Quiet As The Moon

text:
Dave has chosen some wonderful tunes for this project. BUT, the real delight is to hear his Son's Chris, Matthew and Dan playing at his side.
Thanks Brubeck's for another album to add to my Classics!
CURT ERLER
aka [...]
See me here at AMAZON


title: Quickness of delivery was great

text: Love this Buble CD.


title: Five Stars

text: love


title: Five Stars

text: jExcellent CD and the performer, wonderful


title: Great

text: Enjoyed and I know others will too.<br />Hope they have one for 2013 and look forward to more in the coming years.


Doreen Ketchens is a top musician! I had the privilege to see her playing with her band in New Orleans and immediately bought this album! Her clarinet playing is superb, her voice amazingly beautiful and her interpretations unique! She is an absolute diva in the jazz and blues scenario. If you have an opportunity to buy any of her albums, don't miss it!


title: Awesome!

text: This is a fantastic album. Elissa's songs are very strong, have a great beat and her singing is outstanding. This was an excellent addition to my music collection. I highly recommend this album to all fans of great music.


title: Outstanding!

text: Outstanding album. Raul Seixas is a legend in Brazil. This is one of the best albuns by this great brazilian musician. Highly recommended for all lovers of latin music!


title: A good mistake...

text:
I bought this album by mistake. I thought it was Steve Tyler from Aerosmith.
The good news is that when I listened to it I really enjoy Tyler Steven's work. The best song, in my opinion, is "I used to". It has a very nice mix of hip hop and pop. A very interesting album.
The only problem is that the album has only five songs.


title: Good album!

text: I had never heard of Eraserheads until I visited Manila a couple of years ago. A Philipino friend recommended me this band and I bought this album. It was a very nice surprise when I listened to the entire album. This is a good album by a talented band. I have since bought another of their albums.


title: Brilliant!!!

text: This album is outstanding! Jussara Silveira is one of the most beautiful voices in Brazilian music. I highly recommend this album.


title: Interesting mix!

text: I bought this album because of the song "Go back to Piaui" by Juca Chaves. I was surprised to see the quality of the recording is very good and the other songs in the cd are also good. This is a very interesting album that added value to my collection.


title: Love, love, love Michael!

text: I love the CD and the fact it is also on my mobile devices.


title: TERRIFIC VOICE WASTED ON WAY TOO MUCH SENSITIVE-GUY MATERIAL...

text: ... there's no argument that Jack Jones has one of the greatest voices ever recorded in the adult easy-listening format, right up there with the likes of Engelbert Humperdinck in terms of being very precise in his vocal delivery... it's unfortunate that his abilities were not pushed further beyond balladeering, because "Wives And Lovers" veers slightly on the swing side and it sounds terrific - uptempo stuff really suited him. The "Love Boat" Theme was a nice change of pace for a guy who was taking himself too seriously for way too long.


title: Not What I Ordered

text:
I ordered Terry McAlmon - The Glory of His Presence -  but I received - An Invitation to Comfort?????

Why!


title: A legacy gift

text:
I was happy to find that Amazon had this album, on sale. I was (actually) one of the studio musicians that performed on this album. At one time, I had my own copies of the album, that were originally given to me by the record company.
But, they were lost in a fire.
Glad to have it back. I will be passing it on, to my children & grandchildren.


title: Love it.

text: I have my original lp of voices but having the clear vinyl is so cool and the sound is great.


title: A great gift for Taylor Swift fans since it includes some ...

text: A great gift for Taylor Swift fans since it includes some of her first songs that aren't on iTunes.


title: DC5 is back!

text: Growing up in the 60s my main British influences were mostly the Beatles.  The Dave Clark 5 was just a mild curiosity, though I did admire their music.  I have purchased several DC5 in recent years, to mixed results.  Mostly mono recordings, ugh.  I discovered this collection which turned out to be a nice surprise.  The songs sound FANTASTIC.  CATCH US IF YOu CAN is here in mono and stereo!  Other highlights are the romantic ballad, BECAUSE which I‘ve heard used at several weddings.  YOU’VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES, my favorite and one of their last-charting hits here in USA.  A top 5 hit.  I also like CAN’T YOU SEE THAT SHE’S MINE, BITS AND PIECES, DO YOU LOVE ME, and others.  I was very pleased by this collection.  It plated well on my CD player in my car, and it is very much STEREO.  5 Stars!  A groovy treat.


title: LAME

text: Most of these songs sound OK, but a dozen or more are re-recordinngs.  The questions is why?  I got a used copy for a few bucks, but I see the new list price is over $50.  Save your moola!


Way back in 1979 when this album was originally issued, I thought it lackluster, dull, seemingly rushed through to completion.  Now as an adult my views haven't changed.  Snuff Garrett, the producer behind her big hits like HALF BREED, DARK LADY, and even her duet with Sonny, ALL I EVER NEED IS YOU, takes the helm again.  PIRATE, the lead-off track is the best of the lot.  WAR PAINT AND SOFT FEATHERS seems like an attempt to duplicate the success of HALF BREED.  Not a bad song, but not memorable either. From there it's all downhill.  L. A. PLANE has some good stuff in it as does SHE LOVES TO HEAR THE MUSIC, but everything else seems lost.  Cher even sings differently harking back to her GYPSIES, TRAMPS, AND THIEVES days.  What happened?  Was she trying so hard to please her bosses at Warner records and have a hit?


title: FORGOTTEN GOLD FROM THE 70!

text: This album originally issued in the mid-70s after her split-up with Sonny Bono, is a mix of sweet, sultry ballads, and some "hard" stuff whereas Cher attempts to rock out.  Not available in the U.S., I found a distributer here who says he imported it from Germany.  I find it curious that no one ever mentions the lead off tune, LOVE ENOUGH, in any review.  Its message "...it won't be long before it comes to you," is a string-laden gem which Cher sings with a lot of heart, having weathered the affairs of the heart in her own private life.  Another cool ballad in the melancholy THESE DAYS, originally written by Jackson Brown, about finding love and ultimately losing it.  Again, Cher sounds like she's a little teary-eyed.  We've all been there, loved and lost, and found again.  GERONIMO'S CADILLAC is the first single released for radio airplay.  Cher does her best to let go.  The song, interesting and not very commercial for airwaves at that time.  It's almost a sort of sing-a-long.  A good tune which probably would've and should've been played on a progressive rock station.  MR. SOUL gets the Cher treatment, as does LOVE HURTS.  She does it again, given Jimmy Webb's lavish production values, gives it her all.  It's really too bad that these tracks never found an audience because these songs stand up well after 40-odd years.  I read somewhere that she owns the rights to issue it in the United States.  Cher, what are you waiting for?


title: Great Album

text: Great album.. recommend it to anyone who likes Ian Moss's music. I have no regrets buying and it is very rare to find these days.


title: Dave rocks live

text: Excellent album! Glad I was able to hear this album. Like many Dave albums, this collection is superb. Great live performances of some fan favorites.


title: One Star

text: scratched and dirty vinyl


title: Disc arrived on time and in good shape.

text: As advertis


title: Didn't get a signed photo...

text: I'm really really REALLY bummed because I bought this for the signature. Honestly going to try and return it as a false sale. I don't even have a proper cd player anymore.


title: Brian Bromberg Rocks

text: This Hands CD really rocks and shows all the varied talent of Brian on the acoustic bass.  You can get this CD on brianbromberg.net for $15.00, along with a description of the development of this project in Brian's own words.


title: Made me thoughtful...

text:
Excellent selections of songs that stood out in the 80's. The ones you can dance to yet also make you think when you're not sweatin' to the 80's. Look up the lyrics; well, if you also have the "can't understand what they'll saying" defect as I do. Some of the songs are even better when you know the words.

Even though I really liked the songs, there are a few that are included on other Time Life cds way too many times, such as "Take on me" by A-Ha. I LOVE that song, but really don't need more than two copies(so far I have four from various 80's music cds).

Here are the titles on the cds:

Disc 1:
1 The reflex - Duran Duran
2 Get it on - Power Station
3 Secret separation - The Fixx
4 Head over heels - Tears for Fears
5 Here comes the rain again - Eurythmics
6 Rock me Amadeus - Falco
7 Take on me - A-Ha
8 Walk this way - Run-D.M.C
9 You might think - The Cars
10 Everybody have fun tonight - Wang Chung
11 No more words - Berlin
12 How soon is now? - The Smiths

Disc 2:
1 Eyes without a face - Billy Idol
2 Something so strong - Crowded House
3 King for a day - Thompson Twins
4 So in love - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
5 Show me - The Pretenders
6 It's my life - Talk Talk
7 Something about you - Level 42
8 Original sin - Inxs --
9 Ways to be wicked - Lone Justice
10 Real wild child - Iggy Pop
11 Cities in dust - Siuoxsie and the Banshees
12 Nineteen forever - Joe Jackson


title: Great Product

text: Great product! It shipped on time. I got Irene, my favorite! It didn’t come with a poster, but the album is great. Had one dent and one dot on the album but otherwise i’m happy with the purchase


title: Great collection of a favorite composer.  Performances and sound are generally excellent.

text: Great collection of EMI and affiliate recordings of Poulenc.  Only one quibble after hearing 7 discs, the Aubade was remastered and has a boosted sound level.  Sounds bright and compressed.  EMI should have copied their 2 disc Poulenc set which has the best Aubade sound (and good mastering on both those discs Poulenc: Organ Concerto, Piano Concerto, Concert Champetre, Concerto for Two Pianos, Aubade, Les Biches).  Otherwise, most of the chamber music sounds great, much like the excellent EMI Melos Ensemble box set.


title: Superb collection in Great Sound by Steve Hoffman

text: Superb collection remastered by the esteemed Steve Hoffman when he worked at MCA.  Great sound added to great performances.  Best CD reissue I've heard.


title: Five Stars

text: VERY GOOD


title: Flans still rock.

text: this cd and dvd set on Flans is just Awesome. running time on dvd is 1h 25m 2s and the sound is in 5.1 Dolby and 2.0 Dolby. running time on cd is 71m 49s. these Ladies are still Beautiful and they still can sing great. back in the 80's they was Awesome and they still are Awesome. Long Live Flans.


title: shame on you Sony/RCA again.

text: Elvis Today is a great album, but shame on you Sony/RCA for releasing this cd again. release other material of Elvis instead of the same albums 5 to 6 times over and over again. there is about 6 times this cd has been released, so why one more time. the concert is from the Elvis Aron Presley Box Set, so why release it again. should release concert Elvis gave in Memphis June 06,1975 would have been better. just go and buy the Today Master & Session instead you will get you money's worth. i have nothing bad to say about Elvis Presley, except the music company.


title: Elvis Having Fun On Stage.

text: this is a great cd, but if you can try to find "Having Fun With Elvis On Stage" Volume 2,3,4,& 5. it is just Elvis talking and having fun on stage.


title: I named my son after this band I am looking ...

text: I named my son after this band I am looking for the album and a tee shirt if you guys can help plz let me know..


title: Great shows

text: Recorded 9-12 September 1981 at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, England


title: Awesome live-single!!!

text:
1: Invisible touch (Recorded 13 July 1992 at Niedersachsenstadion, Hanover, Germany) [Taken from "The way we walk"]
2: Abacab (Recorded 4 July 1987 at Wembley Stadium, London, England)
3: The brazillian (Recorded 4 July 1987 at Wembley Stadium, London, England)


title: A great single

text:
1: Fields of gold (Taken from "Ten Summoner's tales")
2: Message in a bottle (Live)
3: Fortress around your heart (Live)
4: Roxanne (Live)

Recorded 9 May 1991 at Statenhall, The Hague, Netherlands
Sting: Vocals, bass
Dominic Miller: Guitar
David Sancious: Keyboards
Vinnie Colaiuta: Drums


title: Great live numbers

text:
A new song and 3 live numbers not included on "12 Gardens"

1: All my life
2: You're my home (Live)
3: Honesty (Live)
4: Stiletto (Live)


title: A real gem

text:
Side 1: "Bad love" (Taken from Journeyman)

Side 2: "I shot the sheriff" (Unreleased) Recorded 15 july 1986 at NEC Arena, Birmingham, England
Eric Clapton: Vocals, guitar
Greg Phillinganes: Keyboards, backing vocal
Nathan East: Bass, backing vocal
Phil Collins: Drums


title: Old Record

text: I was ecstatic about finding this record. Have been searching for just the song and artist for years and was super excited to be able to actually purchase the record. Cost was very minimal and I am very pleased.


title: Great music

text: Good for relaxation, meditation and healing. More music than just sounds


title: Three Stars

text: No es lo que yo esperaba, hablo sobre algunas canciones.  Pero reconozco que esta cantante tiene una gran voz.


title: JUST the CD

text: For this price, I thought it was the book, as well as the CD. Please put CD in the product title.


title: Great track on vinyl

text: Just what I wanted. Very happy


title: Five Stars

text: Love these songs from a simpler time.


title: It is worth adding to your ZZ collection.

text: I am a big fan, one of my favorite songs is My heads in Mississippi. Would love to hear it live.


Big Dylan fan, but, not all his work is easily obtainable.  That's why I really like Amazon, you guys make it easy to find music,movies,etc. This particular CD is a true collectable, for the true Dylan fan.


title: Love it!

text: My daughter loves this book and she doesn't  like to read, so the audio book allows her to enjoy the story which will encourage  her interest in books! I wish there were more audio books at a reasonable price! Great for road trips with the kids too!


title: Pillars of the Earth Unabridged

text: We had listened to the Abridged edition. Then after reading the book & listening to part 2, we wanted the unabridged edition.  We will keep this audio book forever.


title: Muzzy

text: This is one of the best language tools for everyone.  I have used this to help in learning Spanish.  A friend of mine is using it to teach her children Spanish.  It is a FUN learning tool. I used the English version to teach 8 Vietnamese students English.  Anyone interested in learning a language would be more than pleased with this video.


title: The worst money spent

text: Very grainy and dark because it was burned from the original VHS of years ago. You regret the first minute of viewership.Worst of all is Amazon requires me to give it a star to publish this review-DON'T BUY IT!


title: One of the best albums I've ever purchased.

text: It's too bad you can't just download it on Amazon.  I don't know how to describe this album.  It's like R&B with a fantastic beat, blended with a modern electronic sound.


title: Beautiful

text:
This is a very good performance of the New World symphony. A broad canvas is decorated with poetic insights and instrumentation one might never know was there in other performances. I think the word for this performance is pleasant. Peaceful. Beautiful. Tranquil. At the end of it, I found myself saying, "damn good show." It is a very good performance by a great baton artist and a very good European orchestra.

I have long thought the best performance I have ever heard of the New World is Eugene Ormandy's LSO performance in 1980 (Sony). Szell's CO performance is excellent. Von Karajan's sounds like a philosophy class -- I couldn't believe songful Dvorak could sound like that! Kubelik's is uninspired. But Ormandy's is probably the best thing I ever heard him do, and I have heard this underrated conductor do a lot of great things. I appreciated him very much over the years. Certainly his LSO rendition is at the top of my book. Which brings me back to CMG.

I like this CMG/RCO performance, and I will keep it as my third favorite (mainly because it is so differently, but beautifully paced and gorgeously played) behind Ormandy's LSO and Szell's CO performances. It is a beautiful effort by Giulini and the RCO. He does not make the contemporary mistakes of rushing through tempos and blasting the notes just to compare oneself with other conductors. One can tell he has had an interview with the composer! My compliments on a very beautiful recording of this great work.

Anyone who loves Carlo Maria Giulini like I do would not want to be without this, his last, recording of the New World. By the way, I like this performance better than his earlier recordings with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the CSO. And those were pretty good. Get this one!


title: Five Stars

text: ok


title: Five Stars

text: LOVE IT!!!


title: My favorite song is Nothing Comes From

text: Used to work with Lee Kizer, but this review is unbiased!  My favorite song is Nothing Comes From Nothing


title: Doesn't get any better than this!

text: How can you go wrong with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops?!  Wonderful patriotic arrangements we especially enjoy on the 4th of July.


title: Fantastic Fanny Adams

text: This is a great CD.  I loved it when I first heard the LP in the 70's in Hawaii and I love it even more now.  Hate that the band did not stay together and put out more LP's back then.  Amazon got it to me quick.


title: Special Pink Floyd CD

text: Beautiful testiment to the late Richard Wright. All music, no lyrics.


title: not very good

text: the one we got would not play, they sent another one they sent plays half of it then quits.  not very good


title: Outstanding

text: Every song is awesome, really enjoy it and listen to it often. If your looking for some great uplifting music you will love this.


title: Five Stars

text: Great to listen too.


title: Beware, this is not a remaster of the original Eat a Peach.

text:
This is yet another slap together of concerts after the album came out.
The second CD is just a copy of the Disk 6 from "The 71 Fillmore East Recordings".
I'll give it two stars as, of course, it sounds good.
But I already have it in other compilations


title: The Master on Austin City Limits. Nuff said!

text: Are you kidding me? Some reviews of this on YouTube say Roy has no stage presence while others say he is showing off. Give me a break! What dolts. This is an awesome display of Roy's guitar greatness. The master is at work here and is clearly enjoying himself. Love the fake yawn and then the sly grin at the end of Roy's Bluz. The silent stoned out 70's audience is hilarious. They go nuts at the right time so they aren't completely comatose. Some have complained of the brevity of this set but I'll take any Roy on video I can get. Sound and picture quality are excellent. Back shots of Roy playing are comically inept camera work but I'll chalk that up to mid 70's era. Rockpalest DVD is also a must for Roy fans.


title: Wow...What a gift for healing and wholeness

text: I have done meditations many times but never have I had emotional healing like I have with this guided meditation! Benita has a way of facilitating my connection with God like no other and it is so beautiful! I use this at least three times a week with  each encounter being very different and the healings are mind blowing! When the scripture says "Be still and know that I am God," I thought I knew what that meant but still suffered from not feeling like I could get in true communion with Jesus. I now look forward to setting aside this sacred time for healing and know each time I will be wrapped in the loving arms of God!


title: Beautiful

text: His beautiful voice makes listening almost a religious experience.  I cannot think of anyone who can sing gospel like him.


title: One of the Best

text: What can I say? I can't get enough of this band!  Bought one for my niece too, who is just as crazy about them! Great follow-up cd!


title: Five Stars

text: I cannot help just enjoying their music!


title: Four Stars

text: CD's were in great condition.


title: I love Latin music

text: I love boleros with Danny Frank


title: Five Stars

text: Articles


title: Not enough tiles

text: Great game, but not enough tiles.  I would have to literally order a second game just to have enough tiles for 1 of them.  Such an easy fix, surprised the manufacturer hasn't resolved this issue.  Huge design flaw.  If there were enough tiles, I would give 4 stars.  If they were heavier, possibly wooden tiles, I would give it 5 stars.


title: Not happy

text: 2nd disc did not match titles on back<br />Totally different songs


title: Even The Packaging is "Remastered"

text:
The pictures of this box set do not do it justice, it is hard to understand the beauty of this package until you are actually holding it in your hand. It goes without saying; the music is phenomenal.

One note about the live video performance: I was one of the lucky ones who got to see Prince on his first tour opening for Rick James, then later again on his Controversy tour. Prince was an even more dynamic, provocative performer in the years leading up to Purple Rain (in my opinion), and the video performance of his 1982 Houston TX show included with this set captures that energy, as I remember it, better than any other concert footage I've seen of Prince since. The video quality is not what we have come to expect by today's standards (definitely not Hi-Def), but it is not awful and it captures the magic of Prince in his early days of fame beautifully.

It is no wonder this box set is nearly sold out. If by chance it is still available, get it. You will want to have it.


title: beautiful music

text: beautiful music, very relaxing any time o the year


title: duplicate songs of the most beautiful singing

text: almost exact same songs as the most beautiful singing cd. sorry i bought it.


title: quality

text: this nwomen knows how to sing doesnt scream into microphones like americans do.


title: NICE EXPERIENCE.........

text: wanted to hear him sing live.lyfe sounded great.5 songs was enough to judge he really can SING.


title: Fantastic collection even including songs from Cream, Blind Faith, Dereck & Dominoes.

text: Very pleasantly surprised at the songs included in this collection. Not only his best while with several bands, but it also includes the unplugged version of Layla! I'm so happy right now with the memories this double CD brings back from decades ago. I just love this collection.


title: Tight shoes

text: The shoe is a beautiful shoe in appearance but the shoe was to tight on my feet and I had to send it back for a refund.


title: AWESOME!!!

text: GREAT LISTENING!!!!


title: AWESOME!!!

text: AWESOME!!!,...AWESOME PACKAGING, AWESOME PRODUCT,...GREAT CD!!!  THANK YOU!!!


title: AWESOME!!! TOM WAITS DOES IT AGAIN!!!

text: ACTUALLY BEYOND AWESOME!!!


title: Love these CDs

text: I live these CDs from the 40s.


title: Dead Heads

text: One of the best shows that I have found. wonderful packaging and a must for all dead heads !!!


title: UNFU*KIN' BELIEVABLE

text: I just got this and I have to say it is one of my favorite cds of all time and it will be in my player for a long, long, long time.  I love me some Jennifer Nettles.


title: Carry On Doctor

text: Love the Carry On Movies.  I prefer the very early ones..late 50's early 60's.  I bought this because Frankie Howerd was in it and the theme of the movie.  This was a good buy...very funny movie...I had many laughs!!  Charles Hawtrey one of the Carry On Crew is extremely funny when given the chance to shine...he is in this movie, but very little.


title: Amazing!

text: The album came within 2 days, just as promised! It came safely packaged with the poster. Warning, the poster is quite large! Bigger than I had anticipated. Nonetheless, it was a great product that came with all of its promised pieces, as well as 3 small stickers! I received a Baekhyun poster and Baekhyun photocard. CD works great. No problems with the photobook or anything. So glad to be able to support EXO!


title: Great Reggae Compilation

text: CD was included in a magazine I bought way back in 2002. Love every song on here. A great classic Reggae compilation. Just makes you happy.<br />CD was broken last month (18 years, not too bad), so happy to find it.


title: Five Stars

text: I enjoy this collection from Amy!


title: Get you some!!

text: Hands down,  the best brittle out there!


title: Five Stars

text: Happy wife, happy life😉


title: Safe arrival.

text: Arrived timely and safe who doesn’t love journey?


title: Lemmy at his best

text: Great Motorhead cd.


title: Beau Hunks / Laurel and Hardy music

text:
This CD I purchased on impulse, I had a very narrow viewpoint of what would be on it.
Boy was I wrong !!

Growing up I watched Laurel and Hardy with my grandfather and my dad, this CD swept me back to those great days. Most of the music is very familiar to me, and I would wholeheartedly encourage anyone who enjoys old movies to get this and take a trip back in time.


title: Great holiday music

text: Great music definitely more than just the holiday charm.


title: Great Music

text: Item as described. Brand new and sealed. I highly recommend this seller very fast shipping with Tracking. Will do business again with seller


title: fast delivery

text: great


title: If you like Korn or Coal Chamber,  you will love this! ( though far from a carbon copy)...

text: Absolutely incredible release!  I was familiar with this band already from having her there songs on iTunes  and also watching their videos of live shows.  This CD was only available in physical form,  so I just had to order it. If you are familiar with their other CD, you may notice this one  has a slightly different sound at times ,  quite reminiscent of  Coal Chamber or Korn, which isn't surprising considering the main writer/guitarist, Lisa 13 is a big fan of Korn. The band does infuse their own style into this however, so it is not a mere carbon copy but merely an incredible collection of songs with some clear i indications of where their influences came from. You can definitely hear a definite all influence as well as a grind core feel as well at times and also some great Dark singing parts which really show that they can infuse their own sound creating what I consider to be a very unique release.<br />Just a heads up, the packaging is just a cardboard sleeve with the CD in it, which if you purchase a lot of  Japanese import CDs, you will find quite common.  While I would definitely prefer a digi-book or jewel case version, the fact that the music is so incredible makes it completely  irrelevant.


title: FAIR AND WARNER Fantastic CD and Extremely RARE in the USA.  From Japan and worth the wait to get it!

text: This item is an imported  CD from Japan that was precisely what I had hoped to receive. The wait time to obtain the CD via the Post Office of each respective Country involved was longer than usual but fully expected and envisioned. The CD is essentially nonexistent in the USA so the wait was worth it and the CD is terrific! Thank you!


title: Four Stars

text: Outstanding service and this CD as well!


title: A Hilarious Blast From the Past!

text: I'd heard some of the material from this albumn as a "tween", and it has always reduced me to hysterics!  I'd never been able to find the albumn, long out of print.  Now, at forty-nine, with three kids older than I was when I first heard it, it still kills me!  My kids also love it, although the subject matter isn't relevant to them.  I think they're just carried along by my uncontrollable laughter!  I'd recommend this to anyone who loved early Saturday Night Live, Monty Python, Spinal Tap, Second City...


title: Great CD. Shipping not the best

text: CD is amazing.  Case was severely damaged in shipping


title: Five Stars

text: gorgeous voice!!!


title: Great book

text: I enjoyed the dramatic version very much


title: Part of a subscription series, as I didn’t subscribe, expect to pay more for these.

text: Great cd!  Been listening to the Dead since the mid 60’s, they never get old!


title: not what I thought

text: The CD that I recieved was not the one pictured.  It was the theatrical production of Celebrating the Light.  I really am looking for the one in the picture.  So I feel that I was mislead.  It is still Michael McLean, who I love, but just some different songs.


title: BEAUTIFUL!

text:
I've  had the audio tape of this CD for years, and was surprised to find there was a CD of it!!

I was able to upload it from the CD to my iphone.


title: An unusual mix

text: The UK's take on American surf music was.... interesting. This isn't the strongest release in this series, possibly because too many of the groups are trying to sound American.


title: Welcome reissues

text:
In the olden days, Naxos released mid-priced basic repertoire recordings under their own name and more esoteric music under full-priced Marco Polo ("the label of discovery"). It's always good when Marco Polo title are rereleased under the Naxos label. It exposes the music to a wider potential audience, as Naxos' lower prices encourage listeners to take a chance.

In the case of the Alexander Moyzes symphonies, it isn't much of a gamble. Moyzes was a major figure in Slovak music. Moyzes taught three generations of Slovak composers, influencing the direction of classical music in the region.

Moyzes successfully blended traditional music with classical forms. It created a rich, vibrant style that was readily accessible to audiences both in and outside the region. Moyzes first symphony premiered in 1929. Moyzes reworked it, toning down the folk elements.

The completed 1937 revision is what Ladislav Slovák and the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra recorded. The work is a lyrical, post-Romantic gem. I was much reminded of Josef Suk, but with a more cosmopolitan sound.

Moyzes' Second Symphony in A minor was completed in 1932. Like the first, it received substantial revision, losing a movement in the process. The finished version of 1941 has just two movements. The second features a fugue that continues to build in intensity. I heard parallels with Prokofiev works of the same period, but Moyzes is his own man.

Ladislav Slovák leads the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra in spirited performances of these works. This series was originally released in 2000, but the quality of the recordings hold up well. For anyone interested in the music of the 20th Century, or music of Eastern Europe, these are symphonies worth exploring.


title: Idle Fancies Keep Gwendolyn Dease Busy

text:
Paul Lansky has been creating an impressive catalog of percussion music since the 1990s. This release features three exceptional works for solo marimba, written for some exceptional performers.

"Three Moves" (1998) is the earliest (and most difficult) of the three works. Written for Nancy Zeltsman, the music hops across the broad expanse of a five-octave marimba in an easy-going fashion. These wide leaps are challenging to perform, but the end result is worth it. "Three Moves" is a jazzy tonal number that should appeal to most any listener.

In 2008 a consortium of percussionists commissioned "Idle Fancies," a set of six preludes. Each of the short preludes focusses on a different aspect of marimba technique. Four of the preludes have the performer playing additional percussion instruments. Sonically, those preludes almost sound like there are two performers. There's nothing pedantic about the music, though. Whatever the technical problems set forth, Lanksy's most concerned about the flow of the melody.

"Spirals" was commissioned by Lin chin Cheng in 2012. Lansky starts with a chromatic descending pattern that he expands and develops continually. The marimba is a naturally resonant instrument. The overlapping harmonies give the marimba a luminous quality.

Marimbist Gwendolyn Dease may not have commissioned any of these works, but she makes them her own. Dease's playing has a fluid quality that makes these pieces come alive. She brings phrases and themes that might otherwise get buried in a flurry of notes. And she seems to get the essence of Lanksy's music. Dease makes these works sound like they're as fun to play as they are to listen to.

As a marimbist I appreciate her artistry. As a listener, I apprecitate Lansky's compositional skill.


title: A Fresh Take on Baroque Christmas Music

text:
I've been burnt out on Christmas music for some time -- even classical Christmas music. But In Dulci Jubilo promised something fresh -- seasonal music from Dieterich Buxtehude and his colleagues. And it was recorded by Paul Hillier and the Theater of Voices. I wasn't disappointed.

In Dulci Jubilo is a time capsule of Christmas and Advent music from Northern Germany in the late 1600s. The Protestant Reformation had established its own musical voice.

Dietrich Buxtehude, Heinrich Scheidemann, Franz Tundar, Johann Christoph Bach (J.S. Bach's great uncle) laid the foundation composers of the High Baroque would build on.

Paul Hillier is a meticulous director, and his attention to detail shows in the performances and the program. The Theatre of Voices has an exceptionally seamless blend. And they're all top-notch soloists as well. The program takes the listener through the liturgical season, from Advent through Epiphany with selections to match. And the works are nicely balanced between choral and instrumental.

Some selections are familiar, such as In Dulci Jubilo and Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (How Brightly Shines the Morning Star). Others, such as Buxtehude's Das neugeborne Kindelein and J.C. Bach's  Merk auf, mein Herz were new to me.

But familiar or not, there's a consistency that runs through all these works. Luther was all about clarity, and these works deliver their message in a straightforward fashion. The pulse is always clear, and no matter how artful the counterpoint, the words are never obscured.

In Dulce Jubilo is a well-sung, well-organized program that effectively captures a moment in time. A moment that more than hints of the grandeur that was to come with Bach, Handel, and Telemann.


title: Clutch Fans

text: Just received The Company Band CD.....4 killer songs.  I hope they record a full CD.  Neil Fallon sounds great.


title: Five Stars

text: Love this cd.


title: Finally, these Mac Davis LPs are available on CD.

text: Many of the late Mac Davis's LPs have never been available on CDs or via streaming.  The subject CD includes his recordings on his "All the Love in the World," "Burnin' Thing," and "Thunder in the Afternoon" LPs, along with his "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me" and "Stop and Smell the Roses" albums.  "All the Love in the World" was one of my favorite Mac Davis albums and I was pleased to find it finally available as a CD.<br /> The sound quality was excellent.  I highly recommend to fans of Mac Davis.


title: An awesome power metal band from Norway

text: An awesome power metal band from Norway. I would also recommend checking out their album Machines of Mental Design.


title: Five Stars

text: Was sooo happy to find this CD!  I don't think there's too many of these around.


title: The French Connection

text: Arnaud Rebotini blows up with this fabulous mix of melodic strings, luscious vocals and phat crusty beats. An imaginary film score that'll blow your mind! If you love the French dance music scene then you'll absolutely love this!! Highly recommended!


title: mirror man, mirror me

text: In some ways, this is the best album ever made. However, I couldn't tell you what those ways are. Confucius say, "you buy, figure out yourself". (yes, that's my half chinese)


title: Missing a couple of items!!

text: It’s a wonderful album!!<br />However, I preordered it, and it did not come with any of the pre ordered items, like the poster, and the film roll bookmark


the produtc was just as described  and  shipped  fast  thank  you for  the great pruduct and i really  enjoyed  it


title: Hallelujah Anyway

text: Obscure band, great cd, they went  on to form the band sparklehorse. Other items form this band still not available


title: Five Stars

text: good cd glad we could find it


title: Confusing because the album I wanted to order for a ...

text: Confusing because the album I wanted to order for a gift had the same cover. I returned it and ordered the correct one, but only got 1/4 back of what I paid.  This remix was awful.


title: Three Stars

text: The DVD was not the one I expected.  I wish they would post more descriptions for these foreign CDs/DVDs.


title: Great musical getaway.

text: Totally engaging and destressing...  like being at a beach. Just close your eyes and drift away.


title: Peaceful

text: Helped me fall asleep since I was a kid, so peaceful


title: Good variety

text: Good variety of material


title: Five Stars

text: Excellent cd-it took my husband back to his childhood hearing his voice


title: Five Stars

text: Beautiful & uplifting!


title: Great show. Excellent sound quality

text: Great show.  Excellent sound quality.


title: Wonderful

text: A fabulous concert that *should* bring tears to your eyes.  I love singing along with it (although I'm not a good singer).  It promotes a great opportunity for worship.


title: Music just hits

text: I sincerely wish i could get this on iTunes. I have no working CD player currently to rip, and i miss listening to this. I love the composers, but the Synth plying by Mandozzi was magnifique!


title: This is my favorite of this type of CD

text: This is my favorite of this type of CD.  The storm is wonderful and the second half features far away wolves.  This one always puts me to sleep and while I was gone today, my dog chewed it into a million pieces.


title: Tapping noise in the song I bought the CD exclusively for.

text: All songs were awesome. Amarillo by Morning had a continual tapping noise throughout the entire song.


title: good quality

text: good quality


title: Second set of CDs that convey a 4 CD epic prog rock story

text:
As a fan of Spock's Beard and Dream Theater, I'm really, really impressed with the emotional depth conveyed within.  When I made my Amazon purchase, I bought both Similitude AND Great Adventure... so I'd get the complete story.

Honestly, any one of the 4 CDs can stand alone, but the bigger picture told via all four is tremendous. Bravo!

If you like tasty prog rock, buy both double CD sets.  It's worth the investment... at least, I thought so.


title: Five Stars

text:
good quality and fast shipping!

Thank you


title: Five Stars

text: Great quality and well packaged, but best of all super fast shipping!<br />Thank you


title: I Feel Sorry For Those Who Weren't There

text:
Speir Mor were one of the most fantastic live acts I've ever seen.
Whenever they played, by hook or by crook, I'd be there.
I can remember Paddy Reilly's being so packed during their shows, you couldn't move.
Speir Mor, Black 47, Pierce Turner, The Rogues, Kips Bay Ceili Band... so many great acts.
Ah, to be young and pub crawling in Manhattan. There were weeks I saw a different band every night.


title: DO NOT BUY. DOES NOT WORK.

text: DO NOT BUY.  DOES NOT WORK. WOULD GIVE ZERO


title: My Demon Lover

text: I have been looking for this soundtrack all my life. I couldn't believe it finally showed up on Amazon. I have a large movie soundtrack collection, and I think it is time that this one joins it at last! I just can't wait for it to arrive! I can remember watching this movie with my mother, we just loved all the music. I wish my mother was still here because I would just blast it so loud for her to hear and enjoy. Thanks Amazon!


title: They Were The Best

text: This is probably the most underrated Ska band of all time.  Big claim, but totally true.  Such a talented group of guys, super funny and eclectic in their sound.  They were about 1000 times more talent and real than No Doubt but just didn't make it to that next level.  Damn shame.  One of the best albums that very few people have ever heard.


title: my favorite  CD

text: One of  my  favorite  CD's,  bought  it  for  my  step  daughter  for Christmas.  We  went  to  a Robin Mark concert together  and  she was  happy  to  get  the  CD'S for Christmas .


title: LA VIDA ESE PARENTESIS

text: Es un disco de colección, con poemas de Mario Benedetti cantados y por Tania Libertad. Indispensable para quienes disfrutan de la poesía cantada.<br />Lo recomiendo


title: I love this CD

text: Finally sime wonderful soul music that feeds my soul.......... Her voice is rich the songs mean something. I can't say enough ....


title: What talent!  Heard him at a club in Eugene OR

text: My husband was introduced to J.C's music years ago,couldn't find a CD or tape, so his friend made a copy for him. (I know,dubbing without permission is a no-no, but desperate times call for desperate measures.) When we noticed in the newspaper that he was playing locally, we couldn't wait to hear him in person.  He spoke with my husband for a few minutes, after one of his sets. and my honey was truly star-struck!<br />We could still not find his music, so HURRAY for Amazon.  We'll buy up all the CDs J.C.Rico produces!


title: Critters Greatest Hits

text: I know this is old, but when I was younger this group was popular.  I also new them personally.  I am happy that I was able to find this CD.  Thank You


title: The BEST musicians ever!!!!

text: TSC forever!!!!!!!!!!!!


title: Absolutely Love it!

text: Doesn't surprise me that Kime did it again! Love the lyrics. Inspires me everytime Iisten to it. I already have recommended it.


title: Excellent Experience

text: 100% Satisfied


title: Excellent Experience

text: 100% Satisfied!<br />I even was given a free bonus gift!


title: What a Band... Of great session musicians

text: This is an exceptional compilation of songs by great artist. Amazing the range of musical skills the Wrecking Crew had.


title: Great

text: Love his voice on the stories.


title: Fast shipping

text: Shipped fast, item as described.<br />Thank you!!


title: Five Stars

text: great item


title: rock of grace

text:
Instrument of the devil or divinity?  The question has perhaps been present from the beginning of the appearance of rock music as a Christian idiom, going back to Larry Norman’s LP Upon This Rock.  Rock music was born in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a daughter of rock ‘n roll which became divested of popular dance origins and evolved into a broad array of entertainment forms driven mostly by technological innovations in amplified guitar and in the 1980s more restlessly through synthesizer keyboards.

Rock music has had a long, and some would say constitutional association with postures resisting authority and morality, including “recreational” intoxication, illicit substances that briefly induce mental illness, and lust: destructive behaviors of modern prodigal decadence.  It is a fair question to ask how the pagan textures of a deliberately provocative and sin-oblivious music can be reconciled to any notion of Christian holiness.  Is all the difference grace?

Kari Jobe is a church musician and worship leader at a Baptist congregation in Texas, and a Christian recording artist who tours the country not quite like a protestant circuit revival.  After two albums her third work employed a band of up to thirteen who labored for two years developing an integral object of praise & worship before offering the fruit in a live setting, Dallas’ Majestic Theatre in November of 2013.

The conventional approach of music journalism is to heap praise and worship upon an industrious genius who crafts something that seems to become an accomplishment of archetypal order.  But that does not seem to be possible when a musical style itself encounters a conversion.  In the hands of Ms. Jobe and her co-workers 'rock' takes on an entirely new comportment and this is also why you probably won’t find a review of Majestic in Rolling Stone.

In the last fifty years Christian musicians have infiltrated just about every secular model of popular and alternative style, colonizing them in the name of Jesus.  But one should be able to discern what distinguishes these later forms from their older unredeemed siblings, which are plausible, which authentic.  In the case of Majestic, the remarkable evidence is contained in the companion DVD of the deluxe edition, where one can see how this music was created and lifted up.

How is Christian rock today different from the vast number of secular variants that filled the air of the 1970s and 80s?  The removal of instrumental solos, the use of rhythms not antithetical to the body or temperance, the elimination of opportunities for an artist to be indulged in self expression, and lastly lyrics that are unmistakably fixed upon the Almighty, instead of... someone else.

Beginning in the early 1970s, and throughout the 80s and 90s, rock, especially along certain progressive margins, found itself reaching out in palpable spiritual hungers.  Yet, albums like Yes’ Going for the One (1977, especially the 15-minute suite Awaken), Tears for Fears Songs from the Big Chair (1984) and the Flower Kings’ Live on Planet Earth (2000) notably “There is more to this world”, advanced a 'full music' that was about spirituality.  In Neal Morse’s collection One (2004) rock music was seen to move from describing religious experience to worshipping God.

And then there is Kari Jobe and her core group of six male collaborators, who took the instrumentation of Euro rock and made a pure offering of American divine praise.  What are its signatures?  Ms. Jobe’s ethereally sincere, rare vibrato-less voice, sensitive wordless swoons and gentle ecstasies; her unassuming presence as a person in love with God, enjoying a relationship that others might sometimes look at and say 'where do you get this'?  Are these artists not wounded like the rest of us?'

Nonetheless this is the gift she shares: His presence, His love, His favor, His delight.  She expresses it, witnesses it, prays it, receives it!

Meanwhile, her greatly competent team never leans into any overconfident excess.  They are always resonating like a bell, holding a space of reverent meditation through a layered, patient, symphonic drive, content simply to play rather than command, in complete contrast with the fever days of rock concert hysteria.  Indeed, never has a progressive rock band ever been heard inflected with such steadiness, serenity, humility and at the same time displayed such a precise and honest intuition for unearthly rapture.

Rather than parse the whole concert, attention to one (of several) centerpieces of the DVD is adequate to relate what they sound like.  Three song segments unfold unbroken as of one piece, a sort of Triune 'crystallography', beginning with “How Majestic” invoking the Creator with wonder, awe, respect.  Then we are hovering in the intimate response of “When You Walk in the Room”.  Jesus is the upper room and there is only joy, a luminous crush rippling on a balletic drumkit that anticipates ever more impending gleam.  Finally we are gliding through a gate into the courts of pure affection, like coming through a window in the sky where there is only weightless mercy, in "Here I Am (Majesty)".  Here, every horizon in the Spirit has the same names:  forgiveness, healing, peace.  Grace upon grace cascades, as Kari spins away from the microphone and the image of human voice, of the child, is consumed in a massive orchestral embrace of Consonance.

There comes a point when the listener pinches himself that this is a live recording, for the sound of it stands like a flower, rising, decorous but absolutely unpresumptive.  You can’t perform an offering.  You can only make one.  This document is brimming with many such moments.

If the modern world seems to be going to hell and all the anger in the country, over an orthodox way of life that our Grand- and Great- Grandparents fostered carefully to hand on but is threatening to rapidly evaporate, here is a consolation of equal and opposite magnitude.  A sign of the Father’s tender care, Who has not forgotten about us, nor given up on us as National Geographic once depressively declared not too long ago.  Music is a gift from God and Kari and her friends are so utterly in the hand of this knowledge.  They know: it’s all grace.

After the marvel of this sustained elevation, one had to wonder what could possibly follow.  Majestic Revisited (2015) sounds almost unrelated.  Here the group chose to use much studio assembled electronic sound crafting that (without seeming to know its original sources - 1990s urban glitch school digital assembly and related 'data error' 'sculptures' and shingled collages of musique concrete-descended incidental ambience) reduces Kari’s sonorous voice to a mere aspect of cooler tapestry instead of the center of a warm vibrant heartsong –music perhaps too freely experimental: about God, rather than to God.  Everything seems to have come down in a hurry, but then again, maybe just like the descent from Tabor when the three bewildered disciples not wanting to leave the Light, but had to return to the world, going the slope that lead back down into the valley of the world's poverty.

Majestic Revisited brings us back to the question at the beginning of how can one tell a music is sacred by its sound alone.  In the middle ages there was much musical exchange going on between the chapel and the tavern.  Sacred and secular songs sometimes closely mimicked each other.  But true religious art has to be made with prayer and the discernment of objective beauty when expressing adoration of the Magnum Mysterium.  Contemporary Christian artists in particular have a unique challenge to make modern artistic palettes sound sacred and not like base, dark noises.  Majestic Revisited is at best brave, but Majestic will remain a treasure resounding in Heaven.  Thank you Kari Jobe and brothers!  Given time to time, from chosen luminaries, are such mountains that all can touch again and again to uphold us in faith.


title: Awesome, as to be expected

text: Great instrumental album by Tak Matsumoto. Glad I bought it, and it was in good shape. A good album to listen to around the holidays.


title: Hoodie has no strings.

text: Purchased a medium & a large, neither of the hoodies came with strings and I didn’t see that mentioned anywhere. The hoodies are good quality. the packaging and quality are both great.


title: Omi

text: Love this man!! Good cd!! Good price, fast delivery, thank you


title: Five Stars

text: awesome!!


title: Five Stars

text: love it


title: Five Stars

text: very relaxing


title: Five Stars

text: A good radio version of a great movie


title: Four Stars

text: Really liked this Jen of a cd


title: Get NAKED!

text: It doesn't get better than getting Naked...or listening to it.  Aztec Two-Step remain true to form, revealing, transcending and cool...just doesn't get better...buy this album...


title: El CD está en perfectas condiciones

text: Excelente música, el CD audio en Excelente condiciones,  gracias a la tienda Dios les Bendiga


title: Great Artist!

text: Cd case was cracked, I haven't opened it yet I'm hoping the cd isn't scratched.


title: Great music.

text: My own listening pleasure and would recommend it to any that enjoys good music.


title: Great old record

text: Even better than described.  Great seller.  Fast shipper.


title: Five Stars

text: Worship!!!


title: Small damage

text: A few little holes were pushed in the back.


title: VERY HAPPY WITH THE SELLER

text: I was very happy with my purchase from this seller. The Item was delivered ahead of time. The Item was delivered in mint condition. And the Item was exactly as described. I have personally sought out this seller for all my Mari Hamada CDS when possible. In short; If you are looking for Mari Hamada or Other Japanese Artist, then I can safely say samurai_media_JPN4US is the seller for you.


title: Love it but it's scratched

text: I love this CD.  Anthem is my favorite.  However, the CD was scratched upon arrival and skips through -- guess what song? -- Anthem.  I haven't returned it because I refuse to pay shipping.  So unfortunate.


title: Superb album!

text: This is a wonderful album. Still holds up after 33years. Every song a gem. David at his sensual best with 'that voice' that sings to your soul.


title: Five Stars

text: My husband loved the album


title: excellent

text: excellent


title: Five Stars

text: this group is a visual and sound fest


I have this disk from the '70s, and it is beautifully played.  Elaine Shaffer died at an early age, so there's not a lot of recordings.  I don't think this is available on CD, but I play the disk regularly--her playing is superb.


Who would have thunk that Joplin could sound so good on the violin?  These are wonderful arrangements of Joplin rags.  The spirit of enjoyment and sheer fun pervades the recording.


title: Bonzo Dog Band - I'm the Urban Spaceman

text: I think this is the 45 to this song, not the album, which I believe I looked at but never purchased. I bought the album through Amazon, it is great. The 45 is a real collectors item, but I have been focusing on the albums, not the 45s.


I had lost this CD and wanted to replace it.  I just love the music in it and play it often.


title: Easy listening for the older generation

text: Arrived on time.<br />Easy listening for the older generation.


title: Fast delivery

text: Love this cd

user_id: AEBMSJBSLOSSFFIHAGYYEPJDRXCQ


title: great C.D

text: CHRISTMAS GIFT..MY DAUGHTER WAS HAPPY..IT PLAYED JUST FINE


title: CHRISTMAS GIFT

text: GUESS IT'S OK..FOR MY DAUGHTER


title: Five Stars

text: love N.K.O.T.B.


title: Two Stars

text: Albu sucks


title: Serene

text: Love the music, very calming.


title: An unexpected treasure

text:
The Symphonic Dances have a beautiful sense of melodic movement I haven't heard in any other renditions.

To an even greater extent, Slatkin's Prince Rostislav is exciting and heartbreaking in a way not captured by the other recordings I've heard. Really inspired.

This one's special!


title: Great vintage vinyl!

text: A throwback that thrilled!


title: Despite all its rough edges in the early 60s, this documents early stereo LA Phil recordings well.

text: For those interested in the very early Mehta era, this particular JVC Audiophile CD is a VAST improvement upon the original RCA Dynagroove recording issued as a commemorative piece early on in the history of the Pavilion of the Music Center.  The recording, rather than being a turgid, depressed bag of sound jumps to live much as if it were a nearly new recording.  It shows the ragged ears of the LA Phil early in its stereo history, but indeed some of the playing is downright excellent.  Having grown up in LA and having attended early Mehta concerts, this is a special memento.  Anyone finding the JVC remastered reissue should well buy it if there is sincere interest in early LA Phil stereo recordings.  Mehta's career is otherwise beautifully documented in 3 collective boxes of DECCA recordings, some including the VPO, Israel PO and of course the LAPO.


title: Well recorded, ultimately traditional, uncompelling

text: This is a very well engineered, middle of the road interpretation which sheds no new light on a wonderful composition.  It's not that the performance is perfunctory; it isn't. It has character, but it is ultimately undistinguished, using leisurely tempi, and conventional perceptions.  I'd say for excitement one should search out the 1958 Sofia, Bulgaria performance by Sviatoslav Richter or about a two year old EMI release by Leif Ove Andsnes, say far more.  Richter's is relatively speaking in poor sound, and the audience is bronchitic, but both of these pianists have more compelling thoughts than Alice Sara Ott, as great a musician as she is.


title: All the music is awesome. The 3 cds are so good haven't gotten bored of them

text: Music is excellent


title: What a Treasure!

text: I have been searching for a CD version of this music for years!  Disc 1 and the first half of Disc 2 are the albums recorded in the '60's, which is what I was hoping to find, and make the compilation entriely worth it!  The 2nd half of Disc 2 is the '74 "Christmas Songbook," which is a different style of music from what I remember.  Can't express how wonderful it is to have this music, songs I remember so fondly and still remember word-for-word.  What a find!!


title: Five Stars

text: I love this yoga cd. It's a classic. Quick, energizing and thorough.


title: Excellent Guitar work

text: A great underrated guitarest


title: great album

text: enjoyable and relaxing


title: Good Buy

text: Good collection nicely remastered


title: Excellent A++

text: Great product just as described.


title: Five Stars

text: Great album!


title: A celebration of the trumpet artistry of Charles Schlueter

text:
Retrospective: A Life in Trumpet is a three-disc set that celebrates the artistry of Charles Schlueter. An Illinois native and graduate of Juilliard, Charles Schlueter was successively principal trumpet of the Kansas City Philharmonic for two years (1962–64), the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for three years (1964–67), associate principal trumpet of the Cleveland Orchestra for five years (1967–72), and principal trumpet of the Minnesota Orchestra for nine years (1972–81), before becoming principal trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 25 years (1981–2006). In addition to his distinguished career as an instrumentalist, Schlueter is an influential and beloved teacher, with many of his students joining the professional ranks. Schlueter’s theories on teaching and performing are documented in his 2021 book, Indirection: On Becoming a Better Musician and Trumpet Player as a Conceptual Process (Combray House). Retrospective: A Life in Trumpet, released in 2022, may be viewed as a companion to Schlueter’s book.

Charles Schlueter is one of those rare individuals who combine all of the qualities one seeks in the finest musicians. To be sure, his technique is flawless, capable of dispatching the most challenging passages with arresting ease. When called upon, Schlueter matches anyone for overtly bravura playing. But aligned with that technical prowess is a sonority of singular beauty and elegance. His phrasing is sensitive and flexible, displaying an impeccable legato, and enhanced by a kaleidoscope of dynamics and colors. Schlueter’s hushed playing is positively breathtaking. There are certain artists whose performances are so exemplary both in artistry and sound quality that, regardless of the repertoire they are playing, one welcomes the opportunity to hear them. For me, such musicians include the likes of tenor Fritz Wunderlich, violinist Nathan Milstein, and hornist Dennis Brain. I place Charles Schlueter in that category as well.

The recordings on Retrospective, made between 2001–10, offer an enticing and gratifying blend of familiar and new repertoire. Several of the featured works were composed with Schlueter’s artistry in mind. These include Eric Erwazen’s A Song From the Heart (2007), Ruth Lomon’s Odyssey (1997), Norman Bolter’s On the Cusp (1999), James Stephenson’s Duo Fantastique (2007), and Albert Tiberio’s Statements (2010). The Lomon, Bolter, Stephenson, and Tiberio works here all receive world premiere recordings. The trumpet concerto Odyssey, by Montreal-born composer Ruth Lomon, is in three movements that explore in part Nikos Kazantzakis’s poem “The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel” and the premise that “Life has meaning only when it accepts and rises above the great negation of the Abyss.” The solo trumpet assumes the role of the protagonist in a depiction of exploration and struggle. Norman Bolter, who served as both the BSO’s second trombone and principal trombone of the Boston Pops Orchestra, composed On the Cusp for Schlueter, whose birthday falls on the cusp of the astrological signs Aries and Taurus. Bolter, in his work for solo trumpet and brass ensemble, depicts the influences of Mars and Venus (the governing planets for, respectively, Aries and Taurus). Bolter’s music effectively blends the classical and jazz worlds. James Stephenson, a student of Schlueter at the New England Conservatory, composed Duo Fantastique for his teacher, as well as classmate Eric Berlin. Schlueter and Berlin premiered this work for two solo trumpets and with the U.S. Coast Guard Band at the International Trumpet Conference in Amherst, MA. The single-movement composition is a spirited affair that includes many affectionate personal references to the soloists. Albert Tiberio composed Statements “for Charlie Schlueter in anticipation of his retirement from the Boston Symphony Orchestra.” The work for trumpet and orchestra is in five movements (Prologue, “Soliloquy,” Scherzo, “Cantilena,” “Bravura”) that spotlight the various elements of Schlueter’s artistry.

The more “standard” fare receives its due as well. I doubt you will ever hear such works as the Hummel Trumpet Concerto, Hindemith Sonata, or Hovhaness Prayer of Saint Gregory played more radiantly than Schlueter performs them here. Throughout the three-disc retrospective, Schlueter joins forces with distinguished musicians, many of them BSO colleagues. The recordings, made in several venues, including Boston’s Symphony Hall and Thompson Memorial Chapel at Williams College, are all excellent, a marvelous document of Schlueter’s unique and rarified sonority. The liner notes include a warm appreciation by David Lionel Smith, detailed and informative program notes by Justin Cohen, artist bios, and a full listing of the trumpets, mouthpieces, and mutes employed by Schlueter on the recordings. All told, this is a treasurable document of one of the world’s finest trumpeters. Enthusiastically recommended.

Ken Meltzer


title: A magical visit to Mia Brentano’s Summerhouse

text: Mia Brentano is the “muse/friend/alter-ego” of German composer and musicologist Klaus Martin Kopitz (b. 1955). In his liner notes for Mia Brentano’s Summerhouse: New Music for 2 Pianos, Kopitz recounts one of their visits. The two discuss Brentano’s music and its sources of inspiration. At the conclusion, Kopitz writes: “Mia’s tightrope walk between styles was finally realised by two wonderful pianists Benyamin Nuss and Billy Test. As an encore, they play two pieces of their own, based on songs by Henry Mancini: Days of Wine and Roses and Moon River. I think they fit perfectly in the SUMMERHOUSE.” I agree with Kopitz’s assessment, one that suggests the sustained character and inspiration of Mia Brentano’s Summerhouse. The influence of the kind of smooth, lyrical, and melodically-inspired jazz so characteristic of Mancini’s creations abounds in this collection of 20 Brentano works (plus the 2 encores). But that is just one of many influences and styles at play. Brentano’s music also embraces a wide variety of other kinds of jazz and jazz-related approaches, as well as the great popular and classical song traditions of Europe and the US. Not only does Brentano explore these various genres, she often features several of them in the same brief piece. But the composer does so with such a confidence and fluidity that the effect is consistently fulfilling, rather than jarring. One might be tempted to characterize the music of Mia Brentano’s Summerhouse as “easy listening.” But to the extent that is accurate, the ease of the listening experience is the gratifying product of Brentano’s melodic gifts, expressed with a mastery of various styles and instrumental colors. Benyamin Nuss and Billy Test play the music with great feeling, style, and elegance. Their Mancini arrangements/improvisations are quite lovely, too. The recorded sound falls as graciously on the ear as does Brentano’s music. A marvelous disc.<br />Ken Meltzer


title: Eloquence’s reissue of the legendary The Age of Bel Canto

text:
Decca’s The Age of Bel Canto was recorded in June of 1963, and issued as a two-LP set the following year. There have been subsequent CD reissues, both in complete and excerpted form. As best I can ascertain, the new Decca Eloquence reissue that is the subject of this review is the only complete CD version of The Age of Bel Canto currently in print. It is a treasurable and indispensable set, one that deserves a place in any classical vocal collection. The Age of Bel Canto features soprano Joan Sutherland, mezzo Marilyn Horne, and tenor Richard Conrad. The conductor is Richard Bonynge (Sutherland’s husband), who selected the featured excerpts. In prefatory remarks for the Eloquence reissue, Bonynge observes: “The repertoire chosen was, for the most part, unknown in 1963…The young singers were at the beginning of their careers and their enthusiasm shines through in these performances.” Not only does their enthusiasm shine through, but vocal brilliance as well. Bonynge’s chosen repertoire, spanning the Baroque to the mid-19th century, demands artists with voices of exceptional vocal beauty, agility, range, and a mastery of phrasing that embodies the magic of the music’s ebb and flow. All of the vocalists on The Age of Bel Canto acquit themselves in sterling fashion.
My love affair with opera began in the mid-1970s, and it was during this period I purchased an LP edition of The Age of Bel Canto. I recall being awestruck by Sutherland and Horne’s facility in florid music, the beauty and power of their voices, and the thrilling high notes. Those reactions are still firmly in place a half century later. It is interesting to hear Horne at this early stage of her career. All of the technical brilliance is clearly present. But the voice has more of a sense of continuity between the registers. The Horne of later years loved to emphasize her chest register for musical and dramatic effect. In The Age of Bel Canto, the impact is more lovely and musical, if not as viscerally exciting. I must confess that I found Sutherland’s notorious opaque diction more off-putting this time around. One of the central elements of bel canto singing is the artist’s ability to bind the text and music in a seamless, unified fashion. For Sutherland, the undertaking smacks more of vocalise. Beautiful and stunningly delivered and vocalise, to be sure. But the electrifying rendition of Odabella’s great scene from the Prologue to Verdi’s Attila provides remarkable contrast. Here, Sutherland plunges into both the text and music with incisiveness and vigor. It was an approach Sutherland would employ once again in her 1970s Decca recording of Puccini’s Turandot, and to stunning effect. I don’t mean in any way to diminish Sutherland’s overall accomplishment in The Age of Bel Canto. Sutherland’s combination of vocal beauty, power, and technical wizardry is sui generis. But both the undeniable glory and mannerisms are on full display here.
My estimation of tenor Richard Conrad has undergone a marked transformation. My initial reaction was that Conrad’s leggiero voice and pronounced use of head resonance in the upper register made him an unsuitable partner for Sutherland and Horne (I heard both women in the theater. Sutherland’s voice was quite large. Horne, through choice of repertoire, marvelous vocal projection, and imaginative use of color, gave the impression of more vocal amplitude than she naturally possessed). How wrong I was about Conrad! Leave it to the great critic J.B. Steane, one of the most perceptive writers on singing, to put Conrad’s artistry in perspective. In The Grand Tradition, Steane praises Conrad’s mastery of florid passages—“a flexibility unheard on records since (Fernando) de Lucia”—and immaculate trill. In conclusion, Steane ponders “whether any tenor has recorded Handel with this kind of skill before him.” Upon returning to Conrad in The Age of Bel Canto, I was struck both by the technical mastery highlighted by Steane, and the tenor’s willingness to employ a variety of dynamics, vocal colors, and plasticity of phrasing. What Richard Conrad may have lacked in vocal opulence, he more than compensated with technique and artistry. I’m now grateful Bonynge showcased Richard Conrad so extensively in The Age of Bel Canto. He is a most worthy partner to Sutherland and Horne.
Bonynge’s conducting—refined, sensitive, and lovingly phrased—is as admirable as his choice of repertoire. And in the Attila excerpt, Bonynge too displays a fire not typically associated with his conducting. The recorded sound is marvelous, a wonderful document of the exceptional artists involved. Typical of Eloquence’s packaging, the booklet includes liner notes by George Hall, but no texts or translations. Given the repertoire, as well as Sutherland’s problematic diction, they would have been most welcome. But I don’t want to lose sight of the big picture. I am grateful to Eloquence for making this treasured set available once again in its complete form. If you don’t already own it, please avail yourself of this opportunity. Highest recommendation.
Ken Meltzer